Courses Offered in Sociology

This course focuses on human interactions and world cultures through the study of social customs and social institutions. The classroom approach combines theory and research methods to provide an empirically-oriented foundation for the study of sociology. This course will consider the linkages among the individual, social groups, and social institutions, with a focus on issues such as race, class and gender. Three lecture hours per week.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Contemporary Society, World Cultures

This course focuses on human interactions and world cultures through the study of social customs and social institutions, The classroom approach combines theory and research methods to provide an empirically-oriented foundation for the study of sociology. This course will consider the linkages among the individual, social groups, and social institutions, with a focus on issues such as race, class and gender. Students will explore issues in contemporary societies through the use of primary source material. Three lecture hours per week. Open only to students in the Honors Program and Sociology majors with a 3.0 grade point average.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Contemporary Society, World Cultures

This course, primarily for Sociology Majors, surveys the development of the major concepts and schools of sociological theory, emphasizing the origins of theory in the works of the "classical" European writers of the 18th and 19th century. Three lecture hours per week.
Prerequisites: SOC110

Credits: 3.00

This course, primarily for Sociology Majors, surveys the development of the major concepts and schools of sociological theory, emphasizing recent and contemporary theory in the works of modern European and American writers. Three lecture hours per week.
Course Pre-/Co-Req: SOC110.

Credits: 3.00

This course identifies and interrogates assumptions about gender in contemporary American society and across the globe. The course examines the distinctions between sex and gender; explores multiple theoretical frameworks for understanding how gender is performed within and constituted by social institutions such as the family, schools, the workplace, and media; and identifies the social inequalities that arise from rigid gender distinctions. Finally, this course examines the role of feminism in promoting intersectional gender justice and social change. Three lecture hours per week.
Prerequisite: SOC110 or permission of Department Chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Diversity, Power Dyn, Soc Just

This course examines the construction and experience of human sexuality across various social and historical contexts. This course uses an intersectional lens to explore how sexuality intersects with other social identity categories including race, ethnicity, gender, and social class. Topic areas for this course include sexual identities, sexual behaviors and practices across the life course, sexual and reproductive health, morality and sexuality, and social movements around sex and sexuality. Three lecture hours per week.
Perequisites: SOC110 or permission of Department Chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Contemporary Society

Food is essential to human life and therefore is a central part of social life. This course is intended to introduce students to sociological thought and analysis through an examination of the social dimensions surrounding the production, distribution, preparation, and consumption of food. This course will identify the different meanings and uses of food among different cultures, and explore the ways in which geography, culture, politics, and economic forces interact to influence people's food choices, health, nutritional status, and social relationships. Three lecture hours per week.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Contemporary Society

Analysis of the American family as a social institution. Historical development, adaptation to values and goals of societal and cultural milieu, effects of social change. Three lecture hours per week. Requirement for B.S. Sociology, Gerontology option.
Prerequisite: SOC110 or SOC201 or permission of Department Chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

This course provides an overview of the study of social problems and social trends in contemporary American society and globally. Among the most pressing social problems this class examines include: poverty and economic struggles, continuing race and gender inequality, problems in higher education, the criminal justice system, and war and terrorism. The course will focus on how American society is structured, paying attention to the role of social institutions and values that shape social, economic, and political policies, which, in turn, profoundly shape social problems and social relations. The course also will examine how perceptions of social problems are influenced by disparities in the level of diversity and power, leading to variations in how social problems affect individuals, groups, and/or organizations, and differences in how society responds to the social problems. Three lecture hours per week.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Contemporary Society, Diversity, Power Dyn, Soc Just

Why do people commit crimes?  How does society respond to criminal behaviors?  This course is a study of crime and criminal behavior, particularly as it relates to the United States.  The course will consider various theories of criminality and the origin of criminal law.  The course also will investigate the nature of crime and criminals, patterns in criminal behavior, societal reaction to crime, crime control, institutional and macro forces that shape criminal behavior, and the role of law enforcement agencies and penal institutions. Three lecture hours per week.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Contemporary Society

There is great pressure in our society to appear normal. This course investigates how ideas of normalcy are created and defined. We will look at how norms are enforced and what happens to people who violate norms We will examine the different ways in which deviance is manifested and the effects of the deviance on both our society and those labeled deviant. The class will introduce different
theories of deviance and social control In addition we will explore various deviant identities deviant subcultures trajectories of deviant careers and other features of deviance delving into topical areas such as crime, mental illness, occupational deviance, and sexual deviance. We also will examine how our social institutions (for instance the criminal justice system and medical institutions) create and enforce powerful norms for behavior. Three lecture hours per week.
Prerequisites: SOC110

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Contemporary Society

This course provides an introduction to the study of social inequality. Students will analyze systemic and structural inequality in terms of race, class, and gender across a variety of social institutions. Students will also examine the process of intergenerational mobility, explore the systems and structures that influence social mobility, and compare social mobility in the United States to social mobility in other countries. Three lecture hours per week.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Contemporary Society

This course emphasizes the theoretical and intellectual contributions of major Black thinkers of the 20th Century. Among others, the writings of George Padmore, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garve, Aime Cesaire, Frantz Fanon, C.L.R. James, and Harold Cruse are discussed. The crux of the course is a socio-economic analysis of Black-White relations in contemporary America and the various forces that lead to changes or resistance to change. Three lecture hours per week. Offered in alternate years.
Prerequisite: SOC201 or permission of Department Chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

Course centers on the career of the Black family in the United States. Emphasis is on Black child care, self-concept, and acquisition of mechanisms that will insure the survival and well being of the Black person in a hostile environment. The role of the Black woman as the traditional pillar of the Black community constitutes the main focus of the course. Three lecture hours per week. Offered in alternate years. Recommended for Women's Studies Minor.
Prerequisite: SOC110 or SOC201 or permission of Department Chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

The course explores the socio-economic institutions which have helped shape the situation of the Black woman in the United States and considers the importance of class, race and gender in this process. Because of the relationship of the Black woman to the Black family and Black community, any discussion of the Black woman is incomplete without addressing these two institutions. Emphasis will also be put on the Black woman in Africa and the Caribbean. Three lecture hours per week. Offered in alternate years.
Prerequisite: SOC110 or SOC201 or permission of Department Chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

This course explores the social and cultural aspects of death, dying, and bereavement in their sociocultural, interpersonal, and personal context. The course surveys key theoretical perspectives, historical and cross-cultural comparisons, and major studies in the field of human mortality. Among the topic to be discussed in this class include: the process and social management of dying and death;
bereavement and grief over the life course; functions of the funeral; the social institutions that are part of the death process (hospital,church, funeral home, and the family) euthanasia and death-related ethical debates formation of children's perception of death; and homicide and suicide. Three lecture hours per week.
Course prerequisites: SOC110 or SOC201

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Contemporary Society, Pers Growth & Responsibility

This course is designed to introduce students to the use of statistical analyses in the social and behavioral sciences. This class will introduce students to the most common methods of summarizing and presenting data (descriptive statistics), which include: central tendencies, frequency distributions, cross-tabulation, and variability. Students also will learn how to make estimates about a population based on a sample (inferential statistics) using statistical tests such as: independent T-tests, ANOVA, chi-square, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple regression. Using both manual calculations and computer-based exercises and manipulation of datasets in SPSS or another statistical software, students will learn the fundamental techniques of statistical analysis. Three lecture hours per week.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Quantitative Reasoning

This course introduces students to urban sociology by addressing the historical, social, and structural power dynamics that formed central cities, suburbia, and metropolitan areas in the United States. Topics include the changing conceptions of “community,” the effects of neighborhood characteristics on individual outcomes, the role of white supremacy, the drivers of categorical inequality, and the interaction of social structure, language, and political power on places, spaces, bodies, and the environment. We examine theories that have constituted sociology since its founding while centralizing the work of scholars of color throughout in understanding urban research, theory, and practice. We will explore foundational and contemporary sociological work, and look at urban sociology from a critical lens. Students will better understand current urban issues that impact their own identities.
Prerequisite: SOC110 or permission of Department Chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Diversity, Power Dyn, Soc Just

This course examines the ways race and ethnicity matter in society and the consequences of this for people's lives. Racial and ethnic conflicts have played, and continue to play a central role in American life. Even as overt racial conflicts have diminished, racial inequalities persist, and at times have widened. We will examine why this continues to happen and what can be done to reduce racial inequalities.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Diversity, Power Dyn, Soc Just

This course explores the social factors that influence the delivery and consumption of medical and health care in the United States. The roles of medicine and of the health care provider and the patient are examined in a variety of settings. Specific issues confronting American medicine are considered, and the health care delivery system is compared with systems from other countries. Three lecture hours per week.
Prerequisite: SOC110 or SOC201 or permission of Department Chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

This course provides the advanced student with the opportunity for intensive research and study in a selected area of sociology. The topics and instructors will vary from semester to semester. Three hours per week.
Prerequisites: Junior standing and 12 hours of Sociology; or permission of Department Chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

Community Involvement provides participants with the opportunity to earn academic credit for a variety of service projects, as approved by the sociology department chairperson. This program enables participants to enrich their classroom experiences through fieldwork in schools, hospitals, social work agencies, nursing homes, government organizations, businesses, and the like, while concurrently providing outreach and interaction between the college and the community. More broadly, Community Involvement is designed to expose students to real-life sociology, so that they can better understand the world around them and be able to assess the social world more critically. This 3-credit class is graded on a pass/fail basis. Community fieldwork and appointments with the instructor replace class meetings. Sixty (60) hours required in the field.
Prerequisites: Open to all students, with the permission of the department chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of social research by presenting different research methods employed by social scientists. This includes interviews, surveys, ethnography/field research, experiments, and content/text analysis, among other methodologies. This class will focus on the logic and practice of research design, the relationship between theory and research, forms of data collection, the ethics of research, data analysis, and the writing of research proposals and empirical papers. We will explore the strengths and weaknesses of the different methods, and will combine research theory with practical skills. Three lecture hours per week. Requirement for sociology majors. This course fulfills the W-III core requirement.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Written Commun-Level III

The internship in sociology provides a supervised, on-site field experience in a local community, government, or private organization. The internship offers students the opportunity to apply their learned knowledge of sociology to their lived experiences, while also enabling students to evaluate their career goals, develop their professional skills and competencies, and network with people in the field. Interns must complete at least 120 hours in their field placements. In addition to fieldwork, students will submit career planning documents, a journal, and a portfolio with a final report and evaluation by the field supervisor. The internship also will include regular meetings with the department chairperson. Open only to sociology majors in their junior or senior year.
Prerequisite: Open to sociology majors with junior or senior standing. Requires approval of the department chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

An individualized program involving study in depth of some aspect of sociology or social service, under the direction of a faculty member of the Sociology Department. Research papers required. Students must present a proposal for approval at a Department meeting and later defend their research and conclusions at a subsequent meeting of the Department.
Prerequisites: Junior standing and 12 hours of Sociology; or permission of Department Chairperson.

Credits: 3.00

The capstone seminar is the culminating intellectual experience that creates the opportunity for students to review and apply their knowledge of the field through discussion of topics representative of the core areas of the discipline. More specifically, the capstone in sociology allows students to put into practice their understanding of the discipline of sociology, including concepts and methods in sociology. The canstone emphasizes :professional socialization, the application of sociology content and practices, and discipline-specific writing. Three lecture hours per week.
Prerequisites: W-II, approval by the department chairperson and open only to sociology majors in their senior year.

Credits: 3.00

This course fulfills these general education curriculum requirements: Written Commun-Level III