Sociology

Methods and approaches of scientific analysis applied to contemporary cultures and societies. Includes socialization, individual and group interaction, major social institutions, social organizations, social change, and collective behavior. 4 SH. CC: Diversity, Social Interactions.

Basic concepts and principles of sociology applied to significant social problems. Examines social disorganization, cultural conflicts and personal deviations associated with the stress of industrialization, urban life and bureaucracy. 4 SH. CC: Social Interactions.

The Black Lives Matter movement is a movement that began in 2012 after the murder of Trayvon Martin – however the movement and the #BlackLivesMatter weren’t the first time that Black people moved collectively to assert their human and civil rights. This course examines the important role of movements leading up to the Black Lives Matter Movement, specifically the Civil Rights Movement, Black Labor Movements, and the Black Power Movement. In this course we will engage with prominent social movement theories to gain an understanding of the processes behind Black people mobilizing to push for societal and institutional change. The course will focus on Black movements and engages with social movements theories such as collective identity, resource mobilization, and movement strategies and tactics to examine these key movements in U.S. history. 4 SH. CC: Social Interactions, First-Year Seminar.

Black feminisim is the study of how gender, race, and class issues are inextricably linked to oppression. Black feminisim goes beyond mainstream feminisms and sees itself as a collective social movement. This course is primarily an activist response to intersecting oppressions that subordinate black women and others in terms of race, gender, class, sexuality, nation, and the need for autonomy in the face of the privileged. Politics not only concerns personal experiences, however challenging and courageous, but must address larger agendas that go beyond individual temperament, choices, and placement. There are no formal prerequisites for this course. 4 SH. CC: Diversity.

Gendered roled are delineated by the norms and behviors that an individual is expected to perform in society. Such roles change over time. This course combines the social construction of gender, the mechanisms through which society controls “gendered” bodies, and how gender intersects with race, ethnicity, class, disability, sexuality, age, and other dimensions of identity. Normative behavior and performance, group sexual misconduct, sexual politics, and living with apparant contradiction in regards to gender are key topics. Prerequisite: SOCI-101, ANTH-162 or SOCI-102. 4 SH. CC: Diversity Intensive.

This course considers the history, politics, economics, and culture of the people of the Caribbean area. It focuses on issues of self-identity and expression within the context of hegemonic European values and institutions. Prerequisite: SOCI-101 or ANTH-162. 4 SH. CC: Diversity Intensive, Writing Intensive.

This course is designed to develop students’ competence as social researchers. We will cover both theoretical issues -like the epistemology and ethics of qualitative research – and practical ones – the nuts and bolts of the research process, from data collection to analysis. The course will focus on the connection between researchers’ theoretical goals and the practical resources and constraints of the research process. Students will be trained in some of the common forms of qualitative social research: ethnography, interviews, content analysis, case studies, and the comparative method. Students will also be required to employ qualitative methods to collect and analyze original data, both for (near-weekly) short written assignments and a 15-20 page final research paper. Prerequisites: sophomore standing and at least one introductory course in sociology or anthropology. Same as ANTH-235. 4 SH. CC: Ethics Intensive, Writing Intensive.

This course is intended to introduce students to common methods used in quantitative social science research. It is intended to help us conceptualize a research problem and how to collect evidence to address that research problem. Students will learn how to conduct basic quantitative social science research, evaluate relevant evidence, and determine the best method to be used based on theoretical and practical considerations. The course also focuses attention on such issues such as the time dimension, sampling design and ethical issues when conducting quantitative social research. Finally we would use SPSS and series of datasets to test and demonstrate our knowledge of the respective statistical procedures. Upon completion of this course, students should be better able to critically evaluate the quantitative research they encounter in their social science coursework and in the mass media, as well as being able to design a basic quantitative research project. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. Same as ANTH-245. 4 SH. CC: Ethics Intensive.

This course explores the dimensions, causes, costs and correlates of the crime problem in the United States, and considers the uses and limitations of the criminal justice system in addressing it. Crime and Justice is organized around three interdisciplinary literatures: criminology, law and society, and criminal justice studies. Focusing on issues of lawmaking, law breaking and state response to crime, students will review and critique classical and contemporary approaches to the study of these phenomena; identify a range of theoretical approaches and empirical findings in the literatures identified above; and assess the strengths and limitations of contemporary crime control policies in light of accumulated empirical evidence. Prerequisite: SOCI-101, SOCI-102 or ANTH-162. 4 SH.

Intermediate study of selected topics. Topics vary and depend on student and instructor interest. Possibilities include social policy analysis, sociology of dissent, juvenile delinquency, and sex roles. Prerequisite: SOCI-101, ANTH-162, or instructor’s permission. 2-4 SH.

Western social theory from Comte to the present with emphasis on recent developments. Considers major schools, including positivism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, functionalism, social exchange theory, critical theory, phenomenological theory, and postmodernism. Prerequisite: Three courses in sociology. 4 SH.

This course examines factors that contribute to social stratification in contemporary society. Specifically, the course looks at three dimensions of social stratification, namely the economic, political, and ideological dimensions and interaction of race, class, and gender in this process. Topics include theories of social stratification, occupational prestige and mobility, segregation, corporate welfare, social welfare, and the ideology of legitimization. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing and SOCI-101, SOCI-102, or ANTH-162. 4 SH. CC: Diversity Intensive, Interdisciplinary.

Social Justice is a team-taught course focusing on the multiple forms of oppression that occur in any given society. The distribution of various advantages and disadvantages can be affected by capitalistic systems, greed, personal intention, social and/or political agendas, and even compromise. In this course, we will study the changing dynamics of oppression, earned and unearned privileges, and competing ethical and social theories of social justice and their interaction with race, ethnicity, nationality, ability, gender, class and sexuality. Students will have the opportunity to complete social justice projects requiring their collaborative engagement to identify and understand strategies for social transformation in areas as diverse as access to technology, globalization and ethics. Prerequisites: SOCI-101, ANTH-162, SOCI-102 or instructor’s permission. 4 SH. CC: Ethics Intensive.

A study of the relationship between economic development paradigms, institutions, and groups in society. The course focuses on international economic relationships, world order, and the resultant social and political conflict. More specifically, this course examines how global economic development policy since the 1960s has influenced relations between states, major institutions,organizations, and social groupings both in the developed and developing world. Same as POLI-333. Prerequisite: Junior standing and either SOCI-101 or ANTH-162. 4 SH. CC: Interdisciplinary.

A comparative study of family and kinship. Covers the structures and functions of family and kinship in different cultures. Emphasizes historical and contemporary changes in knowledge and practice focused on family, marriage, procreation, and kinship in the United States, with particular emphasis on the cultural construction of kinship, the naturalization of identity and difference, the politics of recognition, and new reproductive technologies. Prerequisite: ANTH-162 or SOCI-101. Same as SOCI-341. 4 SH. CC: Diversity Intensive, Writing Intensive.

This course develops students’ ability to understand and critique modern penal practices and to interrogate the relationship of punishment to criminal behavior, the rendering of justice, the promotion of public safety, and the management of risk. In addition to examining the structure, practices, and legal foundation of corrections in the United States, students will be exposed to a range of scholarship examining the social, moral, economic, political, ideological and historical contexts of punishment in the West, with an eye toward understanding how penal practices came to be as they are, their social implications, and cultural meanings. Review and discussion of these materials will develop students’ appreciation for the depth and complexity of the topic, as well as their ability to link punishment practices with broader socio-cultural conditions and worldviews. Prerequisite: SOCI-101 or ANTH-162. SOCI-311 is recommended but not required. 4 SH.

Introduces and exposes students to the various aspects of social work and social welfare. Includes examples of casework, group work, community organizations, and a combination of current practices. Explores how society provides services to meet human needs through public, voluntary and combined efforts. Prerequisite: SOCI-101 or PSYC-101. 4 SH.

This is an introduction to the sociology of law. Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to understand the manner in which sociologists study law and empirically analyze relevant dynamics of law and law-related phenomena in a variety of social settings. Successive sections of this course will focus on classical theortical contributions to the sociology of law; selected modern approaches to the sociology of law; and an array of empirical themes of law and law-based processes and structures to which the sociological theories will be applied. Empirical topics include but are not necessarily limited to law and social structure; law and culture; notions of legality, legitimacy, and legal consciousness; the legal profession; law, identity, and inequalities; international and human rights law; and the impact of globalization on concepts and practices of law and legal change. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing, SOCI-101 or ANTH-162 and at least one other 200- or 300-level course in sociology or anthropology. 4 SH. CC: Interdisciplinary.

This course looks at the factors taht contribute to social stratification in the contemporary United States, as well as some dimensions of global social stratification. Students may find this course challenging because they are continually affected by social inequalities but are not encouraged to think about them. More specifially, this course will look at three dimensions of social stratification, namely the economic, political, and ideological dimensions and the interaction of race, class, and gender in this process. The course will explore the continued debate over inequality and the extent of income and wealth inequality in the United States and its causes and consequences, as well as the causes and consequences of global inequality. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing, SOCI-101 or ANTH-162 or SOCI-102 or instructor’s permission. 4 SH. CC: Interdisciplinary.

Focuses on race and ethnic relations in contemporary society and popular understandings of race and ethnicity in the United States. Explores the boundaries and markers for membership in an ethnic, racial, or minority group. Specifically,this course regards race as a social construct that has significance for structural opportunities, experiences, worldviews, and conceptions of self and others. The course investigates the designations “race,” “ethnicity,” and “minorities,” and locates them in foundational and current tensions concerning power and identity. Prerequisite: ANTH-162 or SOCI-101. Same as SOCI-413. 4 SH. CC: Diversity, Social Interactions, Writing Intensive.

Research workshop which fulfills the capstone requirement for majors. Prerequisites: SOCI/ANTH-235 or SOCI/ANTH-245, and two courses in sociology or anthropology, at least one of which must be taken at the 300 level or above. SOCI-311 or ANTH-400 recommended. 4 SH. Capstone.

Supervised readings and writings in advanced fields of sociological study. Prerequisites: SOCI-101, three courses in sociology, a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 in departmental courses, and instructor’s permission. 1-4 SH. Capstone. May fulfill the capstone requirement with permission of the department head and when taken for at least 2 semester hours. Students not majoring or minoring in sociology or anthropology who wish to use SOCI-501 for their capstone must also have successfully completed SOCI/ANTH-235 or SOCI/ANTH-245, receiving a C- or higher.

Individual student work in an appropriate setting. Open only when positions are available. 1-8 SH.

Supervised field work in selected social work agencies. Students will keep a log, meet with a faculty member to discuss work, and write a paper. Prerequisites: junior or senior standing, relevant coursework, and the department’s permission. 4 SH.

Supervised field work in selected social work agencies. Students will keep a log, meet with a faculty member to discuss work, and write a paper. Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing, relevant coursework, and the department’s permission. 4 SH.