SOC-S 100 Introduction to Sociology (3 cr)

Introduction to the concepts and methods of sociology with an emphasis on the understanding of contemporary American society.
Offered every semester.

SOC-S 163 Social Problems (3 cr)

Major social problems in areas such as the family, religion, economic order, crime, mental disorders, civil rights; racial, ethnic, and international tensions. Relation to structure and values of larger society. Although no prerequisite is required, it is strongly recommended that students have some previous social science course work and/or familiarity with basic sociological concepts and methodology.

SOC-S 215 Social Change (3 cr)

Introduction to theoretical and empirical studies of social change. Explores issues such as modernization; rationalization; demographic, economic and religious causes of change; reform and revolution. Generally offered every other fall semester.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 217 Social Inequality (3 cr)

Why are income, wealth, and status distributed unequally? Is social inequality good for society? Explores the economic basis of social class; education and culture; social mobility; social inequality in comparative and historical perspective.
Offered spring semester.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 230 Society and the Individual (3 cr)

An introduction to the concepts, perspectives, and theories of social psychology from the level of the individual to collective behavior.
Generally offered spring semester.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 254 Qualitative Field Research (3 cr)

Covers the most salient aspects of field research, including taking field notes and coding, engaging in participant observation, taking on a variety of research roles, creating topical guides and conducting in-depth interviews, and writing a publishable-quality research paper. Students must find a suitable setting in which to conduct their semester-long research project.
Generally offered fall semester.

SOC-S 308 Global Society (3 cr)

Multinational corporations, new information technologies, and international trade have made the world increasingly interdependent. This course considers how business, technology, disease, war, and other phenorena must be seen in global context as affecting national sovereignty, economic development and inequality in resources and power between countries.
Generally offered every other fall semester

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 313 Religion and Society (3 cr)

Considers the functions and dysfunctions of religion generally, its economic and cultural patterns, religious group evolutions (cults, churches, sects, denominations), leadership deviance, and conversion/faith maintenance.
Offered occasionally.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 315 Work and Occupations (3 cr)

Treats work roles within such organizations as factory, office, school, government, and welfare agencies; career and occupational mobility in work life; formal and informal organizations within work organizations; labor and management conflict and cooperation; problems of modern industrial workers.
Offered occasionally.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 316 The Family (3 cr)

Cross-cultural perspectives on family systems; structure and process of the conjugal family in modern and emerging societies. Focus on relationships of the family to other subsystems of the larger society and on interaction within the family in connection with these interrelationships. Emphasis on development of systematic theory. Offered occasionally.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 320 Deviant Behavior and Social Control (3 cr)

Analysis of deviance in relation to formal and informal social processes. Emphasis on deviance and conformity as functions of social reactions, rules, and power and conflict.
Offered fall semester, even years.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 325 Criminology (3 cr)

A study of the patterns of crime, strategies for control, and theories of crime causation.
Offered occasionally.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 329 Women and Deviance (3 cr)

Using theoretical models of women and deviance, this course examines gender norms and roles in crime, historical conceptions, justice system response, and current issues regarding women’s participation in criminal activity.
Offered occasionally.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 335 Race and Ethnic Relations (3 cr)

Relations between racial and ethnic minority and majority groups; psychological, cultural, and structural theories of prejudice and discrimination; comparative analysis of diverse systems of intergroup relations.
Generally offered every other fall semester.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 340 Social Theory (3 cr)

Sociological theory, with focus on content, form, and historical development. Relationships among theories, data, and sociological explanation.
Generally offered every other spring semester.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 360 Topics in Social Policy (3 cr)

Specific topics announced each semester; examples include environmental affairs, urban problems, poverty, and population problems. May be repeated three times for credit with different topics.
Offered occasionally.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 410 Topics in Social Organizations (3 cr)

Specific topics announced each semester, e.g., social stratification, formal organizations, urban social organization, education, religion, politics, demography, social power, social conflict, social change, comparative social systems. May be repeated three times for credit with a different topic.
Offered occasionally.

Topic: Media and Society

Specific topics announced each semester, e.g. social stratification, formal organizations, urban social organization, education, religion, politics, demography, social power, social conflict, social change, comparative social systems, race and ethnic relations, rural sociology, urban sociology, and reorganization.
Occasional offering.

Topic: Queer Identities and Communities

The course explores issues of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer identities, as well as historical perspectives on LGBT communities and social movements for equal rights. Throughout the course we will contrast modern and postmodern conceptions of and discourse surrounding sexuality, identity and gender. The term “queer” will be used in this course in two principle ways: 1) as a term of inclusion, and 2) as a political and discursive movement to disrupt or otherwise deconstruct modern conceptions of sexuality, identity and gender.
Occasional offering.

SOC-S 413 Gender and Society (3 cr)

Major theories of sex inequality; historical and cross-cultural variations in systems of sex inequality; social, economic, political, and cultural processes perpetuating sex inequality in U.S. society; interrelationships between racial, class, and sex inequality; strategies for social change.
Generally offered every other fall semester.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 427 Social Conflict (3 cr)

Origin, development, and termination of social conflict; its organizing and disorganizing effects; its control.
Offered occasionally.

  • Prerequisite: SOC-S 100 or consent of instructor.

SOC-S 494 Field Experience in Sociology (1-6 cr)

Faculty-directed study of aspects of sociology based on field experience, in conjunction with directed readings and writing.  Specifically, each intern is required to 1) keep a daily or weekly journal, which is given at regular intervals to the faculty sponsor; 2) give an oral report once the fieldwork is completed; 3) depending on academic credit, write a journal or analytic paper or both. Limited to a total of nine credit hours of both S494 and S495.

  • Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and prior arrangement.

SOC-S 495 Individual Readings in Sociology (1-6 cr)

Individualized approach to selected topics through the use of guided readings, research and critical evaluation. Prior arrangement required; conducted under the supervision of a member of the sociology faculty. Limited to a total of nine credit hours of both S494 and S495.

  • Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and prior arrangement, usually in conjunction with honors work.