Examines concepts and theories that describe and explain social life. Focuses on aspects of culture, social class, race relations, and gender relations as they are determined by society, and on how humans create and recreate groups, structures, and institutions. Liberal Education Goal Area 5.
Common Course Outline

SOC 2230 Race and Ethnic Relations (3 credits)

Study of dominant-subordinate relations with emphasis on racial and ethnic inequalities. Examination of privilege, prejudice and discrimination. Liberal Education Goal Areas 7 & 9.
Common Course Outline

SOC 2240 Men, Women, and Society: A Sociological Interpretation (3 credits)

Study of the construction of gender in society and the differential consequences of particular social arrangements on the lives of men and women. Examines gender, male and female sexuality, intimate relationships, gendered patterns of work and education, the gender of violence, and sociological theories of femininity and masculinity. Emphasizes changes in gendered social patterns in U.S. society in the 21st century and compares those changes to shifting patterns in other societies. Liberal Education Goal Areas 5 & 7.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3001 Social Statistics (3 credits)

Covers a conceptual understanding of basic descriptive and inferential statistics. Choice of statistic and interpretation of SPSS results is discussed. Prerequisite: Completion of Liberal Education mathematics requirement (Goal Area 4) or consent of instructor.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3003 Research Methods (3 credits)

Examines the basic methods used to study diverse social processes and to improve our understanding of social issues. Topics include the relationship of theory to research, research ethics, evaluation of qualitative and quantitative research designs and patterns of analysis, and associated concerns. Prerequisite: SOC 1104.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3010 Social Explorations: Classic and Contemporary Sociological Theory (3 credits)

In this class we will explore classic and contemporary sociological theories. We will begin by examining Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Georg Simmel, and W.E.B. Du Bois, and then move toward more contemporary understandings about culture and society as discussed by symbolic interactionism, feminist theory and poststructuralism. The class is designed to help students understand how theorists think about structures and individuals, how historical time periods and intellectual environments shape theoretical understandings, and how theoretical discussions inform social research. Although much of the material in this class is designed to help students understand theory, another goal of the course is to help students critique existing theories and actually 'do theory'. Prerequisites: SOC 1104 or consent of instructor.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3050 Environmental Sociology (3 credits)

Examines the relationship between society and the environment. Emphasis on political and economic institutions and the consumer lifestyle and values. Considers how the treadmill of production affects ecosystems and discusses possible solutions to environmental problems. Prerequisites: SOC 1104 or consent of instructor.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3210 Social Movements and Change (3 credits)

Changing the world means changing the social world; we're really talking about social change, and that process involves social movements. The purpose of this course is to draw some general conclusions about what social movements are, and how social change is pursued and prevented by looking at how others have done it, how they are trying to do it now, and what can be learned from their successes and failures. This course fosters a deeper understanding of how people are persuaded to do the things they do, and how others' reasons for doing what they're doing are often as complex as our own. Liberal Education Goal Area 8.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3250 Religion and Politics: A Sociological Analysis (3 credits)

Religion and Politics are the things we U.S.-Americans are expected not to talk about in polite company. The U.S. appears to be deeply divided on a number of issues. But why? The goal of this course is to describe and explain. This course is not about taking partisan political positions, advocating for specific political interests, or arguing about the truth of religious worldviews. The sociological study of religion and politics involves understanding how religion as a worldview and social phenomenon is related to politics as interests and social phenomena, both in the U.S. and globally. Trends in religious identity and practice shape political behaviors, movements, and changes. They have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. I'm going to examine a lot of controversial stuff in this course, but I'm going to "take a big step back" to do it. Perhaps it will provide you with the tools to have difficult conversations with friends, family, and strangers; and/or help understand why people disagree on what they disagree on and respond the way they do.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3300 Family and Society (3 credits)

After a brief introduction to basic sociological concepts, frameworks, methods, and relevant historical materials, students examine several documents that address particular contemporary family issues. Students also learn how to evaluate the materials discussed. Liberal Education Goal Area 5.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3310 Community Organizing for Social Change (3 credits)

This course explores the history of community organizing and how individuals have come together to more deeply understand the rights and obligations of citizenship and how to organize for social justice for themselves and others in their communities. Students will develop deeper knowledge of the overall worldview associated with community organizing and will be able to articulate and apply the tools and tactics to effect change. They will also learn how to assess action taken and they will address how alternative approaches inform future action cycles. Liberal Education Goal Area 9.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3320 Social Class and Inequality (3 credits)

On some level, most people understand that social class matters; rarely do they grasp how by how much. The primary goal of this course is to examine social stratification, particularly focusing on social class, primarily in the contemporary United States, but also including historical and comparative information. It is only by doing so that we can understand why stratification is as it is in the United States and how and why it is different from those systems found elsewhere. Liberal Education Goal Areas 5 & 7.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3330 Sociology of Health and Medicine (3 credits)

In this course we will explore, from a sociological perspective, how health care is organized, inequalities related to health care organization, and how, as an institution, health care systems interact with other institutions. We will also be examining delivery interactions within the medical systems, the culture of medicine, professional power, and who gets to define 'wellness'. Finally, we will explore how health care is shaping individual lives and the understandings of the human.
Common Course Outline

SOC 3340 Sociology of Education (3 credits)

This course will focus not on how we learn, but why we go to school, from multiple sociological perspectives. What roles has schooling played, past and present? How is formal education connected to other social structures? How is education connected to social status, and social inequality? In this course, we will address the development and functions of public education, how and to what extent education both fosters social mobility and reproduces social inequality, how patterns of racial segregation, gender inequality, and social/class divides were, and are, related to education, the cultural dimensions and conflicts surrounding education, and future possibilities in an economy increasingly shaped by information and automation. This course focuses largely (but not exclusively) on the United States, after the Second World War.
Common Course Outline

SOC 4270 Intersectionality (3 credits)

This course will explore the complexity of the interaction of race, class, gender, sexuality, citizenship, and age with a specific focus on sexual norms in Western and non-Western societies. As part of this exploration, we will examine aspects of inequality and privilege and the social and political implications of hierarchies. We will also look at how the nature of race, sexuality, and gender can create hybrid identities and communities and cultures that resist and reinforce ethnic and national boundaries. Prerequisite(s): SOC 2230 or SOC 2240.
Common Course Outline

SOC 4600 Work and Careers (3 credits)

Students identify career avenues complementary to their chosen major and develop materials necessary for conducting a job search. In addition, students will learn what sociology has to say about work, occupations, and the organizations within which that work takes place. Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing suggested.
Common Course Outline

SOC 4800 Capstone in Sociology (3 credits)

Students decide on a research question and carry out an independent project.
Common Course Outline

SOC 4917 DIS Tchg Assoc | (1-2 credits)

Directed Independent Study | Teaching Associate
Common Course Outline