Bachelor of Arts
Sociology
Program Learning Outcomes
- Identify and apply sociological concepts and theories to understand social phenomena
- Use the sociological imagination and knowledge of social theories to analyze social problems and generate and evaluate solutions
- Identify how social processes and social institutions create and reproduce structural inequality locally and globally
- Identify and apply research methods that generate a sociological understanding of human behavior, social phenomena, and social institutions
- Demonstrate the ability to understand, interpret, and analyze qualitative and quantitative data
- Convey sociological concepts and understandings in a clear and coherent manner in both written and oral communications
- Use sociological knowledge, skills, and theories to engage with and respond to the needs of communities and promote social justice
- Demonstrate knowledge of the intersection of socially and culturally constructed identities and articulate the ways in which social and cultural identities impact our engagement with others and systems of power
Degrees
-
Sociology, -
Sociology, Minor
Courses
SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
Class Program
An introduction to the study of society and the social forces and patterns of human interaction that shape the world around us.
Core Tags
SB
Semester Offered
Offered every semester.
SOC 102: Social Problems
Class Program
An analysis of contemporary American and world social issues focusing on underlying causes and strategies for change; examples include problems of deviance, inequality, substance abuse, discrimination, international tensions, war, and injustice.
Core Tags
CE
Semester Offered
Offered every semester.
SOC 208: Social Stratification
Class Program
Examination of the social, political, and economic consequences of institutionalized inequality in the United States. Focuses on the nature of class, status, and power.
Core Tags
CE
Prerequisite Courses
Semester Offered
Offered fall semester.
SOC 209: Systemic Racism in the US
Class Program
This course will explore the roots of systemic racism in the U.S. drawing connections to African history, colonialism, European migration, and the Transatlantic Slave trade. Students will grapple with ideologies of persistent racism exploring the ways in which these ideas were foundational to the creation of racial hierarchies, shaped and shape our social institutions, and intertwine with other identities such as gender, class, and sexuality. Readings and assignments will help students make connections between how race and the process of racialization are reproduced in our every day life and work to sustain systems of oppression.
This course is cross-listed with AAS 201.
Core Tags
SB
Prerequisites
SOC 101 or SOC 102
Semester Offered
Offered fall semester, even-numbered years.
SOC 216: Inequalities in Sports
Class Program
This course will use a sociological perspective to identify and analyze the sources of social inequality within and among organizers, participants, and spectators of sports. Theories from sociology (such as conflict, functional, and symbolic interaction) will be used to critically explore how sports are the products of social relations and institutions that reflect already existing inequalities related to issues of race, income, deviance, gender, and sexuality. At the completion of this course, students will have a greater understanding of the driving forces of social inequality and the ways in which they are interconnected with the development of sports as a social institution.
Semester Offered
Offered spring semester, odd-numbered years.
SOC 217: Family and Society
Class Program
Analysis of the social relationships among people in courtship, marriage, and family situations, interrelations between the family and other parts of the social system.
Prerequisites
SOC 101 or SOC 102
Semester Offered
Offered spring semester, even-numbered years.
SOC 218: Sociology of Education
Class Program
This course will explore sociological research and theories that are useful for conducting a critical examination of educational institutions and practices in the United States. Students will examine the ways in which schools reinforce and/or challenge prevailing social, economic, and political relationships through discussions of topics including educational inequality, the dynamics of race, class, and gender in education, standardized testing, school choice, and higher education. The course will focus on the ways that social inequalities are reproduced through schools, and the way that identities are formed through education.
Semester Offered
Offered at the department's discretion.
SOC 236: Social Psychology
Class Program
A study of the characteristics of the individual in relation to social groups, focusing on interpersonal attraction, aggression, conformity, attitude formation and change, socialization, and small group dynamics.
Prerequisites
SOC 101 or PSY 120
Semester Offered
Offered fall semester, odd-numbered years.
Notes
Crosslisted with PSY 236.
SOC 246: Criminology
Class Program
Analysis of criminal behavior—the social definition of crime and the criminal, incidence and trends in crime, theories and explanations of crime.
Prerequisites
SOC 101 or SOC 102
Semester Offered
Offered at department discretion
Notes
Cross-listed with CRJ 246.
SOC 301: Social Theory
Class Program
A study of the work of major sociological theorists with special attention to the social and intellectual contexts within which the theories have been produced.
Core Tags
WI
Prerequisites
SOC 101 and one 200 level or higher sociology course
Semester Offered
Offered fall semester, even-numbered years.
SOC 310: Community Based Applications for Social Science
Class Program
This course provides a practical view of the social sciences including the social, cultural, and personality factors influencing community development. Students will use their analytical skills to explain various social issues in a variety of community settings using both contemporary and historical data. Academic and nonacademic careers in the social sciences will be explored.
Prerequisites
SOC 101 or SOC 102
Semester Offered
Offered at department discretion
SOC 317: Sociology of Gender
Class Program
Historical, cross cultural and social science perspectives on the roles of men and women. Theory and research on the origins, maintenance, and effects of gender differences involving such institutions as the family, economy, legal and political structures.
Prerequisites
SOC 101 or SOC 102
Semester Offered
Offered spring semester, even-numbered years.
SOC 326: Problems of Population and Environment
Class Program
An investigation of current environmental and population issues including population growth, the energy crisis, limits to economic growth, hunger, pollution, nuclear war, and possible and actual collective responses to these.
Prerequisites
SOC 101 or SOC 102
Semester Offered
Offered fall semester, odd-numbered years.
Notes
Augmented by PSY 340.
SOC 408: Sociology of Poverty and the Welfare State
Class Program
Current theories and research on causes, correlations, and societal responses to poverty.
Prerequisites
SOC 101 or SOC 102
Semester Offered
Offered spring semester, odd-numbered years.
SOC 491: Independent Study
Guided research in sociology. Open to sociology majors or minors with a “B” average in Sociology and with the approval of the instructor. Subject to Independent Study rules and regulations.
Prerequisites
SOC 101 or SOC 102
SOC 492: Independent Study
Guided research in sociology. Open to sociology majors or minors with a “B” average in Sociology and with the approval of the instructor. Subject to Independent Study rules and regulations.
Prerequisites
SOC 101 or SOC 102