Sociology

Associate Professor: Flores; Assistant Professors: Campos-Holland, Harris, Jafar; Professor Gay, chair

The Major in Sociology

The major consists of at least nine courses, including 103, 325, 354, and one 400-level course other than 403, 493B, or 494B. One course, but no more, may be chosen from the following: Psychology 201; Mathematics 107 or 206; Computer Science 110.

Advisers: R. Flores, R. Gay, C. Harris, A. Jafar

The Minor in Sociology

The minor consists of five courses in sociology: 103; 325 or 354; two additional 200-level courses; and one 400-level course.

Advisers: R. Flores, R. Gay, C. Harris, A. Jafar

Learning Goals for the Sociology Major

SOCIOLOGICAL LITERACY

Students who complete the major should be able to articulate orally and in writing:
- Significant issues and approaches in sociological theory
- The sociological contours of actual places and populations in the US and abroad and the relationships between them
- Familiarity with the major fields of sociology, including stratification, race and ethnicity, migration, globalization, social movements, religion, family, gender and sexuality, urban studies and public policy.

METHODOLOGICAL FLUENCY

Students who complete the major should be:
- Familiar with a range of quantitative and qualitative approaches to sociological analysis
- Able to read and assess general interest publications on sociological topics
- Able to grasp and evaluate findings in professional sociological research publications

SOCIOLOGICAL CITIZENSHIP

Students who complete the major should be able to:
- Apply relevant concepts to social and political issues of contemporary and historical importance in actual societies
- Be active citizens informed by the study of sociology

SOCIOLOGICAL SCHOLARSHIP

Students who complete the major should have the opportunity to become engaged in actual sociological research through advanced coursework, honors theses, individual studies and field work, and collaboration with members of the faculty

Courses

SOCIOLOGY 102 SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS An analysis of sociological approaches to the understanding of social problems and social policy and of vital issues facing American society.

Enrollment limited to 40 students per section. This course satisfies General Education Area 3. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 103 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY A study of the basic principles underlying the functioning of human society. Special emphasis will be given to social interaction, social structure, and social change.

Enrollment limited to 30 students per section. This course satisfies General Education Area 3. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 203 IMMIGRATION IN AN URBAN CONTEXT An examination of questions of immigration through a focus on theories of immigrant incorporation, and patterns of immigrant employment and settlement. Special attention given to immigration trends that occurred after the Hart-Cellar Act of 1965, which abolished the country of origin quota and increased the number of immigrants to the United States. This is a service learning course which integrates community service and course readings and discussions. All students will be required to contribute forty hours of service over the course of the semester.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 20 students. This is a designated Writing course. R. Flores

SOCIOLOGY 205 RACE, ETHNICITY, AND BASEBALL IN THE U. S. An examination of the dynamics of race and ethnicity as reflected in the development of professional baseball both on and off the field. Focus will be on the exclusion and later reintegration of African Americans, baseball's role in immigrant assimilation, and the recent internationalization of the game.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 30 students. R. Flores

SOCIOLOGY 208 RACE, GENDER, AND THE MASS MEDIA An examination of the relationship between U.S. media and the social construction of race, gender, and sexuality in understanding the media′s role in perpetuating or challenging racial stereotypes. Specifically, this course explores how racial minorities, men and women, and LGBTQ Americans are represented in media as well as how these groups function as media consumers and creators. Topics include: women and minorities in classical and modern cinema, representations of race and gender in advertising, images of minorities on network television, the stereotyping of gays and lesbians in film and television, and the influence of hip-hop culture. This is the same course as Gender and Women′s Studies 209.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 30 students. C. Harris

SOCIOLOGY 209 THE SOCIOLOGY OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS This course examines the role of social movements in the complex processes of social change. Similarly, it looks at how various sociological theories explain movement emergence, successes and failures, and how these movements rise and decline. We will also discuss the nature of power and inequality and the multiple ways that social movements attempt to intervene in our society to affect them.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 30 students. D. Shannon

SOCIOLOGY 210 GENDER AND MEDIA An exploration of the social construction of gender relations and gender identities through various media (TV, print journalism, advertisements, music, literature, and films). Particular attention given to how gender identity is constructed over time and how it is constructed across different groups of people (racial, ethnic, and cross-cultural). The globalization of media and its effects on gender relations and gender identity will also be considered.

Prerequisite: Course 103 and intermediate proficiency in any foreign language. Enrollment limited to 30 students. A. Jafar

SOCIOLOGY 212 SEX, GENDER, AND SOCIETY What is the difference between sex and gender? How do we act out, perform, recreate gender? This course is designed to familiarize students with the prominent discourses and major issues related to sex stratification. It examines how notions of masculinity and femininity evolve and how they affect social reality in such spheres as culture, work, politics, and the family. This is the same course as Gender and Women′s Studies 211.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 30 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 213 GENDER THEORY An introduction to gender theory. Theoretical concepts related to gender theory, such as social construction, standpoint, and intersectionality. New directions in gender theory pertaining to race and ethnicity, colonialism, globalization, and sexuality.

Prerequisite: Course 103 or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 30 students. Staff

Sociology 215 Drugs AND Society The study of the use and regulation of psychoactive drugs from a social perspective. An analysis of the use of psychoactive drugs in contexts of religion, health care, divination, celebration, recreation, and cuisine. A focus on the association between drug use and specific immigrant, ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic characteristics.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 30 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 216 SOCIETY IN AN AGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE An examination of the debate over the existence and causes of global climate change and the embedded social, economic, and political meanings. The course explores current and projected global effects of climate change and how these affect and exacerbate social inequalities based on race, sex/gender, and social class, both nationally and internationally. It further examines the steps that communities and nations are and are not taking to promote more sustainable ways of living and what these choices mean for future survival.

Enrollment limited to 30 students. P. Godfrey

SOCIOLOGY 223 ETHNIC AND RACE RELATIONS Ethnic and racial groups analyzed according to historical, cultural, and social conditions; the racial and national composition of the U.S. population; cross-national consideration of group interaction patterns; the social structure of racism and minority status. This is the same course as Comparative Race and Ethnicity 223.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 30 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 227 DEVIANT BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL CONTROL Critical analysis of perspectives that focus on: origin and implementation of ideas that define immoral behavior; causes of behavior; consequences of labeling such behavior; role of conflict and power in establishing norms and laws. Consideration of social policy, especially toward crime.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 30 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 230 THE SOCIOLOGY OF DEATH AND DYING An examination of death and dying as personal and societal issues. Death will be examined from a lifespan perspective, with emphasis on how life is enhanced through knowledge of death. Course participants are assumed to have a desire to understand better what death means to people growing up within today's society; a willingness to confront their personal concerns and fears about dying; and an interest in helping others cope more effectively with loss, grief, and bereavement.

Enrollment limited to 30 students. M. Hebert

SOCIOLOGY 240 THE SOCIOLOGY OF AGING A multidisciplinary approach to the study of aging. Students consider sociological, psychological, and physical factors and their impact on the aged population, families, and health care delivery systems in the United States. The course addresses social work values and ethics in working with the aging population and their social support systems, with special focus on populations ″at risk″ and the promotion of social and economic justice.

Enrollment limited to 30 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 262 FAMILY ANALYSIS AND LIFE STYLES Family as a structural basis for social order; dynamic role relations within the family unit and interaction between the family and the broader social network; dating, courtship, marriage, socialization, alternative life styles; and the future of the family from a theoretical and empirical perspective.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 30 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 293 SOCIOLOGY OF INEQUALITY An examination of social stratification, which is the system by which society ranks categories of people into a hierarchy, resulting in systems of social inequality in which some enjoy greater power and resources than others. The nature and function of inequality based on race, class, gender, and sexuality will be considered in relation to social institutions such as family, education, work, and media.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 30 students. C. Harris

SOCIOLOGY 310 RACIAL IDENTITY IN AMERICA An examination of the ways in which racial identities are formed and the social factors that shape our identities and interactions with one another. Emphasis on applications to intergroup relations and the resolution of conflict within such relationships. Specific topics include stages of racial identity development, how racial identities affect social policy, questions of racial authenticity, and how racial identity intersects with issues of class, gender, and sexuality. This is the same course as Comparative Race and Ethnicity 310.

Prerequisite: Course 103 and one 200-level sociology course. Enrollment limited to 25 students. C. Harris

SOCIOLOGY 325 FOUNDATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY A study of the origins of sociological theory in the context of 19th-century Europe and the development of sociology as an analysis of industrial and post-industrial societies. Special emphasis on the relationships of contemporary theory to the works of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.

Prerequisite: Open to junior and seniors who have taken Course 103, or with permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 25 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 333, 334 SELECTED TOPICS

SOCIOLOGY 354 METHODS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS An examination of the research process in sociology. Topics covered include: the development of a research design, methods of data collection and basic analysis, problems of measurement and bias. Projects will involve problem formulation, organization, analysis and presentation of data.

Prerequisite: Course 103. Enrollment limited to 25 students. R. Gay

SOCIOLOGY 364 URBAN PROBLEMS Integration of service in community settings with the intellectual study of sociology. Students will serve as volunteers in a non-profit or advocacy group dealing with a specific urban problem. Two hours class meeting plus a minimum of six hours community service per week.

Prerequisite: Course 103 and one 200-level course or above, or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 20 students. Offered second semester. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 400 THE SOCIOLOGY OF GLOBALIZATION An analysis of recent processes of globalization. How globalization is perceived and resisted. A focus on how globalization affects corporations, nation-states, workers, social inequality, immigration, popular culture, and other aspects of society.

Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors who have taken Course 103, and to others with permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 16 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 405 URBAN POVERTY AND PUBLIC POLICY This course examines the nature and causes of urban poverty by surveying theories of poverty and their policy implications. Special attention is given to the role of education, employment and family status, gender and race, metropolitan location, and global economic restructuring. The goal of this course is to understand both the evolution of intellectual thought and practical solutions for reducing and eliminating poverty in American cities.

Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors who have taken Course 103, and to others with permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 16 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 406 POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY A comparative look at sociological views of the state, political economy, oppression, and resistance, examining theories that serve as a basis for contemporary social organization, as well as critical perspectives. Tying these views together, students will be asked to consider the complex ways that humans strive for democratic ideals and under what institutional conditions those ideals might be met.

Prerequisite: Course 103 or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 16 students. D. Shannon

SOCIOLOGY 408 MIDDLE CLASS MINORITIES Race and class in society examined through a focus on the middle class racial minority groups. Topics include: historical development, racial parity, race relations within the middle class, attitudes and ideologies, intra-racial class relations.

Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors who have taken Course 103, and to others with permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 16 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 414 POST-AUTHORITARIAN BRAZIL An examination of trends and processes since the transition to democracy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Topics include democratization, social movements, economic restructuring, violence, and religion. Emphasis on ethnography and oral history. Course 414 may include an optional section, Sociology 414f, that will meet outside of class to discuss supplemental readings in Portuguese. Students participating in the section will receive one additional credit hour, pass/not passed marking.

Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors who have taken Course 103, and to others with permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 16 students. R. Gay

SOCIOLOGY 414f POST-AUTHORITARIAN BRAZIL (In Portuguese) This optional section will regularly meet with the professor outside of class to discuss supplemental texts in Portuguese. Students participating in the foreign language section will receive one additional credit hour, pass/not passed marking. Students electing Course 414f must concurrently register for Course 414. R. Gay

SOCIOLOGY 420 FAMILY VIOLENCE An introduction to the study of family violence. A focus on issues related to child abuse, gender violence, and elder abuse in families, as well as institutionalized violence targeting the family. An examination of the relationship between the domestic and public realm, ideology of the family, types of violence, and methods of intervention.

Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors who have taken Course 103, and to others with permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 16 students. Staff

SOCIOLOGY 424 GENOCIDE AND RESISTANCE: EXAMINING THE NATIVE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE THROUGH PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH An exploration of the contemporary condition of Native Americans in the United States as a function of a history of forced removal, assimilation, and genocidal policies, countered by Native resistance movements for self-determination. The course is taught off-campus and includes a collaborative research project with local Nations.

Prerequisite: Course 103 and permission of instructor. Enrollment limited to 10 students. This course satisfies General Education Area 3 and is a designated Writing course. R. Flores

SOCIOLOGY 493, 494 ADVANCED STUDY SEMINARS The topics are subject to annual change.

SOCIOLOGY 291, 292 INDIVIDUAL STUDY

SOCIOLOGY 391, 392 INDIVIDUAL STUDY

SOCIOLOGY 491, 492 INDIVIDUAL STUDY

SOCIOLOGY 395, 396 FIELD WORK Supervised field work. Students will work 8-10 hours per week under the direction of a faculty member and will write a term paper analyzing the experience from a theoretical perspective. Except in unusual circumstances, the course may be taken only once.

Prerequisite: Students anticipating enrollment should contact an appropriate instructor no later than three weeks before the end of the semester preceding the anticipated enrollment. Approval by the department is required.

SOCIOLOGY 497-498 HONORS STUDY