Requirement: FIS – Flexible Core – Individual and Society
Description: An introduction to the basic concepts, theories, methods, and findings of sociology that help describe and explain the socio-political, socio-economic, cultural, and organizational structures of society.
SOC 103 – Sociology of American Life
Requirement: FUS – Flexible Core – US Experience in its Diversity
Description: The development, structure, and sources of stability and change in American society in social and historical perspective. Special emphasis will be placed on the economic, political, and cultural conditions that shape major social issues in American life.
SOC 135W – Writing Workshop
Requirement: N/A
PREREQ: ENGL 110 OR ENGL 110M
Description: A one credit add-on course to a regular subject matter course on a corequisite basis. This course works on writing that is integral to the subject matter of the main course. Corequisite means that all students in the regular course will be in the writing workshop. The combination of a regular course and a writing workshop satisfies one of the college’s writing-intensive course requirements. May be repeated for credit.
SOC 190 – Writing for Sociology
Requirement: N/A
PREREQ: ENGL 110
Description: SOC 190 fulfills the College Writing 2 requirement and builds on the work of English 110 (College Writing 1), in order to teach the conventions of writing in the discipline of Sociology. Introduction to basic writing proficiencies such as constructing arguments and evaluating evidence. Students will strengthen these proficiencies by producing writing products common to the discipline of Sociology.
PREREQ: Not open to students with credit for SOC 205, ECON 249 or PSYCH 107.
Description: Introduction to descriptive, inferential, bi-variate, and multivariate statistical techniques. Students learn how to calculate and interpret statistics, state hypotheses, and communicate quantitative findings. Not open to students with credit for SOC 205, ECON 249 or PSYCH 107. SOC 206 in combination with SOC 207 is equivalent to SOC 205.
PREREQ: COREQ: SOC 206 OR ECON 249 OR PSYCH 107. Not open to students with credit for Soc 205.
Description: Application of descriptive, inferential, bi-variate, and multivariate statistical techniques to analyze social science data. Using a standard statistical program, students select appropriate procedures, interpret statistical output, and communicate quantitative findings. Not open to students with credit for SOC 205. SOC 206 in combination with SOC 207 is equivalent to SOC 205
SOC 208– Social Problems
Requirement: FIS – Flexible Core – Individual and Society
PREREQ: SOC 101
Description: Analysis of such contemporary social problems as poverty, homelessness, racism, violence, drugs, family breakdown, alienation, and environmental degradation.
SOC 209 – Criminal Justice
Requirement: N/A
PREREQ: SOC 10 or SOC 235 or ANTH 101 or ECON 101 or FNES 106 or HSS 1 or PSCI 100 or PSCI 101 or URBST 101
Description: This course will introduce students to criminal substantive and procedural law and the dilemmas of crime control in a democratic society. Students will learn about the institutional components of the criminal justice system (police, courts, and corrections). Topics will include plea bargaining, capital punishment, the insanity defense, the exclusionary rule, and racial disparities.
SOC 210 – The Modern Urban Community
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: The social geography of the modern city and urban environment with a focus on city spaces and urban lifestyle and culture, and how they are influenced by the development of neighborhoods, residential distribution, and regional change.
SOC 211 – Ethnic and Racial Relations
Requirement: FUS – Flexible Core – US Experience in its Diversity
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Major ethnic and racial groups, ethnic contact, and ethnic relations in American society and in other cultures.
SOC 212H – Sociological Analysis
Requirement: N/A
Description: The relationship between sociological theory and data through analysis of important sociological problems.
SOC 213 – Deviance and Social Pathology
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Different conceptualizations of “deviance” and the social processes through which people are labeled as “deviant.” Representative categories of deviance such as drug abuse are examined.
SOC 214 – The Family
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Historical and contemporary factors that shape families, with special emphasis on the American family. Topics include changes over time, cultures and social classes, and interpersonal issues of family life.
SOC 215 – Sociology of Education
Requirement: FIS – Flexible Core – Individual and Society
Description: An examination of the broad social, economic, and political characteristics of educational institutions, policies and practices and their ramifications.
SOC 216 – Social Psychology
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: An introduction to social psychology from a sociological perspective. This course examines the many ways in which individuals influence and are influenced by society. Topics include socialization, the self, social interaction, identity, conversation, and the management of emotions
SOC 217 – Crime and Juvenile Delinquency
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: The major theories on crime and delinquency, methods of studying the offender, and crime statistics. Emphasis is on the criminal justice system, including the police, courts, and corrections.
SOC 218 –Mass Communication and Popular Culture
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course focuses on mass communications, such as the popular press, radio, television, and motion pictures, as institutions that both reflect and influence society. New technologies and video-computer technologies will be examined
SOC 219 – Social Class in American Society
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: A comparative socio-historical analysis of economic and political stratification and inequality with special emphasis on the US. Topics include social class and a “classless” society, social mobility and the American dream, social-class profiles, trends in inequality, and the relationship of social class to political power.
SOC 220 – Interpersonal Behavior and Group Processes
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course focuses on interpersonal and group processes. Topics include interpersonal communications and influence, intimate relationships, and small group processes
SOC 221 – Sociology of Religion
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: The nature of religion, its relationship to other institutions, and its changing role and function in modern society.
SOC 222 – Social Welfare as a Social Institution
Requirement: FUS – Flexible Core – US Experience in its Diversity
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Social welfare as an institution, with emphasis on its structure and development, and sociological analysis of problems of aging, divorce, adoption, etc.
Soc 223 – Intro to Social Work Methods
Requirement: N/A
Description: The basic theory and methods of social work
SOC 224 – Complex Organizations
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: The social and historical development of complex organizations. Topics include managerial decision-making, conflicts, power, careers, and evaluations processes as they affect business, political, and charitable organizations. Also discussed is the social history of how organizations have succeeded or failed.
SOC 225 – Sociology of Drugs
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course examines the changing scientific and popular understandings of the effect, harms, benefits, and patterns of drug use as well as the historical and ongoing debates about drug policy. Most of the major recreational drugs (opiates, cocaine, cannabis, psychedelics, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine) will be discussed in comparative and historical perspective.
SOC 226 – Political Sociology
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: The operation of power in comparative perspective. Emphasis is given to the social and historical conditions that shape power relations in the political system, social structures, the economy, and culture.
Soc 227 – Sociology of Medicine
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: An examination of the relevance of sociology and its perspectives with regard to the profession of medicine, its interpersonal dimensions, the training of medical personnel, and epidemiology. Emphasis is placed on the social as well as the biological and healing dimensions of medicine.
Soc 228 – Work, Industry, and Society
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: The social and historical development of work in the modern world, including the link between the workplace and structural and social developments in areas such as the economy, the labor movement, class. and gender.
Soc 229 – The Sociology of Health and Illness
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 10 or SOC 235 or ANTH 101 or ECON 101 or FNES 106 or HSS 1 or PSCI 100 or PSCI 101 or URBST 101
Description: Health and illness from a sociological perspective. An overview of the causes and meaning of health and illness from ancient Greece to contemporary America. Introduction to topics in epidemiology, health policy, and the social determinants of health.
Soc 236 – Population Problems
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Social factors influencing fertility and contraceptive use, mortality and migration, consequences of population growth, and population policies and programs in various societies.
Soc 237 – Sociology of Selected Countries
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: A sociological analysis of the development of various societies, their institutions, sources of stability and change, and major social issues. Selected areas for analysis might include individual countries, larger regions, or types of societies.
Soc 238 -Social Change/Movement
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Social change and major social movements in past and contemporary societies, with special focus on important theories of social change.
Soc 239 – Sociology of Developing Countries
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Origin and nature of problems and processes in developing areas: interrelationships between institutions, social change, and poverty.
Soc 240 – Selected Topics in Sociology
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Topics to be announced. May be repeated for credit provided the topic is different.
Soc 241 – The American Jewish Community
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Demographic and social characteristics, communal and political organization, and problems of identity and assimilation within the American Jewish community.
Soc 242 – Modern Israel: Sociological Aspects
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course will detail, analyze, and observe modern Israeli society, its social organization, development, and various ethnic groups. Included are the North Africans, Eastern and Western Europeans, Arabs, Armenians, and Americans who make up the texture of modern Israeli society.
SOC 243 – Sex and Gender in Comp Perspective
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course explores the social construction of gender in a comparative-historical perspective. Emphasis is given to the ways in which particular social and historical conditions shape gender relations in the economy, the political system, the family, and the ideology and practice of sexuality.
SOC 244 – Sociology of Women
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course explores the changing position of women as a social group, focusing on the contemporary United States. The sexual division of labor in the paid labor market and in the household, the relationship of women to family change and “family crisis,” the changing role of women in politics, and the changing social construction of female sexuality will be studied.
SOC 245 –Women and Work
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: An exploration of the changing situation of women in the U.S. workforce. Included is a study of the causes and consequences of job segregation by sex, and sex differentials in pay. The relationship between women’s paid work and their role in the family and society will also be explored.
SOC 246 – Sociology of Human Sexuality
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course explores the social sources of patterns of human sexuality. Among the topics examined are why sexuality has been regulated in all known societies, the sociology of heterosexual and homosexual behavior and identity throughout the life cycle, gender-based sexual socialization, sexual politics (e.g., rape) and commercial sex (e.g., prostitution and pornography).
SOC 247 – Sociology of Law
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course examines the role of law in society and the development of legal institutions in the United States from colonial times to the present.
SOC 249 – Sociology of Cinema
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101 OR MEDST 143 OR MEDST 144
Description: Film as both a reflection and refraction of society will be explored primarily through comparing American films from different time periods. The course will concentrate on the relationship between films and the industrial system that produces them – an area neglected by most film scholars and cultural sociologists.
SOC 250 – Sociology of Friendship
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course examines friendship and other primary relationships from a sociological perspective. Social psychological and sociological theory are used to understand friendship as a social phenomenon. The course focuses on friendship as a type of social relationship; how it reflects and affects social structures is discussed.
SOC 271 – The Black Family
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101 and Permission of Instructor
Description: Sociological theories regarding the black family. Topics include changes in the family, relations with public and social institutions, the nature of male/female relationships, the present state of the extended family, the black family as an agent in the social development of children.
SOC 272 – Blacks in American Society
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101 and Permission of Instructor
Description: Topics include rural-urban migration, blacks in the urban setting, position of blacks in the changing structure of the American economy, the question of the declining significance of race, and the relations among native and immigrant blacks.
SOC 273 – Social Change in Africa
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101 and Permission of Instructor
Description: Problems and processes of social change in Africa. Theories of social change are evaluated in the context of Africa. Topics include: ethnicity; nationalism; rural and traditional social structures; urbanization and urban problems; class relations; state structures; state and civil society; social development.
SOC 274 – Social Change in Latin America and the Caribbean
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101 and Permission of Instructor
Description: Problems and processes of social change in Latin America and the Caribbean. Various theories of social change are evaluated in the context of Latin America and the Caribbean. Topics include ethnic and race relations, migration (internal and external), state structures; state and civil society, interstate relations, problems of social development.
SOC 275 – Sociology of Asian Americans
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course takes a sociological approach to Asian Americans in general and six major Asian ethnic groups in particular. Topics include the history of Asian immigration, historical cases of discrimination against Asian Americans, settlement patterns, occupational and economic adjustment, community organization and ethnicity, intergroup relations, and marriage and family life.
SOC 277 – Sociology of Gambling
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course approaches gambling as a social construction, as a thriving business, as an interpersonal and familial problem, and as a public policy issue. Issues include legalization, management and industry control, problem and compulsive gambling, the meaning of and generational perception of gambling, and the future of gambling.
SOC 278 – Social Geography of Contemporary Cultures
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: The course reexamines the relationship of geography and social life, focusing on the ways place and space matter both in everyday cultural practices and in contemporary political issues, such as environmentalism, homelessness, and migration. Special attention is paid to globalization and new technologies for the way these are changing work, leisure, family, identity, and embodiment. New social spaces will be treated such as those created within urban/suburban multicultures, mass media, and cybercultures.
SOC 279 – Globalization: Social and Geographic Perspectives
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: The components, causes, consequences, and implications of the process of globalization; structural, social, and cultural aspects of globalization; emergent patterns, historical context, and social geography of international inequality, poverty, social change, development, and regional integration; political, social movement, and policy responses; international cooperation and the role of the nonprofit sector.
SOC 289 – Sociology of Death and Dying
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course focuses on attitudes toward death, funeral practices in various cultures, the cultural components of mourning, and the social organization of death and dying in bureaucratic settings such as the hospital and nursing home.
SOC 325, 3251, 3252, 3253 – Field Work
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Each student will serve as an intern in a public or private agency and complete an individual research project under the direction of the instructor.
SOC 331 – Foundations of Sociology Theory
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Problems in sociological theory with special emphasis on contemporary approaches and general processes of theory construction.
SOC 332 – Sociology of Knowledge
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Concerns the relationship between ideas and the social structure. Theories proposed by Marxists, phenomenologists, and functionalists to explain the relationship are examined.
SOC 348– Orthodox Jews in America
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course sociologically examines the contemporary condition of American Orthodoxy. Particular emphasis is placed on the persistence of traditional Judaism in modern America and the social tensions this engenders. Comparisons between Orthodox and other Jewish sects will be made, as well as between other traditional faiths.
SOC 351– Social Ecology: Field Study of a City
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: This course, each time using a particular city itself as a field setting, will enable students, under the supervision of the instructor, to examine the social ecology of neighborhoods, community life, urban development, and change on site. Lectures and tours through various sections of the city will focus on continuity and change, revitalization and change.
SOC 353– Ethnography
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101
Description: Strategies of sociological field research; techniques of observation, documentation and analysis of groups, cultures, and communities.
SOC 355– Practicum in Academic Advisement of the Sociology Major
Requirement: N/A
PRE: STPER 200, Minimum 3 Courses in Sociology, and Junior Standing
Description: This course may be taken concurrently with Student Personnel 300 (Practicum in Counseling and Advisement) or as a third-semester peer adviser. Students will be required to spend two hours a week interviewing students at the Department of Sociology, participate in various projects (e.g., developing a tutoring service, obtaining career and graduate training information) for 1 to 2 hours per week, and attend semi-monthly meetings with the Sociology Department supervisor, which will involve discussions of interview techniques, role playing, and recent developments in sociology.
SOC 381W – Senior Seminars
Requirement: N/A
PRE: SOC 101 and ENGL 110
Description: Topics to be announced. (No student is permitted to enroll in more than one seminar per semester.) May be repeated for credit provided the topic is different. Prereq.: Advanced standing in sociology
Description: T The student undertakes an individual research problem and pursues it under the direction of a member of the department. May be repeated for credit provided the topic is different.
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