Courses and Syllabi
The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.
Sociology Fall 2023
Undergraduate
Introduction to basic sociological concepts. Examines aspects of human behavior in cultural framework, including individual and group interaction, social mobility and stratification, status and class, race and gender relations, urbanism, crime and criminology, and social change and reform. Limited to three attempts.
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10 Sections Currently Scheduled »
Examines and analyzes important global issues and processes. Considers historical development of globalization and implications for different societies and cultures. Investigates perceptions of global processes by different cultures and nations, and efforts of international institutions to address social, political, economic, and cultural changes in global society. Limited to three attempts.
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3 Sections Currently Scheduled
Introduces students to individuals and ideas which have shaped and influenced racial and ethnic interactions and relations in the past and present. Attention will focus on historical meanings and sentiments attached to race and ethnicity as concepts, ideas, and images, and the ways these concepts and images have co-joined to allocate differential social, political, economic, and educational rewards to individuals and groups designated as racial groups, ethnic groups, or both. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Considers the ways in which gender structures social life on both the micro level of individual experience and the macro level of social structure. Explores how normative ideals of femininity and masculinity affect our bodies, identities and intimate relationships; and how these ideals are circulated through the media, reproduced in social institutions, and articulated in different national, cultural and religious contexts. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Focuses on causes and meaning of crime, with emphasis on adults. Patterns of criminal behavior, including property crimes, violent crimes, organized crime, white-collar crime, and victimless crime. Critical assessment of criminal justice system as a response to crime. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Examines social factors involved in development of delinquency, including family, political economy, schooling, community environment and culture. Examines various theories of delinquency; rates of delinquency in relation to age, race, gender and social class; and legal system that addresses causes, consequences, and policies of punishment and rehabilitation. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Actively engages students in original inquiry meaningful to themselves and their communities. Demonstrates the reciprocal relationship between theory and empirical research. Explores the complementarity of interpretive and explanatory logics, employing basic sociological methods. Guides students to formulate problems and design research, culminating in a public presentation of their proposals to the sociology faculty. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Explores processes for organizing resistance to current social and power arrangements, from terrorism to nonviolent civil resistance to create alternative institutions, policies, or leadership that promote human rights and social justice. Uses historical and contemporary case studies of local and global change to explore, how, why, and to what effect individuals have organized to protest the status quo and create social change. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Explores how race and ethnicity have been shaped by policies and practices in Western and non-Western societies. Explores the evolution of racial and ethnic attitudes from a global and historical perspective. Examines how changing demographic racial patterns may affect definitions of race and ethnicity and the ways in which people individually and collectively act to create new futures. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Explores sociological tradition through readings and discussions of ideas drawn from writings of selected sociological thinkers from classical to contemporary. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Fundamentals of applied statistics as used in behavioral science to include descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, correlation regression, analysis of variance, factor analysis, nonparametric statistics, and practical experience with calculators in applying statistical analysis to actual problems of the behavioral sciences. Limited to three attempts.
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6 Sections Currently Scheduled »
Considers the ways in which gender structures social life on both the micro level of individual experience and the macro level of social structure. Addresses contradiction between legal equality between the sexes and persistent workplace discrimination and sexual violence; how normative ideals of femininity and masculinity affect our bodies, identities and intimate relationships; how these ideals are circulated through the media, reproduced in social institutions, and articulated in different national, cultural and religious contexts. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
While focusing on nature and process of change in human society, considers social impact of political, economic, and environmental change and how lives are shaped by complexities of global social forces. Examines specific global issues such as conflict and security; economic disparity; ecological deterioration; populations and migration; legitimization of commerce; diffusion of innovations; and impact of class, status, and power in modern societies. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Examines cities and the people who live in them in the United States and around the world. Includes topics such as: social and economic development, inequality, political protests, urban democracy, and the environment. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Examines contemporary social problems and their solutions using sociological perspectives. Topics may include housing and homelessness, student debt, mass incarceration, hunger and food insecurity, environment and sustainability, human rights, wealth and global poverty, war and peace. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Studies class structures and implications for individuals and groups in modern society. Explores issues of race and ethnicity, language and immigration status, sex and gender, social class, age, and sexual orientation. Examines critically the theory and research that explore the construction, experience, and meaning of such differences. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Examines classrooms and schools as social institutions that function as socializing agents for both stability and societal change. Emphasizes the influence of inequality on educational processes and outcomes and critically examines the social organization of the U.S. public school system. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Introduces the research interests of the faculty, offering new courses that reflect current issues not yet incorporated into the curriculum. Offers, in addition, advanced study into topics covered in the standing curriculum. Topics change by semester. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 18 credits.
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6 Sections Currently Scheduled »
Intended to provide students with hands-on experience in sociology and to deepen sociological knowledge. The internship experience links theory and practice. Students work in approved setting as applied sociologists. Notes: Minimum 45 hours of work for each credit required. A research paper or project is required for this course. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Develop research proposals and an appropriate bibliography for honors thesis under the guidance of a sociology faculty member. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Pursue independent research and write honors thesis under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Present work in a colloquium at the end of the semester. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Provides an in-depth examination of historical and contemporary issues facing sociological scholars. Focuses on the philosophies, practices, and procedures used by individuals and organizations to answer sociological questions. Engages a variety of materials, experiences and resources to answer a specific research question. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Introduces the research interests of the faculty, offering new courses that reflect current issues not yet incorporated into the curriculum. Offers, in addition, advanced study into topics covered in the standing curriculum. Topics change by semester. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 18 credits.
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6 Sections Currently Scheduled »
Graduate
Core course devoted to the philosophical, historical, theoretical, and methodological dimensions of public and applied sociology within the United States. Traces the evolution of the field during the 20th century, from its inception in the Chicago school and the studies of W.E.B. DuBois to more recent formulations, as these bear on the interplay between social scientific knowledge and public decisions and debates. May not be repeated for credit.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Supervised graduate research project in engaged sociology in relevant settings including social movement organizations, unions, government agencies, charitable organizations, think tanks, schools, community groups, social services, museums and the arts, cooperatives and social enterprises, public archeology, or media and communications. Notes: Students must complete 45 hours of work at the site for each credit. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Emphasizes gathering, interpreting, and evaluating scientific evidence. Covers logic of scientific inquiry, including the application of various research designs and data collection methods. Develops critical-thinking skills by using set of rules and logical criteria for evaluation of social science research. Focuses both on how results are obtained and disseminated via research reports. May not be repeated for credit.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Specialized inquiry of topics of contemporary sociological research and scholarship. Content varies. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 12 credits.
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4 Sections Currently Scheduled »
Analyze the relationship between everyday life and social inequalities, with a particular focus on examining theoretically and empirically the relationship between governing structures of society and the structure of situational and interactional terrains as it plays out in the lives of everyday people. May not be repeated for credit.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
In-depth examination of major issues in classical (pre-1930) sociological theory. Analyzes Durkheim, Marx, Weber, Mead, and others, and emphasizes social and intellectual context of their theories. May not be repeated for credit.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Addresses the processes through which institutions reproduce relations of power, domination, and exclusion as well as the similarities and differences across forms of inequality and their connection to institutions. May not be repeated for credit.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Specialized inquiry of topics of contemporary sociological research and scholarship. Content varies. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 9 credits.
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3 Sections Currently Scheduled
Doctoral dissertation research and writing on approved dissertation topic under direction of committee. Notes: Maximum of 12 credits may be applied toward degree. May be repeated within the degree.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Specialized inquiry of topics of contemporary sociological research and scholarship. Content varies. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 12 credits.
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4 Sections Currently Scheduled »
Specialized inquiry of topics of contemporary sociological research and scholarship. Content varies. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 9 credits.
Read More »
3 Sections Currently Scheduled
