Courses
SOCI-101D P3 Intro to Sociology (3)
This course provides students with a general introduction to the field of Sociology and the major concepts employed for studying the interrelations between the individual, groups, and society.
Formerly titled: P3 Sociology in the 21st Century
Typically offered:
Attributes: P3 YLIB
Fall & SpringSOCI-103 P3 Intro Soc Hlth Professn (3)
This course provides students with a general introduction to the field of Sociology and the major concepts employed for studying the interrelations between the individual, groups, and society. In addition, this course has been designed for students interested in the health professions. For example, there is a focus on the sociology of health and illness for students who may be preparing for the MCAT.
Students who have credit for SOCI 101D may not register for SOCI 103.Typically offered:
Attributes: P3 YLIB
Fall & SpringSOCI-111C P3 Sociology of Crime (3)
This course examines how patterns of social inequality (such as race and class) shape patterns of crime and criminal activity and determine how crime is understood and perceived by different segments of society. Why does the enforcement of certain laws (such as drug possession) differ across different racial/ethnic communities? Why are the crimes of wealthy bankers that cost communities millions of dollars treated differently than the petty street crime in poor neighborhoods? Students consider the sociological context of crime as the product of certain social conditions.
Attributes: P3 YLIBSOCI-113 Prof & Family Caretaking (3)
This course is an enquiry into how aging relatives are cared for, with a focus on the U.S. It examines the significance of longer life expectancy and subcultural differences in attitudes towards the aged and family obligations. Responsibilities of ‘the sandwich generation,’ and the timing of the moves to assisted living, the nursing home or hospice will be debated. Growth in eldercare options, including homecare, will be explored. Emergence of nonprofit organizations to help the elderly and their families, such as Lifespan, will be discussed.
Attributes: YLIBSOCI-120 SQ Basic Biostatistics (3)
This course provides an introduction to descriptive and inferential statistics as they pertain to public health and the health sciences. Descriptive topics include the treatment of frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, and the measures of variability. Inferential topics include probability theory, the binomial distribution, the normal distribution, the t-distribution, sampling distributions, estimation, and hypothesis testing. Other specific topics include methods for performing inference on population means and proportions via sample data, statistical hypothesis testing and its application to group comparisons, as well as random sampling and other aspects of population-based study designs.
Attributes: SQ YLIBSOCI-122 Sociology in Context (3)
This course introduce students to a range of social topics across varying social settings. Students will learn the unique value and insights offered by a sociological perspective for understanding such topics and settings.
Attributes: YLIBSOCI-150 Intro to Human Services (3)
This course presents the breadth of professions within human services, explores the ethics of helping, discusses the responsibilities of the helping relationship, introduces students to the practice skills of an effective human service worker, and helps students explore their interest in pursuing a human services career.
Attributes: YLIBSOCI-162 Counseling/Caregivng Roles (3)
Licensed clinical social workers, mental Health counselors, clinical psychologists, and other health professionals fulfilling counseling and caregiving roles all need effective ways of delivering services to clients and patients. This course introduces students to varying aspects of these counseling and caregiving roles by outlining the background and professional rationale for this type of work and by giving students the opportunity to study and try out basic counseling techniques. Attention is also given to the role and activities of family caregiving.
Attributes: YLIBSOCI-192 CC Interprets of Globaliz (3)
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the fundamental concepts, ideas, and arguments that have emerged from the many debates about globalization. There are a number of common core issues in this regard. One example of this is the question of what is old and what is new about contemporary globalization. For this purpose, the contemporary period must be placed in historical context. A second critical issue is how globalization impacts different nations and regions around the globe differently. For example, interpretations of globalization distinguish between the impact of globalization on advanced industrial nations versus less-developed nations. A third critical issue is how one interprets the consequences of globalization. For some, globalization is believed to have primarily brought great benefits. For others, the results of globalization have reaped greater harm than benefit. Deciphering and analyzing these and other issues pertaining to the contemporary period of globalization across a number of academic disciplines will be the fundamental task for students in this course.
Attributes: CC YLIBSOCI-195 P1 Hip-Hop Music & Poetry (3)
This course is designed to deepen students’ appreciation for hip-hop as a black cultural art form. Even though hip-hop is understood to be a multicultural form of expression today, it is a product of the African Diaspora and black experience in the U.S. In the first third of the semester (Unit I), students will learn about the “roots” and “routes” of hip-hop and examine rap as poetry. Unit I will establish the basic knowledge that students will to use for the entire semester. In the second third of the semester (Unit II), students will learn about issues of ethics, authenticity and racial politics that relate to hip-hop. Unit II will also expose students to international case studies of hip-hop, which will require students to think critically about these issues. In the final third of the semester (Unit III), students will focus on boundary work and gender issues in hip-hop. By the end of the semester, students should have a nuanced appreciation for hip-hop and be able to identify key problems and challenges that hip-hop consumers and practitioners face in a race conscious and sexist globalizing society.
Attributes: P1 YLIBSOCI-201 SQ Prin of Epidemiology (3)
This is an introductory level course that is especially suitable for those interested in careers across the health sciences, such as nursing, pharmacy, or pre-med students. This course introduces students to basic techniques and methods for exploring the emergence of health and diseases, morbidity, mortality, injuries, and disability across different populations. A primary objective for epidemiologists is to contain the spread of diseases and other threats to public health. Students therefore explore a variety of methods, study designs, and forms of quantitative analysis with this essential goal in mind. In addition, given the range of social, biological, and genetic variables with which epidemiologists work, students encounter an intriguing diversity of tools, hypotheses, and dynamic conceptual models.
Typically offered:
Attributes: SQ YLIB
FallSOCI-204 Multicult, Inclusn&Race (3)
Students will explore the varied views on multiculturalism and their historical contexts. In combination with dialogues on multiculturalism and the differing philosophies about the inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities over time, students will also discuss the notion of a post-racial society. This course is designed to inform students about U.S. racial “problems” – both contemporary and historical – and to encourage students to become engaged ethical citizens. A primary goal in the course is to have students formulate their own informed opinions about race in the U.S.
Attributes: YLIBSOCI-205 CC Savage Inequalities (3)
An analysis of systematic patterns of social inequality and privilege across society. What are the origins and the consequences of great disparities in wealth, status, and social power? How do patterns of stratified social advantage impact an individual’s life as members of particular social groups? This course examines the nature of inequality as an organizing principle of social interaction and a framework for understanding social conditions.
Attributes: AMSS CC YLIBSOCI-209 P5 Society and Culture (3)
In this course students will consider how social structures and developments shape cultural forms (such as music or films) and, in turn, how cultural forms shape social structures and developments (such as social networks or globalization). The relationship between culture and various social settings is the focus.
Attributes: P5 YLIB
Pre-requisites: -SOCI-210 P2 Crimes & Corporations (3)
When an individual harms another individual the criminal justice system provides a range of possible consequences. When a corporation harms an individual (or a community) the legal consequences are less clear. This class will examine how a corporation is treated as a unique type of social and legal entity and why certain harmful corporate activities are subject to criminal prosecution while others are not. In particular, we will consider how different interpretations of crime and social responsibility shape how corporate behavior is treated by society.
Attributes: P2 YLIB
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: SeniorSOCI-217D Latino Health Care Issues (3)
As the Latino population continues to grow in the U.S., an increasing number of community-based professionals (educators, social workers, health care providers) find themselves working in a variety of Latino community settings. Beyond Spanish language skills, developing cultural literacy represents a critical tool for effective interaction and communication. This course is designed to help students develop an appreciation for the dominant cultural traditions shaping the beliefs, values, and practices/customs of the many Latino communities and how different Latino communities vary from one another.
Must have a minimum of one semester of Spanish to register.
Typically offered:
Attributes: HHHD YLIB
SpringSOCI-220 CC Groups and Diversity (3)
Introduces students to a broad range of peoples and settings pertinent to the delivery of human services. Within the general field of human services, there is a rich diversity of populations and circumstances that account for the many arenas of service delivery. Students will investigate the heterogeneity of human services from a variety of perspectives and consider the unique tools, skills, and cultural competencies that are required to contribute effectively to this field.
Attributes: CC ISFS YLIB
Pre-requisites: -SOCI-221 CC Helpng Professns Action (3)
This course helps students understand clients and caregivers in health care and human service organizations. Over the years clinics, hospitals, social work nonprofits, and government agencies have grown to serve more people. Longer periods of training and practice are required for the professionals, who utilize increasingly sophisticated technologies and techniques. A professional culture can develop that is very different from the lives of patients and clients. Organizations with religious roots have had to change as they have accepted government contracts to deliver services to people of different faiths, or no faith. Students will explore all the ways that communities have changed, and what this means for the organization and provision of health care and human services.
Attributes: CC YLIBSOCI-222 P2 Creating a New America (3)
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to explore what it means to live in a good society and how they can act to help create a good society in the United States. Students will examine their own views and place these in the context of other’s views by considering various philosophical, religious, and ethical perspectives and traditions. Creating a New America provides students with an opportunity to creatively reflect on what kind of society they would like America to be and what it means to create a good society.
Attributes: P2 YLIBSOCI-223 Sociology of the Family (3)
An examination of the family as an institution; its structure and function; cross-cultural comparisons; problems and crises; variations in family lifestyles in modern industrial society.
Attributes: WGST YLIB
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D-SOCI-232C P3 Soc Juven Delinquency (3)
A sociological study of the legal concept of juvenile delinquency. The course includes examination of the historical origins of the legal concept; the prevention and control of juvenile delinquency; the juvenile justice system in the United States; and current innovations in juvenile justice.
Attributes: P3 YLIB
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D-SOCI-233 Populat, Programs, & Hlth (3)
Targeted initiatives and programs that address specific health topics across a diversity of populations are an essential tool for public health professionals. Different communities and populations may require different approaches for purposes of health promotion and education. This course allows students to consider various population-level characteristics (such as language, gender norms, or family structure) that must be taken into account when designing interventions and programs. Students develop programs to reach and educate community members from specific populations about certain health conditions such as diabetes, alcoholism, or HIV/AIDS. Cultural sensitivity, empathy, and personal self-awareness are stressed as essential for this type of work.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
SpringSOCI-235 Agencies and Careers (3)
This course examines the nature of human service agencies and their basic structures of operation. This includes the study of supervision and management, for example, within the human service field. In addition, students explore the wide variety of career options across human service agencies.
Attributes: YLIB
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D-SOCI-238 Deviant Behavior (3)
This course introduces students to key concepts and theories shaping the sociology of deviance. Students will examine several facets of deviant behavior and subcultures. This includes how certain attributes and behaviors are defined as deviant, the social consequences of deviant labels, and the construction and imposition of norms, values, and rules. Deviant behaviors include criminal and non-criminal behaviors such as drug use, violence, mental illness, and sexual behavior.
Attributes: YLIBSOCI-260 P2 Death&DyingEthical Concs (3)
This course examines how individuals and societies respond to death, dying and bereavement. Particular attention will be given to the experiences of people who have reached an advanced age, but the course will more generally study individuals whose functional abilities have severely declined and who are approaching death. Among the various topics covered in this course are: suicide, euthanasia and end-of-life ethical debates; bereavement; how different institutions and professionals manage death and dying; and cross-cultural differences.
Attributes: P2 YLIB
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Formerly titled: P2 Old Age, Senescence and DeathSOCI-281 Understanding Families (3)
This course explores varying types of families in contemporary US society. Students will consider a range of studies of families that incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods, along with different study designs. Explorations of how researchers frame their understanding of families, develop research questions, and conceptualize families will shape this course. The ethical implications pertaining to studies of families—and human subject research more generally—will also be considered.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
SpringSOCI-282 Understanding High School (3)
This course explores the high school as a social institution in contemporary US society. Students will consider studies of the societal roles and purposes of high schools that incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods, along with different study designs. Explorations of how researchers frame their understanding of high school, develop research questions, and conceptualize high school will shape this course. The ethical implications pertaining to studies of high schools—and human subject research more generally—will also be considered.
Attributes: YLIBSOCI-283 Understanding Cities/Comm (3)
The course explores the role of cities and communities within contemporary US society. Students will consider a range of studies of cities and communities that incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods, along with different study designs. Explorations of how researchers frame their understanding of cities and communities, develop research questions, and conceptualize cities and communities will shape this course. The ethical implications pertaining to studies of cities and communities—and human subject research more generally—will also be considered.
Attributes: YLIBSOCI-285 Soc Research Design & Meth (3)
This course is designed for majors and minors in Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Sociology. It provides the methodological foundation for much of the course content in those programs. Completing this course will, therefore, prepare students to better understand the content of those courses and to further develop their own critical-analytical skills. There is an emphasis in this course on experimental and quasi-experimental research designs. These are the principle tools for establishing causal relationships for explaining specific outcomes, such as the impact of community policing on violent crime, the effectiveness of child protective services with immigrant families, or the impact of bail reform. The central goal in this course is for students to walk away with a general sense of how criminologists, criminal justice professionals, and sociologists test their beliefs and knowledge about general social phenomena, such as crime, criminal behavior, the criminal justice system.
Attributes: YLIB ZRESSOCI-307C Sociology of Law (3)
A systematic study of the role of formal and informal legal systems in creating, controlling, and sustaining deviance. The course focuses on changing legal systems in modern urban society and the role of law in a mass urban society. Emphasis is placed on such issues as: creation of deviance through legislation; the legislation of morality; unanticipated consequences of social control; legitimate and illegitimate power; and violence and social control.
Attributes: LEST YLIB
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D- OR SOCI-103 D-SOCI-314 US Race Relations (3)
Race remains one of the most influential social categories and controversial topics in US society today. For this reason, to understand US society it is necessary to seriously consider the role race and race relations. Students in “US Race Relations” will examine contemporary patterns of institutional racism and systematic inequality alongside interpersonal forms of discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes. The notion of race as a social construction will be emphasized and this will be placed in a broader sociohistorical context. The intersections of race with other forms of social inequities (for example, gender-based inequality) will also be considered.
Attributes: WGST YLIB
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D- OR SOCI-103 D-SOCI-315 Our Gendered World (3)
Gender is a major organizing factor across all societies. This course examines genders as social constructions, focusing on how notions of gender change over time and vary across societies. This contrasts with perspectives that frame gender as a fixed biological category. Students consider how gender inequalities take form through social patterns, and examine how hierarchical gender systems are reproduced via links between social structures and interpersonal experiences.
Typically offered:
Attributes: WGST YLIB
Spring
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D- OR SOCI-103 D-SOCI-322 Soc of Aging&Life Course (3)
This course offers an overview of some of the major issues and research findings relating to aging and the life course, especially as viewed by sociologists. However, because aging is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry, different aspects of aging from a larger social¬gerontological perspective will also be examined. The course situates aging in its social and cultural context addressing how the aging experience varies cross-culturally and depending upon an individual’s social location.
Attributes: HHHD YLIB ZCIVSOCI-330 Special Topics (3)
SOCI 330: Fall 2013 Topics
Section 01 Topic: Punishment Perspectives
In this class, the student will examine the sociology of punishment. This is an upper-level undergraduate course, and it is expected that students will read and critically examine both the classics in the field and current theoretical developments, in the United States and beyond. The student will be challenged to understand the socio-historical context of various theoretical developments and to compare and contrast perspectives. Emphasis also will be placed on identifying and critiquing the policy implications associated with punishment perspectives. At the same time, substantial coverage will be given to the system’s increasing reliance on community-based sanctions and release mechanisms. The administrative and operational elements of community sanctions and release mechanisms will be examined, as will the legal and treatment–oriented conditions associated with doing time in the community. Particular attention will be given to the latest developments in community-based sanctions and evaluation research relating to their effectiveness.Section 02
Attributes: YLIB
Spring 2013 Topic: Religion and Society
The purpose of this special topics course, Religion and Society, is to explore a variety of religious institutions, communities, practices and beliefs across society. The emphasis will be on contemporary developments and the ways in which religious communities have adapted themselves to modern life in an advanced capitalist society. Students will consider their own faith traditions in the context of other faith traditions.
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D- OR SOCI-103 D-SOCI-333 US Hlthcr & Compar Systems (3)
The US healthcare system is a product of the unique cultural, social, and political conditions we find in the United States. In this course students examine the US healthcare system in light of these specific conditions to learn not only what this system is but why the system is the way that it is. To better understand the origins of the US healthcare system, it is helpful to compare this with healthcare systems in other nations. The contrasting cultural, social, and political conditions in other nations illustrates the role of these conditions in shaping a healthcare system. Appreciation for this requires developing a discerning cultural and sociohistorical lens for interpreting different features of a healthcare system.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
FallSOCI-344 Soc Determ Hlth & Healthcr (3)
A basic premise of this course is that health needs and health outcomes at the individual, community, and population levels depend significantly on the social, economic, and environmental conditions under which people live and work. Students examine the critical connections between health outcomes and a range of factors such as poverty, illiteracy, health literacy, malnutrition, inadequate housing, and low-paid, unstable employment. A basic aim of this course is to consider such factors in relation to the incidence of infectious and chronic diseases with the goal of developing effective prevention strategies to promote healthy individuals and communities. Students in this course thus consider (a) how social, economic, and environmental conditions contribute to the spread of disease, (b) how societies contribute to the perpetuation of these conditions, and (c) what strategies and policies have proven effective in alleviating morbidity and mortality for populations living under these conditions.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
VariableSOCI-348 21st Century Cities (3)
An analysis of contemporary urban social problems. The course focuses on the value conflicts associated with policy decisions regarding education, housing, and other community services.
Attributes: YLIB
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D- OR SOCI-103 D-SOCI-381 Your Life Thru Film (3)
Your Life Thru Film introduces students to key theories and paradigms that continue to shape sociological analysis. From Marx, Weber, and Durkheim forward, these theories and paradigms frame social research and generate a range of influential perspectives for understanding and interpreting the social world. On the one hand, students will examine the concepts and detailed arguments underlying particular theoretical traditions. This will inform students about the unique contributions of key theorists and how sociological thought continues to evolve and develop. On the other hand, students will apply these concepts and arguments to particular social topics, such as the war on drugs, teen pregnancy, or US race relations. This will inform students about the practical uses of these theoretical traditions for guiding research and for linking the results of one’s research to a larger body of literature.
(This course was formally known as ‘Thinking Sociologically,’ students may only receive credit for this course once).
Attributes: YLIB
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D- OR SOCI-103 D-SOCI-385 Regulate Addicted/Impaired (3)
This course examines how society manages and regulates populations who are chemically dependent and populations who are mentally impaired. These populations are both marginalized in the U.S., though for very different reasons. Addicts are often blamed for their own condition and therefore treated as outcasts. The impaired, though not blamed for their condition, are seen as a burden and generally ignored and shunned, remaining at the margins of society. In addition, there remains the latent fear that any one of us could fall into the category of the impaired. The purpose of this course is to examine the life worlds of these two populations and to investigate how society regulates and disciplines such people through a variety of social institutions, prisons, hospitals, long-term care facilities, etc. Students will examine the origins of different forms of social control for the addicted and impaired and will consider contemporary options in this regard.
Attributes: YLIB
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D- OR SOCI-103 D-SOCI-388 Latino Healthcare Issues (3)
As the Latino population continues to grow in the U.S., an increasing number of community-based professionals (educators, social workers, health care providers) find themselves working in a variety of Latino community settings. Beyond Spanish language skills, developing cultural literacy represents a critical tool for effective interaction and communication. This course is designed to help students develop an appreciation for the dominant cultural traditions shaping the beliefs, values, and practices/customs of the many Latino communities and how different Latino communities vary from one another. Must have a minimum of one semester of Spanish to register.
Attributes: YLIBSOCI-411 Departmental Seminar (3)
A workshop environment is the context for this course in which both students and the instructor engage in study on a variety of topics. In recent years, the topic has been Social Movements with an emphasis on violent and nonviolent change.
Attributes: YLIB ZRES
Pre-requisites: SOCI-280C D-
Restrictions: Including: -Major: Sociology -Class: SeniorSOCI-419 Department Capstone (3)
The purpose of this course is to provide students in the Sociology major with a cumulative experience that requires them to analyze certain topics within the conceptual framework of the discipline.
Attributes: YLIB
Pre-requisites: -SOCI-475 Washington DC-Internship (6 TO 9)
Washington Experience semester is offered through The Washington Center.
Permission of the advisor, department chair, and TWC liaison (Dr. Monica Cherry) is required to register.Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall
Pre-requisites: SOCI-476 Y D-SOCI-476 Washington DC-Seminar (3 TO 6)
Washington Experience semester is offered through The Washington Center.
Permission of the advisor, department chair, and TWC liaison (Dr. Monica Cherry) is required to register.Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall
Pre-requisites: SOCI-477 Y D-SOCI-477 Washington DC-Forum (1 TO 3)
Washington Experience semester is offered through The Washington Center.
Permission of the advisor, department chair, and TWC liaison (Dr. Monica Cherry) is required to register.Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
FallSOCI-490 Sociology Internship (1 TO 6)
Field experience and independent study in public and private organizations.
Graded S/U.
Permission of the department chair is required to register.Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall, Spring & Summer
Restrictions: Including: -Major: Sociology -Class: Junior, SeniorSOCI-496 Independent Study (1 TO 6)
Independent study allows students and supervising faculty to work on a special topic or project of mutual interest. The course is intended to allow students to explore areas of study not regularly available.
Completion of the Independent Study/Tutorial Authorization form is required.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall, Spring & Summer
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D-SOCI-1003 Social Moments & Movements (3)
This course explores the origins, dynamics, and consequences of social movements from a sociological perspective. Social movements are expressions of dissent that advocate for certain social changes or policies. They have historically played an important role in promoting significant social change in the US, including civil rights, the rights of labor unions, and ending the Vietnam War. This course will explore social movements such as these to better understand their contributions to social and cultural change in the US.
Attributes: LC YLIB
Restrictions: Including: -Class: Freshman -Attribute: New Core 20-21SOCI-1026 Soc of Health & Healing (3)
This course examines health and healing from a critical sociological perspective, placing an emphasis on how macro-structural forces, such as how broader economic, health care and policy issues influence the health of individuals and groups in society. In particular, the course presents an overview of observed health disparities that are directly linked to an individual’s position within the social structure (race/ethnicity, nation, gender, class, age). In addition, this course also looks at the “micro” aspects of illness, such as the subjective dimension of the lived experience of illness, and an examination of health seeking behavior and the management of disease. Finally, it analyzes health care systems, the profession of medicine, “healing options” and bio-ethical issues.
Attributes: LC YLIB
Restrictions: Including: -Class: Freshman -Attribute: New Core 20-21SOCI-1199 Race and Policing (3)
This course examines contemporary issues in race and policing, with a focus on quantitative interpretations and analyses of these issues. To understand these issues students consider the unique pattern of US history and society. This includes a history of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and persistent patterns of racial inequality, as well as the role of a criminal justice system to maintain the social order. Any analysis of race and policing in the US however, is further complicated by a labyrinth of overlapping law enforcement jurisdictions – states, counties, cities, towns, and villages. It is hope that whatever perspective a student brings to issues of race and policing, this class helps her or him to better recognize other perspectives – and the importance of quantitative analysis – to more fully understand and respectfully consider these issues.
Attributes: DA YLIB
Restrictions: Including: -Class: Freshman, Sophomore -Attribute: New Core 20-21SOCI-2111 Aging and Life Courses (3)
In Citizenship and Civic Engagement courses, students will gain the knowledge, skills, and perspectives they need to become contributing citizens in a diverse and complex society. These experiences help ensure a commitment to collaboratively working across and within community contexts and structures to achieve civic aims in a democracy.
Aging is not simply a physical and biological phenomenon, it is also shaped by social processes at both the individual and societal level. This course is designed to provide students with an overview of some of the major concepts, theories, issues and research findings relating to aging and the life course, especially as viewed by sociologists. Additionally, the students will also learn about issues of aging by meeting regularly with elders in the surrounding community as part of the CEL component of the course.
Among the different topics examined in the course are: social and cultural dimensions of aging, stereotyping and ageism, important social policy issues relating to the elderly; and specific topics such as: demographic factors; aging and the family; aging, health and healthcare issues; diversity in the aging experience; intergenerational equity issues, and policy and politics of aging.
Attributes: CCE YLIB
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman, Senior -Attribute: New Core 20-21SOCI-2221 Reality & Documentary Film (3)
The documentary film is a popular tool for exploring and analyzing different aspects of society and the social world. This course examines both the advantages and limitations of documentary films as instruments for understanding society and capturing reality. Students consider three sociological frameworks of analysis, or modes of inquiry, and apply these to how documentary filmmakers attempt to understand and explain different aspects of society. Students then weigh the advantages and limitations of each framework, as an aspect of how we understand the reality of our social world through documentary films.
Typically offered:
Attributes: CIA YLIB
Spring
Restrictions: Including: -Attribute: New Core 20-21; Excluding: -Class: Freshman, SeniorSOCI-2222 Understanding High School (3)
High school represents an pivotal period of transition from childhood to early adulthood. Because of this and because it is an almost universally shared experience for adults in US society, there are many representations of high school in both popular media and academic scholarship. This includes documentaries, films, television shows, and ethnographies. Each type of representation has its advantages and its limitations for understanding high school in the US. Each is a partial account of certain aspects of what high school is and how people understand the high school experience. In combination, they provide frameworks, or modes of inquiry, for understanding high school. The purpose of this class is, therefore, to analyze each of these frameworks as modes of inquiry that produce different forms of knowledge regarding the nature of high school.
Course Description for all CIA courses: Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze issues, concepts, and artifacts in determining valid evidence, developing sound arguments, and making informed decisions. Students will engage in concrete problem-solving frameworks, including quantitative, scientific, and/or logical frameworks, critical reasoning, and information literacy.
Attributes: CIA YLIB
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman, SeniorSOCI-2311 DEI in Soc/Behav Sciences (3)
In this course, students will deploy various perspectives and concepts across the social sciences (e.g. Anthropology, Criminology, Sociology, Psychology) for the purpose of better understanding how diversity, equity and inclusion impact our society.
Typically offered:
Attributes: DEI YLIB
Variable
Restrictions: Including: -Attribute: New Core 20-21; Excluding: -Class: Freshman, SeniorSOCI-2323 Multicltr Ident & Conflict (3)
This course explores how the members of societies, cultures, and nations navigate the diversity of their identities, understand the goals of equity, and engage with one another for full inclusion. These three spheres – society, culture, and nation – are the principle arenas in which a diversity of communities compete for recognition, respect, resources, and power. Students explore how debates and conflicts over diversity, equity, and inclusion take shape in each of these arenas and how the lives of everyone are impacted by the consequences of these debates and conflicts.
Attributes: DEI YLIB
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman, SeniorSOCI-2325 Groups and Diversity (3)
In Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion courses, students will develop the understanding necessary to participate in a variety of diverse communities. Students will use these learning experiences to increase their self-awareness; that is, to understand and explore the cultural basis of their own values, beliefs, and priorities. The course asks students to work closely and productively with others, in order to recognize, understand, and address complex problems from a variety of perspectives. In applying these approaches, students develop the practice of successful collaboration, which includes self-awareness and an understanding of the relationship between individual initiative and the potential of working with different others (across disciplinary approaches and alongside disagreement).
Typically offered:
Attributes: DEI YLIB
Spring
Restrictions: Including: -Attribute: New Core 20-21; Excluding: -Class: Freshman, SeniorSOCI-2330 Society and Culture (3)
Racism is often a highly contentious notion. The purpose of this class is to understand what racism is, how racism
Attributes: DEI YLIB
works, and why racism persists from a variety of perspectives and through multiple methods of investigation. These
perspectives include interpersonal racism, systemic racism, intersectionality, and critical racism. Methods of
investigation include qualitative and quantitative techniques for operationalizing, observing, measuring, and
analyzing racism. While the primary focus of this class is contemporary US society, it is important to also consider
historical US racism and racism in other societies. Comparisons with the past and with other societies will allow us
to better understand which features of US racism are unique and which are shared by others. Ultimately, this
course has three aims. First, whatever a student’s personal perspective on racism may be, she or he will better
understand that perspective in comparison to other perspectives. Second, students will grasp the advantages and
disadvantages of different methods of investigation for understanding various aspects of racism. Third, students
will appreciate the complex ethical consequences of racism that make it such a highly contentious and divisive
notion.
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman, SeniorSOCI-2424 Death and Dying (3)
This course examines how individuals and societies respond to death, dying, and bereavement. Particular attention is given to the experience of people who have reached an advanced age, but the course more generally studies individuals whose functional abilities have severely declined and who are approaching death. Students analyze issues and controversies pertaining to old age, death, and dying within a framework for ethical decision-making that encompasses four ethical standards of reasoning. These are (1) a utilitarian approach, (2) a duties approach, (3) a rights approach, and (4) a justice/fairness approach. Among the topics and controversies addressed in this course are suicide, euthanasia, and end-of-life ethical debates along with how different institutions and professionals manage death and dying across different cultural settings.
Typically offered:
Attributes: ER YLIB
Fall
Restrictions: Including: -Attribute: New Core 20-21; Excluding: -Class: Freshman, SeniorSOCI-2425 Understanding Families (3)
This course explores varying types of families in contemporary US society and transnationally. Students will consider a range of studies of families that incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods, along with different study designs. Explorations of how researchers frame their understanding of families, develop research questions, and conceptualize families will shape this course. The ethical implications pertaining to studies of families—and human subject research more generally—will also be considered. In Ethical Reasoning courses, students will examine the moral aspects of situations specific to the coursework and participate in ethical reasoning and problem-solving to address them. In this process, students will develop an awareness of ethical perspectives and common ethical dilemmas, acquire knowledge of relevant values, ethical standards, and obligations, and apply different methods and approaches to decision-making that produce ethically justifiable results. Students will also reflect upon their own values and the significance of ethical reasoning for their personal, professional, and civic lives. The Ethical Reasoning Core Area addresses two of the All College Learning Outcomes (ACLOs): Ethical Reasoning and Integrative and Applied Learning. These outcomes are linked to specific student learning outcomes at the course level.
Attributes: ER YLIB
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman, SeniorSOCI-2484 Understanding Racism (3)
Racism is a highly contentious and divisive notion. The purpose of this class is to understand what racism is, how racism works, and why racism persists. For this, students explore a variety of perspectives and multiple methods of investigation. These perspectives include interpersonal racism, systemic racism, intersectionality, and critical race theory. Methods of investigation include qualitative and quantitative techniques for operationalizing, observing, measuring, and analyzing racism. While the focus of this class is contemporary US society, we also consider historical US racism and racism in other societies. Comparisons with the past and with other societies allows students to better understand which features of contemporary US racism are unique and which are shared by others.
Typically offered:
Attributes: ER YLIB
Spring
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: Freshman, Senior