Sociology

This course will introduce students to the basic concepts and theories of sociology, as well as to the methods utilized in sociological research. The course will address how sociological concepts and theories can be utilized to analyze and interpret our social world, and how profoundly our society and the groups to which students belong influence them. Students will be given the opportunity to challenge their “taken for granted” or “common sense” understandings about society, social institutions, and social issues. Special attention will also be paid to the intimate connections between their personal lives and the larger structural features of social life. In addition, the implications of social inequalities, such as race/ethnicity, gender, and social class will be central to the course's examination of social life in the United States.

Students will learn to understand and apply criminological theories that are produced within the field of sociology. These theories focus on how social structures, social contexts and particular kinds of social relationships influence the social activity of crime at both the micro and macro levels. Students will understand and analyze a variety of topics also pertinent to the study of crime, such as divergent definitions of crime, various correlates of criminal activities, criminal trends, and other key topics within the field of criminology.

This course provides an overview of contemporary intimate relationships and families from sociological perspectives. We will examine intimate relationships and families as social constructions whose meanings have changed over time and from place to place. This course will aid students in developing a greater understanding of intimate relationships and families as institutions in contemporary U.S. society. Intersections of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and other factors within these institutions will be addressed.

This class will examine race and ethnicity as social constructs, including the history of race and ethnic relations in the United States and how and why these constructs continue to play such important roles in the lives of U.S. peoples today. This course will also explore how other types of social stratification, such as class, gender, nationality, and sexual orientation, intersect with race and ethnicity.

This course studies the nature, scope, and effects of social problems and their solutions. The course will concentrate on sociological perspectives, theories, and key concepts when investigating problems, such as inequality, poverty, racism, alienation, family life, sexuality, gender, urbanization, work, aging, crime, war and terrorism, environmental degradation, and mass media. This course is designed to build students' sociological understanding of how sociological approaches attempt to clarify various issues confronting contemporary life, as well as how sociologists view solutions to these problems.