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Sociology (SOC)

SOC 150  Principles of Sociology  

SOC 150 introduces students to the ways human groups cooperate and conflict with one another and the expected and unanticipated consequences of these relations in American society as well as in the worldwide community. The overarching goal of the course is to help students understand how individual human development is a group experience from infancy to old age, how the social world impacts their lives, and how they, in turn, affect the lives of others in this social world.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Fall, Spring  
How Offered: Face to Face  
ILO Met: Inst. Learning Objective 4  
SOC 151  Social Problems and Social Policy  

(Cross-listed with CRJ 151)
This course is an exploration of how social conflict and social organization affect human and societal well-being. Topics: mental health, personal safety, economic well-being, and intergroup relations in an industrial society and a developing nation.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
ILO Met: Inst. Learning Objective 4  
SOC 171  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 201  Social Problems & Policy  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 222  Penology  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 231  Love, Interpersonal Relationships, And Family  

This course examines the myths, trends, and the reasons behind these trends in the changing world of interpersonal relations. Topics include mate selection, marriage and its alternatives, parenting, parting by divorce or death, and trying again.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 233  Work and Occupations  

This course is an analysis of the social organization of work in modern societies, including the concept of career, the development of professionalization, the nature of work-satisfaction, and the impact of bureaucratization. Special attention is given to occupational subcultures such as law, medicine, public service, the military, and education.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 237  The City: Conflict and Change  

This course is a study of world cities; their growth and influence on personality; urban violence and its control; neighborhood development and metropolitan planning; and the effects of national and international economic forces on cities in developing and industrial nations.

Number of Credits: 3  
ILO Met: Inst. Learning Objective 4  
SOC 238  Environment and Society  

This course is an analysis of the human and social structural causes of modern environmental problems and a presentation of a systematic approach toward environmental protection reforms.

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 260  Men and Women in Contemporary Society  

This course explores male and female gender roles in the contemporary United States and in the world. An examination of socialization in childhood and adulthood, sexual politics, and power structures and dynamics within the family and the workplace. Special attention to the effects of class and race on gender role formation.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 262  Dynamics of Race and Ethnicity in Contemporary Societies  

This course is an analysis of the dynamics of race and ethnic relations and of the intersection of race, gender, and class in historical and contemporary contexts. An inquiry into the issues of pluralism and diversity in unity.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Fall  
How Offered: Face to Face  
ILO Met: Inst. Learning Objective 11  
SOC 263  Anthropology  

This course explores the spread of humans on earth; racial variations and their significance; cultures in less complex societies and industrial societies across the world; and the impact of these cultures and societies on one another.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 265  Sociology of Law  

This course analyzes the law as a social process in historical and comparative perspectives, in particular historical legal traditions such as the British common law, the Napoleonic code, and some other legal systems.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 270  Special Topics in Sociology  

These are courses designed to cover special or emerging interests in sociology. Topics have included: sociology of conflict, the Holocaust and its causes, computers and society, sociology of sports, and social gerontology. Special permission needed to be used to meet major requirements.

Number of Credits: 1-3  
SOC 271  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 272  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 273  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 274  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 275  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 276  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 277  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 278  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 301  Principles of Statistics  

This course introduces students to statistical analysis for social sci- ences: Presentation and interpretation of data, descriptive statistics, theory of probability and basic sampling distribution, statistical inference including principles of estimation and tests of hypotheses, introduction to correlation and regression, and first principles in the construction and critique of quantitative arguments for research questions in the social and behavioral sciences and public policy.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Fall  
How Offered: Face to Face  
ILO Met: Inst. Learning Objective 3.1b  
SOC 302  Statistical Analysis and Data Base Design  

In this course, students learn about the principles of data analysis using statistics, with emphasis on developing critical thinking skills and performing analyses on real data sets. After completing this course, students will be able to design and analyze basic statistical studies, to understand and criticize statistical methods in research projects and the media, and to appreciate the power and utility of statistical thinking. Examples and methods are drawn primarily from the behavioral, natural, and social sciences, and from public policy. The course will cover the following topics: database design, survey and experimental design, exploratory data analysis, and modeling.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Spring  
How Offered: Face to Face  
Prerequisites: SOC 301 or permission of instructor  
SOC 305  Society and The Individual  

This course is a study of the influence of society and culture, as mediated by the social group, on the social, cultural, and personal behavior of the individual.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 306  Complex Organizations in Contemporary Society  

A study of the founding, transformation, and disbanding of organizations, the pace of organizational evolution in modern societies as well as the sources of change and stability in contemporary organizations in the U.S. and in other societies, particularly organizational structures, processes, environments, culture, innovation, and effectiveness.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 308  Social Inequality in Contemporary Society  

This course analyzes the structure of social stratification and the impact of globalization and economic restructuring on structured inequality in the United States and in the world, using the structural perspective and the world system theory.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 309  Health, Healing, And Health Care  

This course provides an introduction to the sociology of health, healing and health care, and to social epidemiology. Examines the relationship between healthcare providers and their patients, with special attention to alternative health care providers and bioethics. Analyzes the health care systems in the United States and in some developed and developing countries.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 310  Sociological Theory  

This course is a study of the basics of contemporary sociological theory and its classical roots, with an emphasis on helping students apply theoretical thinking to everyday life events.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Fall  
How Offered: Face to Face  
Prerequisites: SOC 150  
SOC 312  Social Movements in Contemporary Society  

This course examines the dynamics of social change and of specific social movements, such as the environmental justice movement, the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the health movement, and others.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 320  Delinquency and Juvenile Justice  

Cross-listed with CRJ/SWK 320 (formerly CRJ 220)
This course addresses a comparative and historical survey of juvenile delinquency and juvenile justice. Study of the nature, magnitude, and social location of youth crime; analysis of causal theories; and overview of programs aimed at delinquency prevention and control.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 329  Gender and the Law  

Gender and the Law examines how Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act led to decades of litigation “because of sex,” starting with the first key cases in the early 1970s and tracing many precedent setting cases through the present day. These cases will have three broad themes: sex stereotyping, sexual harassment/retaliation and motherhood/pregnancy. The cases center on the workplace and were ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. A sociological lens will be used to put these cases in context of U.S. culture.

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 335  Mass Incarceration: Causes, Consequences, and Alternatives  

This course first explores and critically assesses the main explanations proposed for the rise and perpetuation of mass incarceration in the United States, including an increasingly punitive and retributive shift, the war on drugs, white supremacy and racial control, and privatization/profit motives. The course then examines the main consequences of mass incarceration for individuals, families, neighborhoods, and broader society. Understanding the causes and consequences of mass incarceration, the course concludes with an evaluation of various alternatives and reforms to mass incarceration.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Fall, Summer, Spring  
How Offered: Face to Face, Online  
SOC 340  Sociological Internship and Practice  

This elective course requires 15 hours per week (for three credits) of a supervised internship. Students may take an internship in place of a sociology elective, beginning the summer between sophomore and junior year. To receive 3 credits, the internship must be approved in advance by the internship director for the department. The department recommends that you take 4 regular classes and the internship will count as your 5th class that semester. Your grade is determined from a midterm question and answer, a final paper and your on-site supervisor's evaluation of your internship performance.

Number of Credits: 3-4  
How Offered: Face to Face  
Prerequisites: Rising junior or senior status, and minimum overall GPA of 2.7  
SOC 341  Sociological Practice II  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 345  Restorative Justice  

Restorative justice is a strategy that seeks to repair the harms done to those affected by a crime or conflict, including harmed parties (aka "victims"), responsible parties (aka "offenders"), and other community members. The course begins with a critical examination of how restorative theory and practice address the limitations of conventional justice system processing in the United States. The use of restorative justice in various contexts, including the criminal justice system as well as within correctional and educational settings, is also explored. Restorative justice's role in advancing racial, social, and gendered justice is evaluated, including an examination of how restorative models fit within other reform and abolitionist strategies.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Fall, Summer, Spring  
How Offered: Face to Face, Online  
SOC 350  Violence in Society  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 355  Drugs, Crime, and Justice  

(Cross-listed with CRJ 355)
This course is designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding of a variety of issues related to drug use, abuse, addiction, drug-related crime and drug control. The course begins with an examination of the effects of drugs on individuals and society, including prevalence rates, theories of addiction and the harms and benefits of use and abuse. The next unit assesses the relationship between criminal activity and drug use, abuse and criminalization. The final unit critically evaluates various drug control strategies, including supply reduction, demand reduction and possible alternatives.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 370  Special Topics in Sociology  

These are courses designed to cover special or emerging interests in sociology. Topics have included: sociology of conflict, the Holocaust and its causes, computers and society, sociology of sports, and social gerontology. Special permission needed to be used to meet major requirements.

Number of Credits: 1-3  
SOC 371  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 372  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 373  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 374  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 375  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 376  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 377  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 379  Special Topics  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 385  Theories of Deviance  

(Crosslisted with CRJ 385)
This course is an intensive analysis of contemporary theories of deviant behavior. Theories examined through seminar discussions of primary materials and critiqued by consideration of research findings. Social policy implications discussed and specific criminal justice programs considered in the light of these theories.

Number of Credits: 3  
How Offered: Face to Face  
SOC 387  Gender Crime & Justice  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 395  Ethical Issues-Policing & CRJ  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 416  Criminology  

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 444  Research in SOC I  

This course provides the student with an opportunity to do research with a faculty member. The student and the faculty member agree on the research project before the student registers for the course.

Number of Credits: 1-3  
SOC 445  Research in SOC II  

This course is a continuation of the 444 research course. It provides the student with an opportunity to continue to conduct research with a faculty member.

Number of Credits: 1-3  
SOC 470  Special Topics in Sociology  

These are courses designed to cover special or emerging interests in sociology. Topics have included: sociology of conflict, the Holocaust and its causes, computers and society, sociology of sports, and social gerontology. Special permission needed to be used to meet major requirements.

Number of Credits: 3  
SOC 480  Research Methods  

This course is an introduction to the social research processes, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Construction of a research proposal.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Fall  
How Offered: Face to Face  
Prerequisites: Taken concurrently with SOC 301  
SOC 481  Research Seminar  

The experience provides an opportunity to conduct original research in one area of social reality employing a research method of the student's choosing.

Number of Credits: 3  
When Offered: Spring  
How Offered: Face to Face  
Prerequisites: SOC 302 (or taken concurrently); SOC 480