Sociology

The goal of this course is to give students the tools to look analytically at something we all know very well: the family. We all have intimate experience with our own families, but we do not always see how social, economic, political, and cultural forces shape both our own families and families that are very different from our own.

What makes something “deviant” or “normal”? How do we know? Why do some people conform to what is expected while others violate norms? When you are labeled deviant, what impact does that have? This class will focus on these and other central questions in the sociology of deviant behavior. 

The major purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the field of criminology, the concept of crime, and the dilemmas modern criminologists face when they conduct research. Through this course, student learns to understand that criminology is a multi-disciplinary approach and there are no easy answers to crime causation and crime control. 

This course will focus on race and ethnicity from a sociological perspective and cover topics such as race and ethnic categories and identities, prejudice, discrimination, and multiculturalism, among many others. Based on scholarly research, this course gives students an understanding of race and ethnicity not only as groups but importantly also in relation to social processes that enhance or inhibit social equality. 

This course focuses on the ways in which collective behavior and social movements relate to sociocultural change. Students study patterns in group behavior that arise outside of conventional norms. Students also explore social movements and how people come together to try to promote social change. Students will think critically about issues involved in social movement emergence, recruitment, strategies, and outcomes.

This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts and some of the keys issues surrounding globalization and international development. The course will address various dimensions of globalization in the modern world, including politics, economics, social and cultural diversity, human rights and the environment, while examining some of the major debates surrounding globalization.

This course is about exploring health and illness from a sociological perspective. As such, students examine how health is more than a biological concept. Topics covered include health care delivery, alternative therapies, social epidemiology, and the lived experience of illness.
 

This course explores the world of film through the eyes of sociology. In this online course, students study films from the U.S. and other nations in relation to sociological research on the media. Students address the role of the media in people’s lives, examine the organization of film industries, and analyze representations of race/ethnicity, gender, crime, and more in these movies.

The social sciences are in the business of trying to figure out how the social world works. To this end, students in this course will conduct their own original research that includes formulating research questions, devising hypotheses and theories, designing studies, collecting and analyze data, and producing reports.