Sociology
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Undergraduate Courses Offered

 

SOCY 100 Introduction to Sociology (3) The fundamental concepts and principles of sociology. Includes consideration of culture, patterns of social interaction, norms, values, social institutions, stratification, and social change.

SOCY 105 Introduction to Contemporary Social Problems (3) An examination of contemporary social problems through sociological perspectives; ways in which social problems are part of the organization of society; a detailed study of selected social problems including social conflict and social inequality.  

SOCY 201 Introductory Statistics for Sociology (4) Three hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisite:SOCY 100 and MATH 111 or equivalent. Not open to students who have completed BMGT 231, ENEE 324, or STAT 400. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AREC 484, BIOM 301, BMGT 230, CNEC 400, ECON 321, EDMS 451, GEOG 305, GVPT 422, PSYC 200, SOCY 201, URSP 350, or TEXT 400. Elementary descriptive and inferential statistics. Construction and percentaging of bivariate contingency tables; frequency distributions and graphic presentations; measures of central tendency and dispersion; parametric and nonparametric measures of association and correlation; regression; probability; hypothesis testing; the normal, binomial and chi-square distributions; point and interval estimates.  

SOCY 202 Introduction to Research Methods in Sociology (4) Prerequisite:SOCY 201. The underlying logic, major strategies, specific techniques and skills of sociological research. Research design, measurement, data collection, sampling, field research experiments, surveys, index and scale construction, data analysis, interpretation and report writing.  

SOCY 203 Sociological Theory (3) Prerequisite:SOCY 100. Development of the science of sociology; historical backgrounds; recent theories of society. Required of all sociology majors.  

SOCY 227 Introduction to the Study of Deviance (3) Credit will be granted for only one of the following: SOCY 227 or SOCY 327. Formerly SOCY 327. An introduction to the sociological study of deviant behavior, covering such topics as mental illness, sexual deviance, and the use of drugs.  

SOCY 230 Sociological Social Psychology (3) Theoretical perspectives and their applications. Socialization through the life course, the self-concept, attitudes, emotion, attribution, interpersonal relations, group processes, deviance, and social change.  

SOCY 241 Inequality in American Society (3) The dynamics of inequality: its social production, politics, future, and ideological bases. Utopian communities, efforts to eliminate inequality.  

SOCY 305 Scarcity and Modern Society (3) Prerequisite: 3 credits of sociology. Resource depletion and the deterioration of the environment. Relationship to lifestyles, individual consumer choices, cultural values, and institutional failures. Projection of the future course of American society on the basis of the analysis of scarcity, theories of social change, current trends, social movements, government actions, and the futurist literature.  

SOCY 325 The Sociology of Gender (3) Prerequisite: 3 credits of sociology. Also offered as WMST 325. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: SOCY 325 or WMST 325. Institutional bases of gender roles and gender inequality, cultural perspectives on gender, gender socialization, feminism, and gender-role change. Emphasis on contemporary American society.  

SOCY 380 Honors Independent Reading in Sociology (3) Prerequisite: permission of department. Formerly SOCY 378. This course permits sociology honor students to undertake a program or reading on a particular problem in sociology or a subfield therein. The reading will be done under the supervision of a member of the sociology faculty. Required of sociology honor students.

SOCY 381 Honors Independent Research in Sociology (3) Prerequisite: SOCY 380. Formerly SOCY 388. This course permits sociology students to define a particular problem in sociology or a subfield therein and to develop a research plan for use as a thesis topic. The work will be done under the supervision of a member of the sociology faculty.  

SOCY 383 Honors Thesis Research (3) Prerequisite: SOCY 381. Formerly SOCY 389. Student research under the direction of a member of the sociology faculty, culminating in the presentation and defense of a thesis reporting the research.  

SOCY 386 Experiential Learning (3-6) Prerequisite: permission of department. Junior standing. credits of sociology. Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs. Topics of special interest to both sociology majors and nonmajors.  

SOCY 399 Independent Study in Sociology (1-6) Prerequisite: 12 credits of sociology and permission of department. Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs. Integrated reading or research under the direction and supervision of a faculty member. A maximum of 6 credits may be earned by a student for the same field experience in SOCY 386 and SOCY 399 combined.  

SOCY 401 Intermediate Statistics for Sociologists (4) Three hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisite: SOCY 201 or equivalent or permission of department. Not open to students who have completed ENEE 324, BMGT 231, or STAT 400. Issues in the use of significance tests in sociology, one and two-way analysis of variance, elements of multiple regression and correlation, techniques for the analysis of nominal and ordinal data.  

SOCY 402 Intermediate Procedures For Data Collection (3) Prerequisite: SOCY 202 or equivalent or permission of department. An intermediate survey of the major research methods used by sociologists, including survey research, experimentation, observation, archival research, and in-depth interviewing. The selection of an appropriate research method, with analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of various methods, practical issues, data collection and preparation, and analytical techniques.  

SOCY 403 Intermediate Sociological Theory (3) Prerequisite: SOCY 203 or permission of department. Major theoretical approaches, including functionalism conflict, symbolic interactionism, and their implicit methods of logic illustrated by case studies. Original works of major theorists in historical perspective.  

SOCY 410 Social Demography (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Types of demographic analysis; demographic data; population characteristics; migration; mortality; fertility; population theories; world population growth; population policy.

SOCY 411 Demographic Techniques (3) Prerequisite: SOCY 201 or equivalent and SOCY 410 or permission of department. Basic techniques for analyzing population structure and demographic processes, including fertility, mortality and migration.

SOCY 412 Family Demography (3) Prerequisite: SOCY 410. Formerly SOCY 312. Family and population dynamics. Fertility issues, such as teenage pregnancy, the timing of parenthood, and family size; as they relate to family behavior, such as marital patterns, child care use, and work and the family. Policy issues that relate to demographic changes in the family.  

SOCY 424 Sociology of Race Relations (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits in sociology or permission of department. Analysis of race-related issues, with a primary focus on American society. The historical emergence, development, and institutionalization of racism; the impact of racism on its victims; and racially based conflict.  

SOCY 427 Deviant Behavior (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Current theories of the genesis and distribution of deviant behavior, and their implications for a general theory of deviant behavior. Definitions of deviance, labeling theory, secondary deviance.  

SOCY 430 Social Structure and Identity (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Theoretical issues in social psychology, focusing on social construction of identity. Identity formation and transformation in social process. Structural and cultural dimensions of social identity.  

SOCY 431 Principles of Organizations (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Structural and processual characteristics of organizations that make them effective for different purposes and in different environments. Effects of different institutional environments, small group processes, organizational networks, and leadership. Types of organizations studied include formal bureaucracies, professional organizations, and voluntary associations.

SOCY 432 Social Movements (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Movements that seek change in the social and political structure of society. Origins, tactics, organization, recruitment, and success. Case studies come from such movements as labor, civil rights, student, feminist, environmental, neighborhood, and gay rights.

SOCY 438 Research in Organizations and Institutions (3) Prerequisite: SOCY 202, 203, and one course in Organizations and Institutions. Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs. This is the special topics research course for Organizations and Institutions.

SOCY 440 Sociology of the Self-Concept (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. The nature of the self-concept and the social forces that mold it. Major sociological, psychological, and psycho-analytic theories of the self-concept. Self-concept motives, mechanisms of self-defense, and the nature of a healthy self-concept. Empirical research dealing with the bearing of social interaction, social structure, social context and social institutions on the self-concept.

SOCY 441 Social Stratification and Inequality (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Junior standing. The sociological study of social class, status, and power. Topics include theories of stratification, correlates of social position, functions and dysfunctions of social inequality, status inconsistency, and social mobility.

SOCY 442 The Family and Social Class (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Development of the family from preindustrial to contemporary period. Emphasis upon class differences in family functioning and the roles of husbands and wives. Changes in these roles from preindustrial to postindustrial period, and variations by race. Discussion of the emergence of dual-worker and dual-career families and the issues they face.

SOCY 443 The Family and Society (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Study of the family as a social institution; its biological and cultural foundations, historical development, changing structures, and functions, the interaction of marriage and parenthood, disorganizing and reorganizing factors in present-day trends.

SOCY 447 Small Group Analysis (3) Prerequisite: SOCY 201 or equivalent or permission of department. Analysis of small group structures and dynamics. Review of research on small groups in real life settings and in laboratories. Presentation of techniques used in small groups.

SOCY 450 Measurement of Time, Work, and Leisure (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. How Americans use time, with specific reference to work, housework, personal and free time activities. Time-use differences across methods, social groups and cultures. Subjective time. Implications for time management, societal quality of life, social policy, and theory.

SOCY 460 Sociology of Work (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Analysis of the American work world with special attention to the impact of social change and occupational conflicts on the individual worker. Professionalization, career patterns, problems of minority groups and the future of work.

SOCY 462 Women in the Military (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Cross-national analysis of past, present, and future trends in women’s roles in the military. Effects on women’s roles in armed forces of cultural forces, national security, technological change, demographic patterns, occupational structures, labor shortages, and considerations of efficiency and rationality.

SOCY 463 Sociology of Combat (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Sociological theories and concepts related to combat. Influence of historical events on relations between nations and between the military and society. Effects of U.S. social structure on actions in combat; effects of involvement in combat on social structure and on members of society. Cohesion and leadership in military units.

SOCY 464 Military Sociology (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Social change and the growth of military institutions. Complex formal military organizations. Military service as an occupation or profession. The sociology of military life. Relations between military institutions, civilian communities and society.

SOCY 465 The Sociology of War (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. The origin and development of armed forces as institutions, the social causes, operations and results of war as social conflict; the relations of peace and war and revolution in contemporary civilizations.

SOCY 467 Sociology of Education (3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Sociological analysis of educational institutions and their relation to society: goals and functions, the mechanisms of social control, and the impacts of stratification and social change. Study of the school as a formal organization, and the roles and subcultures of teachers and students.

SOCY 498W Selected Topics in Sociology: Sexuality (1-3) Prerequisite: six credits of sociology or permission of department. Examines how sexuality is constituted through social meanings, practices, relations, and institutions. Emphasis is placed on intersections of gender, race, class, age, and nation with sexuality. Select topics include sexual identities and communities; social movements; the social regulation of sexuality; sex education; science, medicine, and sexuality; sex work; sexual citizenship; and transnational sexualities.

SOCY 498 Selected Topics in Sociology (1-3) Prerequisite: 6 credits of sociology or permission of department. Repeatable to 6 credits. Topics of special interest to advanced undergraduates in sociology. Such courses will be offered in response to student request and faculty interest.  

**course descriptions per Undergraduate Catalog 2003-2004

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