Courses

SO 202 SOCIOLOGY OF THE BODY   3.0 Credit(s)
This course will explore sociological scholarship on a wide range of questions relating to the body, including representation, embodiment, social construction of the body, human reproduction, biotechnology, and virtual bodies. In doing this we will utilize both macro- and microsociological theories to examine the politicization of bodies as sites of discipline, regulation, normalization, empowerment, and agency.
Offered: As Needed Contact Department

SO 203 SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS   3.0 Credit(s)
Examines the sociological significance of sport on an individual, interactional, and institutional level.
Offered: As Needed Contact Department

SO 215 SOCIAL PSYCH:MACROPROCESSES   3.0 Credit(s)
Explores social and cultural forces that influence individual social interaction. Covers components of individual social behavior and interpersonal social behavior.
Offered: As Needed Contact Department

SO 216 CHANGING FAMILIES   3.0 Credit(s)
Examines family in terms of structure, roles, and functions. Emphasis is on understanding: family life cycles; the shift in perspective about the family; the conflict between family values and individual values; the interplay between individual families and the larger society; and the flexibility and diversity of the family as an institution.
Offered: As Needed Contact Department

SO 222 CONSUMER CULTURE   3.0 Credit(s)
This course explores the pervasive consumer culture and effects on identity, health, and social relationships.
Offered: As Needed Contact Department

SO 233 AGING IN AMERICA   3.0 Credit(s)
The aging of the American population is the subject of this course. Emphasis is placed on the imminent retirement of the "baby boomers" and its impact on the structures of society and future generations.
Offered: As Needed Contact Department

SO 234 SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH & HEALTHCARE   3.0 Credit(s)
Focuses on the social nature of illness in contemporary society, the changing healthcare system, and the ethical issues raised by advances in medical technology.
Offered: Spring Semester All Years

SO 236 JUVENILE DELINQUENCY   3.0 Credit(s)
This course focuses on sociological theory and research on juvenile delinquency in the U.S.
Offered: As Needed Contact Department

SO 237 DEVIANCE & SOCIAL CONTROL   3.0 Credit(s)
Explores the creation of deviance, the process of becoming deviant, and society's reactions to such issues as civil disorder, crime, mental illness, addiction, and sexual deviance.
Offered: Spring Semester All Years

SO 238 YOUTH AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY   3.0 Credit(s)
The course analyzes youth as a stage in life made both promising and problematic by contemporary social structure and culture. Attention is given to the origins and forms of youthful conformity and achievement as well as misconduct and crime, with an emphasis on how those issues differ by gender, social class, race/ethnicity, and variations in the organizations and social institutions that constitute the context of daily life for youth.
Offered: Fall Semester All Years

SO 239 DIVERSITY AND OPPRESSION IN CONTEMPORAR   3.0 Credit(s)
Emphasis is on human diversity. This course is designed to give students an understanding of the conditions that lead to minority emergence and the consequence of minority status; it fosters acceptance of diversity, cultural pluralism, and social change.
Offered: Fall & Spring Semesters All Years

SO 242 STATISTICS FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH   3.0 Credit(s)
This course shows how to use statistics for specific purposes in social research and how to interpret the results of statistical analysis.
Offered: As Needed Contact Department

SO 254 SOCIETY & ECONOMIC CHANGE   3.0 Credit(s)
Major socioeconomic developments in twenty-first-century capitalism (e.g., consumer culture, global labor market, media empires) are studied. The persistence of inequality and poverty, fragmentation of family and community, unhealthy constructions of selfimage, and other social problems are explained in terms of these developments.
Offered: Fall & Spring Semesters All Years

SO 258 SOCIETY & THE ENVIRONMENT   3.0 Credit(s)
This course 1.) examines how human activities contribute to environmental problems such as climate change, pollution, disappearance of natural habitat, decreasing biodiversity, diminishing natural resources, deforestation, erosion, and desertification; 2.) analyzes the impact of environmental degradation on human populations and human societies; and 3.) identifies those steps taken and yet to be taken to end degradation and restore environmental health. A project in which students take action in some group organization or community to make its impacts on the environment more positive is required.
Offered: As Needed Contact Department

SO 296 SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION   3.0 Credit(s)
This course focuses on education as a social institution and an agent of socialization. The formal organization of education, education and the family, education and social stratification, and education as a vehicle for examining and solving social problems are explored.
Offered: As Needed Contact Department