SOCI 101S 01 Introduction to Sociology
(4 Credits)
Staff
This course examines the cultural and structural patterns of human behavior. The content of this course focuses upon norms, social interaction, social organization, and social change. This course pays special attention to the characteristics of social institutions and how they shape human conduct.
SOCI 101S 02 & 03 Introduction to Sociology
(4 Credits)
Pankhurst, Jerry
This course serves as an introduction to the cultural and structural patterns of human behavior as seen through the sociological perspective. Course content, as presented through readings, lectures, exercises, films, and discussions, focuses upon norms, social interaction, social organization, and social change. We will explore socio-cultural differences in life styles through an analytical approach which views social behavior as the result of a complex integration of institutional affiliations (e.g., religious, family, educational, political, and economic). The course also introduces students to the discipline of sociology and to sociology as a profession. This section of Sociology 101 will have a lecture and discussion format. Grades are based on three examinations and several exercises.
SOCI 110C/S 01 Cultural Anthropology
(4 credits)
Smith, Stephen
This course is an introduction to the perspective of cultural anthropology. The course pays particular attention to the concept of culture and to the tremendous diversity of cultural patterns around the world. Topics include fieldwork as method and experience, institutions of society, and symbol and meaning. Students will read descriptions of societies from several different ethnographic areas, including the United States. We will end the term with a consideration of the role of anthropology and anthropologists in the world today.
SOCI 201 C/S/W Anthropology of Food
(4 credits)
Smith, Stephen
Food is more than just nutrition for the body, more than just a source of pleasure to the senses. Food is also rich with cultural meaning and the focus of much social action. This course is an anthropological inquiry into the place of food in diverse societies around the world. In keeping with the holistic, four field approach of American Cultural Anthropology, consideration will be given to geographic and biological constraints on diet, but the emphasis in this course is on the theorizing of foodways (including issues such as cooking techniques, table etiquette, and ceremonial food use) as logically consistent elements of larger sociocultural systems. Students may be required to pay additional lab fees for snack foods and field trips.
SOCI 210S 01 & 02 Sociology of the Family
Plante, Rebecca
What is happening to "the family"? Is this core social institution under attack, threatened, or in danger of extinction? How do we see other aspects of our social life, including work, intimacy, and parenting within the intimate world of American families? Using a variety of sources and texts (including media), we will explore families as an important aspect of social systems in the United States. In this context, we will look at socialization, sexualities, gender/race/class/ethnicity, intimacy, divisions of labor, work, children, and power. This course relies on student participation and lectures, and will enable students to become media-literate and sociologically adept. Assignments include short papers and exams.
SOCI 290S 01 & 02 Global Change
Nibert, David
Examination of the theories, processes, dynamics, and consequences of global change with respect to the emergence of global economic and political systems. Topics include the emergence of industrialization and colonialism, contemporary relationships of advance capitalist nations to the Third World, growing levels of poverty, hunger, repression, and continued environmental destruction.
SOCI 330S 01 Social Stratification
Nibert, David
This course will examine the causes and consequences of social inequality with emphasis on the institutionalization and ideological legitimization of oppression. Special attention will be given to the role of the state. While historical and cross-cultural examples will be examined, primary attention will be given to the existence of inequality in the U.S. Oppression by class, gender and race will be among the forms of inequality discussed. Current economic and political conditions will be examined for their bearing on social inequality.
SOCI 360 W Sociological Theory
Doubt, Keith
This course will survey the history of modern social thought and the establishment of sociology as an empirical science. We will focus on key theorists who have made substantial contributions toward defining the limits and character of sociological inquiry. We will compare and contrast competing conceptual paradigms (functionalism, conflict theory, critical theory, exchange theory, ethnomethodology, symbolic interaction, and phenomenology) and study recent significant developments within the field (rational choice theory, feminism, semiotics, and queer theory). The course will require intensive readings of challenging but rewarding texts. The course will also require clearly written and analytically astute papers. Two to three hours of outside preparation - involving reading, journal writing, and library research - are required for each class. (At least three semester hours in Sociology is a prerequisite. It is advisable that students taking this course have had several courses in sociology at the 200 and 300 level.)
SOCI 364 01/W Political Sociology
Pankhurst, Jerry
This course will introduce students to the sociological analysis of politics. As the basic social institution that manages power in a society, politics has always been one of the central interests of sociology, attracting the attention of classical theorists, as well as contemporary researchers. This course will cover both the theories -- of power, authority, legitimacy and politics -- and the research testing the theories. We will consider examples both from the United States and from a variety of other nations. It will also span the levels from micro- to macro-sociology. Major topical areas in the course include the following: sociological theories of politics; inter-institutional connections between politics and other institutions; individual and group political behavior (voting, political socialization, political movements, etc.); the state, its rise and its fall; varying cultural settings for politics; and the sociological dynamics of international politics. Course format: lecture/seminar, with much group discussion. Prerequisite: One sociology course of at least 3 sem. hrs. credit.
SOCI 370 01 & 02 Criminology
Staff
This course will emphasize explanations of criminal behavior, consequences of crime for victims and for society, types of juvenile and adult crime, and societal responses to crime. The strengths and limitations of the criminal justice system will be examined, and various approaches to corrections and to crime prevention will be considered.
SOCI 380 S 01/W Identity, Self and Society
Plante, Rebecca
What makes each of individual and unique while also social and collective? Socialization is the process through which individuals fare 'trained' for their societies and cultures. It's most obvious for children, but it occurs throughout life. Using a microsociological perspective, we'll investigate the limits of socialization, how people make their way in societies, and deviations from the norms. Topics will include the development of the social self, the role of appearance and beauty, and race, ethnicity, and gender as master statuses. The course will focus on the United States but will draw also draw on readings from psychology, philosophy, and anthropology.
SOCI 498 01/W Senior Thesis
Doubt, Keith
Comprehensive written project in collaboration with sociology faculty and an oral defense. Required of all Sociology majors. Prerequisites: Soci 307 (Methods); Soci 360 must be completed or taken concurrently.
