SOCI 101S 01 & 02 Introduction to Sociology
4 Credits
McEvoy, Alan
Pre-requisites: None
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 110C/S 1W & 2W Cultural Anthropology
4 Credits
Smith, Stephen
Pre-requisites: None
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 01 Urban Geography
4 Credits
Medvedkov, Olga
Pre-requisites: Minimum Math Placement 22, Permission of instructor
World urbanization has increased dramatically in the course of the 20th century. About 50% of the global population lives in cities now verses to 5% in the 1800s. Developed countries are 73% urbanized, with Europe and Russia facing shrinking population. Developing countries with large portion of their population in rural areas face an extremely fast rate of urbanization, and lead the world in number of mega-cities, often surrounded by shanty towns. What is the origin of urban growth and decline? What is the spatial organization of a settlement's network? What is the structure of the land use in North American cities, and how different it is from European, Russian, and Latin American, and Asian centers? All these questions require that cities be constantly rediscovered. The emphasis will be on American cities with their long standing inner-city/suburb dichotomy. A lecture/discussion format is anticipated. Field assignments connect theories to the real world. There will be two exams, one oral report, a final paper, and several field and computer assignments.
This course is on WebCT.
SOCI 201 1W Sport in Culture
4 Credits
Dawson, Steve
Pre-requisites: None
At a time of major political and economic change in the world, this course will examine the nature and role of international sport in the emerging global village. Students will seek to uncover the unique elements of sport in the United States and to explain its appearance in terms of the nation's dominate system of cultural values. Sport will be placed against the broader, sometimes contradictory, backdrop of American culture. As well as the United States, sport will be analyzed in the following cultures: Japan, China, the “New Europe” and former Eastern Bloc, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. A background in sociology and cultural studies would be beneficial, although not a requirement.
SOCI 245C 01 & 02 Gender and Society
4 Credits
Rowell, Katherine
Pre-requisites: None
This course introduces the student to the construction of gender categories, roles, and inequalities across cultures. Men and women are biological organisms embedded in complex cultural and personal histories that vary from society to society. We will begin with a discussion of whether or not gender is biologically or culturally constructed. We will then consider the ways in which sexuality (homosexuality, heterosexuality and bisexuality) is culturally and/or biologically constructed. We will look at the way that gender is constructed in societies which are egalitarian, move on to more complex hierarchical societies and end with a discussion of how gender is constructed in societies such as our own. We will utilize ethnographic, archaeological, linguistic, biographic, and biological data to explain the different worlds in which men and women must learn culturally specific gender behavior. One of the aims of the course will be to dissolve some of the stereotypes about other cultures' constructions of gender and sexuality and develop a more rich and sophisticated understanding of them and ourselves. Some of the topics of the course will include definitions of femininity and masculinity, marriage, kinship systems and how these shape men's and women's roles and relationships. Comparative cross-cultural methodologies will be employed to examine particular human traits across diverse societies in the world today and in the recent past.
SOCI 277 C/R 1W & 2W Islam and Islamic Societies
4 Credits
Pankhurst, Jerry
Pre-requisites: None
This course will provide a broad introduction to the religion of Islam, accompanied by an examination of the connections between Islam and the varied life of Muslim societies and of Muslim minority communities in non-Muslim societies. Given the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the West's military reprisals and subsequent reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, the ongoing struggle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the devastation of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia and elsewhere in the Indian Ocean basin, and other problem situations, knowledge of these issues has become of highest priority. We will seek to understand the complex sources of conflict in areas in which Islam is implicated in some way; we will also try to become acquainted with the rich cultural life of Muslims. We will consider Muslim societies all over the world, but, in support of the minor in Africana Studies, we will give a special emphasis to Islam in Africa and to African American Islam.
Course format: lecture/seminar, with much group discussion. Graded Requirements: A variety of writing exercises throughout the term, oral presentations, examinations and a term project. Students should expect one or more alternative class meetings during the evening to accommodate guest speakers. This course is Writing Intensive (W) and can be taken for either "C" or "R" credit in General Education.
SOCI 290S 01 & 02 Global Change
4 Credits
Nibert, David
Pre-requisites: None
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 301C East Asian Medical Systems
4 Credits
Smith, Stephen
Pre-requisites: None
This course is a survey of the medical concepts, practices and problems of East Asia. After introducing traditional East Asian medical concepts, the course will deal with the interaction of plural medical systems and social institutions in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, overseas Chinese communities, Japan and Korea. Consideration will be given to such issues as shamanism and magical healing, culture bound syndromes and therapies, native nutrition, alcoholism and drug dependency, and systems of health care delivery.
SOCI 360 1W Sociological Theory
4 Credits
Doubt, Keith
Pre-requisites: Soci majors only; non-majors need permission of department chair
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 1W Political Sociology
4 Credits
Pankhurst, Jerry
Pre-requisites: 1 Course (minimum 3 hrs.) in Sociology or permission of the instructor
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. Because the course will take place at the time of a major national election, we will try to keep up with developments and seek ways to apply our sociological perspective to the elections.
Course format: lecture/seminar, with much group discussion. Students should be prepared for one or more class activities related to the elections in the fall that may require meetings outside of regular class times. The course is writing intensive, and, therefore, work aimed at developing writing skills will be part of the course. There will be several writing assignments, the exams will be comprised mostly of essay writing, and a major research paper will be required. The research project will be presented to the class near the end of the semester.
SOCI 498 & 499 1W Senior Thesis &; Honor Thesis
4 Credits
Nibert, David
Pre-requisites: SOCI 307, Soci majors only, non-majors need permission of dept. chair
As part of the major in ociology, Wittenberg students are required to complete a senior thesis under the supervision of the "Senior Thesis Professor" and a "Primary Reader" who has a related scholarly interest. The thesis is seen as a capstone experience for majors in that it allows them both to explore research and analytical skills that they have learned earlier and to develop these skills with direct application. In addition, in the process of research and writing, the student develops new skills for the analysis that grow out of the first-hand research tasks. Finally, the thesis process allows the department to assess how well it is doing in preparing students for critical and creative thinking, and for professional or allied careers using their major.
The topic of thesis research is chosen in consultation between the student and the faculty. Hands-on empirical research is encouraged, using either available data sets or requiring the full initiation and carrying out of data gathering in the form of a survey, participant observation project, content analysis or other research method.
Complete drafts of senior theses are due at the end of the fall semester. However, revision tasks normally run into the beginning of spring semester.
All students are required to present their final research papers in a student conference format in late February. The Senior Thesis Presentations is one of the programs in the departmental colloquium series, so an audience made up of students, faculty, and local guests has an opportunity to hear about the studies carried out by the senior majors.
In addition, all sociology majors are strongly encouraged to present their thesis work at other undergraduate research conferences either on or off campus.
Outstanding and accomplished majors are encouraged to seek to earn department honors in Sociology by preparing a Senior Honors Thesis in place of the regular Senior Thesis. The honors thesis is more extensive and requires completion of a more complex and detailed research paper comparable to those found in journals in the discipline. When appropriate, you will be encouraged to submit your work for possible publication or presentation at a professional meeting such as that of the North Central Sociological Association or the American Sociological Association.
Students interested in completing an Honors Thesis in Sociology should consult with the Department Chairperson and the Senior Thesis Professor when completing enrollment procedures for Fall Semester.
