SOCI-SOCIOLOGY
SOCI 1110G. Introduction to Sociology
3 Credits (3)
This course will introduce students to the basic concepts and theories of sociology, as well as to the methods utilized in sociological research. The course will address how sociological concepts and theories can be utilized to analyze and interpret our social world, and how profoundly our society and the groups to which students belong influence them. Students will be given the opportunity to challenge their “takenforgranted” or “common sense” understandings about society, social institutions, and social issues. Special attention will also be paid to the intimate connections between their personal lives and the larger structural features of social life. In addition, the implications of social inequalities, such as race/ethnicity, gender, and social class will be central to the course’s examination of social life in the United States.
Learning Outcomes
- Define sociological perspectives and the contributions that sociological knowledge can bring to the social sciences.
- Understand the sociological imagination and explain the relationships between social structures, social forces and individuals.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply the perspectives of symbolic interactionist theory, conflict theory, and structural-functionalist theory to qualitative and/or quantitative data.
- Understand and explain intersectionality and the connections between race, class, gender, disability, sexual identity and other forms of structural inequality.
SOCI 2230. Sociology of Sexuality
3 Credits (3)
This course explores all aspects of human sexuality from a sociological perspective. Topics include, but are not limited to, sex work, intimate relationships, sexual response, political movements, power, and the social construction of sexuality. The course also considers how various social statuses such as ethnicity, gender, and social class intersect with sexuality.
Learning Outcomes
- Identify the central research questions, theories, and methodologies used in the study of human sexuality.
- Identify and describe biological, cultural, social, and psychological sexual behaviors and response across the lifespan.
- Identify and describe trends and changes that influence sexual attitudes and values in the U.S. and globally.
- Describe how sexuality is influenced by contextual factors, such as race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, disability, and nationality.
SOCI 2240. Sociology of Intimate Relationships and Family
3 Credits (3)
This course provides an overview of contemporary intimate relationships and families from sociological perspectives. We will examine intimate relationships and families as social constructions whose meanings have changed over time and from place to place. This course will aid students in developing a greater understanding of intimate relationships and families as institutions in contemporary U.S. society. Intersections of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and other factors within these institutions will be addressed. Community Colleges only. May be repeated up to 3 credits.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the sociological approaches to researching intimate relationships and families.
- Describe important sociological research findings concerning intimate relationships and families.
- Explain how intimate and familial relationships are affected by multiple intersecting inequalities and ongoing events in other social institutions.
SOCI 2261. Issues in Death and Dying
3 Credits (3)
Major personal and social issues related to the process of dying in our culture. Community Colleges only.
Learning Outcomes
- be able to understand the diversity of the death experience and the various options available in coping with death and bereavement as shown by the student’s participation in class discussions and field trips.
- better understand death and dying as social phenomena as shown by the student’s reaction papers.
- have taken an in-depth look at her or his own death with a researched paper. Comprehension will be shown by the student’s grade on the paper.
SOCI 2310G. Contemporary Social Problems
3 Credits (3)
This course studies the nature, scope, and effects of social problems and their solutions. The course will concentrate on sociological perspectives, theories, and key concepts when investigating problems, such as inequality, poverty, racism, alienation, family life, sexuality, gender, urbanization, work, aging, crime, war and terrorism, environmental degradation, and mass media. This course is designed to build students’ sociological understanding of how sociological approaches attempt to clarify various issues confronting contemporary life, as well as how sociologists view solutions to these problems.
Learning Outcomes
- Identify and explain major social problems in the United States, and how social problems become constructed as problems.
- Describe and analyze policy related solutions associated with social problems from various perspectives.
- Critically examine social problems through the use of sociological theories, methods, and empirical techniques.
- Identify connections, both national and global, between social problems and social inequalities (e.g., social class, race/ethnicity, and gender/sexuality).