Sociology (SOC) courses
SOC 150 Introduction to Society
General Education Course (Focus on Social and Behavioral Sciences).The study of society including its structure and operation from the perspective of sociology. The course focuses on ways society is constructed by people and, in turn, on the ways society shapes people. This general education course supplies students with a community as well as global, multicultural understanding of society.
SOC 152 Social Problems in the Community
Prerequisite: 12 hours.General Education Course (Focus on Public Issues).Sociological perspectives on contemporary social issues and problems in American society that are faced by today's communities. A public sociology focus is addressed in this course. This general education course will allow students to recognize the importance of contributing their knowledge and experiences to help resolve social problems in their own community and the broader society.
SOC 300 Service Learning Curricular Component
Prerequisite: 30 hours and concurrent registration in a Sociology course designated as service-learning offering.An integrative learning experience which addresses the practice of citizenship and promotes an awareness of and participation in public affairs by incorporating community service with classroom instruction. Includes 40 hours on-task service to a community organization, agency or public service provider. The community service placement agency and service assignment will vary, dependent on the disciplinary course topic and learning objectives. May be repeated.
SOC 301 Research Methodology
Methods of collecting and analyzing data including survey, interviewing and observation techniques, scaling and sampling designs.
SOC 302 Statistics for Social Research
A first course in statistics for students whose college and career paths require knowledge of the fundamentals of the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. Topics include the presentation of interpretation of univariate and bivariate data using graphical and numerical methods, probability, discrete and continuous probability distributions, linear regression, statistical inference, confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. Emphasis is placed on the development of statistical thinking and the use of technology. Cannot receive credit toward a degree for more than one of the following courses: AGR 330, IPE 381, MTH 340, PSY 200, QBA 237, REC 328, SOC 302.
SOC 309 Work, Industry, and Society
The industrialization of society and its impact on formal and informal organization, management philosophies, worker attitudes and labor relations. Current trends affecting the work place are examined.
SOC 310 Social Deviance
An historical survey of the explanations of deviant behavior. Emphasis will focus on the structure of norms and rules, their diversity, and their role in identifying deviance.
SOC 311 Sociology of Sexuality
This course studies a wide range of sexual phenomena from a sociological perspective. Sociologists know that sex does not happen in a vacuum. To the contrary, sex is tied up with history, culture, politics, and power. Though we like to believe that our sexual behavior is a private experience untouched by society, sexual desire and sexual activity are in fact structured by social interactions. We can see this in the way that sexuality, sexual practice, and sexual identity are not static concepts, but rather are fluid and different throughout time and space.
SOC 315 The Family
The family as a social institution; its adjustment to modern social conditions; personality adjustments in marriage.
SOC 316 Urban Sociology
The rise and development of urban settlements (cities), their ecology, problems, and an examination of urbanism as a way of life generated in cities.
SOC 318 Sociology of Intimate Relationships
This course will explore love, romance, desire, courtship, and intimate relationships in the modern world. Course will examine some of the cultural, structural, and historical conditions that shape one of the most profound sets of human experiences: those associated with love and relationships.
SOC 319 Environmental Sociology
This course examines the causes and consequences of environmental problems, environmental movements, impacts of technological change, environmental policy and the state, environmental values, attitudes, and behaviors. Specific topics will vary, but may include resource scarcity, toxics, overconsumption, agricultural production, and more.
SOC 320 Political Sociology
Introduces students to a sociological analysis of political organization forms and their relations with other elements of social life. Students examine the concept of power and the intersection of personality, social structure, and politics. The course also emphasizes how social inequality between groups (e.g. race, class, and gender, etc.) influences politics and elaborates major social trends affecting the political process including how various social forces work to change political policies.
SOC 325 Introduction to Sociological Theory
Prerequisite: SOC 150.A survey of the development of sociological theory with emphasis upon the social and historical influences shaping the thought of classical theorists.
SOC 332 Juvenile Delinquency
This course examines the topic of juvenile delinquency from a sociological perspective. Emphasis is placed on measuring and explaining the occurrence of delinquency in the United States. The course also takes a critical look at societal responses to the delinquency problem, including the juvenile justice system.
SOC 336 Race and Ethnicity
This course explores the social construction of race and ethnicity. Issues of differential power between racial and ethnic groups and the economic, political, and social structures which are utilized to maintain these power differences are identified. Social movements and social policies designed to address social inequality, prejudice and discrimination are also examined. Identical with AAS 336. Cannot receive credit for both SOC 336 and AAS 336.
SOC 337 Sociology of Gender
This course focuses on gender differences, patterns, and inequalities. It analyzes the social construction of gender, femininities and masculinities, gender socialization, and how gender intersects with race, class, and sexuality. Specific attention is paid to the significance of gender in interaction, culture, and social institutions, including work, politics, media, and the family.
SOC 341 Medical Sociology
An analysis of the ecological, sociopsychological and cultural aspects of health and illness, both physical and mental, and of the social organization of health care services and of health professions.
SOC 350 Violence and Society in Latin America
This course offers an interdisciplinary approach towards the understanding of violence and society in Latin America, allowing the students to develop an in-depth understanding of Latin American social history. Students will examine the issue of violence as the history, government, culture, values, language, nation, gender, race, and social inequalities within Latin American societies. The course will provide a broad understanding of the major elements in the development of Latin America over the past decades. Topics may include socioeconomic development, poverty and inequality, social movements, institutions, and social change. The course will demonstrate Latin America in a transnational context. Students are expected to be critically engaged throughout the course. Expert guest lecturers will also be invited to participate.
SOC 357 Sociology of Sport
Investigation and analysis of the relationship between sport and society; the development and changing nature of sport as an institution; role of sport in modern society.
SOC 360 The Individual in Society
This course explores how self understanding emerges in a social context and is inseparable from that context. It examines the symbolic basis of communication, traces the interdependency of self and other awareness, and probes the social organization of human experience.
SOC 375 Social Forces and Aging
Prerequisite: sophomore standing.This course examines the aging process, demographic trends, and the social, economic, and social-psychological aspects of aging in the United States. Students will be introduced to current theories on aging in social gerontology and their application to the everyday lives of older people. Topics of interest include social attitudes toward aging, family and social bonds, work and retirement, gender issues, ethnicity and aging, living environments, and approaches to aging well. Students will learn about the role of federal, state and local agencies in meeting the needs of the elderly. Identical with GER 375. Cannot receive credit for both GER 375 and SOC 375.
SOC 380 Sociology of Law
The interaction of law and society from a sociological perspective with emphasis upon legal institutions as instruments of social control. The impact of social values on the development of the legal order and the reciprocal influence of the law on social behavior.
SOC 384 Social Movements
The study of collective attempts to implement social change in society. Specific groups studied will vary, but may include the civil rights, feminist, political, religious, environmental and health movements.
SOC 390 Religion in Society
Examines the relationship between religion and its social context. Students will explore the social nature of individual religious institutions. The relationship between religion and modernity will be studied. The course will pay special attention to the role of religion in American society, as well as the religious dimensions of class, gender, region, and race/ethnicity. Identical with REL 390. Cannot receive credit for both SOC 390 and REL 390. May be taught concurrently with SOC 790. Cannot receive credit for both SOC 390 and SOC 790.
SOC 397 Special Topics
Selected topics of contemporary interest in Sociology. May be repeated to a total of 6 hours when the topic changes. Variable content course.
SOC 398 Public Sociology and Community Studies
Prerequisite: SOC 150 and Sociology major or minor.Explores how Public Sociology is practiced and connected to the local community. Provides conceptual tools for analyzing communities and creates a foundation for meaningful community engagement. Each section will apply sociological theories and methods to a specific community issue or problem.
SOC 403 Special Topics in Social Research
Prerequisite: SOC 301.This course provides instruction and applied experience in a particular research method such as: survey design, program evaluation, interview/focus groups, field method, quantitative analysis, etc. Variable content course. May be repeated to a total of six hours when the topic changes. No more than six hours may be applied to the Sociology major.
SOC 420 Social Inequality
Prerequisite: SOC 150.An analysis of the structure, sources, and consequences of social inequality and the dimensions along which it may be observed.
SOC 430 The Nonprofit Sector and Civil Society
This course is a broad exploration of the nonprofit organizational environment and how it relates to civil society. It explores the wide variety of organizations within the nonprofit sector, such as nonprofit and voluntary organizations, non-governmental organizations, philanthropic foundations, and civil society institutions. It reviews theories explaining the development of the nonprofit sector in relation to business and government. It combines a theoretical/conceptual approach with practical applications and local community examples. Nonprofits are explored at local (Springfield), national, and global levels.
SOC 450 Population, Society, and Public Policy
This course provides an introduction to the field of demography with an emphasis on demographic techniques, population processes of fertility, mortality, migration, and the impact of population change on society and public policy. Topics of interest will include analysis of population size, characteristics, and growth/decline; overpopulation and sustainability; population aging, cohorts, and generations; changes to the family (fertility, marriage, divorce, and cohabitation); myths and realities surrounding immigration; and the role of public policy in addressing population issues.
SOC 456 Food in Society
This course examines how procuring food impacts societal organization and is a catalyst for social change. The basic premise of this course is that understanding how a society feeds itself will reveal many sociological insights such as the distribution of wealth and power and the health of individuals and communities.
SOC 470 Practicum in Applied Sociological Research
Prerequisite: SOC 301 and SOC 302 and SOC 325 and permission of instructor.Group experience in designing and carrying out an applied community research project. Variable content course.
SOC 480 Health Inequities Across the Life Course
Prerequisite: SOC 150 or permission of instructor.Why are some social groups more susceptible to poorer health outcomes than others? In this course, we address this question by examining the extent of, patterns of, and reasons behind social inequities in health and wellbeing across the life span. This course draws on interdisciplinary perspectives including sociology, social epidemiology, psychology, health demography, feminist theory, critical studies, and health services research to provide an in-depth investigation of how health inequities across race/ethnicity, gender/sex, sexual identity, class and other social locations emerge and are perpetuated throughout time. The focus will largely center on social and structural determinants of health. Lastly, the course will focus on health policy, and the ways that health policy shapes priorities regarding actions taken to lessen health inequities across groups. Though the course will center on the U.S. context, we will also investigate health inequities across the globe, particularly as they compare to U.S. inequities. This course is ideal for anyone interested in research or applied careers in health and health care as well as those curious at how the social environment can influence one's health and wellbeing.
SOC 492 Leadership and Professional Development
Prerequisite: senior standing.All students majoring in Sociology are required to enroll in this course during their senior year. This course serves as the Public Affairs Capstone Experience for the Sociology major. The course has three focus areas: 1) career or graduate school preparation for upcoming graduates; 2) leadership concepts and applications; and 3) an individualized, community-based, applied experience in community service, career preparation, or research. In addition, students will complete several program-specific assessments of learning outcomes.
SOC 497 Special Topics
Prerequisite: 9 hours sociology and permission of instructor.Selected topics in substantive areas in sociology such as theory, methodology, social organization, social psychology, demography, criminology and family. Offered when resources and demand allow. May be repeated to a total of 6 hours when topic changes. Variable content course.
SOC 499 Internship in Applied Sociology
Prerequisite: 18 hours in Sociology and permission of instructor.Supervised work experience in business, industry, governmental, institutional and/or agency settings where sociological skills are utilized. One credit hour for each 35 clock hours on the job. No more than six hours internship credit may be applied to the Sociology major.
SOC 596 Directed Readings in Sociology
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.Readings designed to supplement material introduced in previous Sociology courses. Includes a wide selection from literature in the field. May be repeated to a total of 9 hours, but no more than 6 hours may be applied to the sociology major. May be taught concurrently with SOC 697. Cannot receive credit for both SOC 697 and SOC 596.
SOC 599 Sociological Research
Prerequisite: SOC 150 and SOC 301 and SOC 302 and SOC 325 and permission of instructor.Independent and/or group work in research methodology, data manipulation and presentation in selected fields of sociology. May be repeated to total of 9 hours.
SOC 697 Directed Readings in Sociology
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.Readings designed to supplement material introduced in previous Sociology courses. Includes a wide selection from literature in the field. May be repeated to a total of 9 hours, but no more than 6 hours may be applied to the sociology major. May be taught concurrently with SOC 596. Cannot receive credit for both SOC 596 and SOC 697.
