SOC 1006 Social Problems and Social Issues

This course explores and analyzes contemporary American social problems and social issues using sociological tools. The sociological perspective provides the overarching framework for analyses of social issues, along with the application of sociological theory and research. Topics may include aging, substance use and abuse, crime, violence, poverty, discrimination, health care, family, globalization, and environmental degradation. This course will be valuable to students pursuing graduate work and careers in sociology, law, medicine and health care, and social services. The content may also prove useful for MCAT, LSAT, and GRE preparations. No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring, Summer

SOC 1100 First-Year Seminar: Beyond the Melting Pot: Life in Immigrant America

This course uses a sociological lens to explore contemporary immigration to the United States. The more than 43 million immigrants living in the United States today come from across the globe. Their reasons for migrating to the United States are complex, as are the laws, policies, and social structures they must navigate before and after their arrival. In the first half of the course, students will get to know Mexican immigrants who split their lives between Brooklyn and their small hometown in Mexico, fourth-generation Chinese Americans who are still asked, Where are you from?, and West Indian immigrants forced to confront a U.S. racial order where they are defined by their Blackness. In the second half of the course, students will learn about Iranian-American youth navigating life in post- 9/11 America and the challenges of becoming a young adult when one learns that they lack any legal status. Who are these immigrants? Why and how did they come here? How well are they and their children integrating into American society? Readings will be drawn from sociological research that opens windows into the lives of immigrants in America. Students will also conduct their own hands-on research to better understand life in immigrant America. This course is open to first-year students only. No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC, SC BU: BA, IS EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 1130 Introduction to Race

This course serves as an introduction to the analytic category race. Students will be exposed to major theories concepts, processes, frameworks, and scholars of race. They will develop the skills and language to critically examine and discuss race, with emphasis on how conceptions of race and collective identity have deep historical roots and have changed over time. This course takes the position that race-like gender, class and sexuality-is socially constructed. That said, while race is socially constructed, this course also emphasizes that racialization and racial categories have social, political, and economic consequences in people's everyday lives. Meaning the socially and historically constructed category of race has real implications for people and communities. Ultimately, the purpose of the course is to teach students to read, think and write critically about one of today's most contentious topics-race-by exposing them to readings and other course materials that consider race and the process of racialization in specific contexts and time periods throughout the world.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, HUM EN: H

SOC 2010 The Roots of Ferguson: Understanding Racial Inequality in the Contemporary U.S.

This course provides an overview of sociological understandings of race, with a particular focus on race relations in the contemporary United States. The course begins by inquiring how sociologists understand racial distinctions, asking: What comprises a racial group? What constitutes a group in the social sense? The course then shifts to explore patterns of racial inequality in the U.S., particularly through investigating the intersections of economic, political, and racial stratification. After analyzing national trends in racial stratification, the course narrows its focus to particular regions and metropolitan areas, including St. Louis, to shed light on pressing public concerns such as the interrelationships between race and the criminal justice system. The course ends by looking beyond U.S. borders to compare the way that race is understood in other countries. Are there common patterns of racial classification shared by many societies? What makes the U.S. system of racial stratification distinctive? No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 2020 Order and Change in Society

This course identifies and analyzes processes that create social order and forces that generate social change. What kinds of structures make social life coherent so that people can navigate a wide range of social settings? How do societies sometimes mobilize to alter the status quo, and what kinds of barriers limit those efforts to change social systems? This course engages with such core issues through a sociological lens. Specific topics include: the emergence of social roles and status systems; how social networks matter in communities, schools, and other groups; and the performance, reproduction, and, subversion of privilege and inequality. No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring, Summer

SOC 2030 Social Movements

Social movements are collective efforts to produce political, economic, and/or cultural change. This course draws on a range of historical and contemporary case studies to analyze such collective actions by interrogating distinctive aspects of movements and their associated campaigns. Key questions include: when and where do movements occur, who participates and why, how do protest strategies and tactics develop, how do police and other movement targets react to challenges to the status quo, and how can we assess the direct and indirect impacts of contention? No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 2040 Social Inequality in America

Americans face different challenges and opportunities that depend on a variety of characteristics, including race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. This class examines these intersecting categories from a sociological perspective - not simply as ways to classify people, but as social constructions that help to explain social inequality. Students will examine these systems in a variety of institutional contexts, such as popular culture, family life, education, the criminal justice system, and the labor force. No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 2050 Inequality By Design: Understanding Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities

This course critically examines health status and health care disparities among racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States. The course will utilize sociological, demographic, epidemiological, and psychological concepts to introduce students to racial/ethnic health disparities research. Students will be exposed to the descriptive demography and epidemiology of health indicators across population groups, as well as to the theories used to understand and explain racial/ethnic health disparities. In particular, the course will examine the ways in which multiple forms of interpersonal and institutional discrimination, neighborhood and community factors, and inequalities in socioeconomic status influence health behaviors, access to health care services, and health status outcomes across racial/ethnic groups. Concepts such as acculturation, patient preferences, provider congruence and cultural competence will also be explored in this course. Finally, students will be challenged to use the theories and frameworks introduced in this course to develop and present policy approaches to address racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care in the United States. No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 2060 Punishment and Inequality

This course examines the institutions and policies that shape punishment in the United States, with a particular focus on mass incarceration. The U.S. incarceration rate has more than quadrupled since the early 1970s. In this course, students examine how the United States became the world's leader in incarceration and how racial and class disparities in imprisonment became so large. The course next investigates the consequences of incarceration, both in terms of its high rates and intense social concentration. The course concludes by assessing recent attempts to reform the criminal justice system. No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall

SOC 2070 Families and Social Inequality

Families have changed dramatically in recent decades in the United States. Dual-earner families, single parents, cohabiting families, and blended families are now common in the contemporary family landscape. The prevalence of increasingly diverse and complex family configurations varies substantially by social class, race and ethnicity, and gender. Men's and women's work and family lives have also become more similar over time, but gender inequalities in child care remain significant. Drawing on insights from sociology, demography, and economics, this course aims to understand the causes and consequences of social inequalities in family life. The course focuses primarily on the contemporary U.S. context, but also explores historical and cross-national variation in families. The course also considers the role of social policy in affecting inequalities. No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 2091 Media, Culture, and Society

This introductory level course will focus on the critical analysis of media at both structural and interactional levels. The course will approach critical questions about media as a social institution, such as how media is socially constructed and, relatedly, how media shapes the social world. Core themes students will consider include critical media theory, representation in media, consumption of media, and action/engagement with social issues concerning media. Along these themes, the course will consider key concepts such as race, gender, class, sexuality, nation, language, law/justice, generation, space/place, and social change. The course will use an intersectional, social justice framework to discern how media reflects, commodifies, oppresses, liberates, and constructs social life. This course will be an accessible entry point for students who are new to sociology as a discipline. No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC EN: S

Typical periods offered: Spring, Summer

SOC 2500 Topics in Sociology

This course acts as an introductory-level seminar that provides in-depth explorations of sociological concepts, methods, or perspectives. Topics of study vary. No prerequisite.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC

Typical periods offered: Fall

SOC 2996 Sociology Elective - 200 Level

Course used for transfer units to denote Sociology elective

Credit 3 units. EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring, Summer

SOC 3000 Social Theory

This course provides an overview of major theoretical frameworks used by sociologists to understand social behavior and group patterns. This course explores classical theories, including those developed by Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, along with contemporary perspectives such as functionalist, interactionist, and conflict theories. Class discussions and writing assignments emphasize students' application of theory to understand current social experiences and structures. The course has no specific prerequisites, but students should be prepared for intensive study of challenging ideas and the application of these ideas in new contexts relevant to modern society. This course counts toward the program's Theory component which Sociology majors and minors must complete to fulfill degree requirements.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3003 Black Feminist Theory

What makes Black feminist theory unique? Whose theorizing is considered theory worthy of canonizing? What are the different strands of Black feminist thought ? What has Black feminist thought contributed to academic and popular culture? Through engaging with primary text and producing their own text, students in this seminar will develop answers to these questions through exploration of (contemporary) Black feminist thought. The course has no specific prerequisites, but students should be prepared for intensive study of challenging ideas and the application of these ideas in new contexts relevant to modern society. This course counts toward the program's Theory component which Sociology majors and minors must complete to fulfill degree requirements.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall

SOC 3030 Introduction to Research Methods

This course offers an overview of research methods commonly used to investigate sociological phenomena, including experiments, surveys, ethnographic field research, and analysis of existing data. The course explores general issues in sociological research, such as research design, conceptualization and measurement, reliability, validity, sampling, and ethical conduct. Students will also review applications of research methods in specific sociological studies and analyze how research results are communicated. This is a core course within the Sociology program and is required of all Sociology majors; Sociology minors are encouraged to take this course to fulfill their Methods requirement within their course of study. The course has no specific prerequisites, but some familiarity with sociological analysis is recommended.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3040 Statistics for Sociology

This course acts as an introduction to descriptive and inferential statistical techniques used in sociological research. Topics addressed include: probability distributions, data presentation and visualization, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and linear regression. Students will learn to design and evaluate statistical analysis drawn from sociological research and other social science data sources, such as polling and economic data. Students will use statistical software to complete lab assignments. This is a core course within the Sociology program and is required of all majors; Sociology minors are encouraged to take this course to fulfill the Methods requirement within their course of study. The course has no specific prerequisites, but some familiarity with sociological analysis is recommended.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: NSM, AN Art: NSM

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3100 The Social Construction of Race

This course examines race, ethnicity, and racism from a sociological perspective to understand race as a socially-constructed phenomenon manifested in a wide range of social institutions. The course focuses on how race and racism impact contemporary social problems and public policy issues including immigration, affirmative action, education, media representation, and work. Students will learn to apply sociological analysis to understand current race-related events. This course has no specific prerequisites, but completion of an introductory Sociology course is recommended prior to enrollment.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3110 The New Inequality

This course explores recent trends of economic inequality in the United States that have reached levels not seen since before the Great Depression. Students will examine factors that account for the decades-long increase in economic disparities, paying particular attention to patterns in educational attainment, political developments, and the role of technological change. Students will also compare recent movements in economic inequality and macroeconomic performance in the U.S. to other advanced industrialized nations. This course has no specific prerequisites but successful completion of an introductory Sociology course is recommended prior to enrollment.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, WI Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3120 Getting Paid: A Sociological Investigation of Wages and Salaries

A Burger King worker in the United States today performs the same duties and requires the same skills as a Burger King worker in Denmark. However, the worker in Denmark earns two-and-a-half times as much money. Why? A full-time construction worker in the United States today earns $10,000 less per year (adjusted for inflation) than a worker with the same job in 1973. Construction work cannot be shipped overseas, so why the decline? What determines one's pay? Are people paid fairly? How might one know? This course seeks to answer these questions. Students will draw on a range of comparative, historical, and contemporary case studies to explore changes in the ways in which American workers get paid. Key areas of focus include: employer strategies to prevent workers from realizing their market value, the role Wall St. plays in influencing pay, and ongoing efforts to measure and reward individual productivity. The ultimate goal of the course is to upend students' taken-for-granted assumptions about pay-setting, and to provide students with a richer and more complex understanding of the contemporary world of wage and salary determination. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC Art: SSC BU: ETH EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3130 Sociology of Work

This course acts as an overview of the sociological understandings of work, and in particular, how work reduces or replicates inequality. This course will cover classic and contemporary sociological theories of work; how work in the U.S. has changed over time; and how workers are matched to good and bad jobs. Threaded through the course is the exploration of barriers to racial, gender, and class to inclusion and advancement at work. Students will explore how organizational structures, policies, and practices can increase or decrease those barriers. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

SOC 3140 Social Conflict

This course is a comparative and historical examination of conflict between social groups, including groups defined by race, ethnicity, and class. Course readings will combine classical and contemporary perspectives on collective conflict with in-depth analyses of historical and contemporary episodes. The course will discuss the various ways in which conflicts can manifest, including: the formation and hardening of divisive attitudes; discriminatory lawmaking and criminal justice practices; riots and collective violence; residential segregation; and sustained social movement activity. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3150 Sociology of Immigration

This course reviews theoretical and empirical research on how and why people migrate across international borders, and the consequences of international migration for immigrants and natives in the United States. While immigration is one of the most controversial issues in the contemporary United States, these contentious debates are not new. Americans once voiced the same concerns about the economic and social impact of Southern and Eastern European immigrants that today are aimed at immigrants from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. In this course, students will compare historical (1880-1920) and contemporary (1965-present) waves of immigration to the United States. In this, students will explore why and how people migrate; immigrant integration; the impact of immigration on native-born Americans; and how government policies - at the national, state, and local level - shape immigrant assimilation and what it means to be considered truly American in a social as well as a legal sense. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3170 Poverty and the New American City

This course explores structural changes that are transforming the American urban landscape, especially for low-income populations. The course begins with a review of classic theories of urban poverty and consider their relevance in the modern context. Students will then analyze key political, economic, demographic, and geographic shifts in how urban poverty is organized and reproduced, including gentrification, immigration, social policy reform, and the credit crisis. Special attention will be devoted to exploring the social and political implications of changing urban policy approaches, as well as the suburbanization of poverty. The course will conclude by discussing how urban poverty interfaces with broader social structures, including law, markets, and the state. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory sociology course or consent of the instructor.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall

SOC 3180 Philanthropy Lab

This experiential course is designed to give students a theoretical and practical understanding of philanthropy. Students will apply their skills and grant up to $50,000 in funding to local non-profits. The course will delve into the sociological and historical roots of philanthropy in the United States, including the origins of philanthropic dollars and their utilization. It will also explore the government's role in funding nonprofits and new philanthropic tools, such as donor-advised funds. The course will examine philanthropy's role in addressing social issues and the growing interest in and need for advocacy among institutional givers, providing a thorough knowledge of the field. This course has no specific prerequisites, but some familiarity with sociological analysis is recommended.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3190 Gender in Society

This course acts as an introduction to the sociological study of gender. The primary focus of the course will be on U.S. society, but the course will also discuss gender in an international context. From the moment of birth, boys and girls are treated differently. Gender structures the experiences of people in all major social institutions, including the family, the workplace, and schools. Students will explore how gender impacts lives and life chances. The central themes of the course are historical changes in gender beliefs and practices; socialization practices that reproduce gender identities; how race/ethnicity, class, and sexuality shape the experience of gender; and the relationship between gender, power, and social inequality. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3201 Deviance and Society

In sociology, deviance is the term used to describe actions or identities that differ from group norms. It encompasses everything from serious crimes (e.g. murder) to non-criminal, but frowned upon, behavior (e.g. talking loudly at the movies). Why do certain actions and identities become labeled as deviant and others do not? In what ways do societal conceptions of deviance change over time? How do people labeled as deviant manage their deviant identities and deal with any associated stigma? In this course, students will think about and explore how sociology and related disciplines have approached the study of social deviance and consider what can be learned about societies by looking at the way they construct deviant identities and acts. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC

Typical periods offered: Fall

SOC 3290 Sociology of Religion

Global conflicts, raising children, electing presidents, praying for a loved one: from the mundane to the extraordinary, religion plays a significant role in social life, regardless of whether or not one considers oneself religious. In this course students will investigate religion and its impacts in society from a sociological perspective. Questions the course will ask include: How does religion fit into society? What are the contours of contemporary religion in the United States and around the world? How do religious identities interact with other aspects of social life, including gender, race and politics? In what ways have religions and religious life changed over time? As social scientists, how can we best study religion? The course will use examples from a variety of religious and secular traditions to help students understand religion's sociological significance in the contemporary world.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3512 Topics in Sociology

An intermediate- to advanced-level seminar focused upon various topics and subject areas within - and adjacent to - the field of Sociology. Themes and content of course will vary by offering and instructor. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.

Credit 3 units.

SOC 3810 Film and the City

What makes a city a city? Is there something unique about urban life, in comparison to the way life is lived in rural areas and small towns? Only recently has over half of the world's population started to live in urban centers. What issues, if any, might have arisen from this development? In this course, students will think about and explore how sociology and related disciplines have approached the study of cities. Students will read classic and contemporary theorists on urban life and consider how cities shape the human experience. Then, they will apply what they learn to consider the city as portrayed in film. Movies will become the lab where students grapple with the good, the bad, the ugly, and also the beauty of cities. This course has no specific prerequisites, but completion of an introductory Sociology course is recommended prior to enrollment.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 3996 Sociology Elective

Credit 0 units. EN: S

SOC 4000 Advanced Topics in Sociology

This course is an upper-level seminar course providing in-depth explorations of sociological concepts, methods, or perspectives intended for advanced Sociology majors or minors and graduate students. Topics of study vary. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. BU: BA

Typical periods offered: Spring

SOC 4010 Applied Sociological Research

This couse is an advanced seminar that aims to connect sociological reasoning with practical data analysis. Course instructors will select current issues in contemporary sociology and identify relevant data that students will use to explore a range of related research questions. The course develops computational and statistical skills in order to put sociological ideas into practice by learning to analyze and evaluate data, in addition to presenting study results in ways that communicate one's research findings effectively. Topics and subject areas covered will vary by offering and instructor. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Completion of - or concurrent enrollment in - Introduction to Research Methods (SOC 3030) and/or an introductory statistics course (SOC 3050 or equivalent) is strongly encouraged. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: NSM Art: NSM

Typical periods offered: Spring

SOC 4011 Childhood and Society

This discussion-based course will focus on the social context and critical analysis of childhood as a social construct and as a valuable site of sociological research, social inquiry, and social action. The course will discuss critical questions about how social inequalities and social institutions shape life chances and outcomes from early childhood through young adulthood. The breadth of the analytic framing of this course will range from the prenatal context and birth to early childhood, school age, pre-teen and teen stages and will also importantly consider how the social transition to adulthood is both socially constructed and has concrete impacts and outcomes. Students will consider intersections of inequality and childhood including but not limited to economic inequalities, race, gender, sexuality, education, criminal justice, health, disability, immigration, media, environment, and social change as the course highlights an intersectional lens. Students focus on an applied sociological perspective of childhood and will emphasize social action and social change. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC EN: S

SOC 4017 Healing and Social Justice

What makes activism sustainable and accessible? Not just ideologically or politically, but physically, emotionally, and some would ask, spiritually? How do actors in social justice movements enact care for movement survival? Conversely, when might care serve to depoliticize or otherwise undermine political action? How do race, gender, sexuality, class and other aspects of identity shape the ways we approach these questions? Including the contested topics of burnout and self-care, questions of movement survival and activist sustainability touch on Marxist, Black, and Disabled feminisms, queer theory, the sociology of health and illness, critical theory, and other theoretical lineages. This course takes as its starting points Sarah Ahmed's concept of feminist killjoy survival kits, Black feminist epistemology, adrienne marie brown's Pleasure Activism, and the sociology of lay health experiences. Ultimately, this course will analyze, theorize, and critique care in activism and social movements. At the same time, it will create space to discern what our own visions of sustainable, politically committed wellbeing look like.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC BU: BA, HUM

SOC 4111 Sick Society: Social Determinants of Health and Health Disparities in the United States

Improving the health of the U.S. population and reducing disparities in health are national priorities. To reach these goals, much research has sought to determine the factors that influence health status beyond health care quality and access. This course explores the broad area of study termed the social determinants of health while placing special emphasis on the exploration of health disparities in the United States. The course will examine the social conditions that relate to the health of populations, paying particular attention to how patterns of health vary by social class, race/ethnicity, and gender. The course will also consider mechanisms that produce and maintain these differences. In addition to sociology, students will draw upon the work of multiple disciplines, including public health, demography, anthropology, public policy, economics, and medicine to understand what makes our populations sick and what might make them better. The class will be taught through an active learning approach, with class discussions, small group work, presentations, and critical writing assignments being central to the learning process. Student participation through reading and discussions is essential for both the success of the class and individual student learning. While this course has no specific prerequisites, some familiarity with sociologicla analysis is strongly recommended. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Spring

SOC 4120 Migration and Health

This course explores the complex relationship between migration and health, with a focus on immigrant health in the United States. Topics include the immigrant health paradox, the impact of immigration enforcement on health and health behavior, access to health care, the health effects of migration on those left behind, and refugee health. Throughout the course, students will pay particular attention to the diverse mechanisms through which immigration and immigration status affect health. In addition to sociology, students will draw on scholarship from the fields of anthropology, demography, medicine, public health, and public policy. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

Typical periods offered: Spring

SOC 4130 Race, Ethnicity, and Migration

This course will explore theoretical and empirical analyses of race, ethnicity and migration through a sociological lens, focusing on children of immigrants and later-generation descendants of migrants in the United States. Students will compare the experiences and outcomes of various racial and ethnic groups, including whites/Europeans, Blacks/African-Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, and Asians, investigating how migration processes and patterns shape racial/ethnic group formations and inequalities. Examples of specific topics related to these issues include: assimilation; ethnic and racial identities; multiraciality; language; legality; intergroup relations; and education. This course will be taught in a seminar style where student engagement within class discussions is required and one's participation is central to the learning process. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA, IS EN: S

Typical periods offered: Spring

SOC 4140 Political Sociology

In this course, students will be discussing politics, the way that people interact with politics, and the way that politics shape our lives. Why do individuals participate in politics (e.g., vote) or become engaged in their communities (e.g., join a voluntary association, protest, etc.)? What role do social connections play in political and civic engagement? What does political competition in the US look like today? What accounts for increasing political partisanship in the United States? Who has access to political institutions? How amenable is our political system to change? Who has the power to impact policy and institutions? How do shifts in political participation, civic engagement, and partisanship all shape policymaking? How does policy shape participation? In this class students will engage with these questions through course discussion, group work, class data collection and analysis, and more. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall

SOC 4170 Global Structures and Problems

This course examines social problems around the world and their relationship to globalization - that is, the increasing connectedness of social and economic life across borders. Students will investigate a range of these problems - such as environmental degradation, labor exploitation, human rights abuses, ethnic conflict, poverty, and inequality - and these issues' links to both personal experiences and larger social structures. The course is premised on the idea that to understand current global social problems, one must understand the evolution of markets, states, civil society and social movements, gender hierarchies, ethnic categories, and global governance over the past century. While the course has no specific prerequisites, some familiarity with sociological analysis is strongly recommended. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC Art: SSC BU: BA, IS EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 4213 Land of Dollars: Race, Money, and the Politics of Equity

This course will explore how racialized meanings and structures shape the circulation and accumulation of money throughout the market economy. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC BU: BA

Typical periods offered: Spring

SOC 4214 Race and Place

In this course, students will investigate the claim that race and place are mutually constitutive; that is, race shapes how people perceive and organize places, and places in turn shape understandings and experiences of race. This investigation will span time - form the beginning of colonization in North America to the present - and space - from rural communities to central cities. Students will use a primarily sociological lens, but will also draw insights from history, political science, demography, and philosophy. Topics of study include segregation, housing, the criminal legal system, schooling, work, and more. This seminar is an upper level course intended for advanced sociology majors and minors, as well as graduate students. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 4215 Work, Family, and Gender Inequality in the Contemporary U.S.

Despite dramatic increases in women's education and employment over the past century, progress toward gender equality in both the public and private sphere has slowed or stalled in recent decades. Drawing on research in sociology, economics, and demography, this course examines why gender inequality persists in the workplace and in family life. Students focus primarily on the contemporary U.S. context but also draw on historical and cross-national comparisons. In addition, the course considers the role of cultural norms and work-family policy in shaping gender inequality. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC EN: S

Typical periods offered: Spring

SOC 4240 Social Stratification

To the extent that sociology has a “core,” it lies in the study of the complex processes that generate inequalities of power, privilege, and prestige in human societies. This course introduces this core by surveying the major classical and current approaches to social stratification and inequality. Who gets what, and why? How are resources distributed across individuals and groups, and why is it that some enjoy more than others? We consider how different dimensions of inequality have evolved over time, with special focus on inequalities across race, class, and gender. We assess how inequality shapes the lives of individuals in society, how and why inequality persists, and how people have worked to both challenge and reproduce their places in society.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 4351 War and Peace

What happens when wars end? This course examines social experiences around violent conflict and its aftermath. How does the portrayal and memory of war shape future possibilities - whether in terms of social policy or ideas about civic inclusion? How does martial conflict shape social policies? We examine war and the social experiences of those adjacent to geopolitical conflict through the experiences of survivors, policy makers, soldiers and families, and international relief agencies. Our emphasis is in understanding the social implications of war - what are the social consequences of martial conflict and how is war represented to those not directly involved? How is war and its aftermath witnessed and how is its commemoration and remembrance constitutive for future action?

Credit 3 units.

SOC 4530 Sociology of Education

This course provides an overview of sociological theory and research on education in contemporary U.S. society. Drawing from sociological perspectives, it covers the implications of schools and schooling for social inequality, mobility, and group relations. It examines major theoretical perspectives on the purpose and social organization of mass education in the United States, and topics related to the organization and function of schools, access to educational resources, and group disparities in school experiences and outcomes.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Art: SSC BU: BA, ETH EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 4721 Race, Reproduction, and Justice

Reproduction is biological, economic, political, and social. Of course, individuals reproduce, but when, how, why, and with whom we do (or do not) is also a matter of public policy and social concern. Drawing on readings from sociology, law and other fields that engage continually with these key questions: Why is reproduction an important site through which to understand sociology? How do statuses such as race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability influence people's reproductive possibilities? How have communities supported or resisted efforts at reproductive control? Why is reproductive justice central to these answers? Students will review theoretical pieces, empirical research, media and more to explore the answers. This course primarily focuses on the US but will expose students to global reproductive concerns. Class sessions include lecture, in-class discussion and online discussion, media analysis and other activities. This upper-level seminar presumes an understanding of the basic concepts in sociology such as sociological imagination and social construction. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in this 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall

SOC 4831 Global Racial Systems

This course will examine the history and contemporary expressions of racism around the world. Specifically, it aims to illuminate the entwinement of racist systems with capitalism, gender, science/knowledge production, and politics over time, focusing on global convergences and localized manifestations of such overlapping structures. The course aims to highlight the effects of global racism across spectrums of (dis)advantage as well as social movements, programs, and policies resisting racism and its effects. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC, SC Art: SSC EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall

SOC 4900 Capstone Paper for Sociology Majors

This course requires students to carry out an independent research and writing project pertaining to the material covered within the student's choice of an associated 300- or 400-level class that they have successfully completed prior to this Capstone course - or such a course in which the student is currently enrolled. Student work will be supervised and evaluated by the faculty member who instructed or is instructing the course on which this paper is written. Registration may be concurrent with the associated course or after the course is completed. Successful completion of this paper satisfies the capstone requirement for the Sociology major. Students will normally enroll in the minimum one credit required to fulfill the capstone requirement, but students may register for up to three credits with the approval of their faculty supervisor. This course is open to Sociology majors only. Students should obtain faculty approval for their sponsorship and proposed paper topic well in advance of course registration. Students will register for the section assigned to their respective faculty supervisor and will be waitlisted until supervisor approval is confirmed. Prerequisites: approval of faculty supervisor and upper-level class standing at the time of enrollment.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 4902 Sociology Honors Thesis

The Honors Thesis program is a two-semester sequence of coursework that aids students in developing, designing, executing, and producing original research within the field of sociology. Successful completion of this sequence and the thesis product is required for a student to be eligible for Latin Honors in Sociology. In the fall term, students will participate in a seminar-style course centered upon research design and obtaining needed approvals for carrying out their proposed project. In the spring term, students will be supervised by faculty mentors in an independent study as they carry out their research, analyze their findings, construct the thesis document, and defend their work in a formal defense. Students may be required to share their work in additional venues, such as departmental symposiums or institution-wide undergraduate research events. Successful completion of both terms of coursework and completion of a defendable thesis paper satisfies the capstone requirement for the Sociology major. Additionally, students may count three of the six-credit sequence's hours toward the major's upper-level requirements.This course is open to Sociology majors only. Students who are interested in the thesis program should contact the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies and/or the Academic Coordinator - as well as their planned faculty mentor(s) - prior to their planned enrollment. Students will be waitlisted until program acceptance and faculty approval is confirmed. Prerequisites: acceptance into Honors Sociology Program; consent of instructor and faculty mentor(s).

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 4910 Internship in Sociology

Students may receive up to three units of credit for an approved, faculty-sponsored internship that relates to the study and application of sociological material. To fulfill the major's capstone requirement, students must enroll in no less than two credit hours and complete at least 90 approved hours at their internship site, in addition to constructing an academic product to be submitted to and evaluated by their faculty advisor. Specific academic and work requirements will be set by the faculty supervisor in consultation with the student's supervisor at the organization where the internship work is completed. Students must complete and submit an Internship Learning Agreement prior to their course enrollment and no less than two weeks after beginning at their internship site. This course is open to sociology majors; Sociology minors may enroll with departmental permission. Student should register for the section assigned to their faculty supervisor. Students will be waitlisted until their completed Internship Learning Agreements have been received. Prerequisites: completion and submission of the department's Internship Learning Agreement and approval of faculty and internship site supervisors.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 4920 Teaching Practicum in Sociology

Students may receive up to 3 units of credit for work assisting in course instruction, tutoring, and preparation of course materials under the supervision of a faculty member. This course may fulfill sociology major requirements with the permission of one's advisor and/or the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students may enroll in this course multiple times, but may only receive program credit once. Register for the section assigned to the faculty supervisor. This course is open only to students who have been approved and assigned to work as a departmental course assistant. Students who register will be waitlisted until practicum assignments have been confirmed with faculty supervisors. Please contact the department's Academic Coordinator for additional details. Prerequisites: approval for practicum participation from supervising faculty and Academic Coordinator.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 4950 Research in Sociology

Students will conduct independent research on a sociological topic as directed by a faculty member within the Department of Sociology. The student and supervising professor will agree in writing on the course goals, requirements, readings, assignments, meeting schedule, and evaluation criteria. The written agreement must be submitted to the department's Academic Coordinator and approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies before registration will be authorized. Students should enroll in the section assigned to their faculty supervisor. Students will be waitlisted until faculty supervisor approval is confirmed. Students may take the course for up to three credits, and, with the approval of the supervising faculty member may be repeated. However, this course may be taken for program credit no more than twice (a maximum of 6 credit hours), depending on the student's status as a major or minor. Prerequisites: approval of faculty supervisor and Academic Coordinator.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SOC 4996 Sociology Elective

Credit 0 units. EN: S