Undergraduate Course Descriptions

SOC101 Introduction to Sociology
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester and First
and Second Summer Session
Organization of human society, processes of change, and society’s influence on
individual behavior.


SOC103 Social Problems
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Causes, scope, and possible solutions of social problems in American society.


SOC210 Introduction to Social Research
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester and First
and Second Summer Session
Purposes, methods, and techniques of social investigation. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC211 Quantitative Methods for Sociologists
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
Data analytic techniques to analyze sociological topics. Emphasis is on basic graphic
displays, measures of center and variation, chi-square, ANOVA, correlations, and
regression. Prerequisite: Major in Sociology or Criminology, MTH 101, SOC 210 or
permission of instructor.


SOC212 Quantitative Methods Lab
1 credit Offered By Announcement only
Statistical lab associated with SOC 211 introduces the use of computer statistical packages for analyzing quantitative data. Corequisite: SOC 211.


SOC270 Deviant Behavior
3 credits Offered By Announcement
General deviance concepts, theories of deviance and non-criminal deviance.
Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC271 Criminal Justice
3 credits Offered By Announcement
A survey of the criminal justice system in the United States with an emphasis on the
interrelationships between law enforcement, the courts, and corrections.
Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC291 Special Topics
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC301 Social Organization
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Roles, organization, personality and values as components of formal and informal
groups. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC302 Social Psychology: Sociological Perspective
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The influence of human groups and social processes on individual behavior, and
personality. Prerequisite: SOC 101 or PSY 110.


SOC303 Social Inequalities
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Social ranking by class, status, and power. Stratification by age, sex or minority group
membership. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC304 Dynamics of Poverty in the United States
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Examines trends in the incidence and causes of major types of poverty among the
urban underclass, the homeless, migrant laborers, the working poor. Also explores
policy-related solutions. Prerequisite: SOC 101.

SOC320 Social Epidemiology
3 credits Offered By Announcement
This course introduces students to social epidemiology and the sociological study of health and longevity. Specifically, this course examines the ways in which key sociological variables structure, shape, or patterns the health and longevity of the US population. This course covers several variables of sociological interest, including socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, sex/gender, age, family status, and religion.

SOC332 Collective Behavior
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Classical theories, issues, and research on fads, fashions, riots, crowd behavior, social movements and other forms of collective behavior.
Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC335 Sociology of Gays and Lesbians
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The course examines gender, race, age and class differences in the experiences of gays and lesbians. A life-span perspective guides the course after the presentation of some background of biological, psychological, and sociological theories pertaining to homosexuality.
Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC340 Sociology of Religion
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Social foundations of religion, growth and change within religious institutions and relationships of religion to other institutions.
Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC341 Social and Cultural Change
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Survey of major theories of change; analysis of the processes and mechanisms of
change.
Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC342 Contemporary Latin American Societies
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Social characteristics of Latin American societies and their comparison with North
American society. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC345 Population and Society
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Demographic analysis of fertility, mortality, sex-age structure, migration, urbanization and population control. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC350 Sociology of the Family
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Examines definitions, history and lrager social structures in which family relations are embedded. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC351 Business and Society
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The influence of business values and activities on American culture, personality, and societal institutions. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC352 Sport and Society
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Sport as an expression of, and shaper of U.S. society; cross cultural and historical
comparisons; specialization, player rights, violence, and the “winning” psychology.
Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC365 Internship
6 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
Prescribed study and supervised work in a selected criminal justice or social service
agency. Prerequisite: Six credits: SOC 101 and 271 or 371.


SOC368 Violence in America
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Violence in historical, international and situational contexts, including the major
explanations of violence, and factors associated with violent crime. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC370 Juvenile Delinquency
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
The extent and nature of juvenile delinquency. The juvenile justice system,
correctional institutions for delinquents, community treatment and prevention
programs. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC371 Criminology
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
Social, cultural and individual factors in the etiology of crime; the consequences of
criminal behavior. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC372 Criminology: Police and Community
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
The police in U.S. society. Interaction with groups and institutions. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC373 Criminology: Courts and Society
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The courts and judicial functions in U.S. society. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC374 Criminology: Corrections
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Corrections in the U.S. society; philosophies of rehabilitation, punishment, and
incapacitation. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC375 Sociology of Mental Health and Illness
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Social factors in the etiology, prevalence, consquences of, and reaction to mental disorders. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC377 Sociology of Drug Abuse
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The epidemiology and etioilogy of drug abuse, treatment and prevention, societal
reaction. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC378 Criminology: Law and Society
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Function of law in a complex social structure. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC380 Sociology of Gender
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Social and historical construction of gender. Discussion of gender and various social
institutions and categories. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC381 The Elderly in Modern Society
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The aging processes, the aged and social institutions; special issues. Prerequisite:
SOC 101.

SOC382 The U.S. Jewish Community
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Application of minority group analysis to the U.S. Jewish community. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC383 Sociology of Education
3 credits
Course focuses on the institution of education. Assesses its structure, processes, and
interaction patterns within it. Also examines its impact on socioeconomic inequality
along race, class, and gender lines. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC384 Medical Sociology
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Sociological aspects of health care, patient behavior, medical institutions.
Prerequisite: SOC 101.

SOC385 U.S. Latinos
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Sociological perspectives are employed in the examination of the historical, social, economic, and cultural experiences of Latino/as in the Unites States. Prerequisite: SOC 101.

SOC386 U.S. Immigration
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The major sociological debates in the field of immigration with an emphasis on recent immigrants to the U.S. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC387 Race and Ethnic Relations
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
The influence of racial distinctions on individual and social behavior. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC390 Directed Studies
1- 3 credits Offered By Announcement
Individually supervised readings or research on special topics offered by arrangement with instructor. Prerequisite: SOC 101.


SOC391 Special Topics
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Prerequisite: SOC 101.

SOC401 Sociological Theory
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Classical sociological concepts and theory from the eighteenth century to the present. Prerequisite: Nine credits in Sociology and senior standing.

SOC470 Theories of Deviant Behavior
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester and First
Summer Session
Social, cultural, and individual factors involved in the etiology of deviance and crime. Strain and control theories, learning theory, conflict and interaction theories.
Prerequisite: Nine credits in Sociology including SOC 101, 371.


SOC487 Race, Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Discussion of race and ethnicity, crime and justice. Examination and evaluation of
theory, research and the justice system. Prerequisite: Six credits in Sociology.


SOC488 Gender and Crime
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Examination of gender, power, and crime, including feminist theories and the criminal justice system. Prerequisite: Six credits in Sociology.


SOC490 Directed Studies in Sociology
1- 3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
Supervised independent study on special topics. Arrangement with individual faculty.
Prerequisite: SOC 101, junior/senior standing, overall GPA 2.75 or higher, and
permission of instructor.


SOC491 Special Topics
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Prerequisite: Six credits in Sociology.


SOC492 Special Topics
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Prerequisite: Six credits in Sociology.


SOC493 Special Topics
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Prerequisite: Six credits in Sociology.


SOC498 Senior Honors Thesis in Sociology or Criminology I
3- 6 credits
Independent research project. Prerequisite: 18 credits in Sociology/Criminology including SOC 210 and 211.


SOC499 Senior Honors Thesis in Sociology or Criminology II
3- 6 credits
Independent research project. Prerequisite: 18 credits in Sociology/Criminology including SOC 210 and 211.