Prerequisite/Corequisite Key
| P = Course must be taken previously | C = Course must be taken concurrently | E = Course can be taken previously or concurrently |
| (RQ) = Required | (RM) = Recommended |
SOC 101
Introduction to Sociology
3 credit hours
This course is a multiculturally-oriented introduction to the study of society that looks at our social organization and belief systems, exploring how we both are shaped by them and change them. The dynamics of social agreements and conflicts are also examined, along with the consequences of inclusion and exclusion for people.
SOC 140
Sociology of Sports
3 credit hours
The fascination with sports on the part of American people is the focus of this course. Topics include competitive and self-competitive sports, professional and amateur sports and pseudo-sports. The course will analyze the mystique of sports and the nature of winning. Offered fall.
SOC 190
Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare
3 credit hours
This course is an introduction to the field of social welfare and social work. It introduces the professions' values, its fields of practice, its history, social welfare policies and examines the field's major intervention methods. Emphasis is placed on various roles of social workers, the generalist method, cultural competence, the strengths perspective, and responses to the needs of the poor, families and populations at risk such as the elderly, children and people of color. Students will also learn the core values and Code of Ethics of social work and be exposed to issues of diversity, oppression and social economic justice. Offered fall.
SOC 199
Introduction to Aging
3 credit hours
This course introduces the student to the field of gerontology through a variety of interdisciplinary venues including literature, gerontology, psychology, sociology and nursing. The student will be introduced to techniques of self-reflection and journaling to increase awareness of one's own perceptions of aging. Included are opportunities for elder client encounters that demonstrate successful aging and the complexity and diversity of the older client.
SOC 210
Sociology of the Family
3 credit hours
The meaning and experience of family varies across time, different cultures and different places. Sociology of the Family examines how this ancient institution continually adapts to social pressures and how its different incarnations help individuals adapt to a changing world. The course emphasizes important factors such as social class, race and ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation and how these relate to different experiences in family relationships, gender roles, marriage/partnership and domestic conflict.
SOC 214
Language, Culture and Society
3 credit hours
This course is an introduction to major anthropological and sociolinguistic concepts that explain both uniformity and diversity in language behavior. One focus is on the origin, development and variation of the world's languages. The general focus is on language diversity in North American English in terms of differences based on nation, region, ethnicity, class, gender, age, lifestyle and social context. Offered spring.
SOC 215
Medical Sociology
3 credit hours
This course analyzes the emergence of the health system in this country, including its interrelationships with the political, social and economic systems. Focus will be on the sociological definitions of health and sickness, on the social roles of patients, physicians, nurses and other health care professionals, and on the ideologies that define, shape and control the health care system. Offered as needed.
SOC 216
Career Training/Field Practicum Seminar for Social Work
3 credit hours
E: SOC-190
The course is designed to help students find internship and prepare for the internship requirements. It is also designed to assist students to make the transition from classroom learning to experiential learning and to make use of the field experience for learning and future career paths. Engaging in course activities will provide students with an understanding of the transferable knowledge and skills in social work practice. The course also provides a practical guide to the realities of the field work experience. Offered fall I only for students who will register for the internship course the following spring.
SOC 220
Social Deviance
3 credit hours
In the nature of coexisting, groups engage in defining normative behavior by examining the behavior and choices of individuals they come to construct as deviant. In this course, students will examine the formation of deviant groups and lifestyles, the role played by alcohol and drugs in producing deviance as well as the societal functions of deviant behavior. Topics may range from serial killers to corporate deviance, from sexual to homicidal deviance. Offered as needed.
SOC 221
Social Problems
3 credit hours
In this course the distinction between social conditions and social problems is examined and several contemporary social issues are considered. The relationships among social problems, social organization, norms, role processes and social control are also explored. Offered as needed.
SOC 224
The Invention of Race
3 credit hours
This course explores the origin of the concept of race from Colonial North American law and then as a folk ideology in late 17th-century North America. It traces the evolution of this concept into a worldview that currently functions as the most fundamental way of understanding human variation. Offered fall.
SOC 225
Racial and Ethnic Relations
3 credit hours
In this course the sociological factors in racial and ethnic relations are examined. Consideration is given to the nature of institutional racism. The dynamics of prejudice and discrimination are analyzed.
SOC 235
Sex, Culture and Society
3 credit hours
This course examines the sexual legacies of our primate heritage. Human sexuality and gender roles are explored cross-culturally in their social, political and ideological contexts.
SOC 243
Chicago Neighborhoods
3 credit hours
Chicago, as has often been stated, is a city of neighborhoods. This course is designed to provide a sociological and an anthropological understanding of the complex, urban mosaic created by Chicago's rich and diverse neighborhood communities. Special attention will be paid to the social forces that shaped the city as well as to the ethnic enclaves, voluntary associations, cultural institutions and historical sites that continue to enrich this vibrant metropolis. Offered fall or spring.
SOC 275
Women, Change and Society
3 credit hours
This course examines how gender is socially constructed across time and across cultures. We explore how gender impacts the lives and choices of women and men in settings such as the family, career, politics, and the law. Offered spring.
SOC 280
Sociology of Education
3 credit hours
This course covers the social origins of the American educational system, educational reform movements, the social organization of schools, power and status in the schools, teacher professionalization, student culture and the "student role", the "hidden curriculum" of schools, social inequalities and the school system, the effects of race, class and gender on education, and the future of American schools. Because of the close relationship between schools and their social environment, we will also trace the influence of social, political, economic and religious institutions on the goals, values and methods of American schools. Offered as needed.
SOC 283
Gangs and Society
3 credit hours
In this course the historical evolution and social roots of gangs and street gangs in modern U.S. society are explored, along with their growth, recruitment and organization. Criminological theories are used to assess gang structure, characteristics and activities. Additionally, the relationships of gangs to each other, to crime and violence, to the law, and to the community are also explored. Offered as needed.
SOC 290
Death, Dying and Suicide
3 credit hours
This course focuses on death, dying and suicide, which are examined socially, psychologically, religiously, politically and economically both in the United States and cross-culturally. Offered as needed.
SOC 294
Statistics and Research Design I
3 credit hours
This course examines the fundamental principles and tools of social science research. Students will develop a basic literacy that enables them to understand and evaluate the merits and limits of various research strategies and tools of analysis, including social science statistics. Offered fall.
SOC 295
Statistics and Research Design II
3 credit hours
P: SOC-294
This course examines social science problem solving through the use of various research tools, methods and research designs. This portion of the sequence will incorporate learning with hands-on practice. Offered spring.
SOC 300
Social Theory
3 credit hours
This course examines the basic concepts of classical and contemporary sociological theory. Offered fall.
SOC 307
Delinquency
3 credit hours
This course considers the problem of delinquency in culture and its relation to conventional culture. We examine the introduction to delinquent lifestyles and their relationship to adult criminal behavior. Prerequisite: 3 credit hours in sociology or anthropology.
SOC 309
Gender and Globalization
3 credit hours
This course examines the economic, socio-political and cultural aspects of globalization within the framework of contemporary debates about gender. The main focus will be on how globalization affects gender roles, ideology and the experiences of men and women in transnational contexts. Our own discussion of the meaning of globalization will address questions about the novel character of globalization, shifts in labor and production practices and the contested relevance of the nation-state. Offered as needed.
SOC 310
Mind, Self and Society
3 credit hours
P: 3 credit hours in SOC or ANTH
This course examines the social origins of the individual's self or identity; the relationship between individuals and society; the social construction of reality and individual consciousness; the social presentation of self in every-day society; and the ways individuals try to shape how others perceive them. Offered as needed.
SOC 317
Violence Against Women and Girls
3 credit hours
Studies the various forms of violence for which females are victimized at significantly higher rates. Students will examine (a) the theories related to female victimization, (b) the impact of stereotypes and myths on societal perceptions of female victimization, (c) the criminal justice system response to female victims and (d) the impact of victimization on the victims themselves and on females in general.
SOC 318
Sociology of Aging
3 credit hours
This course explores the sociological aspects and theories of aging. Using a cross-cultural perspective, the content focuses on issues in life-course, leisure and retirement, social ecology and structure, interpersonal and intergenerational relations, and the economics and politics of aging. Offered fall.
SOC 325
Intersectionality: Race/Class/Gender
3 credit hours
This course introduces students to the complex and subtle ways social inequality is produced and reproduced in and through social practices. We will examine race, ability, class, sex and gender hierarchies as interrelated systems, none of which can be fully understood without reference to the others. We will explore how any individual's multiple statuses (race, class, gender, sexuality, ability) combine to produce sets of privileges and constraints. We will also examine the effects of social experiences on social perspectives. The course has a historical emphasis and so we will examine both 19th and 20th century roots of contemporary social arrangements. The course includes challenging abstract material on theories of race, ability, gender, class, culture, and power. Offered as needed.
SOC 327
Sociology of Childhood
3 credit hours
An examination of socializing agents, structural constraints and support by fundamental American institutions as they affect child development. Legal, commercial, religious, familial and political institutions are explored for their effects on the development of the young child. Offered as needed.
SOC 335
The Art and Science of Reminiscing
3 credit hours
This course will examine the therapeutic intervention of reminiscing utilizing theories in nursing and sociology as well as research and critical thinking skills. With a focus on the older adult client, attention will be given to active communication and therapeutic listening. Reminiscing will be explored from sociocultural, developmental, and clinical contexts. Opportunities to learn and apply principles of qualitative research will be incorporated. Offered spring.
SOC 345
Jurisprudence and Gender
3 credit hours
The Rule of Law is meant to establish a system of rules founded on principles rather than personalities. In this course we examine a system that is gendered, built on the story of men's lives. Our analysis takes us through at least three major strains of legal argument that begin with different assumptions and lead to different policy outcomes but all of which are guided by a notion of gender equality.
SOC 360
Social Class and Stratification
3 credit hours
This course focuses on social classes and on the theories, systems and consequences of how societies differentiate and rank both individuals and groups. Emphasis is placed on understanding the class structure of the United States along with the related concepts of power, authority, prestige, inequality and mobility. Offered as needed.
SOC 366
Senior Seminar and Project
3 credit hours
P: SOC-300
This course focuses on the pursuit of a major topic in sociology or in the function of sociology in society. Students conduct original research and produce a research paper. Offered spring. NOTE: This course is only open to sociology majors.
SOC 367
Research Practicum
3 to 9 credit hours
This is a course by special arrangement, designed to provide advanced sociology/anthropology students with an intensive research experience under the supervision of an individual professor. Topics, times and places will vary.
SOC 375
Field Placement in Applied Settings
3 credit hours
This course promotes the application of sociology to contemporary societal concerns. Development of skills pertaining to community outreach, consumer advocacy, social services, policy analysis or other settings involving directed social change. The choice of placement is made in conjunction with the instructor. Prerequisite: 6 credit hours in sociology or anthropology and junior standing. The most important objective of the internship is to enhance learning by providing students with opportunities to integrate and apply theories, research, values, methods and practice skills acquired throughout the curriculum to the reality of work with individuals, families, groups and communities. Doing an internship/practicum will help students acquire professional ethics and attitudes, e.g., integrity and responsibility, self-discipline, self-awareness, and commitment to others and to the goals of the profession. The choice of placement is made in conjunction with the instructor. By special arrangement with consent of instructor. Offered spring.
SOC 390
Independent Study
1 to 3 credit hours
Students who have done exceptionally well may take this course to pursue a topic of their own choosing. The student's eligibility, general topic, specific selection of readings and the format (e.g., a research paper, tutorial, short summary essays) will be worked out with the instructor. Offered by special arrangement.