Courses

This course is a broad introduction to the field of sociology. Course materials are designed to illustrate the distinctive features of the sociological perspective and to start you thinking sociologically about yourself and the broader social world. To think sociologically is to recognize that being embedded in the world constrains behavior, and that individuals are both social actors and social products. To think sociologically is also to recognize that our contemporary world, with its enduring cultural, political, and economic institutions, is as much a social product as we are. We will begin by covering theoretical and methodological foundations of the sociological perspective.  We will go on to explore the concept of social stratification and will survey primary axes of social difference. In the second half of the course we will look more closely at how individuals relate to each other, how social inequality is enacted and reinforced in everyday life, and at the way in which the organization of social life shapes individuals and groups, such as through social networks, residential neighborhoods, schooling, families, and on-line communication.

Full details for SOC 1101 - Introduction to Sociology

This course will examine race and ethnic relations between Whites, Blacks, Latinos, and Asians in the United States. The goal of this course is for students to understand how the history of race and ethnicity in the U.S. affects opportunity structures in, for example, education, employment, housing, and health. Through this course students will gain a better understanding of how race and ethnicity stratifies the lives of individuals in the U.S.

Full details for SOC 1104 - Race and Ethnicity in the United States: Social Constructs, Real World Consequences

This interdisciplinary course examines network structures and how they matter in everyday life. The course examines how each of the computing, economic, sociological and natural worlds are connected and how the structure of these connections affects each of these worlds. Tools of graph theory and game theory are taught and then used to analyze networks. Topics covered include the web, the small world phenomenon, markets, neural networks, contagion, search and the evolution of networks.

Full details for SOC 2090 - Networks

This course will examine the intersections of media, culture, and society. The goal of this course is for students to apply a sociological perspective to the production, content, and reception of various forms of media such as the news, television, film, social media, etc. Through this course students will gain a broad understanding of the role of media in our lives and engage in topics such as the social and power dynamics of the media, issues of consumption and status, the production and social organization of media, and representation in the media.

Full details for SOC 2380 - Media and Society

Population problems are central to societal change in numerous areas- inequality, immigration and diversity, race relations, family life, health and aging, and social welfare systems. This class explores the causes and consequences of population change, paying particular attention to how population processes interact with the social, economic, and political context in which they play out. Particular attention will be paid to contemporary debates unfolding in Europe, how population "problems" are defined, and the policies intended to solve them.

Full details for SOC 3620 - Population Controversies in Europe

Not only the world but also data about the world is becoming increasingly complex. This course provides students with a comprehensive understanding and set of tools to analyze network, spatial, multilevel, and text data. Students will gain experience in how to prepare, analyze, and visualize data in R and the tidyverse. Examples of complex data structures include network data that represent connections among individuals (e.g., friends on social media platforms), spatial data that represents geolocations (e.g., smartphone location data), data collected at multiple levels (e.g., employees in organizations), and text data (e.g., online comments).

Full details for SOC 3740 - Analyzing Complex Data Structures: Network, Spatial, Multilevel, and Text Data

The family, as a social institution, is structured according to historical, socio-economic, political, and cultural factors. The course will cover concepts of the nuclear and extended family, the roles, rights and obligations of different age groups, generations, and continental and global migrants; and marriage and its related issues, including parenthood, childrearing, and gender roles. Other issues examined are: reproductive health and broader health challenges including the effects of major challenges such as HIV/AIDS and COVID-19, family planning, fertility with a focus on adolescents, law and politics of sexual orientation, family codes. The course deals also with structural change and continuity, the impact of westernization, urbanization, formal education, the contemporary economy on the structure and challenges of the family in Africa, and ICT, long-distance family connection. The legacy of African family values and traditions in the African Diaspora is also discussed with case studies of the use of scientific/DNA procedure to trace ancestry.

Full details for SOC 4780 - The Family and Society in Africa and the African Diaspora