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We are upgrading the directory of classes on the Undergraduate Catalog website and introducing new, more robust search features. While all active courses are included in the directory, some courses – such as new courses that have not yet been offered or older courses that have not been offered in several years – may not appear at this time. If a course you are looking for is missing from the online directory, please see the Course Description Files page for a more complete list of active undergraduate courses.
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Course Search
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Courses by Subject Area
Click on the links below for a list of courses in that subject area. You may then click “View Classes” to see scheduled classes for individual courses. See the Ratcliffe Hicks Courses page for a list of those courses.
1001. Introduction to Sociology
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Cannot be taken for credit after passing SOCI 3203. RHAG students cannot take more than 22 credits of 1000 level courses.
Grading Basis: Graded
Modern society and its social organization, institutions, communities, groups, and social roles: the socialization of individuals, family, gender, race and ethnicity, religion, social class, crime and deviance, population, cities, political economy, and social change. CA 2.
View Classes »1001W. Introduction to Sociology
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011. Cannot be taken for credit after passing SOCI 3203. RHAG students cannot take more than 22 credits of 1000 level courses.
Grading Basis: Graded
Modern society and its social organization, institutions, communities, groups, and social roles: the socialization of individuals, family, gender, race and ethnicity, religion, social class, crime and deviance, population, cities, political economy, and social change. CA 2.
View Classes »1251. Social Problems
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: RHAG students cannot take more than 22 credits of 1000 level courses
Grading Basis: Graded
Major social problems, their sources in the organization of society, public policies for their alleviation, and questions of ethics and social justice: alcohol and drug abuse, physical and mental illness, sexual variances, poverty and inequality, ethnic and racial prejudice and discrimination, women and gender, the changing family, violence, crime and delinquency, the environment, urban problems, and population planning and growth. CA 2. CA 4.
View Classes »1251W. Social Problems
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011 or 3800. RHAG students cannot take more than 22 credits of 1000 level courses.
Grading Basis: Graded
Major social problems, their sources in the organization of society, public policies for their alleviation, and questions of ethics and social justice: alcohol and drug abuse, physical and mental illness, sexual variances, poverty and inequality, ethnic and racial prejudice and discrimination, women and gender, the changing family, violence, crime and delinquency, the environment, urban problems, and population planning and growth. CA 2. CA 4.
View Classes »1501. Race, Class, and Gender
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: RHAG students cannot take more than 22 credits of 1000 level courses
Grading Basis: Graded
Race, class, and gender, as they structure identities, opportunities, and social outcomes. CA 2. CA 4.
View Classes »1501W. Race, Class, and Gender
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011 or 3800. RHAG students cannot take more than 22 credits of 1000 level courses.
Grading Basis: Graded
Race, class, and gender, as they structure identities, opportunities, and social outcomes. CA 2. CA 4.
View Classes »1701. Society in Global Perspective
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Economic, political, social and cultural processes in globalization. The world economy, the autonomy of nation-states, the role of the media, and the social and environmental problems of societies in a world context. CA 2. CA 4-INT.
View Classes »2101. Sports and Society
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open to sophomores or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Sports as an institution and its impact on society. Gender, race, and class inequality in sports. Cultural, economic, political, and legal influences on sports at the professional, intercollegiate, scholastic, and recreational levels.
View Classes »2271. The Social Construction of Happiness
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Happiness as a social construction that shapes and is shaped by human societies and their social structures and processes. The social causes, nature, and consequences of the pursuit of happiness as a socially defined and organized phenomenon.
View Classes »2275. Social Well-Being
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Socially-embedded facets of well-being. Definitions and levels of well-being; relationship of well-being to social situations, social interactions, and social institutions.
View Classes »2301. Criminology
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Theories and research on crime, criminal law, and the criminal justice system.
View Classes »2310. Introduction to Criminal Justice
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The criminal justice system from a sociological perspective, including crime, police and law enforcement, courts and adjudication, corrections and juvenile justice.
View Classes »2310. Introduction to Criminal Justice
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The criminal justice system from a sociological perspective, including crime, police and law enforcement, courts and adjudication, corrections and juvenile justice. CA 2. CA 4.
View Classes »2411. Work and Occupations
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open to sophomores or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Occupations, jobs, careers, and the professions, and their effects on the division of labor, on the workplace, and on individuals in the labor force.
View Classes »2501. Sociology of Intolerance and Injustice
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open to sophomores or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Sociological concepts of intolerance and injustice and how they affect members of marginalized groups; case studies may consider social class, race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, religion, and disability. CA 4. SM-5/4/09
View Classes »2503W. Prejudice and Discrimination
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to sophomores or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Sources and consequences of racial and ethnic prejudice and discrimination. CA 4.
View Classes »2509W. Sociology of Anti-Semitism
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to sophomores or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Sources and consequences of anti-Semitism in society. CA 4-INT. SM-11/9/09
View Classes »2651. Sociology of the Family
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The American family, its changing forms and values, and the social conditions influencing it: mate selection, marital adjustment, the responsibilities and opportunities of parenthood, and resolving family crises.
View Classes »2651. Sociology of the Family
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The American family, its changing forms and values, and the social conditions influencing it: mate selection, marital adjustment, the responsibilities and opportunities of parenthood, and resolving family crises. CA 4.
View Classes »2701. Sustainable Societies
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open to sophomores or higher. Recommended preparation: SOCI 1001, SOCI 2709.
Grading Basis: Graded
Sociological perspectives on the concepts of sustainability, focusing on issues of climate change mitigation and adaptation, including questions of social transitions based on concepts of social justice, biomimicry, permaculture and the future of life on earth.
View Classes »2705. Sociology of Food
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open to sophomores or higher. Not open for credit to students who have passed SOCI 3271 when offered either as Food or as Sustainability. Recommended preparation: SOCI 1001
Grading Basis: Graded
Social factors shaping the industrial food system, as well as a social analysis of viable alternatives.
View Classes »2709W. Society and Climate Change
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open to sophomores or higher; ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011. Recommended Preparation: SOCI 1001. Not open for credit to students who have passed SOCI 3271 when offered as Society and Climate Change.
Grading Basis: Graded
Sociological perspectives on the social, economic, political, and environmental causes and consequences of anthropogenic global climate change.
View Classes »2841. Public Opinion and Mass Communication
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open to sophomores or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Contemporary public opinion and ideology, the process and effects of mass communication, and the measurement of public opinion.
View Classes »2907W. City Life
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to sophomores or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Ways of life in large cities and suburbs and the culture of modernism.
View Classes »3201. Methods of Social Research
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: SOCI 1001, 1251 or 1501 or 1701; open to juniors or higher. Cannot be take for credit after SOCI 3203, 3211 or 3213.
Grading Basis: Graded
Quantitative and qualitative methods used in sociological research: designs for gathering data, problems of measurement, and techniques of data analysis. Lectures and laboratory work. Majors in sociology should take this required course in their junior year.
View Classes »3211Q. Quantitative Methods in Social Research
4.00 credits
Prerequisites: SOCI 3201; STAT 1000 or 1100 or instructor consent; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Practical work in the design and execution of research, hypothesis testing, data analysis, and interpretations. SM-11/9/09
View Classes »3222. Asian Indian Women: Activism and Social Change in India and the United States
Also offered as: AAAS 3222, HRTS 3573
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: SOCI 1001, 1251 or 1501; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
How gender, class, and ethnicity/race structure everyday lives of Asian Indian women in both India and the United States.
View Classes »3251. Social Theory
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: SOCI 1001, 1251, 1501, or 1701; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Sociological theory for advanced undergraduates.
View Classes »3271. Topics in the Sociology of Culture
3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 9 credits.
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
A variable topics course focusing on issues in the sociology of culture. Specific topics may include: production of culture and the culture industry, popular culture, the sociology of the arts, cultural representation of deviance and social problems, women and culture, film and the developing world, material culture, and cultural constructions of social inequality. May be repeated for credit with a change in topic.
View Classes »3307. Drugs and Society
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Drug taking as a social problem, the "war on drugs," drug education, treatment and prevention approaches, the illegal drug market.
View Classes »3311. Deviant Behavior
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Behaviors labeled by society as deviant, such as crime, prostitution, suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse, and mental illness.
View Classes »3351. Society and the Individual
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Modern social systems and the behavior, psychological organization, and development of individuals.
View Classes »3401W. Social Organization
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or ENGL 1011 or ENGL 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Social structure, processes, and social change in institutions such as the family, education, religion, economy, and polity.
View Classes »3421. Class, Power, and Inequality
Also offered as: HRTS 3421
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Inequality and its consequences in contemporary societies.
View Classes »3425. Social Welfare and Social Work
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Social welfare needs and programs; introduction to social work as a professional service.
View Classes »3429. Sociological Perspectives on Poverty
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Poverty in the U.S. and abroad, its roots, and strategies to deal with it.
View Classes »3451. Sociology of Health
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Social factors related to health, illness, and health-care systems.
View Classes »3453. Women and Health
Also offered as: WGSS 3453
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Social factors shaping women's health, health care, and their roles as health-care providers.
View Classes »3459W. Aging in American Society
Also offered as: HDFS 3240W
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or ENGL 1011 or ENGL 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Social gerontology: the role and status of older people in a changing society.
View Classes »3501. Ethnicity and Race
Also offered as: AFRA 3501
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Ethnic groups, their interrelations, assimilation, and pluralism. Culture, and identity that arise from differences in race, religion, nationality, region, and language.
View Classes »3501W. Ethnicity and Race
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or ENGL 1011 or ENGL 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Ethnic groups, their interrelations, assimilation, and pluralism. Culture, and identity that arise from differences in race, religion, nationality, region, and language.
View Classes »3505. White Racism
Also offered as: HRTS 3505, AFRA 3505
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
The origin, nature, and consequences of white racism as a central and enduring social principle around which the United States and other modern societies are structured and evolve. CA 4.
View Classes »3507. Race and Reproduction
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
The social construction, organization, and politics of race and reproduction in the United States.
View Classes »3601. Sociology of Gender
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Explores processes contributing to social construction of gender; examines the theories used to explain the system of inequality in the United States with particular attention to the intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and class; and evaluates how men and women are differentially constituted in the family, in education, work, politics, and language. CA 4.
View Classes »3601W. Sociology of Gender
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or ENGL 1011 or ENGL 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Explores processes contributing to social construction of gender; examines the theories used to explain the system of inequality in the United States with particular attention to the intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and class; and evaluates how men and women are differentially constituted in the family, in education, work, politics, and language. CA 4. SM - 9/21/16 10/3/16
View Classes »3621. Sociology of Sexualities
Explores the social organization, construction, and politics of sexualities, particular focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer experiences and the intersection of sexualities, gender, race, and class. CA 4.
View Classes »3801. Political Sociology
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Social analysis of power, democracy and voting, society and the state, and political economy.
View Classes »3823. The Sociology of Law: Global and Comparative Perspectives
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
The relationship between law and social change cross-nationally, including dispute processing in kinship societies, the impact of Western law on Third World countries, legal strategies that challenge inequality based on class, race, sex, religion, and sexuality, and the impact of international human rights treaties on inequality. CA 2. CA 4-INT. SM-10/13/08, 4/6/09
View Classes »3825. African Americans and Social Protest
Also offered as: HRTS 3825, AFRA 3825
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Social and economic-justice movements, from the beginning of the Civil Rights movement to the present.
View Classes »3831. Human Rights in the United States
Also offered as: HRTS 3831
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Sociological analyses of human rights issues in the United States, including economic, racial, and gender justice; prisoners' rights and capital punishment; the role of the United States in international human rights agreements and treaties; and struggles on behalf of human rights
View Classes »3901. Urban Sociology
Social and physical organization of cities and suburbs.
View Classes »3901W. Urban Sociology
Also offered as: URBN 3275W
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Social and physical organization of cities and suburbs.
View Classes »3971. Population
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Size, growth, composition and distribution of population; social factors in population change.
View Classes »3990. Internship: Field Experience
1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.
Prerequisites: Must be taken with SOCI 3991 concurrently unless continuing an internship already initiated; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Supervised field experience. Students taking this course will be assigned a final grade of S (satisfactory) or U (unsatisfactory). Hours by arrangement. 42 hours per semester per credit. Repeatable to a maximum of six credits. SS-4/17/07
View Classes »3991. Internship: Research Paper
1.00 - 2.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: Must be taken with SOCI 3990; open to juniors or higher. May be repeated to a maximum of three credits including SOCI 3991W which may be taken only once.
Grading Basis: Graded
Research paper based on Field Experience.
View Classes »3991W. Internship: Research Paper
1.00 - 2.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; must be taken with SOCI 3990; open to juniors or higher. May not be repeated.
Grading Basis: Graded
Research paper based on Field Experience. May not be repeated.
View Classes »3996W. Senior Thesis in Sociology
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Fifteen credits in sociology; ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Honors Credit
3998. Variable Topics
3.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary. Only open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
With a change in topic, may be repeated for credit.
View Classes »3999. Independent Study
1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
With a change in content, may be repeated.
View Classes »