Sociology

Chair:
    Rory McVeigh, Ph.D.
    Dept. Tel.: (574) 631-6463

The Program of Studies. In the summer session, the Department of Sociology offers selected courses, described below. The requirements for the undergraduate major in sociology include 25 semester hours.

Course Descriptions. The following course descriptions give the number and title of each course. Lecture hours per week, laboratory and/or tutorial hours per week, and semester credit hours are in parentheses. The University reserves the right to withdraw any course without sufficient registration.
CRNs for independent study courses may be obtained from the department office, from the Summer Session office, or from insideND.
 
SOC 20533. Responding to World Crisis   CANCELLED  06/13/08
3 credits, Valenzuela (5-0-3)
10:30–11:55 MTWRF 6/17 to 7/18 (five weeks)
CRN 3632; ID #SOC 20533 01
Last “add” date  6/20:
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/23; last, 7/3
This course focuses on current issues in international affairs and what the U.S. policy response to them should be. The participants will be divided into groups specializing events and issues in each continent in the world, with an additional group focusing on the international economy. Each session of the seminar will hear the reports prepared by students in two of such (i.e., the Africa and the Asia groups, or the Europe and World Issues groups). The reports must be individually written, with the crisp style of policy briefs, on different countries or issues, and must include an assessment of the origins and nature of the problem or problems at hand, a well as recommendations regarding what the United States should do. The required reading for the seminar will be the New York Times (the printed version) on a daily basis. Students may go to Internet news services of the New York Times or other sources such as the Economist for additional background information on the situation they wish to write about.
 
SOC 20534. Globalization, Coffee, and the Fair Trade Movement   CANCELLED
3 credits, Brenneman (5-0-3)
8:50 -10:15 MTWRF 6/17 to 7/18
CRN 3631; ID #SOC 20534 01
Last “add” date: 6/20
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/23: last, 7/3
This course will examine globalization and its effects on people at the global “margins,” especially in economically depressed Central America. The drop in world coffee prices, the rise of the maquila industry, the increase of emigration from Central America are just a few of the topics that will be considered during this course. Secondly, the course will examine how lifestyle choices and consumption habits in the United States affect farmers and artisans in the “third world.” More specifically, we will examine one result of global interconnectedness—the international fair trade movement. The course will encourage students to get involved in the local fair trade sector and to examine their own consumer habits in light of globalization. A short-term cross-cultural experience in Guatemala will bring students face-to-face with some of the people who are most deeply impacted by economic globalization.
Students will be encouraged to use conceptual tools from global sociology, economic sociology, and social movement theory. Students in other majors, such as finance, marketing or economics, will learn how economic sociology sheds light on economic behavior. The course is a natural fit for sophomore or junior sociology majors and Latin American Studies minors. But the course content and the cross-cultural component would also make it an ideal elective for majors in marketing; Spanish; and film, theater, and television.
 
SOC 20810. Gender Roles and Violence in Society
(Cross-listed with IIPS 20901)
3 credits, Gunty (5-0-3)
6:30–9:00 p.m. T,R 6/17–7/31
CRN 2798; ID # SOC 20810 01
Last “add” date: 6/22
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/26; last, 7/10
Much of the violence in contemporary society—whether it is domestic abuse, school shootings, gang warfare, video games, or inter-ethnic conflict—has something to do with sex This course explores the connection between gender role socialization and the expression of conflict or aggression. Through readings, discussions, films and projects, students will be encouraged to examine sex differences in violent behavior as the outcome of complex processes. We will try to understand those processes better and develop the ability to describe the causes and their effects.
 
SOC 30015. Immigration in Global Perspective
(Cross-listed with AMST 30610, ANTH 30305, IIPS 30927)
3 credits, Albahari (3-0-3)
1:15 to 3:45 TW 6/17 to 8/1
CRN 3633; ID #SOC 30015
Last “add” date: 6/22
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/26; last, 7/10
Enrollment limit: 1
How do people in immigrant-receiving countries shape their attitudes toward immigrants? What are the differences between refugees and other migrants? How is immigration related to urban “immigrant riots?” And what can anthropological studies of borders and national policies tell us about the transnational world in which we live? We will examine these and related questions, and more generally the causes, lived experiences, and consequences of migration. We will acquire a sound understanding of migration in its social, political, legal, and cultural facets. Fieldwork accounts from countries of origin and from the United States, Europe, Australia, and Japan will enable us to appreciate both global and U.S. distinctive trends. Rather than merely learning a collection of facts about immigrants, we will address how migration intersects with gender and class; the mass media; border enforcement; racism; the economy; territory and identity formation, and religion.
 
SOC 30019. Sociology of Sport
3 credits, Welch (5-0-3)
1:15–3:45 T,R 6/17–7/31
CRN 3036; ID # SOC 30019 01
Last “add” date: 6/22
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/26; last, 7/10
As a phenomenal growth industry of postindustrial leisure societies, sports demand critical study. Theories, schools’ involvements, professionalization, race, and sex inequalities, methods of business control, the use and misuse of talent and skills, Olympic problems, are some aspects of this course’s contents.
 
SOC 30806. Race and Ethnicity
3 credits, Sobolewski (5-0-3)
10:30–12:15 MTWRF 6/17–7/11
CRN 3634; ID # SOC 30806 01
Last “add” date:  6/19
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/22; last, 6/30
This course has three objectives. First, the course will help you to think critically about issues related to race and ethnicity in American society. These issues include the meaning of race and ethnicity; the extent of racial and ethnic inequality in the United States, the nature of racism, discrimination, and racial stereotyping; the pros and cons of affirmative action; the development of racial identity; differences between assimilation, amalgamation, and multiculturalism; and social and individual change with respect to race relations. The second objective is to foster a dialogue between you and other students about racist and ethnocentric attitudes and actions. The third objective is to encourage you to explore your own racial and ethnic identity and to understand how this identity reflects and shapes your life experiences.
 
SOC 30900. Foundations of Sociological Theory    CANCELLED  06/13/08
3 credits, Faeges (5-0-3)
1:15–3:45 MW 6/17–7/31
CRN 3472; ID # SOC 30900 01
Last “add” date: 6/22
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/26; last, 7/10
What do theorists do—and why? What are the social causes and consequences of alienation and exploitation, of solidarity and suicide, of bureaucracy and charisma? These are some of the questions addressed in this introduction to the theoretical study of society. This course has two aims: to demystify theorizing and theories, and to familiarize students with the major schools of sociological theory. Students will learn both analytic techniques and important theoretical concepts through a mix of lectures, discussion and exercises.
 
SOC 30902. Research Methods
3 credits, Hachen (5-0-3)
10:30–12:25 MWF 6/17–7/31
CRN 1208; ID # SOC 30902 01
Last “add” date: 6/22
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/26; last, 7/10
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an in-depth introduction to research methods by focusing on the critical decision researchers make when conducting research. The course begins by exploring the nature of scientific research, including both the “products” of research and the processes through which such “products” are produced. We then discuss the basic elements of research design (units of analysis, variables, relationship, hypotheses), measurement. and sampling. In the remainder of the course we explore four methods of collecting data: surveys, experiments, research using available data, and field research.
 
SOC 43719. Self, Society, and Environment
(Cross-listed with IIPS 40902, STV 40319)
3 credits, Weigert (5-0-3)
1:15–3:45 T,R 6/17–7/31
CRN 3378; ID # SOC 43719 01
Last “add” date: 6/22
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/26; last, 7/10
This course focuses on social psychological aspects of relationships between humans and the natural environment. Issues include how humans interact with different environments, symbolic transformations of environments, and competing accounts or claims concerning human-environment relationships. The course is framed in a sociology of knowledge perspective and touches on alternative ways of envisioning and valuing individual and institutional perspectives on human-environment relationships with an eye toward implications for social change.
 
SOC 46000. Directed Readings NEW
Variable credits, Staff (V-V-V)
CRN varies with instructor
ID # SOC 46000

SOC 46099. Directed Readings
Variable credits, Staff (V-V-V)
CRN varies with instructor
ID # SOC 46099
 
SOC 76097. Directed Readings
Variable credits, Staff (V-V-V)
CRN varies with instructor
ID # SOC 76097
 
SOC 78599. Thesis Direction
Variable credits, Staff (V-V-V)
CRN varies with instructor
ID # SOC 78599
 
SOC 78600. Nonresident Thesis Research
1 credit, Staff (0-0-1)
CRN varies with instructor
ID # SOC 78600
 
SOC 98699. Research and Dissertation
Variable credits, Staff (V-V-V)
CRN varies with instructor
ID # SOC 98699
 
SOC 98700. Nonresident Dissertation Research
1 credit, Staff (0-0-1)
CRN varies with instructor
ID # SOC 98700