Non-classroom experiences in the field of sociology. Placements are off-campus, and may be full- or part-time, and with or without pay. Credit for experiences must be sought prior to occurance, and learning contracts must be submitted before the end of the first week of the semester. See the Experiential Learning: Internship section of this catalog for more details. Senior standing required. Graded CR/NC.
Courses on topics of interest to sociology students offered on the basis of need, interest, or timeliness. Prerequisite: 125. Restricted to students with freshman or sophomore standing. May be repeated for credit. For specific section description, click to the Section Details in VitNet.
This volunteer experience requires a minimum of 30 hours in the community. The human service agency setting is selected by the instructor and the students in the course. Graded CR/NC.
This course will examine the social aspects of sports and how sports are a social construction that influences how people think, feel, and behave. This course will address various aspects of sports such as social and cultural values, children and sports, stratification in sport, minorities and gender issues in sports, as well as contemporary trends in the field. Finally, this course will examine the relationship between various institutions and sport (family, religion, politics, economy, mass media) as well as social problems in sport.
This course is an introduction to the field of gerontology. It is multidisciplinary, examining biological, psychological, and sociological issues related to the aging process. Major theories, research methods and concepts in the field of gerontology will be addressed. Cultural and historical changes related to the treatment of the elderly, common stereotypes and attitudes toward aging, and cross-cultural differences will also be addressed in this course. Future issues and trends in Gerontology will be discussed. This course will be one of the courses required in the Gerontology minor.
This course prepares students to understand, interpret, and conduct analyses of data for psychological studies and experiments. The course emphasizes the following concepts: 1) descriptive statistics (e.g., means, standard deviations), 2) standardized scores, 3) sampling error and uncertainty, 4) confidence intervals, 5) statistical significance, and 6) effect size. Analysis techniques are discussed for one-sample and paired-samples designs, mean comparisons between groups, meta-analysis, factorial designs, and correlation and multiple regression.
This course will provide students with an overview of the criminal justice system. The structure and function of the police, courts, and corrections, as well as the policies these agencies use to control crime, will be examined. Students will also debate controversial issues related to criminal justice processing and compare the ideal of justice with the reality under this system. This course also introduces basic concepts of capacity building, resiliency, and how the criminal justice system and the community interacts. (Equivalent to CRMJ 150)
This volunteer experience requires a minimum of 30 hours in the community. The human service agency setting is selected by the instructor and the students in the course. Graded CR/NC.
This course will introduce students to the theories and scientific methods that sociologists use to explain human behavior and describe the organization of society. Students will acquire a sociological perspective to analyze how individuals are products of their social environments. Students will also examine the social patterns that comprise systems of social inequality and major social institutions within contemporary American society. Prerequisite: any 100-level VUSM course or transfer student placement. LDW, SS
Social psychology is a scientific area in the discipline of psychology that seeks an understanding of how people think, feel, and behave in social situations. This course will focus on gaining an understanding of social psychological explanations for social influence and to improve understanding of common research methodologies utilized in social psychological research.