Culture of pre-literate and contemporary societies. Concept of culture; elements of culture, including technology, economic and political organization, family and kinship, associations, ideology, arts, and language; dynamics of culture stability and change. SS

This course will provide an overview of research in the social sciences. In this course you will learn how to read and evaluate research methods and design your own research study. The course follows the basic steps in social science research: problem identification, research design, subject selection, data collection, analysis, and interpretation. In learning these steps, you will also be introduced to the dominant methods used in social science research: surveys, experiments, qualitative interviews, ethnography, program evaluation, and mixed methods. Prerequisite: 125.

Marriage-family complex as a social institution: variations, interrelationship of family to other social institutions, dating, marriage, childraising, divorce, death, and remarriage, contemporary issues in marriage and family life, and future of marriage and family. This course will empower the student to make more informed decisions about marriage and family life choices. SS

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. Prerequisites: 149, 249. May be repeated for credit. Graded CR/NC.

This course will introduce the major theoretical approaches to the study of criminology and the sociology of deviance. These perspectives are explored through a discussion of contemporary issues such as trends in offending and victimization, research on violent crime, property crime, public order crime, organized crime, and white-collar and corporate crime. Issues of unequal power, social division, and exclusion are also examined (e.g., age, gender, and social class etc.). (Equivalent to CRMJ 351.)

This course provides an introduction to the field of collective behavior. It will examine contemporary and historical social movements, particularly those used to address social injustices. Theoretical perspectives used to explain and predict movements will be examined. Topics may include movements of the 1960s (e.g., Civil Rights, Black Power, American Indian, Women, Gays and Lesbians, etc.), as well as more contemporary movements (e.g., Environmental, the New American Right, Global Justice, etc.)

This course will examine various environmental issues connected with contemporary society. It will address the connections, relationships and interactions between society and the environment. The major theoretical perspectives and methods used by sociologists to understand environmental issues will be explored. It will examine large social structures and organizations and how individuals affect nature and the environment. The impact of globalization on the environment, and its influence on diverse peoples will be discussed.

This course is designed to give students an introduction to the field of juvenile justice. It will focus of the relationship between youth as victims and as offenders, the role of the juvenile justice system, delinquents rights, and traditional and alternative ways of dealing with juvenile crime. It will briefly examine the social and etiological features of delinquency. (Equivalent to CRMJ 364.) SJE

Courses on topics of interest to sociology students offered on the basis of need, interest, or timeliness. Prerequisite: 125. Restricted to students with junior standing or higher. May be repeated for credit. For specific section description, click to the Section Details in VitNet.

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. Restricted to students with senior standing. Graded CR/NC.