Sociology
Division of Social Sciences
The Department of Sociology offers a major and a minor in sociology. Sociology courses are also foundational for the interdisciplinary minors in Public Health, Social Welfare, and in Justice, Law and Society.
Sociology is the study of human social interaction. Courses in sociology help students gain a general understanding of human society, understand how individuals’ lives are shaped by social forces, develop theoretical and analytic skills appropriate for graduate or professional school programs, prepare for careers in social service or allied fields, and acquire theoretical and practical knowledge for careers in business and industry. Recent graduates have gone on to professional or graduate schools in sociology, law, criminology, social work, and education. Graduates have found employment in those fields as well as counseling, corrections, law enforcement, the armed services, banking, public relations, human resources management, and other corporate and nonprofit positions.
SOC SCE Senior Capstone Experience 2 Credits
The Senior Capstone Experience in sociology is a significant piece of independent research, generally in the form of a thesis, undertaken by each senior with the guidance and mentorship of a department faculty member. The SCE integrates the diverse learning that students have accomplished throughout their undergraduate years, not only within the major, but also across the liberal arts and sciences. The range both of topics and methods is broad. The Capstone Experience is based on a topic of the student's choosing, with the guidance of a faculty member to assure that it is both significant and capable of completion in the time available. Work on the Sociology Capstone is supported by some of the work of the Sociology Senior Seminar, SOC 491, taken during the fall semester. A more extensive description of the SCE is available from the department chair. Discussion of a joint thesis, undertaken by a student with two majors, can be found in the section Double Majors, Minors, and Concentrations/Specializations within the Academic Program portion of this Catalog.
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 101 Intro to Sociology 4 Credits
Introduction to basic concepts and theories in sociology concerning the nature of society, culture, and personality. Consideration of social processes, groups, and institutions found in modern American society. Specific topics include deviance and social control, social networks, bureaucracy, families, education, race, social class and gender.
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 171 Introduction to Public Health 4 Credits
This course introduces the major concepts, tools, and debates of Public Health through an exploration of issues in this interdisciplinary field including health inequities, historical and ongoing strategies for control of communicable and noncommunicable diseases, and connections between social structures and the distribution of disease from a Public Health perspective. Students acquire basic knowledge, attitudes, and skills that are important for Public Health practice. This course is one of the two required courses for the Public Health minor.
Term(s) Offered: Fall, All Years
SOC 194 Special Topics 4 Credits
Topics not regularly offered in a department's normal course offerings, chosen based on current student interest and faculty expertise. Graded A-F and Pass/Fail.
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 212 Sociology of the Family 4 Credits
This course studies historical aspects of family formation and function as well as contemporary patterns of the institution and individual experiences. Theory and research dealing with courtship, marriage, children and parenting, and disorganization of the modern family is examined.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Odd Years
SOC 213 Sociology of Gender 4 Credits
Course examines sex, gender, sexuality, and their intersections with other statuses. The effects of gender on individuals' statuses and opportunity structures is considered as are the impacts of interactions and institutional patterns. Focus on contemporary American responses to sex and gender.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: Spring, All Years
SOC 221 Social Inequalities 4 Credits
This course examines the structure of social stratification in the U.S. from various perspectives and from micro- and macro-levels of analysis. This course is based on the seven statuses (race, social class, gender, physical/mental ability, religion, sexual orientation and age) that most significantly determine who gets what in American society. Historical and contemporary examples highlighted in readings and discussion range from medicine, law, education, the family, the military, housing, food security, and other.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: Spring, All Years
SOC 240 Criminology 4 Credits
An overview of how scholars of sociology and criminology analyze and understand the frequency of crime, criminal patterns, varieties of criminal offending, characteristics of criminal offenders, and theories of criminal offending. This course covers the core concepts related to criminological study, the nature and frequency of crime, patterns of criminal offending, victims, public fear of crime, criminological theory, and the critical evaluation of different types of crimes including violent, economic, public disorder, and terrorism.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 262 Self and Society 4 Credits
Examines reciprocal relationships of society and the individual, and of the nature of face-to-face human interaction. Introduces key concepts, theories, and methodologies of sociological social psychology. Students read, analyze, and perform research that explores the ways in which society affects individuals and groups; how individuals and groups, reciprocally, influence society; how individuals interpret and negotiate the social world; and the influence individuals and groups have on others.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Odd Years
SOC 271 Global Health Disparities 4 Credits
Global Health Disparities offers a cross cultural comparative analysis of the definitions of health and health care delivery, as well as an overview of specific chronic and acute health issues. The course addresses global health broadly and focuses on global health disparity. We analyze disparity with a multidisciplinary perspective, evaluating the political, economic, and sociocultural aspects of health inequality. This course is one of the two required courses for the Public Health minor.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 171
Term(s) Offered: Spring, All Years
SOC 290 Sociology Internship 4 Credits
The department encourages students with prior courses in sociology to develop, with a member of the department, internship opportunities. Students interested in pursuing internships should read Internships and Other opportunities, in this Catalog. In addition to the requirements listed there, interns should expect to write a paper describing their experiences, as relevant to sociology, and connected to a reading list to be developed and agreed upon by the intern and the supervising faculty member. Prerequisite: Sociology 101 and permission of the department chair. 45 hours are required per credit.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 294 Special Topics 4 Credits
Topics not regularly offered in a department's normal course offerings, chosen based on current student interest and faculty expertise. Graded A-F and Pass/Fail.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 295 On Campus Research 4 Credits
An agreement between a sponsoring faculty member and a student, researching a topic of interest that is relevant to a student's major or minor. Research is conducted on campus. Students must be enrolled before the research can begin. Graded A-F or Pass/Fail.
Term(s) Offered: Summer, All Years
SOC 296 Off-Campus Research 4 Credits
An agreement between a sponsoring faculty member and a student, researching a topic of interest that is relevant to a student's major or minor. Research is conducted on campus. Students must be enrolled before the research can begin. Graded A-F or Pass/Fail. 45 hours are required per credit.
Term(s) Offered: Summer, All Years
SOC 297 Independent Study 4 Credits
An agreement between a sponsoring faculty member and a student allowing the student to study a topic of interest that is presently not offered at WC. 45 hours are required per credit.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101. Take two additional Sociology courses.
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 303 Social Theory 4 Credits
The study of the leading social thinkers from 1800 to the present and the associated theoretical perspectives with an emphasis on contemporary applications of sociological theory.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101 and one additional SOC course
Term(s) Offered: Spring, All Years
SOC 306 Research Methods in Sociology 4 Credits
Introduction to the methods used in studying society. Selection of research topic, experimental design, sampling, methods of data collection, statistical analysis of findings.
Term(s) Offered: Fall, All Years
SOC 327 Washington Center Internship 12 Credits
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 328 Washington Center Seminar 3 Credits
Washington Center Interns participate in an evening seminar selected from a variety of topics offered during the semester. STudents engage in class discussion and may also research seminar topics, prepare written asignments, and take examinarions. Required of and limited to students enrolled in SOC 327. Three credits.
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 329 Washington Center Forum 1 Credit
Washington Center Interns participate in lectures, site visits, small group discussions, briefings, and other required events designed to help them understand the connection between their academic and professional goals and the special educational opportunities available through living and working in Washington, DC. Evaluations of these experiences are included in the student portfolio. Required of and limited to students enrolled in SOC 327. One credit.
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 340 Victimology 4 Credits
Victimology broadens criminological scholarship by focusing on the vitims, rather that the perpetrators of crime. Students are introduced to the multifaceted issue of victimization in the U.S. including victimization theories, trends in criminal victimization, treatment of victims in the criminal justice system, victim support issues, and the victimization of certain subgroups in the population.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 240
Term(s) Offered: Spring, Even Years
SOC 341 Variant Behavior 4 Credits
This course explores variant behavior in a variety of contexts including crime, body modifications, gender and sexual identity, and health behaviors. We regard deviance not as bad behavior, but as behavior contrary to norms. Deviance is examined as a conceptual category that is socially constructed by interactions and reactions to certain types of behavior be they biological, social, or both. Students analyze the processes and social agencies that define, detect, and sanction variant behavior over time.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101 and one additional SOC course
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Even Years
SOC 342 Sociology of Punishment 4 Credits
This course examines four major questions associated with punishment in the United States: 1.) Why do we punish? 2.) Who do we punish? 3.) How do we punish? 4.) What are the consequences of punishment? To answer these questions, students explore ideas related to sociology, criminology philosophy, law, history, to assess the ethics and utility of punishment and the problems punishment creates for society and offenders.
Term(s) Offered: Spring, Odd Years
SOC 343 Women, Crime & the Crim. Justice System 4 Credits
This course places women at the forefront when examining all facets of crime, victimization, and the institutions that handle both victims and offenders. To fully explore the issue, this course is split into four units that explore women as victims, women as perpetrators, women who are in custody of the criminal justice system, and women who work in the criminal justice system.
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Odd Years
SOC 344 Sociology of Gangs 4 Credits
This course explores a broad range of topics related to gang activity in the United States and abroad. Topics include: historical, theoretical and socioeconomic processes leading to gang formation, gang activities and typologies, gang membership and organization, gender roles within gangs, and social problems associated with gangs.
Term(s) Offered: Spring, Even Years
SOC 347 Juvenile Delinq & Social Welfr 4 Credits
A sociological exploration of youth, crime, and the juvenile justice system in the United States. A wide variety of topics are covered, including the history, philosophy and contemporary context of the juvenile court, shifting patterns and trends relative to juvenile offending and crime, sociological theories accounting for involvement and deterrence from juvenile delinquency, the application of the rule of law to juvenile offending, and the effectiveness of rehabilitative programming in response to youthful offenders. The course covers the history of adolescence, youth culture, explanations for delinquency, the effects of race, class, and gender on delinquency, the relationship between institutions, particularly family and school, and delinquency and the interaction between juveniles and the criminal justice system.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: Spring, Odd Years
SOC 351 Sociology of Mental Health 4 Credits
This course will apply the sociological perspective to various topics regarding mental health and illness. The course will cover topics such as the social construction of mental illness, the social epidemiology and epidemiology of mental illness, labeling and stigma of those with a mental illness, and mental health policy/treatment.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: Spring, Odd Years
SOC 370 Environmental Sociology 4 Credits
This class explores the human dimension of ecosystem science. We use environmental sociology as a framework for understanding the dynamic relationship between humans and the environment, trends in environmental policy and public opinion, environmentalism as a social movement, human-induced environmental decline, and environmental justice. Students explore how changes in ecosystems influence the achievability and sustainability of societal values such as security from natural disasters, health, good social relations, and freedom to pursue personal and cultural interests.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101 and one additional SOC course
Term(s) Offered: Spring, Even Years
SOC 382 Introduction to Social Welfare 4 Credits
This course offers students a broad understanding of contemporary social problems and the social welfare policies, programs and services designed to address them. The history, individual and social consequences, and programmatic approaches to the amelioration of each social problem area is explored. A primary goal of this course is to introduce students to the profession of social work: its fields of practice, values and ethics. This course integrates core social work competencies and has particular relevance to students considering practice, administrative or policy careers in the helping professions.
Term(s) Offered: Spring, All Years
SOC 390 Sociology Internship 4 Credits
The department encourages students with prior courses in sociology to develop, with a member of the department, internship opportunities. Students interested in pursuing internships should read Internships and Other opportunities, in this Catalog. In addition to the requirements listed there, interns should expect to write a paper describing their experiences, as relevant to sociology, and connected to a reading list to be developed and agreed upon by the intern and the supervising faculty member. Prerequisite: Sociology 101 and permission of the department chair. 45 hours are required per credit.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 394 Special Topics 4 Credits
Topics not regularly offered in a department's normal course offerings, chosen based on current student interest and faculty expertise. Graded A-F and Pass/Fail.
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 397 Independent Study 4 Credits
An agreement between a sponsoring faculty member and a student allowing the student to study a topic of interest that is presently not offered at WC. 45 hours are required per credit.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101 and two additional SOC courses
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 413 Work and Gender 4 Credits
This course examines the expectations, opportunities, and rewards as well as the limitations that men and women face in paid and unpaid labor. The historical contexts of work, the intersection of race and gender, the balancing of paid and unpaid labor, and global patterns of work with respect to gender are studied.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101 and one additional SOC course
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Odd Years
SOC 451 Sociology of Aging 4 Credits
This course evaluates the social, psychological, and biological changes that occur with aging and how these changes affect interactions between older people and their family, friends, home, community, and society. Special attention is given to the sociological aspects of aging and the impact the increasing older adult population has on the US today. The course takes classroom learning and apply it to real world experiences through a significant service-learning project. Students should be prepared to spend 20 hours in a community-based project during the course of the semester.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: Spring, Even Years
SOC 462 Sociology of the Body 4 Credits
An examination of bodies as a source of power, repression, and subjugation, a medium for expression, and an entity to be controlled. This course investigates how the body is influenced by social forces, the meanings attached to the body and particular body parts, the ways in which we experience our own bodies in contemporary society, and the significance of the body for the discipline of sociology. Includes study of characteristics such as body size, physical ability, race, and sex as well as various forms of elected or forced body modification.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101 and one additional SOC course
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Odd Years
SOC 483 Field Experience in Social Welfare 4 Credits
A study of the organization and operation of social agencies. Field experience in welfare work under professional supervision.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 382
Term(s) Offered: Fall, All Years
SOC 484 Field Experience in Social Welfare 4 Credits
A study of the organization and operation of social agencies. Field experience in welfare work under professional supervision.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 382
Term(s) Offered: Spring, All Years
SOC 490 Sociology Internship 2 Credits
The department encourages students with prior courses in sociology to develop, with a member of the department, internship opportunities. Students interested in pursuing internships should read Internships and Other opportunities, in this Catalog. In addition to the requirements listed there, interns should expect to write a paper describing their experiences, as relevant to sociology, and connected to a reading list to be developed and agreed upon by the intern and the supervising faculty member. Prerequisite: Sociology 101 and permission of the department chair. 45 hours are required per credit.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 491 Senior Seminar 0 Credits
Students will meet for 75 minutes each week in the fall semester of their senior year for general guidance in the Capstone process, for integration of the undergraduate educational experience, and for guidance in the transition from undergraduate study to employment and to post-BA academic work. Participation in the Senior Seminar is a requirement of the major and counts towards the overall SCE grade.
Term(s) Offered: Fall, All Years
SOC 494 Special Topics 4 Credits
Topics not regularly offered in a department's normal course offerings, chosen based on current student interest and faculty expertise. Graded A-F and Pass/Fail.
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years
SOC 496 Off-Campus Study 4 Credits
An agreement between a sponsoring faculty member and a student, researching a topic of interest that is relevant to a student's major or minor. Research is conducted on campus. Students must be enrolled before the research can begin. Graded A-F or Pass/Fail. 45 hours are required per credit.
Term(s) Offered: Summer, All Years
SOC 497 Independent Study 4 Credits
An agreement between a sponsoring faculty member and a student allowing the student to study a topic of interest that is presently not offered at WC. 45 hours are required per credit.
Requisites: Pre-req: SOC 101 and two additional courses in Sociology.
Term(s) Offered: All Terms, All Years