Courses - Fall 2023
SOCY100
Introduction to Sociology
Introduces fundamental concepts and theories of sociology. Guided by C. Wright Mills' "sociological imagination," the course promotes critical thinking; challenges conventional assumptions about culture politics, history, and psychology; and equips students with theoretical approaches and research methods to analyze various sociological topics, including family, work, education, religion, social movements, and issues related to class, gender, race, and ethnic inequalities.
SOCY105
Introduction to Contemporary Social Problems
Embark on an exploration of contemporary social issues and unravel the intricate ways in which these challenges are woven into the fabric of society. Develop a comprehensive understanding of societal organization and partake in a detailed study of selected social problems, with a specific emphasis on issues like social conflict and inequality. This course provides an insightful journey into the nuanced interplay between societal structure and prevalent challenges, fostering a heightened awareness of the dynamics shaping our social landscape.
SOCY200
We will explore the nature of human societies through comparative, historical, and interdisciplinary perspectives. Students will delve into the core of social structures, unravel the defining components of society, and examine their organization, evolution, and impact on collective existence. Students will also explore the socio-historical forces and geopolitical dynamics that drive social change to analyze the complex connections that illuminate our shared social experience across time.
SOCY201
Introductory Statistics for Sociology
Prerequisite: SOCY100; and (MATH107 or MATH111).
Restriction: Must not have completed STAT400, BMGT231, or ENEE324.
Students will explore descriptive and inferential statistics. You will hone your quantitative analytical skills to construct impactful bivariate tables, craft frequency distributions, and decipher measures of central tendency and dispersion. Additionally, you will master the techniques of hypothesis testing, chi-square, ANOVA, and ordinary least squares regression, equipping you to seamlessly translate data into meaningful research insights.
SOCY202
Introduction to Research Methods in Sociology
Prerequisite: SOCY100.
We will examine why social research is needed, explore some of the main quantitative and qualitative techniques to conduct sociological research, and discover how to understand and critically evaluate sociological research on pressing social problems. Students will also learn to use specialized software to analyze and interpret quantitative data in the computer lab.
SOCY203
Sociological Theory
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY100.
Examines major trends in the history and development of sociological thought, including theories of inequality, the self, institutions, and more. With each theorist students will learn what sociologists assume and focus on when studying societies.
SOCY211
The Sociology Major: Mapping the Road to Academic Success
Credits:
1
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Must be in the Sociology major or Sociology minor.
Designed to assist students in making a successful transition to the major and orient them to departmental, college, and university resources. Students will collaboratively explore avenues and best practices that build self-confidence and lead to academic achievement.
SOCY222
Cross-listed with: AAST222.
Credit only granted for: AAST222, HIST222, or SOCY222.
The history of immigration and the development of diverse populations in the United States are examined. Topics include related political controversies, the social experiences of immigrants, ethnicity, generations, migration, inter-group relations, race and diversity in American culture.
SOCY224
Explore and discuss the major debates and assumptions that construct perceptions of race and how they matter. Sociological and social science theories will give students a historical and present day frame with which to view race and ethnic relations in the twenty-first century.
SOCY225
Women's Jobs, Men's Jobs: How and Why Do They Differ?
An exploration of critical issues pertaining to gender differences in the workplace. Overview of theories explaining why some people do better than others in the world of work, and discussions of more specific questions relating to women's and men's job opportunities and experiences.
SOCY227
Introduction to the Study of Deviance
An introduction to the sociological study of deviant behavior, covering such topics as mental illness, sexual deviance, and the use of drugs.
SOCY230
Sociological Social Psychology
Why do people do that? Sitting at the nexus of sociology and psychology, this course surveys the various ways in which sociologists have answered this question. We investigate individuals-for example, how they develop and understand themselves in relation to others, how they choose to present themselves to the world, and how they form thoughts and opinions. And we study larger units of analyses, from small groups to the broader society. Topics covered include socialization, identity formation, social influence, group processes, how social processes shape individual behavior, and how human behavior shapes society.
SOCY241
Credit only granted for: SOCY241 or SOCY441.
A broad-based overview of inequality in contemporary U.S. society, focusing on measuring patterns and trends over time. A series of learning modules familiarizes students with how inequality unfolds in relation to social stratification processes along the lines of race, gender, education and social class, income and wealth, and health.
SOCY242
Sociology of Homelessness
Examines the causes of and solutions for homelessness in society. How social scientists analyze social issues using ethnographic observation, surveys, official statistics, and other research methods. Discusses how policies have responded to the problem of homelessness, and how to evaluate their effectiveness.
SOCY243
The Family: Diversity, Inequality, and Social Change
Credit only granted for: SOCY243 or SOCY443.
Formerly: SOCY443.
An exploration of diversity and inequality in family life, focusing on empirical patterns and trends, political and cultural debates, and policy issues, including the major theories and research methods used in the sociological study of the family in a plural society.
SOCY277
Intersectionality and Illness: How do Overarching Social Inequalities Affect Health Outcomes?
Credit only granted for: SOCY277 or SOCY302.
Formerly: SOCY302.
Students will examine the social determinants of disease: the relationship between socioeconomic status and health care access, as well as investigate the links between social status and disease chronicity. Students will further explore how health disparities, health resource distribution, and susceptibility disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities with chronic diseases.
SOCY335
Sociology of Health and Illness
An exploration of the social model to studying health and illness: how meanings and experiences of health and illness are socially produced. How experiences are shaped by the interaction of external social environments (culture, community) and the internal environment (human body), and by socio-demographic variables (race, class, gender, etc.). Disparities in health and healthcare delivery, medicalization of society, determinants of health, social construction of illness, and the social organization of health care.
SOCY380
Honors Independent Reading in Sociology
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Permission of BSOS-Sociology department.
This course permits sociology honor students to undertake a program or reading on a particular problem in sociology or a subfield therein. The reading will be done under the supervision of a member of the sociology faculty. Required of sociology honor students.
SOCY381
Honors Independent Research in Sociology
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY380.
This course permits sociology students to define a particular problem in sociology or a subfield therein and to develop a research plan for use as a thesis topic. The work will be done under the supervision of a member of the sociology faculty.
SOCY383
Honors Thesis Research
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY381.
Student research under the direction of a member of the sociology faculty, culminating in the presentation and defense of a thesis reporting the research.
SOCY386
Experiential Learning
Credits:
3 - 6
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
Restriction: Permission of BSOS-Sociology department; and junior standing or higher.
To register, students must have departmental permission form signed by instructor and by Coordinator of Sociology Undergraduate Program.
SOCY391
Surveillance and the Erosion of Privacy
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Our world is under increasing amounts of surveillance, from states, corporations, and other individuals. These activities may affect our sense of privacy since surveilling others is done as a means to gather knowledge. This class examines surveillance and privacy together in order to answer the following questions: Are acts of surveillance in contemporary society eroding our sense of privacy? Are certain populations more or less privileged in terms of having privacy rights? How can we protect privacy rights in an age of surveillance?
SOCY399
Independent Study in Sociology
Credits:
1 - 6
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
No more than 6 hours of 399 is allowed for credit.
SOCY410
Social Demography
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of BSOS-Sociology department.
Demography is the scientific study of human populations including their size, distribution, composition, and the processes that change these characteristics. Social demography examines how population processes interrelate with institutions in society, such as the family and the economy.
SOCY424
Sociology of Race Relations
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of the Sociology department.
Cross-listed with: AAST424.
Credit only granted for: SOCY424 or AAST424.
Encourages sociological thinking about US racial and ethnic minority populations, with a focus on African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. The central concern is to understand and explain racial/ethnic inequality. A wide array of topics are discussed, including prejudice and discrimination, slavery, residential segregation, cultural inequality, skin tone stratification, economic and educational disparities, and assimilation/generational processes.
SOCY432
Social Movements
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of BSOS-Sociology department.
This course broadens students' understanding of social movements in the United States. Many topics are discussed, including the emergence of social movements, why people join social movements, collective identity, gender, culture, emotions, tactics, repression, and the decline of social movements. Various movements are reviewed, including the civil rights movement, the Chicano movement, the women's movement, the LGBTQ movement, the white power movement, the American Indian movement, and the animal rights movement.
SOCY456
Smart Machines and Human Prospects
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY201 and SOCY202; or permission of the Sociology department.
Credit only granted for: SOCY416 or SOCY456.
Artificial intelligence is everywhere and never sleeps. It is transforming our social institutions in intended and unintended ways. While scientists debate the feasibility of engineering conscious machines with general intelligence, no one debates that the global race is on to create more potent computers. Through targeted research, discussion, and presentation of findings students will answer a specific question on how, where, and in what ways society is being changed by smart machines.
SOCY461
Sociology in Action: Research and Community Engagement in Prince George's County
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY202; or students who have taken courses with similar content may contact the department.
Sociology in Action is a research course that will use the science of sociology to inform real life issues and contribute to the development of social programs. In this course, students will gain hands-on experience in applying sociology by working with clients in Prince George's County on specific social problems and issues. Please assess your ability to commit to this course and fulfill all requirements. Given that students will be working with Prince George's County organizations, there will be some variation and unpredictability in the nature of the projects.
SOCY462
Digital Technology and Society
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: Must have completed 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of BSOS-Sociology department.
Situates digital technology in our social environment and then examines how this relationship reflects, reinforces, or reorders social hierarchies. Students will learn the conceptual and methodological foundations for studying and evaluating how technologies such as health and social media apps, the personal computer, artificial intelligence, and weapons of war have evolved, diffused and impacted social life. Students will explore and then conduct independent research on the relationship between technology and social inequalities through the lens of health and medicine, the environment and climate change, jobs and the workplace, as well as government and criminal justice.
SOCY465
The Sociology of War: State and Society since the American Revolution
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: Must have completed 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of BSOS-Sociology department.
Credit only granted for: SOCY465 or SOCY265.
Since the American and French Revolutions at the end of the eighteenth century, warfare has been marked by the way national states draw ordinary people into armed conflicts--as members of the military, producers and controllers of resources and supporters or resisters, and also as targets and victims. This course examines how the centering of ordinary people in war has transformed over time, continuing right up to the current conflict in Ukraine. Alongside explaining why states make war the way they do, the course explores the impacts of making war and living through conflict on the societies embroiled in it.
SOCY601
Statistics For Sociological Research I
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restriction: Permission of instructor.
Covers calculation and interpretation of descriptive and inferential statistics, including Chi-square, ANOVA, correlation, and bivariate and multivariable OLS regression. Students will be introduced to applied data analysis using Stata statistical software.
SOCY610
Logic of Social Inquiry
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restriction: Restricted to Sociology graduate students.
Credit only granted for: SOCY699D or SOCY610.
Formerly: SOCY699D.
An introductory course on the fundamental issues that arise in the design, execution, analysis, and writing stages of the research process. The course is designed to help first-year graduate students begin their transition from a consumer to a producer of social research.
SOCY616
Sociology Pro-Seminar
Credits:
1
Grad Meth:
S-F
Restriction: Must be in Sociology (Doctoral) program.
Credit only granted for: SOCCY699P or SOCY616.
Formerly: SOCY699P.
The proseminar is the guide to Sociology as a profession, and how sociology is practiced here at the University of Maryland. The goal of the course is to help students gain insider knowledge about how to develop sociological knowledge and capabilities, and what it means to practice sociology as a graduate student and beyond. The course will discuss both practical aspects of professional life in general and specific topics of interest.
SOCY620
Development of European and American Sociological Theory
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY203 or SOCY403; or students who have taken courses with comparable content may contact the department; or permission of instructor.
Examines key texts in the emergence of social theory as a coherent body of thought, defined in part by the idea that society has a distinctive logic of its own that comes from society itself. Students will read works by Adam Smith, Alexis de Tocqueville, Karl Marx, Georg Simmel, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Simone de Beauvoir, WEB DuBois, and Karl Polanyi. Through close reading and discussion, students will trace the development of sociological theory from its origins in the latter 18th century through the founding of the discipline of Sociology in the early 1900s to the recasting of central understandings that emerged around the middle of the 20th century.
SOCY646
Public Image Management and Policy Solutions
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restriction: Must be in one of the following programs: Master of Professional Studies in Public Safety Leadership and Administration (MPLA); Criminology and Criminal Justice (Master's); Criminology and Criminal Justice (Doctoral); Sociology (Master's); Sociology (Doctoral); or permission from either the Sociology Department or Criminology & Criminal Justice Department.
Explores how to mitigate and solve image management problems that arise in organizations. Students will learn how to evaluate their organization, make recommendations for future development, and implement the practical aspects of the solution. Problems arise daily in organizations. Leaders need effective strategies to mitigate and solve these problems. While some problems are structural, daily problems often focus on social interactions among people. The course will focus on evaluating the source of problems, enhancing cultural competency among employees, restructuring and rebranding the organization, managing public image, and forming and implementing innovative policy solutions for long-term goals.
SOCY653
Family Demography
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restriction: Permission of instructor.
Demograpic perspective on family and household relationships; relationships among economic institutions, family structure, and the content of family life; research from contemporary U.S., historical and cross-cultural sources.
SOCY657
Constitutional Law and Public Safety
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restriction: Must be in one of the following programs: Master of Professional Studies in Public Safety Leadership and Administration (MPLA); Criminology and Criminal Justice (Master's); Criminology and Criminal Justice (Doctoral); Sociology (Master's); Sociology (Doctoral); or permission from BSOS-Criminology & Criminal Justice department.
Introduces students to the constitutional issues inherent in the practice of policing. Particular emphasis is placed on issues pertaining to the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments.
SOCY699
Special Social Problems
Credits:
1 - 16
Grad Meth:
Reg
SOCY699C
Special Social Problems; Introduction to Computing for Sociologists
Credits:
1
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
SOCY699M
Special Social Problems; Pro-Seminar for BA/MA Students
Credits:
1
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restricted to students in the 5-Year BA/MA Sociology program.
SOCY709
Advanced Special Topics in Data Analysis
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
SOCY799
Master's Thesis Research
Credits:
1 - 6
Grad Meth:
S-F
SOCY898
Pre-Candidacy Research
Credits:
1 - 8
Grad Meth:
Reg
SOCY899
Doctoral Dissertation Research
Credits:
6
Grad Meth:
S-F
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