Courses - Fall 2025
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
Understanding Contemporary Social Problems - Frameworks for Critical Thinking and Strategies for Solutions
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
Innovation, Exploration and the Evolution of Human Societies
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 (22080) or Sociology minor (#BS13).
Designed to assist students in making a successful transition to the major and will 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.
SOCY223
Down the Rabbit Hole: Conspiracy Theories, Paranormal Beliefs, and How to Know What's Real
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
It is becoming increasingly difficult to know what's real. We live in a world replete with deception, biases, fake images that seem indecipherable from real ones, and widespread and coordinated efforts to misinform us. Not unrelated to this, belief in conspiracy theories and the paranormal are flourishing. This course will explore the reasons why we so often believe claims that scientists reject and accept contentions that powerful and sinister conspirators are secretly controlling major events. We will investigate who believes, why we believe, and how normal human thinking processes contribute to the holding of questionable beliefs. The course will equip students with tools to evaluate claims and to understand why people believe what they do.
SOCY224
Explore and discuss the major debates and assumptions that construct perceptions of race and how it matters. 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.
SOCY227
Introduction to the Study of Deviance
Credit only granted for: SOCY227 or SOCY327.
Formerly: SOCY327.
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.
SOCY244
Bridging Perspectives: Critical Conversations Between Students and Police
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
This course is a university curriculum created by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to enhance community-police engagement. This course brings university students and police together to engage in facilitated dialogue to learn from one another and build trust. Through this transformative educational course, both groups will enhance their knowledge of the structural and cultural frameworks that influence historical and current events and relationships between communities and police.
SOCY322
Cross-listed with: AAST322.
Credit only granted for: AAST322, SOCY222, HIST322 or SOCY322.
Formerly: AAST222, SOCY222.
Explores historical and contemporary Asian immigration to the US in comparison to and in the context of other immigrant groups. From low-skilled laborers to highly-skilled professionals, Asian and other immigrants have been an integral part of the shifting US economy and society since its inception. The course includes theories on why immigration occurs, determinants of its continuation, the uses of migrant labor, and immigrant adaptation and settlement. The second part of the course focuses on theories of ethnicity and racial formation and how immigrants develop and challenge the definitions of race, ethnicity, the "other", and ultimately, who is American. Students will also have the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of the immigrant experience through a life history interview project.
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.
SOCY340
What is the relationship between globalization and inequality? This course examines the factors shaping both between-nation and within-nation household income inequality for the past century. It is divided into four parts, each considering a different factor. First we seek to understand global trade historically. Second, we examine the more recent phenomenon of outsourcing. Third, we examine welfare and taxation policy and its role in shaping domestic inequality. Finally, we analyze the mechanisms for the accumulation of capital within global finance. By the end of the course, students will be able to discuss globalization beyond the "is it good or bad" binary and understand the complex interaction between domestic politics and international trade.
SOCY378
Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
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.
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.
SOCY420
Qualitative Research Methods in Sociology
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY201 and SOCY202; or permission of the Sociology department.
Using the sociological imagination to independently explore research questions as designed by students. Readings will explore dilemmas qualitative researchers confront such as, how to conduct research ethically and how their background influences their findings and analysis. Students will learn how to collect data, analyze it, and present it to others.
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.
SOCY433
Social Movements and Race
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of BSOS-Sociology department.
This course aims to broaden our understanding of racial and ethnic minority social movements in the United States. We will often reference protests by African Americans and Latinos, such as by focusing on slave resistance, the modern civil rights movement, and Chicano movements. We will discuss various topics, including movement emergence, why people join and pick their tactics, government repression, movement outcomes, and movement decline. We will interrogate ways that movement processes and theoretical tools may be racially variant and strive to uncover how approaches used by scholars who study race (e.g., intersectionality, critical race theory, racialization) can be applied, and perhaps challenge, traditional social movement scholarship.
SOCY436
Where You Live Matters: Race, Segregated Neighborhoods, and Health
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Have you ever wondered how the neighborhoods we live in affect our health and the role that race plays in this dynamic? In this course, we will explore the historical foundations of race and racially segregated communities in the United States. We will examine how the racial composition of neighborhoods profoundly shapes the social, economic, and environmental conditions within communities, and how inequalities in these conditions contribute to health disparities. By the end of this course, students will have a deep understanding of how where we live shapes opportunities to lead healthful lives and the importance of addressing these challenges to create more equitable communities.
SOCY442
The Black Middle Class
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses.
Credit only granted for: SOCY498T or SOCY442.
Formerly: SOCY498T.
Students will learn about the Black Middle Class. They will examine and explore the historical context that led to the rise of a Black Middle Class. Innovative avenues into the Black Middle Class will also be examined, including various household and family formations. Finally, the course will cover the consequences of being in the The Black Middle Class, with an emphasis on residential segregation and racial identity.
SOCY451
Sociology of Culture
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of the department.
Credit only granted for: SOCY498C or SOCY451.
Formerly: SOCY498C.
Analyzes the relationship between society and culture. How do social forces affect cultural objects and products? How do values and meanings shape individual behavior? How can culture be both a source of domination and resistance? These and other topics will be analyzed to show the role of culture in our lives.
SOCY455
Social Dimensions of Privacy and Surveillance
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of the department.
Credit only granted for: SOCY391 or SOCY455.
Today, it is quite common in many spheres of life that we divulge personal information in exchange for something else. This course examines practices of surveillance in contemporary society in relationship to collective understandings of privacy. By the end of this course, students will be able to analyze privacy norms and practices in the age of mass surveillance, how surveillance produces inequalities in relation to privacy, and how definitions and regulations of privacy and surveillance change over time.
SOCY460
Researching Race, Gender, Class, and Sport
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY201 and SOCY202; or permission of the Sociology department.
Credit only granted for: SOCY310 OR SOCY460.
Historically, sports have been exclusionary by race, class and gender. Black athletes, women, and poor populations were excluded. Current discussions centered on sports, athletes, and social justice, leads to important sociological questions to consider and problems to investigate. In this research course, students will critically analyze assumptions, historical relationships, and contemporary issues in sports using an Intersectional conceptual framework. Students will analyze and synthesize original and empirical data for research-based poster presentations; and articulate how interrogating sports allows for innovative and revolutionary thinking as global citizens in various communities.
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.
SOCY463
Sociology of Masculinity: How Much Has Masculinity Really Changed?
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of BSOS Sociology department.
An examination of the history both feminist social movements and feminist sociology in a specific way. It uses the sociological subfield of men and masculinities as a keyhole through which we will study 'the stalled revolution' for women's equality. Along the way, we will familiarize ourselves with academic and popular reports about changing and contested definitions, ideas, and behaviors of masculinity.
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.
SOCY467
Sociology of Education
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of BSOS-Sociology department.
Students will examine educational institutions from a sociological perspective by analyzing the latent and manifest functions of schooling. Students will study schools as structured organizations; investigate the various roles and subcultures present among teachers and students; and explore educational disparities in access and achievement.
SOCY470
Pregnancy and Parenthood in an Unequal Society
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of Sociology Department.
Analysis of patterns in sexual activity, contraceptive use, and unintended pregnancy, and how they reinforce or alleviate socioeconomic, gender, and racial inequalities. Emphasis on the role of healthcare providers and contraceptive access, attitudes about motherhood and contraception, policy interventions, and institutional designs. Social and economic consequences of increasing women's ability to control their fertility.
SOCY475
Sociology of Emotions
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of BSOS-Sociology Department.
Credit only granted for: SOCY498W or SOCY475.
Formerly: SOCY498W.
Emotions are often thought of as purely subjective experiences. How much more personal than one get than their emotions and feelings? In addition to their physiological and psychological aspects, however, emotions have a social side that often go unnoticed. This course will introduce you to the social aspects of emotions. In doing so, we will cover wide-ranging topics including the social causes of emotions, social norms about emotions, disparities in emotionalexperiences, and the ways in which emotions can maintain and reshape society.
SOCY480
Researching the Middle East
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY201 and SOCY202; or permission of the Sociology department.
Credit only granted for: SOCY498E or SOCY480.
Formerly: SOCY498E.
Introduces religion, gender, and politics in the Middle East and North Africa. After an overview of the political and social history the focus will be on methods for carrying out research on fundamental issues facing Middle Eastern societies, including national identity, religion, gender relations and the status of women in the family, politics, education, and labor market.
SOCY601
Statistics For Sociological Research I
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY201; or students who have taken courses with comparable content may contact the department.
Restriction: Permission of instructor.
Credit only granted for: SOCY601 and SURV601.
Introductory statistical concepts are covered including descriptive statistics, probability, sampling distributions, expected values, hypothesis testing, tests of significance, measures of association, and if time permits, introduction to regression analysis. Statistical programming software may be used.
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.
SOCY617
Second-Year Paper Seminar
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restriction: Restricted to Sociology PhD students.
This course is intended to help Sociology PhD students develop a successful second-year paper or another research paper equivalent in scope. It will also enhance students' ability to evaluate and constructively critique the work of others.
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.
Review of the history of sociological thought with major attention to the key figures (from Marx to C. Wright Mills).
SOCY636
Racial Residential Segregation and Health
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Scholars have labeled racial residential segregation a "fundamental cause" of racial disparities in health. The primary objective of this course is to help students understand the reasons behind this label. To accomplish this, we will read classic and contemporary works that discuss the historical foundations of race and racially segregated communities in the United States. Then, we will critically review the large body of research that has examined various social, economic, and environmental mechanisms linking racial residential segregation to health and health disparities. By the end of this course, students will be able to identify key theoretical, conceptual, and methodological approaches, challenges, and opportunities in this literature.
SOCY673
Sociology of Gender
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
This graduate seminar is an introduction to the broad field of sociology of gender. The focus of the seminar is, first, to examine gender as a multilevel system of social practices that construct and reinforce the gender binary, which functions as a master binary that creates "women" and "men" as two different and unequal categories through processes that instill and reinforce gendered identities, interactions, and institutions. In the course, students will examine how gender intersects with other domains of inequality, particularly sexuality, race-ethnicity, social class, and nationality.
SOCY681
Group Processes
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restriction: Permission of instructor.
Credit only granted for: SOCY681 or SOCY699G.
Formerly: SOCY699G.
An overview of sociology's group processes perspective, one of the three "faces" of sociological social psychology. The group processes tradition focuses on fundamental social processes that occur in group contexts. These include power, status, legitimacy, emotion, identity, prosocial behavior, justice, and others. The course will attend to all of these areas, with a special focus on research that addresses inequalities by race, gender, and class that are manifested in or exacerbated by specific group processes. Additionally, research in the group processes area tends to be characterized by formal approaches to theory and by experimental methodology, and the course will attend to the role of theory and experiments in building knowledge on group processes.
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
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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