Courses - Fall 2026
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.
SOCY223
Down the Rabbit Hole: Conspiracy Theories, Paranormal Beliefs, and How to Know What's Real
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 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.
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.
SOCY237
Credit only granted for: HNUH238C or SOCY237.
Formerly: HNUH238C.
Do the social and individual benefits of surveillance outweigh its risks? Surveillance is a ubiquitous practice in contemporary society. Governments surveil populations; corporations surveil customers and users; and individuals surveil themselves and others. From red light cameras and doorbell security cameras to geo-tracking apps and smart appliances, surveillant practices shape 21st-century lifestyles. Many take these practices for granted as acceptable trade-offs for individual and collective benefits. Others sound the alarm on the dangers of being tracked and monitored, with concerns over individual liberty, social inequalities, and more. In this course we will debate how surveillance shapes social practices and selves. Students will draw their own conclusions about the role of surveillance in society, and what, if anything, should be done to change it.
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.
SOCY245
The Family in Contemporary American Society
Credit only granted for: SOCY243 or SOCY245.
This is a course in the sociology of the family as an institutional arena in the United States. Students will become familiar with the empirical patterns and trends, political and cultural debates, and policy issues concerning families - and the major theories and research methods used in the sociological study of the family. The readings include a textbook and a research monograph. To succeed, students will attend lectures and participate in discussion; complete quizzes and in-class writing assignments; and take a midterm and final exam.
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.
SOCY320
Poverty and African American Children
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: AAAS320.
Credit only granted for: AASP320, AAAS320, AASP298P or SOCY320.
Formerly: AASP298P.
The United States has high levels of child poverty compared to other industrialized nations. Poverty rates are particularly high among African American children. This course focuses on how poverty and race intersect to influence the development of children and youth. Specific topics that we will consider include definitions of poverty, theories about the causes of poverty, racial disparities in child poverty, family functioning in the context of poverty, neighborhood influences, risk and protective processes, and social policies and programs designed to mitigate the impact of poverty.
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.
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.
SOCY427
Researching Global Inequality
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of the Sociology Department.
Students will interrogate the contradictions of our modern world and navigate the high-stakes inequalities that define global life. We will examine the theoretical approaches and empirical debates that shape our understanding of global disparities. To explore these differences, students will actively engage in a research project, from its inception to the presentation of results.
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.
SOCY435
Society, Biology, and Health
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: Must have completed 6 credits in SOCY courses or permission of BSOS Sociology Department.
It is not too far-fetched to speak of the pancreas under capitalism or the proletarian lung. Humans are social beings in physical bodies. In this course, we draw on research studies, podcasts, news articles, and best-selling non-fiction to inform conversation and writing on how various dimensions of human biology influence, and are influenced by, our social and cultural environment. We focus on conceptualizing human behavior as an interplay between both nature and nurture, and consider how this approach changes our understanding of modern social problems. This course is appropriate for students with a range of backgrounds in the social and natural sciences; introductory-level supplemental readings on all necessary biological concepts will be provided.
SOCY446
Research Practicum on Violence and Disaster
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY201 and SOCY202; or permission of Sociology Department.
The course will provide an overview of theoretical and empirical literature on how societies and individuals are impacted by violent events and contextual shocks, such as war, terrorism, interpersonal violence, extreme weather events, and public health crises. Students will choose to either lead or participate in the development of an empirical research paper, for which they will be required to conduct statistical data analysis with specialized software. The course is appropriate for driven and highly motivated students looking for an intensive quantitative research training experience.
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.
SOCY460
Researching Race, Gender, Class, and Sport
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of BSOS-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.
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.
SOCY466
Symbolic Interactionism: Relating the Promise of Meaning to Social Psychology
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: 6 credits in SOCY courses; or permission of the Sociology Department.
Meaning, symbolic interactionism's central concern, very well could become the defining social psychological problem of the mid-21st century. What will it mean to live in a permanently altered climate, if not in outer space? What will work and family mean in the future of artificial intelligence? What will communication mean when truths are unknowable? Will constitutional republicanism, vulnerable to oligarchs and technocrats, continue to lose meaning for people? This course tells the story of where symbolic interactionism came from and why it departs from key tenets in mainstream sociology.
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.
SOCY601
Statistics for Sociological Research I
Credits:
4
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restriction: Must be in one of the following programs: (Sociology (Doctoral); Sociology (Master's)) ; or 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.
SOCY617
Second-Year Paper Seminar
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
S-F, 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.
SOCY621
Contemporary Sociological Theory
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Prerequisite: SOCY620, SOCY203, or SOCY403; or permission of instructor.
Emphasizes theory as an active part of sociologists' working toolkit. We read contemporary theory and also examine how it is used in empirical studies. Students read works from so-called "reproduction theorists" (Bourdieu), post-structural theorists, critical race theorists, post-colonial theorists, western feminists and post-colonial feminists, symbolic interactionists, and institutional theorists. We learn to view theory as a draft in progress, which we should feel empowered to revise given new empirical data from our changing world. Theory should inform our own research design, but our job as researchers is ultimately to continually revise and refine it.
SOCY699
Special Social Problems
Credits:
1 - 16
Grad Meth:
Reg
SOCY709
Advanced Special Topics in Data Analysis
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
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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