Sociology

SOC 1010 Introduction to Sociology (MOTR SOCI 101): 3 semester hours

An introduction to sociological approaches to human behavior including types of social organizations, patterns of social interaction, and social influences on individual conduct.

SOC 1040 Social Problems: 3 semester hours

Conditions defined by society as social problems, as well as potential solutions, are examined from various sociological perspectives. Emphasis is given to problem issues prevalent in metropolitan settings. Analyses focus on victims and beneficiaries of both problem conditions and alternative solutions.

SOC 1241 Globalization and Social Change: 3 semester hours

Introduces sociological approaches to globalization. Covers sociological concepts such as modernization, Westernization, global capitalism, and the information society. Themes include global governance and transnational society, the global diffusion of American popular culture and consumer culture, and the role of new media. Also discusses the anti-globalization movement and forms of social resistance.

SOC 2001 Introduction to Organizational Leadership: 3 semester hours

Same as INTDSC 2001. This course surveys current research and case studies of leadership with a strong focus on self-awareness and introspection as drivers of organizational leadership success. It invites students to consider leadership as a process more than a product.

SOC 2102 Introduction to Gender Studies: 3 semester hours

Same as GS 2102, SOC WK 2102, POL SCI 2102, and HIST 2102. This core class is required for all Gender Studies Certificate earners. This class introduces students to cultural, political and historical issues that shape gender. Through a variety of disciplinary perspectives in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, the course familiarizes students with diverse female and male experiences and gendered power relationships.

SOC 2103 Gender Roles in Society: 3 semester hours

This course is the study of social processes through which gender roles are developed and acquired. It covers the impact of gender roles on personal identity and social conduct, as well as the relationship between gender roles and social inequality. Last, individual and social consequences of changing gender roles in contemporary society are examined.

SOC 2160 Sociological Social Psychology: 3 semester hours

This course focuses on the relationship between the individual and larger social systems (e.g., society) and will explore a diverse set of perspectives and theories. Specific topics may include the self, social judgments, attitudes and persuasion, helping behaviors, prejudice, aggression, attraction, conformity and obedience, group processes, and individual agency in such processes. Students may not receive credit hours for both SOC 2160 and PSYCH 2250.

SOC 2170 Aging in America: Concepts & Controversies: 3 semester hours

Same as GERON 2170. This course examines the major theoretical and service issues connected to the study of older adults and their families, using multidisciplinary perspectives. Students are provided with an introduction to the field of aging through an examination of current social issues and controversies. This course emphasizes student involvement through class discussion and applied activities, and is appropriate for students in the arts and sciences, business, communication, education, and nursing.

SOC 2180 Alcohol, Drugs and Society: 3 semester hours

Same as CRIMIN 2180. Prerequisite: SOC 1010 or PSYCH 1003. This course examines the medical, legal and social aspects of alcohol and drug use. Medical aspects considered include treatment approaches and the role of physicians in controlling such behavior. In the legal realm, past and present alcohol and drug laws are explored. Cultural and social influences on alcohol and drug use are discussed.

SOC 2192 Special Topics in Sociology: 3 semester hours

This course focuses on a specific society or group of societies utilizing sociological approaches. Examines environmental, economic, social, political, ethnic, religious, linguistic and/or cultural domains. Students are exposed to basic sociological concepts for understanding diverse societies in their historical and/or contemporary contexts. May be repeated provided topic is different.

SOC 2200 Languages and World View: 3 semester hours

Same as FGN LANG 2100 and ANTHRO 2100. This course investigates the extent to which linguistic and cultural background inform our understanding of the world. Experts on a variety of major Western and non-Western languages will introduce students to differences in ideas about time, space, human relationships, and other issues based on language. The course will also analyze common cultural misunderstandings among native speakers of English and speakers of other languages.

SOC 2202 Urban Sociology: 3 semester hours

Covers classical works and contemporary theories in urban sociology from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Examines urbanism and community, forms and functions of cities, inequality and social difference, gender and sexuality, globalization and urban change, immigration and its impact on cities, and urban exclusion/social resistance. Includes reading well-known ethnographic works on such topics as sex work, homelessness, drug users and crackhouses, life in corner bars, gang members, and other alternative subcultures.

SOC 2203 The City: 3 semester hours

This course explores the central role of cities in the modern world. It covers processes of urbanization such as immigration, segregation and ghettoization, suburbanization, and sprawl. It explores the consequences of urban inequality and issues related to race and ethnicity, class, and gender in an urban context. The course also covers urban landscapes, demographics, lifestyles, and cities as centers of music and other forms of popular culture.

SOC 2280 Technology and Society: 3 semester hours

This course examines the role of technology in the development of today's industrial and post-industrial societies. Topics may include the social and cultural origins of technological innovation; the connection between technology and urbanization; and the impact of technological change on beliefs and values. The course also outlines the transition from industrial society to the post-industrial 'information society,' and the role of technology in globalization. This course fulfills the Information Literacy general education requirement.

SOC 2290 Social Welfare as a Social Institution: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC WK 2200. Prerequisites: SOC WK 2000 (may be taken concurrently). This course 1) examines the development of social welfare service and philosophies underlying existing practices and systems; 2) analyzes social welfare programs with particular emphasis given to public income maintenance provisions; 3) presents issues surrounding special needs of minority and diverse populations; and 4) provides an overview of the development of social work as a profession.

SOC 2338 Health and Society: 3 semester hours

Exploration of social dimensions and issues related to health and illness such as access to the health care delivery system; factors influencing prevention, utilization and compliance; changing relationships among health care providers and consumers; health care costs, trends, and cross-cultural variations.

SOC 2501 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Sciences: 3 semester hours

This course introduces Geographic Information Systems and Science (GIS). GIS is a computer-based system for storing, managing, analyzing, and displaying spatial data. Students will learn about the technology and the basic concepts of geographic science that drive it.

SOC 2701 Race and Society: 3 semester hours

In this course, students will engage with a comprehensive and historical overview of the sociocultural mechanisms through which race was established, is reproduced, and shapes peoples' lives. In particular, the course covers how race works in global, political, economic, residential, legal, educational, and social aspects of society. Students will come away from the course with a deeper understanding of race and society that they can apply in their everyday lives.

SOC 2801 Veterans in American Society: 3 semester hours

Same as MVS 2100. Prerequisite: ENGL 1100. This survey course will focus on the American veteran experience and explore basic concepts, ideas and research into veterans and veteran institutions. In a multidisciplinary manner, students will examine military culture, the unique status of veterans in our society, and veteran institutions. Students will also study the successes, challenges and obligations our society faces related to its veteran community.

SOC 2802 Gender and the Military: 3 semester hours

Same as MVS 2130 and GS 2130. This course investigates how the military treats gender difference, explores how military culture is defined, and how gender is a socially constructed concept. Topics may include military culture, gender construction, and how gender and sexuality issues affect military readiness and effectiveness.

SOC 3210 Sociological Theory: 3 semester hours

Prerequisite: SOC 1010 or consent of instructor. The nature of sociological theory. An investigation of theory from Comte through contemporary developments. Contributions made by theorists in related disciplines.

SOC 3220 Quantitative Data Analysis in Social Science Research: 3 semester hours

Same as ANTHRO 3220. Prerequisites: MATH 1020. This course examines issues and techniques of statistical analysis relevant to quantitative sociological research, such as elementary probability, measurements of central tendency and dispersion, measures of relationships including linear regression and correlation, inferential and nonparametric statistics. The course includes an introduction to computer-based statistical analysis.

SOC 3221 Qualitative Methods in Social Research: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: SOC 3230. This course is devoted to qualitative methods including participant observation, ethnographic fieldwork, intensive interview, content analysis, and oral history. It considers the place of these kinds of techniques in social research, as well as the issues raised by them. It also involves participation in individual or group research projects using one or more of the methods learned.

SOC 3230 Social Research Methods: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: SOC 1010 or consent of instructor. This course serves as a broad introduction to research methods in the social sciences. It provides students an experience designing research to analyze, interpret, and make sense of the social world and using the fundamental tools of social science research.

SOC 3243 Marriage, Family, and Kinship: 3 semester hours

Same as ANTHRO 3243 and GS 3243. Prerequisites: ANTHRO 1019, SOC 1010, or consent of the instructor. This course will examine will examine the construction of kinship systems, marriages, families and other forms of intimate relationships from anthropological and sociological perspectives. The cross-cultural structure of this class will incorporate global case studies, including U.S. and European marriage and family structures. Students will have the opportunity to explore topics including love, dating, cohabitation, kinship calculation, alternative lifestyles, and divorce.

SOC 3291 Current Issues in Sociology: 3 semester hours

Prerequisite: SOC 1010 or ANTHRO 1011; or consent of instructor. Selected topics in sociology, with emphasis on current issues and trends in the field. May be repeated provided topic is different.

SOC 3300 The Social Construction of Aging and Ageism: 3 semester hours

Same as GERON 3300 and GS 3300. This course examines perspectives of age, aging, and ageism using several perspectives: the theory of social construction and the frameworks of essentialism and intersectionality. The materials, discussions, and assignments in this course will familiarize and provide students with tools to investigate age and ageism in a complex, multidimensional manner. The overarching focus of this course is located in the tension with the “nature versus nurture” debate, paralleling nature with essentialist ideas and nurture with social constructionism. Ideas, conceptions, attitudes, and understandings of age within the media, family, medical community, and other institutions will be investigated as biological and/or a development of society in effort to perpetuate social control, organization, and power dynamics. Through research, fiction and non-fiction work, creative assignments, and theoretical texts, students will approach the following questions: How do we value lived-experiences? How might situated knowledge affect social constructions of aging and ageism? What evidence is provided toward age and/or ageism as an essential or socially constructed outline within society? How are socially constructed ideas developed and perpetuated? How might one affect change in an essentialist and/or socially constructed society?.

SOC 3344 Problems of Urban Community: 3 semester hours

Prerequisite: SOC 1010, junior standing or consent of instructor. Issues of inequality and identity in cities, with emphasis on the consequences of urban growth; processes of class, racial, and ethnic group formation; and urban poverty. Also covers local community organization and politics, and the role of popular culture and religion in community identities.

SOC 3380 Combating Human Trafficking: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: Junior standing. This course provides students with a variety of approaches and tools to understand the development, character, and culture of society (city and community) behaviors that provoke different forms of human trafficking. This course also introduces students to the most popular geospatial technologies are used by anti-human trafficking sectors.

SOC 3400 Environment, Society, and Aging: 3 semester hours

Same as GERON 3400. This course examines the intersection of the environment and human society with an emphasis on aging. Drawing from research in environmental sociology, medical sociology, and gerontology, this course will address the following topics: climate change, natural disasters, community development, food production and distribution, waste and pollution, illness and disease epidemiology, and health and well-being.

SOC 3501 Social Mapping for Change: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: Junior standing, or consent of the instructor. This course introduces sociospatial research, which examines how social phenomena are structured by space and place. In particular, students will learn essential mapping techniques in Geographic Information Systems and Science (GIS). GIS is a tool to collect, analyze, and display qualitative and quantitative data for sociospatial research and policy development. Students will conduct research with a community partner in the St. Louis area.

SOC 3600 Management and Organizational Behavior: 3 semester hours

Same as MGMT 3600. Prerequisites: Junior standing and a 2.0 campus GPA. This course involves the study of the behavior of individuals and groups in an organizational setting. Specific topics examined include: motivation, leadership, organizational design, and conflict resolution, as well as basic coverage of management principles. In covering these topics, both classic and current perspectives are provided.

SOC 3612 Professional Skills Development: 3 semester hours

Same as MGMT 3612. Prerequisites: A minimum 2.0 campus GPA and junior standing. This course focuses on career management. Topics may include job search, interviews, resumes and cover letters, presentation skills, business etiquette, entry strategies, and career alternatives.

SOC 3801 The Military and Society: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: SOC 1010 or consent of instructor. This course examines the sociological sub-field of Military Sociology. It examines issues such as military recruiting, race and gender representation in the military, combat, military families, military social organization, war and peace, and the military as welfare. Other topics may include basis of service, social representation, military organizations and bureaucracies, and the sociology of combat.

SOC 3802 Veteran Social Policy: 3 semester hours

Same as MVS 3300. This course provides an overview of American public policy towards military veterans. Students will research, design, and propose policy changes using various written products and presentations.

SOC 4040 Survey Research Practicum for Sociology: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: SOC 3220 or consent of instructor. This course focuses on the execution of a sample survey, including establishing study objectives, sampling, constructing a questionnaire, interviewing, coding, data analysis, and presenting the results.

SOC 4100 Introduction to Feminist and Gender Theory: 3 semester hours

Same as GS 4100. Prerequisites: GS 2102 or consent of instructor. This course serves as an initial intellectual investigation into gendered ideologies (such as the effects of race, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic class, sexuality, and religion) and functions as a bridge to later advanced gender theory and methods courses. Topics may include interdisciplinary feminist theories (with a focus on gender equality), including masculinity theory, queer theory, muted group theory, and other evolving frameworks.

SOC 4300 Communities and Crime: 3 semester hours

Same as CRIMIN 4300. Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 (may be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor. This course provides an analysis of the sources, consequences, and control of crime within communities. There is emphasis on social and ecological theories of crime, and on population instability, family structure, and the concentration of poverty as causes of crime.

SOC 4307 Community-Based Research in Sociology: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: SOC 3221, SOC 3230, and completion of junior-level writing requirement. This course is an advanced examination of qualitative/ethnographic modes of inquiry and builds upon research and analytical skills learned in previous courses. Some quantitative methods may supplement the research when appropriate. Students will experience the process of discovery, representation, presentation, and justification based on fieldwork and/or archival research. The focus is on applying sociological knowledge to practical issues faced by communities and institutions in the St. Louis area.

SOC 4312 Sociology of Wealth and Poverty: 3 semester hours

Prerequisite: SOC 1010, junior standing or consent of instructor. Theory and research on social stratification and inequality in contemporary societies.

SOC 4320 Forms of Criminal Behavior: 3 semester hours

Same as CRIMIN 4320. Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 (may be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor. This course provides an examination of major types of criminal behavior including violent, property, public order, and organizational offenses. There is emphasis on theories of and responses to these crimes.

SOC 4325 Gender, Crime, and Justice: 3 semester hours

Same as CRIMIN 4325 and GS 4325. Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 (may be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor. This course provides an analysis of the role of gender in crime and in the justice system. There is emphasis on gender differences in crime commission, criminal processing, and the employment of women in criminal justice agencies. Fulfills CRIMIN diversity requirement.

SOC 4340 Race, Crime, and Justice: 3 semester hours

Same as CRIMIN 4340. Prerequisites: CRIMIN 1110, CRIMIN 1120, CRIMIN 2130, CRIMIN 2210, CRIMIN 2220, ENGL 3100 or consent of instructor. Analysis of the involvement of racial minorities in crime and the criminal justice system. Emphasis on group differences in offending, processing, victimization, and employment in criminal justice agencies. Fulfills Criminology diversity requirement.

SOC 4345 War Crimes, Genocide, and Justice in the 20th and 21st Centuries: 3 semester hours

Same as CRIMIN 4345, POL SCI 4345, and MVS 4345. Prerequisite: ENGL 3100. This course provides advanced undergraduate and Master’s level students a comprehensive overview of the subject of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and legal responses to these crimes in the modern era. The goal of this course is to engage students in sustained, critical thought about these issues and to foster a deeper understanding of both the causes and consequences—legal, social and human—of these egregious crimes.

SOC 4350 Special Study: 1-10 semester hours

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Independent study through readings, reports, and field work.

SOC 4354 Sociology of Business and Work Settings: 3 semester hours

Prerequisite: SOC 1010, junior standing or consent of instructor. The sociology of work and occupations in America, Europe, and Asia; organization structures and worker participation; worker attitude, behaviors, and commitment; the socialization of the worker; determinants of worker behavior; social problems of work and business; and the impact of community on the work place and business behavior.

SOC 4360 Sociology of Minority Groups: 3 semester hours

Same as GS 4360. Prerequisites: SOC 1010 or consent of instructor. This course is the study of dominant-subordinate group relations. Topics of focus may include religion, ethnicity, race, and gender as factors in the unequal distribution and utilization of power.

SOC 4362 Sociology of Law: 3 semester hours

Same as CRIMIN 4360. Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 or consent of the instructor. This course explores the interaction of legal, political and social forces in the US. It examines historical developments in law and politics in the US, including law and economics, crime policy, socioeconomic inequality, race relations, and state sanctioned punishment. The course also considers how America's federalist structure shapes law, politics and social relations. Last, it examines how legal and political institutions establish and shape power relations between social groups.

SOC 4380 Advanced Topics in Sociology: 1-3 semester hours

Prerequisites: SOC 1010 and junior standing or consent of instructor. Examination of a specific sociological topic of current relevance in the community. May be repeated provided the topic is different.

SOC 4385 Internship in Sociology: 1-6 semester hours

Prerequisites: Junior standing and consent of instructor. Students participate in supervised placements in positions related to the profession of Sociology.

SOC 4400 Social and Community Services for an Aging Population: 3 semester hours

Same as GERON 4400. Prerequisites: GERON 2170 / SOC 2170 or consent of the instructor. This service-learning course is designed for students interested in working with and for the benefit of older adults in various settings. Students attend classes on campus and participate in defined volunteer placements with local agencies (e.g., St. Louis County Older Residents Program).

SOC 4485 Internship in Urban Studies: 1-6 semester hours

Prerequisites: Junior standing, consent of the instructor. Students will participate in supervised placements in positions related to the field of Urban Studies. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

SOC 4501 Advanced Geographic Information Systems and Sciences: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: SOC 2501 or SOC 3501. This advanced course further explores Geographic Information Systems and Science (GIS). Students will learn advanced techniques to acquire geospatial information from a variety of sources; manage, interpret, employ and present geospatial data for a given purpose; and how to use geographic information system software for storage, manipulation, and analysis of geospatial data.

SOC 4600 Masculinities: 3 semester hours

Same as GS 4600. Prerequisites: SOC 2102, GS 2102, or consent of instructor. This course examines men and masculinity through a critical lens, looking at an institutionalized system of gender relations and practices that is assumed to be a natural phenomenon and culturally universal. The course explores various masculine behaviors, myths, ideologies, and experiences so that students can consider the relationship between masculine practice and social power and delineate choices for future directions. The course is interdisciplinary and may use tools and methods from the social sciences and the humanities. It satisfies the Gender Studies (GS) gender theory requirement.