300

A course concerned with knowing; emphasis is placed on the evaluation of information and the research process: conceptualization, design, measurement, and data collections methods of survey, experiment and observation are discussed.

Description and analysis of sex and gender roles and relationships from a variety of societies at different levels of socio-cultural complexity. Note: Also listed as WGST 302.

The sociology of deviant behavior investigates social groups in society that deviate from dominant social norms. Deviance is relative to its historical context and place. Depending on your social position in society, you may find yourself defined as committing informal social deviance, in that you are different from the dominant norm, or you may commit formal deviance, in that you break the law and engage in criminal behavior. Committing an act of deviance does not make one abnormal, and deviant groups are still structured by familiar social norms. Deviance is an analytical concept to understand how difference organizes social oppression.

Examination of all that behavior which has come to be identified as addiction including tobacco smoking, alcoholism, substance abuse, eating disorders and gambling. An analysis of competing theories of addiction and treatment. The political, economic and social ramifications of addiction control.

The course explores the impact of disease on human populations in terms of demographic, cultural and social changes. The rise of health care delivery systems is addressed as a response to epidemics. Examples include the bubonic plague of the 14th and 17th centuries, cholera, influenza, polio and AIDS.

Overview of sociological perspectives on the family; emphasis on current state of the family in society. Topics include premarital sexual behavior and attitudes; dynamics of mate selection; marriage as an institution; marriage and sex roles; family dynamics (parenthood, childhood, family politics, violence in the family, divorce, etc.); marriage and the family as a subjective reality; alternative family forms; and the future of the family. Relationship between family and other social institutions.

Urbanization and its consequences for people in metropolitan areas throughout the world. Process of urbanization, metropolitan social organization, ethnicity and lifestyle, community power structure, urban problems, and cities in developing nations.

An examination of the background conditions producing utopias and an ethnographic/historical analysis of selected utopian ventures (e.g. Amish, Shakers, Counterculture Communes).

Introduction to sport as a social institution; social function of sport; sport and culture, schools, and socialization; sport and women, race, and ethnic groups; sport and mass media; sport and stratification and social change.

In-depth overview of social gerontology, focusing on aging in modern societies. How major institutional changes affect the aged. Review of major problems: status as a minority, retirement adjustment, income, social attitude towards the aged, kinship and other roles.

Examines the growing body of sociological and social psychological literature on humankind's last major status passage. Institutions which structure death are considered and the processes accompanying dying are investigated. Cross-cultural as well as American death phenomena are included.

Examines the social psychology of health and illness, social epidemology and the social correlates of illness, and the organization of health care, including the doctor-patient relationship, the health professionals, and health institutions.

This course offers a critical look at the role of foodways in human prehistory, history, and contemporary life. Food is examined as an integral part of culture in terms of creating social bonds, identity, economies, and political systems. These issues are explored through diverse topics such as gender, food taboos, ethnicity, industrialization, human health, and the environment. The course includes discussion of attempts to address problems related to food by looking at policy, technologies, and movements towards sustainable food systems.

Examines ways in which health and illness for women are defined and managed. Topics include the medicalization of pregnancy and birth, adolescence and sexuality, addiction, mental health, menopause, body image, and, women as health care providers.

Special topics in sociology not covered in detail by regular courses and not offered on a regular basis.

Compares criminal law and justice systems of a variety of contemporary societies. Details characteristics of common law, civil law, and socialist law legal systems as contexts to explore the practices of specific countries. Examines crime patterns across countries.

Introduction to the study of victim-criminal relationships. Issues of conceptual and empirical interest covered include: history of the status of victims of crime in Western criminal justice systems; sociological characteristics of victims; victim-risk; victim-precipitated crimes; and victim compensation programs.

An examination of delinquent behavior and its distribution in society. Topical issues discussed include the juvenile justice system, theories of delinquency, and methods of social control of this behavior.

The variety of forms of family violence child abuse, partner abuse, and elder abuse are examined with regard to its range and scope as well as legal and cultural issues. Explanations of and societal responses to the phenomena are detailed and evaluated. Junior standing required.

The evolution of sociological theory is traced from the traditions established by Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Mead through contemporary phenomenological, critical, feminist, postmodern, and late modern schools of thought in order to understand the different assumptions and claims about what human beings are like, what society is, and what society can know about the two that have arisen in different social contexts.