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Social Science. A survey of findings, myths, and perspectives on crime. A wide variety of types of crime are studied, including violent, white collar, sex, corporate, and organized crime. Theories regarding crime and proposed solutions to crime are examined.
Social Science. Course emphasizes juvenile delinquency and the juvenile justice system; includes theories on juvenile delinquency, mental illness, drug abuse, and sexual deviance; and examines the role of institutions and various treatment methods. Strongly recommended for those interested in careers in law, probation, parole, human services, or social work.
Social Science. Examination of social processes involved in enacting legislation, law enforcement, and judicial decisions along with the roles of lawyers, judges, and others in both civil and criminal systems. Recommended for those interested in law, law enforcement, or areas related to the legal system.
Social Science. An anthropological and sociological examination of ethnic and racial relations and identities within and between different socio-cultural groups. This includes an analysis of beliefs about ethnicity and race, focusing on their development through historical processes.
Social Science. Policing and Violence in the 21st Century. This course is a critical examination of policing and violence in the 21st century. We will begin by studying the origins of policing and the history of violence in the United States. We then will delve into policing and violence today: we will look at the profession of law enforcement and its evolution into the 21st century, including who becomes a law enforcement officer, the power structures within law enforcement organizations, violence within law enforcement agencies and so on. We will also examine how violence is defined, measured, and perceived, examining in which conditions violence is likely to occur. We will explore violence perpetuated by law enforcement as well as violence directed at law enforcement. Throughout, we will consider the policy and practical implications of these matters. Lastly, we will look at recent social movements' call to defund the police and the responding countermovement to defend law enforcement.
An overview of the principles, methods, and practice of research in the social sciences. The course will assist stu-dents in research design, case studies, conducting field research, analyzing and evaluating their research data, conducting needs assessment, program evaluation, and practice effectiveness.
Social Science. Course develops an appreciation of the role of sociology and social sciences in the study of health and medical care. Interactions between patients and medical professionals; function and problems in health care systems; deprofessionalization of doctors, and other problems confronting modern medical care are also analyzed from a sociological perspective. Recommended for those considering a career in public health, health sciences, medicine, health care delivery, or social work.
Social Science. In this course we look at emotions from a sociological rather than a psychological perspective and ask such questions as: Can difficulties such as anorexia, PTSD, "cutting," or bad relationships usually treated on an individual level by a therapist be understood from a societal perspective? As human beings we experience emotions, yet social interaction necessitates that certain kinds of emotions are appropriate in some settings and not in others. At this point we must ask ourselves how much our emotions are influenced and constrained by cultural norms, values, beliefs, and vocabularies. We especially have to control our emotions in the workplace; does this create emotion-work? We will also look at emotional relationships between humans, society, and pets.
Social Science. This course will examine the relationships between human society and the natural environment with a particular emphasis on how different social classes, races and genders experience or affect the environment. We will study how factors such as consumption, population growth, development, technology, political ideologies and social movements affect the identification, emergence and resolutions of environmental problems-from local to global levels. By the end of the course students will be able to think critically about the relationships between the social and the natural worlds, and will analyze and begin to suggest solutions to contemporary environmental problems.
Social Science. Special Topics courses include ad-hoc courses on various selected topics that are not part of the regular curriculum, however they may still fulfill certain curricular requirements. Special topics courses are offered at the discretion of each department and will be published as part of the semester course schedule - view available sections for more information. Questions about special topics classes can be directed to the instructor or department chair.
This course introduces students to important theoretical tools that will enable them to see the world as sociologists do and, in the process, assist them in constructing new theories as social contexts continually change. In addition to highlighting the contributions of some of the discipline's founding theorists (e.g., Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Mead), the course will focus on five of the most significant theoretical perspectives in sociology; conflict theory, functionalism, symbolic interactionism, phenomenological sociology and feminist theory.