Mar 29, 2024  
Course Catalog 2005-2006 
    
Course Catalog 2005-2006 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Sociology


Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: College of Arts and Sciences

Major


A major in Sociology consists of:

  1. A minimum of 30 hours in the department, including an introductory sociology course.
    1. Required courses: 211 and 282. Students are strongly advised to take these courses by the end of their junior year, since advanced courses assume knowledge of material covered in them. Those considering Honors should know that they must have completed both courses to be eligible for the program.
    2. At least one course from three of the four core analytic areas (see Distribution Requirements below).
    3. At least one seminar in Sociology.
    4. The 30 hours required for the major may include only one introductory course.
  2. Students considering graduate or professional schools should emphasize quantitative studies and thus consider taking MATH 113, MATH 114, or MATH 100 (which can be counted toward the major).
  3. Courses in many other disciplines add strength to a major in Sociology. The particular pattern of courses chosen will vary, depending on the plans and interests of the student. The pattern should be worked out in close consultation with the major advisor.

Related Courses


The following can be counted toward the major:

Distribution Requirements


A major in Sociology should include courses from the various analytic areas which are the basis for organization of the field. The four core analytic areas are Social Organizations and Institutions, Social Inequality and Stratification, Microsociology/Individuals and Society, and Historical and Comparative Change. Below are listed the core analytic areas and the courses, both currently and previously offered, within each area.

Each major should take at least one course from three of the four analytic areas.

Social Organizations and Institutions


  • SOCI 237 - 237 Sociology of Religion
  • SOCI 246 - Sociology of Education
  • SOCI 247 - Contested Spaces: Schools and Univ. in American Society
  • SOCI 311 - Social Data Analysis
  • SOCI 326 - The American Family: Comfort, Conflict and Criticism
  • SOCI 408 - Sem. on Democracy and Power in 20th-Cent.Urban America
  • SOCI 434 - Sem. in the Social Org. of Work: From Fast Food to the Fortune 500

Social Inequality and Stratification


  • SOCI 248 - Queer Theory and Social Change
  • SOCI 260 - Sociology of Asian American Communities
  • SOCI 277 - Race and Ethnic Relations
  • SOCI 328 - Culture, Power, and Transgression
  • SOCI 447 - Asian Pacific American Women

Micro-Sociology: Individuals and Society


  • SOCI 212 – Street Smarts: Ethnographic Explorations of Urban America
  • SOCI 285 – Ethnographic Aspects of the World Capitalist System
  • SOCI 290 – Leadership: Theories, Concepts, and Practices
  • SOCI 320 – Critical Ethnography and Urban Transformations in the U.S
  • SOCI 487 – Language, Power, and the Body

Historical and Comparative Study of Social Change


  • SOCI 228 - Immigration and Population in the U.S.
  • SOCI 231 - Social Change
  • SOCI 266 - The Postmodern City
  • SOCI 293 - Civil Society, Social Movements, and American Democracy
  • SOCI 330 - Global Feminisms
  • SOCI 381 - The Rise of the Networked Society: Technology’s Impact on Social Life
  • SOCI 404 - Seminar: Intellectuals, Social Science and Politics in the Modern World
  • SOCI 448 - Seminar on Violence in America

Minor


The minor in Sociology consists of the following:

  1. A minimum of 15 hours in the department, including credit for at least four courses.
  2. An introductory course. The 15 hours include one introductory course, but no more than one.
  3. Either Sociology 211 (Social Research Methods) or Sociology 282 (Social Theory).
  4. All courses for the minor must be passed with grades of C–/CR/P or better.

Honors


The department invites a number of qualified majors to participate in the Honors Program. To be eligible, students must have completed the two required courses, 211 and 282. Usually candidates for Honors devote from three to five hours to independent work in each of their last two semesters and submit a written thesis. Senior Sociology Majors are asked to submit a written proposal (to the department chair) to participate in the Sociology Honors Program at the end of their junior year. Students may elect to enroll in Junior Honors, with the consent of a faculty member, in order to conduct preliminary research for the Honor’s proposal. Students are not formally accepted into the Honors Program until the research proposal is approved by the department. The level of Honors is determined by the thesis grade, assessment of oral presentation of the project and major GPA.

Off-Campus Programs for Credit


Students are encouraged to broaden their educational experience by taking advantage of off-campus programs, preferably sometime during their junior year. A maximum of nine credit hours of such work may be applied toward the major and requires prior approval of the department. Programs of interest include the Europe in Transition Program and the GLCA Philadelphia Center.

Transfer of Credit


Students who transfer credits in regular sociology courses taken at other institutions may, with the approval of the department, apply certain of such courses toward the major. The transfer of credits may be subject to the transfer of credit fee. Transfer student requests for credit for courses taken at their previous institutions are evaluated on an individual basis. Generally, transfer credit shall not exceed nine credit hours.

Private Reading


Students who have completed available courses in a subject may schedule a reading course in that subject during their junior or senior years. In some instances, reading courses in subjects not offered in the department may also be arranged. No more than one reading course may be scheduled in any semester, nor more than two during an undergraduate program.

Introductory Courses


Any of the following courses serves as a prerequisite for upper-level courses.

Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: College of Arts and Sciences