Chairperson: Robin Pickering, Ph.D.
Professor:
Associate Professors:
Assistant Professors: S. Matousek
Public Health Minor: 21 Credits |
|
| PUBH 101 Introduction to Public Health | 3 credits |
| NURS 251 Determinants of Health | 3 credits |
| PUBH 260 Health Communication & Theories of Human Behavior | 3 credits |
| PUBH 320 Epidemiology & Applied Biostatistics | 3 credits |
| PUBH 340 Environment, Climate Change, & Health |
3 credits |
| PUBH 360 Global Health Issues |
3 credits |
| PUBH 450 Health Policy & Political Determinants of Health | 3 credits |
Lower Division
A general survey of the field of sociology and how human society works. Materials focus on an understanding of modern societies.
Topic determined by instructor.
The First-Year Seminar (FYS) introduces new 91Թ students to the University, the Core Curriculum, and 91Թ’s Jesuit mission and heritage. While the seminars will be taught by faculty with expertise in particular disciplines, topics will be addressed in a way that illustrates approaches and methods of different academic disciplines. The seminar format of the course highlights the participatory character of university life, emphasizing that learning is an active, collegial process.
A course on the study of major social problems. Specifically, the course will demonstrate how sociology skills can be employed to bring about social change.
Equivalent:
SOSJ 240 - OK if taken since Fall 2015
An introduction to the basic concepts of descriptive and inferential statistics with an emphasis on social scientific applications.
Prerequisite:
SOCI 101 Minimum Grade: D
or CRIM 101 Minimum Grade: D
Provides training and experience designing, conducting, and analyzing social research through projects using surveys, interviews, and observation. This course is useful for students contemplating careers in which knowledge concerning people (customers, clients, employees, students, etc.) is needed for testing theories, making decisions, targeting appeals, etc. Required for all Sociology majors.
Prerequisite:
(SOCI 101 Minimum Grade: D
or CRIM 101 Minimum Grade: D)
Equivalent:
SOCI 304 - Taken before Summer 2017
Explores theories and research on the constructions of masculinity and femininity and how these influence our individual lives and social institutions.
Equivalent:
SOSJ 220 - OK if taken since Fall 2015
WGST 260 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
WGST 260 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
Examine how sport creates and exists in relationship with social, cultural, political, and economic forces operating at multiple levels. The goals of the course are to understand sport as a social institution, develop critical analytical skills by examining issues relevant to sport, and to understand sport as a site for the reproduction and contestation of systems of social inequality.
This course explores the relationship between literature and society through an intensive reading and examination of popular novels. By focusing on the production, transmission, representation and consumption of literature in society, students learn how to read academic and literary writing, and how to write using social scientific concepts to explain the cultural phenomenon of popular novels.
This course examines the social context of health, illness and health care. Particular attention will be paid to the effects of culture and social inequality on health, the interaction of various health care professionals and political debates about the health care system.
Equivalent:
HEAL 201 - OK if taken since Fall 2022
SOSJ 221 - OK if taken since Fall 2021
WGST 207 - OK if taken since Fall 2022
SOSJ 221 - OK if taken since Fall 2021
WGST 207 - OK if taken since Fall 2022
Topic determined by instructor.
Topic determined by instructor.
Upper Division
Analyzes the theories developed by Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and others during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and how these continue to influence the work of sociologists today. This course invites students to examine their own practices of theorizing.
Prerequisite:
(SOCI 101 Minimum Grade: D
or CRIM 101 Minimum Grade: D)
Equivalent:
SOCI 411 - Taken before Fall 2007
Explores the major strategies for sociological theorizing developed during the twentieth century in America and Western Europe. Considers how constructions of modernity and postmodernity are central to understanding what theorizing means and what it can contribute to our work as sociologists and as citizens.
Prerequisite:
(SOCI 101 Minimum Grade: D
or CRIM 101 Minimum Grade: D)
An overview of Latin American development. Several socio-economic factors are examined. Development issues are broadly conceptualized within economic, demographic, and cultural dimensions. These variables are viewed as overlapping forces influencing development.
Equivalent:
INST 315 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
This course will examine the foundations of race and ethnicity and how they inform constructions of difference in the past and present. Students will be introduced to definitions and theories of race and ethnicity, explore racial and ethnic identity, and analyze how race and ethnicity work in combination with other axes of difference such as gender, class, and nation to reproduce inequality.
Equivalent:
SOSJ 321 - OK if taken since Fall 2015
As a socio-historical survey of China, Korea and Japan from 1800 to the present, this course examines the political, economic, ideological, and cultural transformations within East Asia through the processes of imperialism, colonialism, modernization, war and revolution, and globalization. By exploring how cultural, social, and political dimensions overlap and influence economic development, students gain insight into contemporary social change, representation and power in East Asia.
Examine the distribution of such social rewards as income, power, style of life, wealth, and prestige among members of a society. Also consider a variety of sociological explanations for the distribution of rewards; compare and contrast stratification systems across societies.
Equivalent:
SOSJ 322 - OK if taken since Fall 2015
Focus on analysis of rules and values that constitute American culture, especially in relation to how these are portrayed in mass media and the built environment.
Social psychology introduces novelty into the ancient pastime of speculating about human behavior and human groups by attempting to use scientific methods. This course focuses on the relationship between individuals and groups. It includes an examination of the impact of groups on individuals, and the impact of individuals on the groups to which they belong. Topics covered include friendship, leadership, influence, the self-concept, prejudice, and morality.
This course investigates the way that urbanization- the increasing density and diversity of human settlements - creates challenges to and opportunities for the flourishing of communal life. We study the political economy of urban land use, the formation of segregated ghettos and ethnic enclaves, and gentrification. We also examine the potential for public spaces, community centers, parks and libraries to provide vital sources of social support and communal life. Spring, odd years.
Equivalent:
HEAL 332 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
Social movements are often characterized by the spontaneous development of new norms and social organization that may contradict, reinterpret and/or challenge existing social arrangements. The purpose of this course is to examine social movement behavior, and their role in promoting social change and social justice.
This course examines a specific type of social group - the subculture - and the relationship between subcultures and the larger culture. Students will review the historical development of subcultural studies, with dual emphasis on theory and methodology.
Examine images and practices of family life in American society. Use historical material to show how ideals about family life have developed. Discuss definitions of "family" as political, with a special emphasis on the politics of gender. Connect debates over how to define and understand family with decisions about social policies.
Equivalent:
WGST 360 - OK if taken since Fall 2009
This course investigates the history and sociology of reproduction primarily within the US context. It examines how reproduction is simultaneously biological and social, focusing on a wide range of topics, including intention, pregnancy, abortion, contraception, infertility, and breastfeeding. It distinguishes reproductive rights from reproductive justice and pays particular attention to how social institutions and intersecting inequalities influence reproductive practices and policies. Every other Spring.
This course examines how capitalism structures human relationships and impacts the nonhuman world, creating uneven social and environmental benefits and burdens. Students will draw upon a range of critical perspectives, including political economy, political ecology, feminist theory, critical race theory, indigenous and post- colonial epistemology, critical geography, science studies, environmental justice, and other approaches. Resistance and social movement responses is emphasized.
Equivalent:
ENVS 348 - OK if taken since Fall 2024
SOSJ 349 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
SOSJ 349 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
Knavery, skullduggery, cheating, crime, malingering, cutting corners, immorality, dishonesty, betrayal, wickedness, and all other unconventional activities are forms of deviance. All known societies have members who become deviants. This course introduces students to several theories explaining deviance and examines the life styles of a variety of deviants.
Equivalent:
CRIM 350 - OK if taken since Fall 2019
An investigation of the nature and extent of juvenile delinquents in America. Special attention will be given to theoretical explanations; the effect of family, peers and school; and the history of the juvenile justice system in handling juvenile offenders.
Equivalent:
CRIM 353 - OK if taken since Fall 2019
This course examines deviance and crimes committed by organizations and the rich and powerful. The nature, extent and societal effects of various types of elite and white collar deviance are examined.
Equivalent:
CRIM 355 - Successful completion
SOSJ 323 - OK if taken since Fall 2015
SOSJ 323 - OK if taken since Fall 2015
This course examines law enforcement in American society with a focus on empirical research and sociological and criminological theory. Students will review the historical development of policing in the United States, the roles of the police in contemporary society, the structure and responsibilities of law enforcement agencies in this country, and the interaction between institutional and individual aspects of police work. Students will also be exposed to research and theory on controversial issues in law enforcement, including the use of force, police deviance, the use of discretion, the impact of social inequality on enforcement, and policing in the mass media.
Prerequisite:
CRIM 101 Minimum Grade: D
or SOCI 101 Minimum Grade: D
Equivalent:
CRIM 356 - OK if taken since Fall 2019
This course examines the relationship between inequality and crime in America’s inner cities. Students will consider how cultural, economic, educational, legal, political, and other factors shape life in urban areas, and how these factors reproduce crime and inequality in America’s inner cities.
Equivalent:
CRIM 357 - OK if taken since Fall 2019
SOSJ 325 - OK if taken since Fall 2019
SOSJ 325 - OK if taken since Fall 2019
This course examines the causes and consequences of mass incarceration in the United States from a sociological perspective. Particular attention will be paid to racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in imprisonment. The impact of mass incarceration on incarcerated individuals, their families, and society, more broadly will be examined. Spring.
Equivalent:
CRIM 358 - OK if taken since Fall 2019
SOSJ 330 - OK if taken since Fall 2021
SOSJ 330 - OK if taken since Fall 2021
This course will examine the effect that drugs, both legal and illegal, have on the legal justice system. Critical analysis, select lectures, in-class discussion, and writing will be the formats used to address issues such as the effect of the "war on drugs," the decriminalization debate, the relationship between drugs and violence, how drugs relate to law enforcement, sentencing, and corrections within the U.S. legal justice system, and the impact of drugs on individual users.
Equivalent:
CRIM 364 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
HEAL 364 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
HEAL 364 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
This course investigates the relationship between multiple intersecting identities (including race, gender, religion, class) and mass trauma, genocide, and human suffering. We will explore a range of mass traumas in diverse cultural and political settings, primarily focusing on the twentieth century. Throughout the semester, the importance of collective memory will be brought to bear on the study of mass trauma and genocide. Fall, odd years.
Equivalent:
CRIM 366 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
The impact of social theories on economic problems in Italy. The Mezzogiorno treated from the economic, sociological, political, and religious points of view. Florence campus only.
This course examines social change and its implications for individuals and groups at the local and global level, and offers sociological perspectives on the political, economic, and cultural processes of globalization throughout the world, including Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa and the Middle East. This course explores the historical development of global capitalism with a focus on the changing relationships between markets, states, and civil societies, and analyzes the forces that promote and resist these changes, including migration, state violence and social movements. Questions of power and inequality will be central to our approach, as we explore global social change through the lens of world-systems theory, neoliberalism, and neo-institutionalism. Offered every other year.
Equivalent:
SOSJ 345 - OK if taken since Fall 2015
An empirical analysis of the major theories which attempt to describe the actual distribution of power in America. The course is primarily concerned with how power in societies is contested, given legitimacy, and sustained; it also examines political behavior of the public focusing on voting behavior.
There are more people on this planet than ever before, and the problems associated with population growth seem to be everywhere. Urban crowding, disease, poverty, ethnic tensions, refugees, illegal immigration, environmental degradation, unemployment, aging and the social security "crisis" are just a few of these troubles. This course introduces students to the study of population and demography to help them better understand these issues. After learning how to measure and analyze population characteristics and trends, students will explore the relationship between population changes and contemporary social and political issues in the developing regions of the world.
This course examines human relationships with the natural environment. It explores how power structures, social norms, ideologies and politics affect our relationship and treatment of the environment.
Equivalent:
ENVS 326 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
HEAL 383 - OK if taken since Fall 2022
HEAL 383 - OK if taken since Fall 2022
This course studies works of classical and contemporary sociologists on the social and cultural aspects of religion. This course examines how religion is influenced by social conditions and often plays an important role in shaping society.
Equivalent:
RELI 493 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
The central question of this course is how do social policies that contribute to the common good come to be written into law in some times and places and not others? The course analyzes an array of political, economic, social, and cultural factors that combine to shape policy development. Case studies will include education, welfare, health care, the environment, and/or other policy domains.
Equivalent:
CRIM 385 - OK if taken since Fall 2019
This course is a sociological analysis of American Schools and Schooling, with a particular focus on social inequality. The course will investigate how race, class, and gender shape student experiences and the policy efforts that have been (and could be) attempted to alleviate student inequalities. Throughout the course we will address the fundamental tension between the success of individuals and the collective good in education.
This is a CEL course where you will be accompanying elementary school children in their walk to school--leaving campus at 645 am, and not returning to campus until 830 am (transportation time included and transportation provided).
This means that you cannot register for a MWF 8 am course in the spring and take Sociology of Education, because you will not be back to 91Թ in time.
Equivalent:
SOSJ 327 - OK if taken since Fall 2017
Analyzes the contributions of feminist scholars to social and political theory and shows how feminist scholarship is transforming topics, methods, and goals. Reviews the major approaches to feminist theorizing and invites students to put these to work examining contemporary social and political issues.
Equivalent:
WGST 401 - OK if taken between Spring 2011 and Spring 2011
Topic determined by instructor.
Topic determined by instructor.
Topic determined by instructor.
Topic determined by instructor.
Topic determined by instructor.
Topic determined by instructor.
The Core Integration Seminar (CIS) engages the Year Four Question: “Imagining the possible: What is our role in the world?” by offering students a culminating seminar experience in which students integrate the principles of Jesuit education, prior components of the Core, and their disciplinary expertise. Each section of the course will focus on a problem or issue raised by the contemporary world that encourages integration, collaboration, and problem solving. The topic for each section of the course will be proposed and developed by each faculty member in a way that clearly connects to the Jesuit Mission, to multiple disciplinary perspectives, and to our students’ future role in the world.
Topic determined by instructor.
Topic determined by instructor.
Topic determined by instructor.
Topic determined by instructor.
Supervised advanced reading in selected topics in sociology. Must obtain prior permission from Sociology Department Chair.
In this course, students design and execute original research projects, and present their findings to the public. Students must submit a proposal to the professor prior to being allowed to register for the course. Research experiences for undergraduates are well known as high-impact educational practices that carry with them a variety of benefits for students, faculty, and universities. Our program provides undergraduates with the opportunity to develop and conduct original social science research projects. Over the course of a full academic year, students achieve the following goals:
1. Develop a thorough understanding of the scholarship and sociological theory in their area(s) of interest.
2. Develop a research question that identifies a gap in the literature.
Approved directed experience in sociological research proposed by the student.
Supervised experience in a selected social agency. Credit by arrangement.
Prerequisite:
SOCI 101 Minimum Grade: D
Practical experience working within a variety of settings related to the field of sociology. Internships are individually arranged.
Students with a 3.70 grade point average or above in their sociology courses who wish to be graduated with departmental honors in sociology, must enroll in this course in the semester prior to the semester in which they are graduated. Work is done under the direction of a faculty member from the department. The student must pass an oral examination of the thesis administered by the department. The thesis may be theoretical or based upon empirical research.
This course offers Sociology majors the opportunity to review theories and research, and to consider how these might be useful for understanding current social issues. Required of all Sociology majors and fulfills comprehensive examination degree requirement.
In addition to their major and minor areas of study, all undergraduate students follow a common program designed to complete their education in those areas that the University considers essential for a Catholic, Jesuit, liberal, and humanistic education. The University Core Curriculum consists of forty-five credits of course work, with additional designation requirements that can be met through core, major, or elective courses.
The University Core Curriculum is a four-year program, organized around one overarching question, which is progressively addressed through yearly themes and questions. Hence, core courses are best taken within the year for which they are designated. First year core courses encourage intellectual engagement and provide a broad foundation of fundamental skills. Second and third year courses examine central issues and questions in philosophy and religious studies. The fourth year course, the Core Integration Seminar, offers a culminating core experience. Taken at any time throughout the four years, broadening courses intersect with the core themes and extend students’ appreciation for the humanities, arts, and social and behavioral sciences. Finally, the designation requirements (writing enriched, global studies, and social justice) reflect important values and reinforce students’ knowledge and competencies.
Overarching Core Question: As students of a Catholic, Jesuit, and 91Թ, how do we educate ourselves to become women and men for a more just and humane global community?
Year 1 Theme and Question: Understanding and Creating: How do we pursue knowledge and cultivate understanding?
- The First-Year Seminar (DEPT 193, 3 credits): The First-Year Seminar (FYS), taken in the fall or spring of the first year, is designed to promote an intellectual shift in students as they transition to college academic life. Each small seminar is organized around an engaging topic, which students explore from multiple perspectives. The FYS is offered by many departments across the University (click for list of FYS courses).
- Writing (ENGL 101, 3 credits) and Reasoning (PHIL 101, 3 credits): The Writing and Reasoning courses are designed to help students develop the foundational skills of critical reading, thinking, analysis, and writing. They may be taken as linked sections. Writing (ENGL 101) carries one of the three required writing-enriched designations (see below).
- Communication & Speech (COMM 100, 3 credits): This course introduces students to interpersonal and small group communication and requires the application of critical thinking, reasoning, and research skills necessary to organize, write, and present several speeches.
- Scientific Inquiry (BIOL 104/104L, CHEM 104/104L, or PHYS 104/104L, 3 credits): This course explores the scientific process in the natural world through evidence-based logic and includes significant laboratory experience. Students pursuing majors that require science courses will satisfy this requirement through their major.
- Mathematics (above Math 100, 3 credits): Mathematics courses promote thinking according to the modes of the discipline—abstractly, symbolically, logically, and computationally. One course in mathematics, above Math 100, including any math course required for a major or minor, will fulfill this requirement. MATH 100 (College Algebra) and courses without the MATH prefix do not fulfill this requirement.
Year 2 Theme and Question: Being and Becoming: Who are we and what does it mean to be human?
- Philosophy of Human Nature (PHIL 201, 3 credits): This course provides students with a philosophical study of key figures, theories, and intellectual traditions that contribute to understanding the human condition; the meaning and dignity of human life; and the human relationship to ultimate reality.
- Christianity and Catholic Traditions (RELI, 3 credits). Religious Studies core courses approved for this requirement explore diverse topics including Christian scriptures, history, theology, and practices as well as major contributions from the Catholic intellectual and theological traditions (click for a list of approved courses) .
Year 3 Theme and Question: Caring and Doing: What principles characterize a well lived life?
- Ethics (PHIL 301 or RELI, 3 credits): The Ethics courses are designed to help students develop their moral imagination by exploring and explaining the reasons humans should care about the needs and interests of others. This requirement is satisfied by an approved ethics course in either Philosophy (PHIL 301) or Religious Studies (click for a list of approved courses).
- World/Comparative Religion (RELI, 3 credits): Religious Studies courses approved for this core requirement draw attention to the diversity that exists within and among traditions and encourage students to bring critical, analytical thinking to bear on the traditions and questions considered. These courses carries one of the required two global-studies designations (see below) (click for a list of approved courses).
Year 4 Theme and Question: Imagining the Possible: What is our role in the world?”
- Core Integration Seminar (DEPT 432, 3 credits). The Core Integration Seminar (CIS) offers students a culminating core experience in which they integrate the principles of Jesuit education, prior components of the core, and their disciplinary expertise. Some CIS courses may also count toward a student’s major or minor. The CIS is offered by several departments across the University (click for list of CIS courses).
The Broadening Courses
- Fine Arts & Design (VART, MUSC, THEA, 3 credits): Arts courses explore multiple ways the human experience can be expressed through creativity, including across different cultures and societies. One approved course in fine arts, music, theatre, or dance will fulfill this requirement (click for a list of approved courses).
- History (HIST, 3 credits): History courses are intended to develop students’ awareness of the historical context of both the individual and the collective human experience. One course in History (HIST 101, HIST 102, HIST 112, HIST 201, HIST 202) will fulfill this requirement.
- Literature (3 credits): Literature courses foster reflection on how literature engages with a range of human experience. One approved course in Literature (offered by English, Classics, or Modern Languages) will fulfill this requirement (click for a list of approved courses).
- Social & Behavioral Sciences (3 credits): Courses in the social and behavioral sciences engage students in studying human behavior, social systems, and social issues. One approved course offered by Criminal Justice, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, or Women and Gender Studies will fulfill this requirement (click for a list of approved courses).
The Designations
Designations are embedded within already existing core, major, minor, and elective courses. Students are encouraged to meet designation requirements within elective courses as their schedule allows; however, with careful planning students should be able to complete most of the designation requirements within other core, major, or minor courses.
- Writing Enriched (WE; 3 courses meeting this designation): Courses carrying the WE designation are designed to promote the humanistic and Jesuit pedagogical ideal of clear, effective communication. In addition to the required core course, Writing (ENGL 101), which carries one of the WE designations, students must take two other WE-designated courses (click for a list of approved courses).
- Global-Studies (GS; 2 courses meeting this designation): Courses carrying the GS designation are designed to challenge students to perceive and understand human diversity by exploring diversity within a context of constantly changing global systems. In addition to the required core course, World/Comparative Religion (RELI 300-level), which carries one of the GS designations, students must take one other GS-designated course (click for a list of approved courses).
- Social-Justice (SJ; 1 course meeting this designation): Courses carrying the SJ designation are designed to introduce students to one or more social justice concerns. Students must take one course that meets the SJ designation (click for a list of approved courses).
Major-specific adaptations to the University Core Curriculum
All 91Թ students, regardless of their major, will complete the University Core Curriculum requirements. However some 91Թ students will satisfy certain core requirements through major-specific programs or courses. Any major-specific adaptations to the core are described with the requirements for the majors to which they apply.