2023-2024 Course Catalog
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
The Department of Sociology offers a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. Sociology is the home to two majors, sociology and criminology, and to programs in Africana Studies (AFST), American Indian Studies (AINS), Women's and Gender Studies (WGS), the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention (CPSVP) and the Center for Race & Social Policy Research (RSP). Courses are open to students in all colleges of the university.
The graduation requirements in effect during the academic year of admission to Virginia Tech apply. When choosing the degree requirements information, always choose the year you started at Virginia Tech. Requirements for graduation are referred to via university publications as "Checksheets." The number of credit hours required for degree completion varies among curricula. Students must satisfactorily complete all requirements and university obligations for degree completion. The university reserves the right to modify requirements in a degree program.
Please visit the University Registrar's website at https://www.registrar.vt.edu/graduation-multi-brief/checksheets.html for degree requirements.
In addition to fulfilling the requirements of the General Education (Pathways for students graduating in 2022 and beyond) sociology majors must complete 43 hours in sociology, including:
In addition to fulfilling the requirements of the General Education (Pathways for students graduating in 2022 and beyond) criminology majors must complete 43 hours in criminology, including:
Minors in sociology must complete 18 hours in sociology including SOC 1004 Introductory Sociology. No more than nine hours at the 1000-2000 level will count toward a minor. A minimum GPA of 2.0 for courses in the minor is required. Sociology offers additional minors in Diversity and Community Engagement, Gender, Science and Technology, and Peace Studies and Social Justice. See the listing of the programs below for further information.
University policy requires that students who are making satisfactory progress toward a degree meet minimum criteria toward the General Education (Curriculum for Liberal Education or Pathways) (see "Academics") and toward the degree in Sociology.
Satisfactory progress requirements toward the B.S. in Sociology can be found on the major checksheet by visiting the University Registrar website at http://registrar.vt.edu/graduation-multi-brief/index1.html.
Director: Ellington Graves, Assistant Provost for Diversity & Inclusion
Professors: O. Agozino
Gloria Smith Endowed Professor: K. Harrison (Africana Studies/Sociology)
Associate Professors: K. Harrison (Africana Studies/Sociology), P. Polanah, and P. Seniors
Assistant Professor: Andrea Baldwin
Affiliated Faculty: R. Briggs (Political Science), G. Chandler-Smith (English), B. Faulkner (Political Science), A. Few (Human Development), V. Fowler (English), N. Giovanni (English), C. Gitre (History), M. Heaton (History), M. Herndon (Summer and Winter Programs), S. Johnson (Religion and Culture), R. Jones (Psychology), L. Roy (English), T. Sato (School of Education), B. Shadle (History), and P. Wallenstein (History).
Africana Studies is an interdisciplinary field of study that uses concepts and methodologies of the Social Sciences and the Humanities, centering on the study of peoples of African descent. The program cooperates with faculty from across the university, whose teaching and research is concerned with Africa and the African diaspora. Africana Studies engages with other programs and organizations in community awareness activities that celebrate the richness and diversity of African diasporic cultures and traditions.
An Africana Studies minor is open to all students who are interested in learning about the experiences of Africans and people of African descent.
Director: Samuel R. Cook
Associate Professor: S. Cook
Assistant Professor: N. Copeland
Assistant Professor of Practice: Mae Hey
A program in the Department of Sociology, we offer several courses and a minor in American Indian Studies.
We believe that any successful American Indian Studies program must do more than simply educate a general student body on American Indian cultures and issues in a sensitive way. We believe that our curricula must exist in conjunction with all university programs pertinent to American Indians, and must depend on the impetus of indigenous peoples working within and beyond the university.
In keeping with Virginia Tech's status and mission as a land grant institution, we strive to serve our indigenous constituency, both as educators and as partners. Accordingly, our program serves as a vital conduit for university-tribal relations, the recruitment and retention of American Indian students and faculty, and Service-Learning initiatives in indigenous communities. Although our program has a regional focus, we offer a wide spectrum of courses--ranging from American Indian Literatures, American Indian Spirituality, and American Indian Arts, to native Peoples of the Southeast, American Indians in Film, and Global indigenous Rights--reflecting the impressive and diverse expertise of our faculty.
In short, we embrace a holistic, collaborative approach to American Indian Studies in which university faculty and students develop and maintain meaningful partnerships. Accordingly, we maintain a tribal advisory board consisting of elders and leaders from all of Virginia's eight Indian Nations. We regard these representatives, and ultimately, all indigenous peoples as our colleagues.
Director: Sharon P. Johnson
Professors: N. M. King
Associate Professors: C. Labuski, and B. Zare
Collegiate Associate Professor: S. Samanta
Assistant Professors: A. Baldwin
Presidential PATHWAYS Teaching Doctoral Fellow: S. M. Cassinell
Professors: O. Agozino (Africana Studies); R. Blieszner (Human Development); T. Calasanti (Sociology); E. Creamer (Educational Leadership and Policy Studies); K. DePauw (Graduate School, Sociology, Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise); G. Downey (Science and Technology in Society); T. Ewing (History); J. Folkart (MCLL-Spanish); V. Fowler (English); P. Lane (STS/Director AdvanceVT); I. Luciak (Political Science); M. Paretti (Engineering Education); E. Plummer (Office of Provost); K. Powell (English); J. Rothschild (Government and International Affairs); L. Roy (English); B. Shadle (History); K. Singh (Education); D. Stoudt (CLAHS); V. Venkatesh (MCLL-Spanish); J. Watson (MCLL--French)
Associate Professors: E. Bauer (MCLL-German); S. Bell (Sociology); K Carmichael (Linguistics); S. Carter-Tod (English); G. Chandler (English); W. Dunaway (Government and International Affairs); J. Dunsmore (Psychology); April Few-Demo (Human Development); S. Fowler (Graduate Education Development Initiative, English); S. Halfon (Science & Technology Studies); L. Jenson (Associate Professor and Chair CPAP, School of Pub International Affairs); María del Carmen Caña Jiménez (MCLL-Spanish); S. Johnson (MCLL-French); C. Kaestle (Human Development); S. Knapp (English); E. Meitner (English) M. Mollin (History); S. Fang Ng (English); P. Olson (STS); S. Ovink (Sociology); E. Satterwhite (Religion & Culture); R. Scott (Religion & Culture); R. Shingles (Political Science); N. Sinno (MCLL-Arabic); C. Giménez-Smith (English); D. Tatar (Computer Science); G. Tilley-Lubbs (ESL & Multicultural Education); A. Walker (Linguistics)
Assistant Professors: L Brown (Sociology); C. Daggett (Political Science); E. Grafsky (Human Development); R. Hester (STS); E. Jamison (Management); K Parti (Sociology); A. Reed (English); A. Reeves (Political Science); A. Reichelmann (Sociology); J. Sano-Franchini (English); A. Sharma (Industrial Design); N. Zhange (MCLL)
Professional Faculty: E. Chancey (Religion & Culture); M. E. Christie (Women in International Development); M. C. Deramo (Director Diversity Ed and Initiative); A. Lomascolo (Co-Director, Women's Center); K. Mey (Women's Center); L. Pendleton (Electrical and Computer Engineering); E. Plummer (Associate Vice Provost for Academic Administration); K. Precoda (Theatre & Cinema); C. Smith (Co-Director, Women's Center); A. Sowisdral (Women's Center); L. Wheeler (Psychology)
The field of Women's and Gender Studies (WGS) transforms traditional disciplines through new methods and theories generated by feminist scholarships. Housed in the Department of Sociology, the Women's and Gender Studies Program includes teaching faculty and affiliates from across the entire university. WGS affiliated faculty contribute to the program through their research, membership on thesis committees, participation in governance, and teaching. The majority of our WGS faculty have won teaching awards.
Our program offers courses for all students in the university. WGS 1824 Introduction to Womens and Gender Studies satisfies Pathways' Social Science or Humanities requirement. It also fulfills four requirements in Area 2 of the Curriculum for Liberal Education (WGS 1824 Introduction to Womens and Gender Studies, WGS 2224 Women and Creativity, and WGS 2254 Feminist Activism), one in Area 3 (WGS 2264 Race, Class, Gender, and Sexualities), and two in area 7 (WGS 3214 Global Feminisms). Students interested in WGS may select two minors: Women's and Gender Studies and Gender, Science, and Technology. The minors are interdisciplinary, cross-cultural programs of study that cultivate an understanding of the complex ways gender is defined and contested in social structures, history, culture, and technology. They offer students new ways of thinking about how gender, race/ethnicity, class, and sexuality shape social institutions and cultural beliefs as well as their own personal experiences and perceptions. Central to the mission of the Women's and Gender Studies Program is the empowerment of a diverse population of women.
Students interested in learning more about the Women's & Gender Studies program should contact the program director, Sharon Johnson at spjohnso@vt.edu
Director: James Hawdon
The Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention is a student-center, multi-disciplinary undertaking to promote research, education and outreach in the area of peace studies and violence prevention. Since its inception in 2008, the Center has adopted three thematic areas:
The Center is a hub for research and pedagogy on peace studies and violence prevention. Our multidisciplinary approach allows students, faculty, and a variety of off-campus constituents to address peace building and violence prevention in a holistic manner.
The Center for Peace Studies offers a minor in Peace Studies. The minor is designed to provide students with a broad perspective on violence prevention and peace building. Students minoring in Peace Studies will be required to take two core courses, PSVP 2044 Peace and Violence and PSVP 4104 Global Society, Violence and the Prospects for Peace. In addition, students will select four elective courses from a variety of courses that focus on either "local" issues of violence prevention and peace building or "global" issues of violence prevention and peace building.
Director:
The Race and Social Policy Research Center (RSP) was formed in April 2001 to fulfill two primary goals:
The Center promotes a broad and inclusive concept of race and ethnicity, which includes African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, European Americans, Latinos, and bi-racial and multi-racial identities. RSP research projects involve the development and evaluation of public policy across different racial and ethnic contexts and within myriad public policy venues, including welfare, employment, education, and health as well as community outreach.
Department Chair: Jennifer Johnson
Professors: O. Agozino, D. Brunsma, T. M. Calasanti, A. K. Harrison, J. Hawdon, J. Johnson, N. King, L. Ritchie, B. Zare
Associate Professors: S. Bell, S. Ovink, M. Roos, P. Seniors, A. Vogt Yuan, D. Wimberley, H. Zhu
Associate Professor of Practice: S. Mehra
Associate Collegiate Professor: S. Samanta and H. Williams
Assistant Professors: A. Baldwin, L. Brown, T. Dearden, K. Parti, A. Reichelmann, D. Sedgwick
Adjunct Professors: R. Blieszner, D. Breslau, G. L. Downey, N. McGehee
Senior Instructor and Assistant Provost for Diversity & Inclusion: E.T. Graves
Instructor: J. Jamerson, C. McCown, L. Simmons
Career Advisor: D. Sedgwick
Academic Advisors: B. Husser and A. Karnes
Minor Advisor: A. Karnes
Distinguished Professor Emeritus: W. E. Snizek
Emeritus Professors: C. Bailey, C. Burger, J. N. Edwards, L. Gillman, M. Hughes, B. R. Hertel, J. Kiecolt, J. W. Michaels, W. Reed, J. Ryan, and D. R. Shoemaker
Introduction to the interdisciplinary field of African American Studies. Consideration of key dimensions of African American experiences, including institutional contexts for African American cultural expression and responses to oppression. History of the field, exploration of subfields, and consideration of research methods. Emphasis on the interplay of African American Studies scholarship and activism.
Introduction to the interdisciplinary study of Africa and Africas place in the world. Consideration of history, politics, economics, arts, and culture of African societies. Exploration of representations and treatments of Africa in global context. Discussion of scholar-activism in the study of Africa.
Contributions of U.S. Black theatre artists; intersectional identities; performances spaces and society; critical race theory; dramatic storytelling; cultural behaviors; racial discrimination.
Overview of some of the language varieties used by African Americans, including African American English, Black American Sign Language, Gullah, Louisiana Creole, and Afro-Latino varieties of Spanish and English. Focus on historical, contemporary, sociopolitical and linguistic factors impacting language practices at the individual and community level. Examination of African American language styles used in expressive forms of art and politics, but also how language ideologies shape responses to African American language in educational, political, and judicial settings. Uses lens of African American Language to explore key linguistic concepts like phonology, morphosyntax, prosody, language acquisition, language contact, and language change.
The role of religious (or belief) systems in African society, especially the three predominantly religious traditions in Africa: the so-called African traditional religions, Islam, & Christianity; the universe of religious systems and religious experiences and processes of Africa, in particular Sub-Saharan Africa; critical examination of the mythic stature of Africas religions within Western cultural (and scholarly) world views and institutions.
Influence of race and gender on religion and culture. Overview of approaches to categories of diversity, particularly race and gender, in religious and cultural traditions. Utilization of humanistic and social scientific approaches to investigate geographically variable historical and/or contemporary case studies.
Focuses on how race, class, gender, and sexualities form interlocking systems of privilege and oppression at individual and institutional levels. Emphasizes race, class, gender, and sexualities as changing social constructions and interactive systems that shape social institutions and organizations, meanings, and identities.
2275: African continent through Civil War. Examines trajectory of slavery as well as its global impacts and legacy, the development of racial thought, slave resistance and rebellions, the fight for Emancipation, and African American contributions to culture, economics and society of United States. 2276: Reconstruction through present. Examines impact and legacy of Reconstruction, the fight against Jim Crow segregation, and the social, cultural, political and economic contributions of African Americans in the nineteenth and twentieth century United States. Exploration of the global implications of race relations in the United States.
2275: African continent through Civil War. Examines trajectory of slavery as well as its global impacts and legacy, the development of racial thought, slave resistance and rebellions, the fight for Emancipation, and African American contributions to culture, economics and society of United States. 2276: Reconstruction through present. Examines impact and legacy of Reconstruction, the fight against Jim Crow segregation, and the social, cultural, political and economic contributions of African Americans in the nineteenth and twentieth century United States. Exploration of the global implications of race relations in the United States.
Examines the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. Both non-violent and violent resistance will be examined, as well as strategies used in organizing mass boycotts, sit-ins, and marches. Special attention will be paid to how the movement shaped civil rights legislation on the federal level. The course also examines how the Movement influenced student protest on college campuses.
Examines theories of race and racism specifically as they relate to African Americans. We will explain conservative, neo-conservative, liberal, and progressive ideologies concerning race in past and recent United States contexts and how such theories emerged and continue to emerge in recent times. Though the majority of the course focuses on race and racism within the U.S., comparative analyses will be made with Brazil and South Africa.
An introduction to the principal themes, genres, and historical contexts of African-American literature. Formal elements of both the vernacular and written traditions. Impact of historical and social contexts. Ethical questions raised in the literature.
The emerging womanist perspective of interstructured oppression, (i.e., the simultaneous effects of racism, sexism, and classism) as relevant to the contributions of Black women in the U.S.; views of Black women from African backgrounds, the Atlantic slave trade, and the progressive rise of womanist/feminist liberation movements in Black culture; contributions of Black women in the U.S. and globally.
Sports as a paradigm of the African-American experience. The forms of racism and the periodic significant social advances of the African-American community in the U.S. will be examined from the vantage point of African-American sports. Attention will also be paid to the continuing impact of sports on African-American culture. Sports heroes, successful teams and annual sporting events will be noted and analyzed.
A definition of those qualities of black American arts which distinguish it from traditional U.S. arts through an analysis of theme, form, and technique as they appear in a representative sample of works by black creative artists.
Explores race and representations of African American images in film, from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Focuses on the social, political, economic, and historical milieu in which black film emerged and evolved. Examines gender issues in filmmaking. Reviews different genres, including race films, colorblind representations, and black exploitation films, and the appropriation of black representation and black images in film in the United States and elsewhere. Includes methods of film analysis, such as historical, master narrative structure, and archival research.
This course will utilize the three major paradigmatic assumptions in Black Studies (centeredness, critical analysis, and empowerment) to examine historical and contemporary African American leadership concepts and styles and their impact on social change.
Examines the history of western development and humanitarian projects in Africa, considering western and African perspectives in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Discussion of slavery and abolition, the civilizing mission, modernization and development theory, the impact of humanitarian projects, and international volunteerism. Provides a foundation for students interested in international service learning or careers with NGOs or international aid agencies. No prior knowledge of African history required.
A variable topics course examining the lives and circumstances of people of African descent. Students may repeat the course with a different topic for up to 6 credits. Pre: Junior Standing.
An in-depth study of Black Theatre in America. It will explore the history and development of Black Theatre - both commercial and non-commercial. The course will also stimulate critical thinking pertaining to racial issues, differences in aesthetics and cultures.
An examination of the performing arts as a paradigm of the African-American experience. Forms of U.S. racism and the periodic significant social advances of the U.S.s African-American community will be examined in this course from the vantage points of blacks in theatre, film, dance, and music. Emphasis will be placed on the continuing impact of performing arts on African-American culture. Performers, heroes, historical works and performing arts events will be analyzed.
Introduction to the historical richness and complexity of American Indian societies. Examination of American Indian identities, worldviews, past and present sustainability practices, experiences with and resistance to colonial domination and policies, and cultural interchanges with non-Indians.
Examination of the worlds great oral traditions, both ancient and contemporary. Emphasis on performance contexts, relationships among multicultural traditions, including American Indian oral traditions, and the relationships among orality, literacy, technology, media, and culture.
Examines histories of persons representing different social identities, statuses, space, place, and traditions in agricultural and life sciences. Explores how differences influence experiences individuals may have in agricultural and life sciences. Apply ethical reasoning practices to recognize and addresses critical issues surrounding inclusion of diverse populations within agricultural and life sciences education and leadership.
This course offers a sampling of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction by the most influential American Indian writers since 1970, authors such as Momaday, Silko, Deloria, Welch, Harjo, and Alexie. Students will also learn about those aspects of cosmology and storytelling traditionally shared by all American Indian Nations, as well as about those aspects specific to the individual tribal traditions from which the authors and their characters come.
The Native experience in North America or Latin America from 1491 to present. Emphasis on social diversity and organization, resistance to colonization, leadership and cultural change, and political sovereignty among indigenous peoples. Methods for interpreting a variety of primary sources, including texts, material culture, and archaeological findings. Engagements with shifting historiographical perspectives and political movements for recognition of Native sovereignty.
Food sovereignty, the right to produce and consume culturally relevant food, as a set of practices and as a social movement through comparative case studies. Origins of food sovereignty in response to effects of colonialism, the green revolution, and the global corporate food system on peasant and Indigenous subsistence livelihoods and the concept’s transformation through dialogue with indigenous agricultural knowledge and poor peoples’ environmentalism. Food sovereignty’s challenge to the dominant food system and conceptions of development, how groups implement this vision of democratized social and productive relations through projects of agroecology and land reform, and its potential in the context of ecological calamity.
Study of the structures of the native languages of the Americas; their interrelationships; their use in individual speech communities; contact with other languages; the interrelationships of linguistic structure, culture, and thought; their future survival.
A survey of the historical and contemporary struggles of indigenous peoples throughout the world. Examines the dynamics of colonialism (internal and external), identity construction, gender, cultural integrity, and the ongoing global indigenous rights discourse. In addition to covering broad global processes/theoretical approaches, comparative case studies of particular indigenous groups, such as the Maasai (Kenya, Tanzania) and Mayans (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize), are used to highlight the global, regional, and intra-community diversity among contemporary indigenous peoples.
A variable topics course in which students will engage an interdisciplinary methodology to pursue a critical and in-depth examination of various topics concerning and pertinent to American indigenous peoples. This course is repeatable for up to 6 hours credit with different topics. Must meet prerequisite or have permission of the instructor.
Examines American Indian worldviews and human-Nature relationships within the context of a dominant non-Indigenous society, through land-based learning including foraging and cultivation. Introduces and contrasts Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Scientific Ecological Knowledge (SEK). Encourages the equitable inclusion of Indigenous peoples’ practices in the human and environmental sustainability of our collective future, with attention to decolonization and global Indigenous struggles for justice. Student engagement opportunities in hands-on foraging, seed saving, cultivation, and projects around food sovereignty, food security, and revitalization of traditional foodways, in collaboration with local Native communities.
Analyzes changing understandings of crime and punishment from the Colonial Era to the Age of Mass Incarceration. Considers how factors of race, ethnicity, class, and gender intersected with changing ideas of criminality and punishments.
Considers how the definition of murder as a crime has changed from the colonial period to the present day. Uses murder cases to study the dynamics of American society in condemning, condoning, or celebrating murder. Asks how cultural factors, including racial prejudice, gender stereotypes, beliefs about sexuality, and class status affected the act of killing, media coverage of the event, societal reactions, and the execution of justice. Topics covered include abortion, lynching, vigilante justice, and the evolution of the legal system.
Principles of criminology and contemporary theories of criminal behavior, focusing on the extent and distribution of crime in the United States.
Analyzes the systems of justice in the United States, from a sociological perspective. Focuses on law enforcement, courts, and corrections. Evaluates the effectiveness of social policies related to systems of justice. Explores the structural, community, and individual level factors that influence different stages of justice systems.
Focuses on women as victims and perpetrators of crime, with particular attention to race and class. Analyzes how social, cultural, and economic factors influence victimization and participation in crime. Includes adolescent girls involvement with crime, including juvenile gangs. Evaluates theoretical explanations of why women commit crime. Examines womens experiences with the criminal justice system.
Examination of juvenile delinquency. Includes methods of data collection and the extent and distribution of delinquency. Detailed coverage of theories of delinquent behavior. Examines the juvenile justice system and treatment and prevention of delinquency. Utilizes current empirical research on delinquency in the U.S. and internationally.
A variable topics course in criminology. In-depth examination of topics such as capital punishment, women and criminology, racial profiling, terrorism, white collar crime, law enforcement, international gangs, political crime, the prison system, cybercrime, and rape. May be repeated 2 times with different content for a maximum of 9 credits. Junior standing.
Empirical patterns and consequences of cybercrimes. Emphasis on applying criminological theories of crime and victimization to cyberspace. Cybercrime prevention strategies and tactics. Examination of ethical issues of privacy, security, and social control. Pre: Junior standing.
Focuses on the causes, manifestations, and consequences of hate crimes in the United States. Includes theories of prejudice and biased behavior, the context of perpetration, the individual and community-level effects on the victims, and the political, historical, and social significance of such crimes. Considers broad questions of bias compared to hate, the recognition and prosecution of hate crimes compared to non-bias crimes, the impacts of hate crimes at the individual and community levels, and responses by law enforcement and communities.
Focuses on the ways in which involvement in the criminal justice system affects families and family systems. Analyzes the antecedents and consequences of parental incarceration, including an investigation as to how social policies influence this phenomenon. Includes how offenders and their families are embedded in the criminal justice system and learn to navigate periods of incarceration and reentry—which includes family members’ secondary prisonization. Examines the emotional and financial costs of incarceration and reentry on families, as families serve as informal safety nets.
Introduces major theories of peace and violence. Explores contemporary patterns and root causes of interpersonal, institutional, and structural violence. Particular attention to conflict management, prevention, strategies, and promotion of peace at the local, national, and global levels.
Introduces fundamental principles, values and skills of conflict resolution. Special emphasis on facilitative mediation, restorative justice and other conflict resolution methodologies in the greater context of peacebuilding. Exploration of conflict resolution as tools of personal development and social justice.
Examines major theories in the interdisciplinary field of peace studies. Includes current, historical, and global causes, patterns and types of conflict, and methods of conflict resolution. Particular attention given to the philosophical and sociological discussions of the causes of violence and the possibilities for peace.
Focuses on the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of widely recognized forms of violence within schools, such as bullying, fighting, sexual assaults, harassment, dating violence, and shootings. Examines the effectiveness of violence prevention programs. Includes sociological theories of violence within schools. Explores the social debate over balancing the collective public safety obligations of schools with individual students rights/responsibilities.
Focuses on the causes, manifestations, and consequences of hate crimes in the United States. Includes theories of prejudice and biased behavior, the context of perpetration, the individual and community-level effects on the victims, and the political, historical, and social significance of such crimes. Considers broad questions of bias compared to hate, the recognition and prosecution of hate crimes compared to non-bias crimes, the impacts of hate crimes at the individual and community levels, and responses by law enforcement and communities.
Principles and basic concepts of human interaction and social organization. Basic theories and research methods, socialization, deviance, social institutions, population dynamics, social change, and social inequality by social class, race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation.
Introduction to basic concepts including culture and ritual, research methods especially ethnography, and theory in social anthropology for understanding human behavior. Provides a survey of anthropological approaches to language, economics, kinship, religion, identity, gender, race, politics, social organizations, and globalization that compares western and non-western cultures.
Develop an identity as a sociologist and foster a sense of community with first year and transfer students in the department. Acquire research skills and an awareness of university resources that enhance academic success. Explore theories used and topics examined by sociologists and participate in sociological research. Identify careers and internship opportunities in sociology.
Interdisciplinary introductory course explores how food shapes and is shaped by culture and society. Examines how people use food to express meanings (e.g., via foodways, story, art, architecture, religion, ethical codes), how food options, practices, and inequities are shaped by social structures (e.g. cultural and legal norms regarding race, class, and gender), and how the material properties of food (e.g., chemical, ecological, technological) are linked to identities, ideological commitments, and historical moments.
Examines the nature, extent, and causes of social problems in the United States and around the globe from multiple perspectives. Emphasizes the role of social structural forces including conflicting economic, racial, ethnic, national, and gender interests in the creation and perpetuation of social problems. Discussion of poverty, work, health care, drugs, terrorism, human rights, and social change.
An introduction to concepts, theories, methods, and major research findings in the sociology of intimate relationships. A description and analysis of research findings on the development, operation, and dissolution of intimate relationships, including how sociocultural and economic changes have shaped intimate relationships over time. Emphasis on the United States, including issues of diversity and inequalities in intimate relationships.
Social construction of race and ethnicity. Relations among ethnic and racial groups. Immigration and patterns of racial and ethnic integration. Social structures and processes that perpetuate racial and ethnic stratification. Consideration of economic, social, political, and health challenges facing racial/ethnic minority groups in U.S. society. Core Curriculum approved for CLE Area 2 only when taken only in combination with AFST 1714.
Examination of patterns, meanings, and challenges of diversity and inclusion to improve social interactions and community engagement within a global society. Focus on diverse identities, social justice, power, and privilege, applying social science theories and concepts, to facilitate intercultural awareness. Community engagement projects employ research methods to connect course materials and service to community.
Introduction to the methodological tools used by anthropologists and other social scientists to study culture. Engagement with the development of, and debates about, ethnographic methods, as well as their application to case studies. Focus on sample ethnographic accounts of peoples throughout the world, as well as research techniques applicable to many different cultural environments.
Computational methods and ethical issues in the collection, transformation, consumption, and use of quantitative data in the design and evaluation of community programs. Consideration of effective data visualization and communication of findings. Emphasis on evaluating the reliability and accuracy of data used to frame decisions about community-related policies and service-oriented programs.
Focuses on how race, class, gender, and sexualities form interlocking systems of privilege and oppression at individual and institutional levels. Emphasizes race, class, gender, and sexualities as changing social constructions and interactive systems that shape social institutions and organizations, meanings, and identities.
Foundation in social psychological principles of sociology including the development of the self through social interaction and intergroup processes. Factors affecting self-perceptions, ways of thinking, attitudes, emotions, behavior, and psychological well-being in social contexts.
Examines behaviors considered deviant in the United States. Explores major types of deviant behavior, such as corporate crimes, extremist groups, sexual deviance, violence, suicide, alcoholism and other drug addictions, and cyber deviance. Includes sociological theories that explain them.
Examines theories of race and racism specifically as they relate to African Americans. We will explain conservative, neo-conservative, liberal, and progressive ideologies concerning race in past and recent United States contexts and how such theories emerged and continue to emerge in recent times. Though the majority of the course focuses on race and racism within the U.S comparative analyses will be made with Brazil and South Africa.
Interdisciplinary overview of the diverse Asian American experience, incorporating non-Eurocentric perspectives on the Asian immigrant experience and dialogue between Asian American and non-Asian American students. Examination of different historical tracks of various Asian ethnicities, experience of racism, discrimination, cultural adaptation and conflict, and economic survival and success. Gender, age, religious affiliation, family values and inter-generational differences among Asian Americans. The complexity of minority status and the stereotype of “model minority.” Activism, political participation, leadership and the meaning of citizenship among Asian Americans. Representations of Asian Americans in the arts and media.
Examines the use of data to identify, reveal, explain, and interpret patterns of human behavior, identity, ethics, diversity, and interactions. Explores the historical trajectories of data to ask how societies have increasingly identified numerical measures as meaningful categories of knowledge, as well as the persistent challenges to assumptions about the universality of categories reducible to numerical measures.
A survey of the relationship between Black people in the United States with respect to food, culture, and society. Specifically covers Black food narratives, practices, space, place, as well as issues of inequality and exploitation within society.
Class, status, and power in society. Theories and empirical research findings on vertical and horizontal stratification in society. Class differences in behavior, values, and avenues and extent of social mobility. Cross cultural comparisons.
Focus on the social construction of gender relations. Examines how gender relations vary cross-culturally, historically, and for different categories of men and women. Explores the causes and consequences of inequality and privilege. Attention paid to the ways race, ethnicity, class, age, and sexualities shape and are shaped by gender and the relationship of gender to social institutions.
Focus on the development and contemporary state of sociological theory. Primary concern is with those theorists who have had significant impact on our thinking about the relationships among man, society, and nature.
Exploration of how racial and ethnic identity are expressed through the use of different languages and dialects. Examination of how language is related to issues of equality, social opportunity, and discrimination in the United States.
Techniques of data collection and analysis employed in the social sciences with emphasis on survey research methods including questionnaire construction, sampling, and analysis of both self-collected and national data; logic behind application of these techniques.
The study of collective attempts to address social injustices and implement other social change in and across societies. Explores sociological and interdisciplinary conceptions of social movements and their relationships to society. Social movement emergence, development, engagement with opponents and authorities, and impact, as shaped by opportunity structures, mobilizing structures and processes, framing, collective identity, strategy and tactics, and other factors. How social movements oppose or promote inequality, oppression, or violence in the U.S. or elsewhere, at the local, national, and transnational level. Application of political process and other current social movement theories.
Causes and consequences of environmental and climate injustices; interactions between social inequalities (race, gender, class, position in world-system) and environmental pollution, food and land injustice, climate injustice, and environmental health; environmental racism in environmental policies and practices; political-economic barriers to achieving environmental justice; evaluation of environmental justice reforms and sustainability initiatives; possibilities for system change; social movement strategies for achieving environmental and climate justice; case studies in environmental justice and injustice.
The concept of community in Appalachia using an interdisciplinary approach and experiential learning. Interrelationships among geographically, culturally, and socially constituted communities, public policy, and human development. Pre: Junior standing.
Contemporary American and global population trends in historical and comparative perspective. Discussion of the impact of population change on individual and society. Relevant public policy questions examined.
Examination of the role that gender plays in shaping the experience of work, focusing especially on the persistence of occupational segregation by sex, its causes and implications. Also, the interaction of work and family life, including the allocation of household work and control of resources. Social policies affecting gender relations in work organizations will be analyzed.
Emergence of old age as a social problem. Social aspects of aging in America, including the minority experience and with some cross-cultural comparisons. Social and demographic characteristics of the aged, location of aged in the social structure, and current and future social problems of old age.
Distinguishes global from international. Examines social globalization and cultural globalization and what forms they take. Explores changes in the role of nation-states and the implications of global changes in the division of labor for economic, gender, and racial/ethnic inequalities. Discusses how globalization is linked with peace, violence, and human rights. Considers alternative and more equitable forms of globalizations and how social movements might lead to such alternatives.
The impact of religion and culture in contemporary European politics and societies. Nationalism versus European cosmopolitanism. Religion, religious radicalism and religious tolerance in Europe. Culture and society in European urban and rural areas. Attitudes towards women and LGBTQ in Europe. Social foundations and cultural determinants of marginalization of social groups, migrants and refugees.
The family as a basic social institution: similarities and variations in family systems, their interrelationships with other social institutions, and patterns of continuity and change. Taught alternate years.
Religion as a social structure as well as an institution; with special attention to the functions of religion for individuals, groups and societies, social organization; and the interplay between religion and other social institutions including economics and polity. Taught alternate years.
Analysis of the structure, functions, and consequences of schooling in America, the social processes affecting academic achievement, and the implications of current knowledge for educational reform. Taught alternate years.
The military institution and its relationship to society. Emphasis on the role of the military and its social organization; recruitment, socialization, career, combat, deviant behavior, changes in the military, and future trends. Taught alternate years. Junior standing.
An empirical examination of how Appalachian speech both reflects and constitutes regional cultures. Emphasis is on applying sociological and anthropological methods and theories to the study of language in use.
Undergraduate participatory community research as applied to issues of cultural heritage, sustainability, and identity. Students engage in projects defined by community groups and organizations as being critical to their well-being, continuity, or growth. Emphasis is on developing concepts of civic professionalism and developmental democracy.
Examine the social context(s) of popular music, including the social, economic, and political factors that influence the development of different popular music forms; authenticity within popular music genres; popular musics impact on social activity and identity; the institutions that connect popular music producers with consumers.
Uses sociological, anthropological, as well as artistic and humanist paradigms to analyze culture. Discusses 20th and 21st century cultural trends. Analyzes the implications of social context for cultural artifacts such as art. Topics are variable. Example topics include the cultural construction of race and the cultural of the nineteen sixties. Course may be repeated with different course content for up to 6 credits. Pre: Junior or Senior standing.
Required seminar for majors. Integration and application of prior coursework, including reviews of theory and research methods. Application of sociological knowledge toward an actual needs assessment in a work setting, completion of a social policy analysis, and a written critique of a sociological publication. Course serves as a bridge to graduate study, prepares students for application of sociological knowledge, and provides overall career guidance. Senior standing and sociology majors only.
Stresses differences between applied research and other methodologies. Examines the topics, purposes, problems, theories, and methods appropriate for applied research. Explores ethical and political issues prevalent in applied settings. Includes qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodologies. Emphasis on survey construction and administration, experimental designs, evaluation research, and participatory action research as used by applied researchers. Includes data analysis and issues of presenting applied research to lay audiences.
In-depth examination of core themes of diversity. Explains patterns and relational/intersectional aspects of diversity, including the history and legacies of inclusion and exclusion, from a variety of perspectives. Synthesizes diverse writings on issues of social justice and community, power and privilege. Uses social science theories and concepts of diversity to examine contemporary issues of diversity and to facilitate and interpret community engagement projects based in students major fields of study. Focuses on collective responsibility to eliminate bias and discrimination through students community-based project outcomes. This course is restricted to students who have enrolled in the Diversity and Community Engagement Minor.
Variable topics course that focuses on different research methodologies. Includes topics such as feminist research, qualitative methodologies, survey design, evaluation research, and anthropological methods. Can be taken multiple times if different topic.
Builds the analytical tools of STS and humanistic deconstruction. Challenges students to read, write, and interrogate academic literatures and real-life, immediate problems and artifacts in ethical, sociocultural, historical, and context informed ways. Builds this competence while examining materials related to current topics in health, such as but not limited to: population, development, reproductive technologies, pollution, climate change, environmental health beyond humans, and, colonialism. Employs multiple humanistic lenses including: biopolitics & biopower, intersectionality, structural and institutional analysis, syndemics, anticolonialism, violence, and disability to examine these materials.
The functions of law as a form of social control. The social forces in the creation, enforcement, and change of the law. The nature of law as a force in social change. Taught alternate years.
Examines the use of drugs, including legal and illegal drugs, from a sociological perspective. Cross-cultural and historical patterns of use are discussed and explained. Particular attention is given to drug use within the context of various social institutions. Junior standing.
Focuses on the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of widely recognized forms of violence within schools, such as bullying, fighting, sexual assaults, harassment, dating violence, and shootings. Examines the effectiveness of violence prevention programs. Includes sociological theories of violence within schools. Explores the social debate over balancing the collective public safety obligations of schools with individual students rights/responsibilities.
A variable topics course in sociology. In-depth examination of topics such as environmental sociology, the sociology of sport and competition, social networks, and sociology of the body. May be repeated 2 times with different content for a maximum of 9 credits. Junior standing.
Social and cultural response to illness and infirmity. Emphasis on the sick role, patient role, practitioner role, organization and politics of health care delivery, stratification, professionalism, and socialization of health practitioners. Taught alternate years. Junior Standing.
Mental illness and social systems, historically and in contemporary society. Distribution of mental illness with special reference to stratification, role, and deviance theories. Mental health occupations and organization of treatment. Implications for social policy. Taught alternate years. Junior standing.
Placement and sociologically relevant work in one of a variety of human service settings, combined with relevant readings, discussion and written work coordinated jointly by a faculty member and the setting supervisor. Placement settings include human resource agencies, corrections facilities, extension offices, and law agencies. Sociology major or minor required. Junior or Senior standing required. Consent of internship coordinator required. Coursework relevant to placement setting.
Examination of major development theories and contemporary issues and characteristics of low-income societies (industrialization, urbanization, migration, rural poverty, hunger, foreign trade, and debt) that establish contexts for development planning and policy-making. Junior standing required.
Describes feminism and the field of Womens and Gender Studies. Explains basic theories of social inequality, privilege, oppression and intersectionality. Discusses feminist perspectives on science and culture. Outlines womens and mens relative positions in and contributions to such institutions as family, work and the state.
Examination of diverse theoretical perspectives on women and gender, including their historical origins and political implications. Special emphasis on integrative perspectives that also address race, class, and other dimensions of inequality.
Influence of race and gender on religion and culture. Overview of approaches to categories of diversity, particularly race and gender, in religious and cultural traditions. Utilization of humanistic and social scientific approaches to investigate geographically variable historical and/or contemporary case studies.
A study of the philosophical, artistic, and biographical dimensions of womens creativity in a wide variety of fields.
Explores the history of individual and collective action geared toward gaining womens rights and improving womens positions in society. Course covers tensions and shifts in feminist movements, as well as the perspectives, agendas, and actions of specific subgroups of women whose perspectives sometimes conflict. Service-learning is a required component of the course.
Focuses on how race, class, gender, and sexualities form interlocking systems of privilege and oppression at individual and institutional levels. Emphasizes race, class, gender, and sexualities as changing social constructions and interactive systems that shape social institutions and organizations, meanings, and identities.
Introduces students to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Studies. Focuses on sexuality and gender as historical and cultural constructs. Examines the experiences of individuals who do not conform to binary sex-gender systems and the development of diverse identities and LGBTQ communities. Introduces feminist and queer theories that address LGBTQ issues within social, political, legal, and cultural institutions. Examines the institutional oppression of sexual minorities and implications of the intersectionalities of such systems of inequality as gender, race, ethnicity, class, age, and (dis)ability.
A variable topics course that addresses how the social construction of gender shapes social, cultural, political, economic, and institutional structures as well as individual experiences and perceptions. The course stresses interdisciplinary approaches to topics of emerging interest in feminist scholarship. Can be taken up to three times for credit with varying topic. In addition to WS 1824, must have taken a 2000-level Womens Studies course, or have instructors consent.
An examination of women and gender in Islam from a variety of perspectives including Muslim women in Islamic history, normative constructions of the roles of women in Islam, and womens role in contemporary Muslim societies. Understanding of women in classical Islam; feminist and reformist approaches; and Western constructions of the rights of women in Islam.
Exploration of differences--real and imagined--in the speech of men and women, and the relationship between these differences to culture. Exploration of how language can reflect and reinforce gender inequality. Linguistic phenomena covered: pitch, vocabulary, sound change, language ideologies, and discourse strategies and types.
An introduction to the gendered analysis of global womens issues with a special focus on women of color. Examines the multiple and diverse sites of feminist struggle within the third world, and between first and third worlds both in the U.S. and internationally. Studies the impact on women of political movements such as nationalism, colonialism, revolution, authoritarianism and democracy. Compares theories originating with women of color in the U.S. with those from international third worlds.
Key concepts and critiques related to the intersection of gender, environment, and international development. Development institutions and organizations with relationship to gender and environment. Theoretical and applied perspectives on eco-feminism; bio-diversity; climate change; feminist political ecology; agriculture and natural resources; participatory methods and empowerment. Case studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Pre: Junior Standing.
This multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural course examines a significant topic in Womens Studies, utilizing the perspectives of history, biology, psychology, political science, sociology, and the arts. Variable topics.
Discusses sex and medicine in contemporary U.S. society. Explores how notions of sexual behavior and normality are defined and structured by medical discourse. Examines cultural institutions that play significant roles in formulating ideas about and definitions of deviance, perversity, and tolerated marginality. Critiques medical responses to sexual variations. Examines experiences of people who have sought out, or been the unwilling victims of, sexual medicine. Junior standing required.
Investigates the gender dimensions of science in both historical and contemporary perspectives. Discusses feminist studies of science, exploring strengths and limitations. Assesses implications of cultural assumptions about gender for practicing scientists. A 3000 level course in science or engineering may satisfy prerequisite.
Qualified students will be placed with a community agency or on-campus office which addresses contemporary issues of gender, class, and/or race, and will meet periodically with an appropriate faculty member to discuss assigned readings that will provide a context for the work experience. Students will also be expected to keep a journal and to write up a final evaluation of the experience. Variable credit: may be taken for up to 6 elective credits in the Womens Studies concentration. Junior standing, screening interviews with Tech faculty and with the service agency and consent required.
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