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Department of

Sociology

Concentrations

C O M M U N I T Y,   U R B A N I Z A T I O N,   A N D   C U L T U R E  ( C U C )*  

With an emphasis on social change and social justice, this concentration examines community structures, processes, and problems, with a focus on urban environments in a globalizing world. Immigration, racial, ethnic, and national diversity, inequality, spatial segregation, community activism and leadership, schooling and public education are all issues addressed, along with the impact of popular culture. Students will learn to develop creative strategies to address the issues facing urban centers and communities today, as global forces increasingly challenge our traditional notions of city and community. The concentration will be of particular interest to those students considering careers in city planning, human services/relations, social welfare, as well as those contemplating graduate work or professional training in urban planning, public health, urban sociology, geography, and related fields.

SOCI 311 – Popular Culture
SOCI 320 – U.S. Society
SOCI 348 – Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Gangs
SOCI 350 – Social Institutions
SOCI 353 – Marriage and the Family
SOCI 363 – The Modern Urban Community
SOCI 364 – Work and Labor
SOCI 370 – Sociology of Education
SOCI 388 – Sport in Social Context
SOCI 400 – Urban Planning
SOCI 420 – Black Eyes on America
SOCI 425 – The Black Atlantic
SOCI 450 – Culture and the Metropolis
SOCI 455 – Cities in a Global Context
SOCI 464 – Community, Consensus, and Commitment
SOCI 494 – Special Topics

P O W E R   A N D   I N E Q U A L I T Y   I N   G L O B A L   P E R S P E C T I V E  ( P I G P )*

In this globally interconnected age of increasing diversity and widening disparities, power, difference, and inequality are at the heart of sociological inquiry. Focusing on the interweaving of structure and agency in comparative historical and global perspective, power and inequality are analyzed from a variety of theoretical vantage points, including that of historical political economy, with an emphasis on race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality. Topics addressed include the global expansion of European capitalism, worldwide responses to this, as well as democracy, law, citizenship, and the role of organizations and social movements in social change. Transnational corporations and social movements, urbanization, sustainable development, the environment, and issues of war and peace are also addressed, with a particular emphasis on the Catholic social and intellectual tradition. This concentration will be of interest to those students interested in careers in social change, in the labor movement, public policy, human services/resources, business, as well as for students interested in pursuing graduate work or careers in law, teaching, and related professional fields.

SOCI 320 – U.S. Society
SOCI 331 – Race and Ethnic Relations
SOCI 350 – Social Institutions
SOCI 351 – China in the 21st Century
SOCI 353 – Marriage and the Family
SOCI 357 – Inequality and Stratification
SOCI 358 – Political Sociology
SOCI 359 – Gender Through the Prism of Difference
SOCI 362 – Social Change: Global Perspectives
SOCI 364 – Work and Labor
SOCI 369 – Sexualities
SOCI 375 – The U.S. Mosaic
SOCI 380 – Collective Behavior
SOCI 385 – Aging and Society
SOCI 420 – Black Eyes on America
SOCI 425 – The Black Atlantic
SOCI 460 – Immigrant America
SOCI 473 – Rights, Justice, Law and Inequality
SOCI 494 – Special Topics

C R I M E,   J U S T I C E,   A N D   L A W   A N D   S O C I E T Y  ( C J L S )*

This concentration is for students who want to develop theoretical and empirical understandings of crime, the criminal justice system, and law. Through a sociological lens, courses in the concentration focus on the manifestations, causes, and consequences of criminal behavior and the mechanisms of justice, from street level to white-collar crime. Courses also examine how society shapes our understanding of crime, the way individuals and society respond to crime, and changes in the context of globalization. This concentration will be of particular interest to those students considering careers in law, government, criminal justice, law enforcement, social service, as well as those contemplating graduate work or professional training in related fields.

SOCI 347 – Criminology
SOCI 348 – Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Gangs
SOCI 349 – Social Control
SOCI 354 – Drugs and U.S. Society
SOCI 355 – Corrections
SOCI 356 – Crime as Entertainment
SOCI 358 – Political Sociology
SOCI 368 – Social Deviance
SOCI 472 – Law and Society
SOCI 473 – Rights, Justice, Law and Inequality
SOCI 494 – Special Topics
POLI 321 or 322 (only one or the other)

*Disclaimer: If there are any inconsistencies between what is posted on our web page and the language and text in the official 2008-2010 undergraduate bulletin, the bulletin will always prevail.