This course introduces students to the concepts and methods of sociology,particularly as they are applied to an understanding of problems and structure in society. Topics include the social organization of the U.S. as well as other countries around the world. Emphasis is on global experiences around the world and on the causes and implications of social and cultural change.

This course explores a wide range of human actions-- homicide, rape, burglary, embezzlement, fraud, drug and alcohol use, as well as numerous other violent and nonviolent forms of crime and deviance. U.S. crime and victimization data are used to develop profiles of each crime type. The topics covered are intended to introduce the student to the study of deviance and criminology. The first part of the course examines the offender, victim, crime prevention strategies, and situational elements surrounding major forms of crime. The second part of the course examines, major theoretical perspectives on deviance and explores the reasons individuals or groups commit crimes.

This course engages students with society from a visual perspective. Using photographs, video, and the internet students explore how society expresses itself visually. Students use visual tools to examine fundamental elements of society such as values, norms, beliefs, institutions, and social structures. Students learn to take sociological photographs as well as view the visual works of others.

This special topics course is for advanced beginner’s wanting more detailed analysis of major issues relating to sociology. Topics and readings to be determined yearly by the faculty. Spring 2017: The Archaeology of New England This course will explore the material record of New England’s past, from the end of the most recent ice age to the arrival of Euro-Americans and the establishment of the United States. Students will be given a detailed introduction to the discipline of archaeology and how it illuminates the changing environment, cultural geography and material culture of New England over the past twelve thousand years. Other Topics: Plagues & Populations: From bubonic plague to HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases have been credited with defeating armies, causing mass religious conversions, and dramatically changing population demographics throughout human history. Drawing from sociology, archaeology and anthropology, this course will explore how infectious diseases have shaped human populations, how they impact us today, and how they might affect human development in a future, warmer, more immediately connected world. In class lectures and discussion will focus on a history of human understanding of diseases, the evolutionary history of humans and microorganisms, the ways in which social scientists study disease transmission and effects, and major epidemic episodes in human history. Additionally, the class will be divided into small groups to each select a specific case history that has demonstrated how infectious disease influenced the direction of human development, and how similar circumstances could arise again in the future. Origins of Human Society: This course will draw from archaeology, social and biological anthropology, and sociology to explore the evolution of humans as a species and how this process has created the society we live in today. This course will give students a solid grounding in evolutionary theory and the physical and cognitive development of our species and its material culture over the last two million years. Additionally, students will explore how developing ideas about human evolution have shaped contemporary society and ideas of the future. Anthropology of Gender: This course is an anthropological survey of the diverse ways in which sex and gender roles, ideologies, expectations and relationships are socially constructed in different modern and historical contexts. Class lectures, readings and writing assignments will emphasize the main theoretical and analytical frameworks, thus exploring cross-cultural diversity in sexual identities and gender ideologies within households and communities globally. In addition, a selection of ethnographic cross-cultural case studies will illuminate the complexities of gender and show the ways in which gender roles and relationships diverge or intersect with a wide range of cultural and institutional spheres.

This course examines the individual and social significance of fashion in both contemporary and historical settings. This class draws on the sociology of culture, consumption, class, race, and gender. Among the topics to be included: social identities and fashion; presentation of self; sub-cultures and fashion; the history, adoption, and co-opting of fashion; race, class, gender, status and power in fashion: the maintenance, expression, and adaptation of social inequalities and hierarchies as they operate through fashion; and the business of fashion: clothing production and the global economy. We all wear clothes, but the fabrics we wear have meanings and functions that go far beyond covering our bodies. In fact, fashion speaks, and this class seeks to listen to, dissect, and understand its messages.

This course engages a wide range of subjects and fields that are essential to a full understanding of the Moroccan people and their everyday lives. Morocco is undergoing a democratic transition with a more public recognition of Amazigh cultures and languages and more attention to gender equality. The course aims to provide analytical insights into what has helped to shape Moroccan society and culture. It also highlights Moroccan society and culture within the regional contexts of “Arab Spring.” Students are exposed to current issues in Morocco, including democratization, religion, the rights of women and minorities, cultural diversity, education, human rights, the arts and more. <b> Offered on the UNE Tangiers, Morocco campus. <b>

This course is an introduction to descriptive and inferential statistics as applied to problems in the behavioral and social sciences. Topics include measures of central tendency and variability, correlation, hypothesis testing, t tests, analysis of variance, regression, and chi square analysis. Students also learn to use statistical software and to choose the appropriate analysis for various types of data.

This course examines the sociological aspects of climate change both domestically and globally. There will be four areas of focus: the anthropogenic forces behind climate change, attitudes towards climate change politically, socially, and scientifically; displacement of human communities due to climate change and climate refugees; and sociological impacts of climate change ranging from war to eco-tourism.

This course explores the structures and dynamics of Latin American Society. It focuses on cultural norms; social change; stratification; demography; environmental issues; family structures; and social institutions including economics, politics, and religion. The Broad based examination also explores the impacts of globalization in contemporary Latin America with particular emphasis on its relationship to the north.

This course enhances students understanding of cultural diversity and social inequalities. Racial and ethnic heritages, socioeconomic classes, and gender as well as their role in identity formation are explored. The course also examines the inequalities of power and privilege that flow from racism, sexism, and class structure. Primary attention is given to the United States with cross-national materials used for comparison. Basic sociological concepts are introduced throughout the course.

This course focuses on a range of contemporary social issues and problems in a globalized world. The issues are examined in several regions of the world with particular emphasis on the experience and focus of the instructor. Issues to be examined include: inequalities in life chances, wages and work, gender and education; crime, war, and terrorism; urbanization and population growth, ecological and environmental sustainability. The nature and dimensions of globalization as well as the social theories for analyzing the problems associated with globalization are examined.

This course introduces sociological perspectives as they apply to the understanding of religious phenomena. It also seeks to present various sociological theories regarding religious belief and value systems, religious attitudes, religious practices and behavior, and religious movements. In studying the issues students have an opportunity to examine the relationship between religious organizations and the other social institutions found in contemporary American and global societies. The course also explores ways in which religion and religiousness is inherently human and therefore how it is significantly present in some form in every society. In the last decade the impact of religion on society and culture has changed, especially at the global level.

This course introduces students to the logic of social research design and the process of data collection and analysis. It explores how sociologists engage in scientific research methods to answer questions and learn about issues that are important not only to other sociologists but to policy makers, activists, educators, planners, and all citizens. In other classes, students may have explored questions like: how prevalent is racism in contemporary society and what are its consequences? Are men and women sharing household chores more equally in two-earner households? Are people in developing nations better off since transnational corporations have located production in their regions? In order to answer these questions, social scientists rely on rigorous, systematic research. This course familiarizes students with the logic of research and the techniques that sociologists use to answer important questions.

This course examines the social historical context, theoretical constructs, presuppositions, and the impacts of the body of sociological theory that constitutes classical theory. Particular attention is given to the sociological trilogy of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber and the impacts of their theories on the origins of sociology as a discipline in general, and the development of a modern understanding of capitalism specifically.

This course explores the social nature of food procurement, distribution, and consumption through a systematic sociological enquiry into the food we eat. By exposing the social relations associated and influenced by food it draws out the implications on our social organization, health, culture, politics, and the economy. The course pays particular attention to the connection between our food and health. It is designed to integrate the multidisciplinary approaches to food and make the connections between what we produce and eat as a society and their social impacts, especially the impact on our health. Food’s essential nature to human life makes it is a central part of social existence and human civilizational development.

This course examines the content, presuppositions, and impacts of contemporary sociological theory. Students engage in theory construction and analysis, and endeavor to develop inferences associated within the classical authors relevant to contemporary theorists. Students are encouraged to read and discuss a variety of contemporary theorists to develop their particular interests in a substantive area.

This course studies social problems that may accompany globalization. It considers a range of social problems and issues by comparing their causes and solutions in different countries. Global inequality, class, race, and gender inequalities are emphasized. Problems in work, education, the family and health care are explored, as is crime and deviance, and problems of population and the environment. Learning activities include individual and group projects, with an emphasis on writing and class presentations.

This course focuses on the society and culture of contemporary Great Britain within the context of a rapidly shifting world order. Drawing on sociological and cultural studies theory, we explore, in particular, the concepts of Britishness and British identity in a postcolonial nation. One way to understand a society is to examine the images and symbols which are employed to represent it, and as such examine a range of representation to explore the ways in which modern Britain and British identities have been imagined, constructed, and experienced. From the tabloid press and Brit pop to postcolonial literature and film, students analyze cultural texts of (and about) Britain, allowing them to think about the ways in heritage, race, social class, gender, and more intersect and complicate British culture and identity. Study Abroad Experience: The course also gives students the opportunity to engage directly with contemporary British culture through a 12-day stay in London. The material explored throughout the semester provides a framework through which students can better understand their experiences abroad as they immerse themselves in the varied spaces and places of London's cityscape.

The internship is designed for students to actively participate in a community organization or agency of their choice (as available) for 120 hours per 3 credit course. The primary goal of the internship experience is to allow the student an opportunity to learn experientially. This provides them an opportunity to apply theoretical and technical skills gained in the classroom setting to actual work in the community. Internship sites include local schools, juvenile centers, police departments, and community action agencies. Students are expected to develop a working understanding of the issues and social dynamics of working within a community setting. Students must meet restriction requirement or have the consent of instructor.

This course provides a theoretical and historical overview of the concept of race, and the myriad forms and manifestations of racism in science and society. Focused primarily on race in the United States, topics addressed include: racial formation and the social construction of race; the persistence of and resistance to racial essentialism; and how each of these inform the construction of racial difference and inequality in and across social institutions. These topics are examined through multiple sociological perspectives, with particular attention to how they are expressed in science and medicine, government and public policy, and the criminal legal system.

This course introduces the sociological study of law via examination of the legal system and the social nature of legal decision-making, at all levels of that process. The course focuses primarily on the legal history of the United States, but also involves a comprehensive overview of civil and criminal law in a cross-cultural context. Students also consider questions of power and resistance and the construction of conflict and morality by examining several aspects of the relationship between social forces and law, such as: how law reflects dominant race, gender and class ideologies; how deviance is constructed, understood and pursued; and the interplay between legal change and social reform.

In this course an ecosystem model of health is introduced and used to explore social and cultural factors involved in health, disease, and health care in both developed and developing nations. Illustrative topics to which the model is applied include infant mortality rates in the Third World and among the poor in the U.S., traditional and scientific medicine, chronic diseases in the developed nations, health of minorities in the U.S., and comparisons of health care systems in various modern societies.

This course teaches students the elements of ethnographic field research and provides them with a "tool-kit" for conducting original field projects of their own. The course reviews the logic for and methods involved in conducting ethnographic research and also reflects on the work of other ethnographers. The course covers topics including: how to select a research project; entering “the field;” the ethical treatment of human subjects; conducting participant observation and taking fieldnotes; designing, transcribing, and coding interviews; analysis and writing, representation and presenting results; and personal challenges in conducting field research.

This course explores the process of international development in the world today, particularly from the perspective of the United States. International development is defined as a process undertaken by countries and communities with assistance from other nations' governments and communities, from international non-governmental organizations (such as charities) or from intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Students explore various models and methods of international development with particular emphasis on the benefits and problems of each. Globalization and international development jointly define one of the central opportunities of our time. Globalization can be a powerful engine for international development, but in many developing countries globalization has instead meant rising poverty and inequality.

The purpose of this course is to view, analyze and critique cinematic films as a tool for understanding society's vision for the future, and thus gain insight into our present culture and values. Moreover, through this process we gain insight into the mechanisms of social change. As the purpose of this class is to view films, the screen, AV technology, and classroom layout are essential. While entire films are to be viewed outside of class; clips and segments are often shown class to aid discussion.

This course explores how, on a daily basis throughout the United States, courts and judges are expected to apply laws whose purpose is to create a society which is protected from crime and one in which citizen's individual rights are respected. What makes this admirable goal complicated is that it involves the need to balance those societal goals with an understanding of human beings who have been affected by cultural and other factors such as poverty, substance and alcohol abuse, and mental illness. It is the interaction between the objective goals of society and the individual circumstances of all sides involved that is the challenge of achieving justice. The primary goal of this course is to provide an understanding of how difficult it is to apply defined societal values, many of which are contradictory, to court cases which are not hypothetical but involve human beings with all their faults and strengths also being assessed. This balancing is the primary quality of justice, yet it is as much art as science.

This course is one of three that fulfill the capstone Experience requirement for Sociology and Applied Social and Cultural Studies Majors. This capstone has variable (9-16) credits. These credits are for the student's participation in an intensive internship. These must be approved by the capstone coordinator.

This course is one of three that fulfill the Capstone Experience requirement for Sociology and ASCS Majors. This capstone has variable credit, 9-16 credits. These credits are based on a student's successful completion of a research-based capstone thesis. These are approved by the capstone coordinator.

In this course an ecosystem model of health is introduced and used to explore social and cultural factors involved in health, disease, and health care in both developed and developing nations. Illustrative topics to which the model is applied include infant mortality rates in the Third World and among the poor in the U.S., traditional and scientific medicine, chronic diseases in the developed nations, health of minorities in the U.S., and comparisons of health care systems in various modern societies.