52 courses with the subject SO, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
The nature of group behavior and social interaction viewed through analysis of structure, norms, and values.
Cross-cultural analysis of the human capacity for adaptation and technological and ideological development. Significant field studies will be examined.
Analysis of sport as a social system. The implication of sport within interrelational contexts of other social systems.
Introductory level course covering topics of special interest to first year students. Offered only as a First Year Seminar.
Foundations in a selected sub-field of sociology ; announcement made at pre-registration time.
This course studies how social problems come to be: students learn about what constitutes a social problem and who defines a social problem? Why do some social problems receive so much attention, while others are ignored? We will examine these questions drawing on case studies of contemporary issues, like inequality, racism, immigration, mass incarceration, health care, climate change, drugs, and more.
This course is an introduction to the social psychological foundations of identity and its relation to prejudice, privilege, and power in micro-interactions and social structures. Students will engage with social psychological understandings of categorizations and their implications at the individual and structural levels.
Explores the theory and methods of applied sociology, including ethnographic, institutional, participatory research techniques in community settings.
First generation to college is a term for the increasing numbers of students who are first in their families to attend college. As college has been increasingly framed as the primary mechanism for social and economic mobility, college attendance has reached historic highs for nearly every demographic including for historically marginalized communities. This has created increasingly diverse campuses and it has increasingly bound colleges to broader patterns of inequality. This course examines the racial and economic politics facing first generation to college students as well as the structural inequalities shaping college and its promises of social and economic mobility.
This course interrogates the intersection of constitutional law and social power in the United States, utilizing C. Wright Mills' The Power Elite as a primary theoretical framework. Organized into flexible modules, students will analyze the structures of the United States and Massachusetts Constitutions, contrasting their drafting, ratification, and amendment processes with the contemporary realities of judicial interpretation. Through a sociological examination of current Supreme Court cases, students will evaluate how elite power dynamics, corporate influence, and informal political actors shape the legal landscape, while exploring their own agency and ethical obligations within these constitutional systems.
The structure of health care delivery systems and levels of health care personnel, patients, and families of patients.
A comparative approach to the study of the structure of family systems with emphasis on changing patterns of family life.
This course surveys current theoretical approaches used to explain Latina/o experiences and provides an empirical overview of how social institutions affect the daily lives of Latinas and Latinos in the U.S. and the world.
Foundations of social movements in political phenomena, social conditions, and emerging political institutions; the structural basis of social change and politics.
Using case studies, social theory and historical materials, this course explores the role of music in social change.
Study of modern educational systems, emphasizing the social, political and economic factors that influence its organization and its functions.
A cross-cultural comparative study of the nature of religious institutions as systems of socially determined and socially relevant beliefs and practices.
Using theory and practical application, this course explores the impact of impairment and disability within a societal context.
Fundamental concepts and intellectual traditions, especially the contributions of Comte, Spencer, Marx, Toennes, Durkheim, and Simmel.
This course introduces students to statistical methods used in sociological research, with a focus on practical application and interpretation. Students will explore concepts such as central tendency, variability, correlation, and hypothesis testing, applying these methods to real-world sociological data.
An analysis of the research function in sociology; the conduct of research appropriate to undergraduate students; the formal presentation of research papers.
An introduction to dominant-minority group relations through the investigation of the patterns and dynamics of differentiation, inequality and discrimination.
The course explores the sociological concepts and perspectives as they relate to death and dying and how American society deals with illness, dying, death and bereavement.
Intermediate level topics.
A study of the conditions, patterns, and consequences of social transformation with emphasis on institutional and individual patterns of adjustment and adaptation.
This course explores the relationship between environment and society through a focus on political ecology, sociological dimensions of environmental crisis and dynamics of social change. Prerequisite: 30 completed credits.
Explores the theory and methods of applied sociology, including ethnographic, institutional, participatory research techniques in community settings. Every 2-3 years.
This course surveys a wide range of Puerto Rican experiences and provides an overview of how social structures shape the daily lives of Puerto Ricans in the United States. Through a focus on diasporas, the course centers on migration as a key experience within Puerto Rican imaginaries. The course explores the sociological themes of identity, race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexuality, social class, and stratification through the lens of Puerto Rican struggle and resistance. Puerto Rican diasporic communities are examined at the intersections of colonialism, modernity, and neoliberal globalization. Prerequisite: 30 completed credits.
The course studies young people as agents of social change through key debates and local/global case studies across the academic subfields of youth studies, critical race theory, and public space scholarship. Students in this course engage with youth experiences of increased surveillance and regulation in public space as well as creative forms of subversion and resistance. Through the discussion and analysis of cutting-edge scholarship, students in this course craft critical ethnographies at the multiple intersections of youth, race, and public space. Prerequisite: 30 completed credits.
Processes by which new norms and forms of social organization emerge from group behavior, aggregate behavior, and social movements.
This course studies the city of Worcester from a sociological perspective focused on settler colonialism, industrial capitalism and neoliberal gentrification. Students learn about the systematic erasure of indigenous knowledge as crucial to the formation of the capitalist city. Students make key connections between settler colonialism and the contemporary displacement of working-class communities of color in Worcester. The course chronicles lived experiences of economic restructuring within Worcester that signal a meaningful shift from industrial powerhouse to postindustrial theme park. Prerequisite: 30 completed credits.
This course focuses on historical and contemporary discussions of Race and Ethnicity within Sociology. The course will familiarize students with central threads in the study of race and ethnicity and work to identify gaps, particularly as they are relevant for the academic and social sphere of today. Prerequisite: 30 completed credits.
Theoretical perspective on crime, criminals, and the social aspects of interrelationships within, and between, the components of the criminal justice system.
In this course students will examine immigrants' lived experiences in the U.S., and learn about the legal systems immigrants must navigate and their experiences with incorporation into different areas of society. Students will be exposed to current debates in the field and engage with theories of immigration, immigration policies, and other laws that shape immigrants' lives. This course will facilitate an understanding of how communities respond to practices that curtail immigrants' basic rights as they navigate intersecting structures of power in American society. Students will be encouraged to look at local examples to make connections between policies, theories, and debates.
Social and legal phenomena surrounding youthful offenses and offenders, considered in the context of community response to the problem. Every year.
This course explores the interplay between the individual and society by examining how social factors shape our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We will investigate the concept of the self as a product of society, as well as the self as a force in society.
The study of the social consequences and apparent causes of deviant behavior through the analysis of the processes of socialization, intra- and inter- group relations, and the social contexts within which deviation is defined.
Sociological examination of economic stratification; focuses on the translation of class into power via politics, education and collective struggle. Prerequisite: 30 completed credits.
This course introduces the sociologist study of gender and sexuality. This course examines how social institutions and cultural norms construct particular gender roles and sexual identities within society.
A cross-cultural study of urban social systems and the phenomena and problems connected with the planning process. Prerequisite: 30 completed credits.
Analytical devices, conceptual schemes, and models used by contemporary theorists with emphasis on structural sociology.
Expanded Topics in Sociology
For advanced sociology majors only; topic to be approved by an independent study advisor. (Requires eight prior courses in sociology.)
Department or permission from instructor. This course explores the relationship between environment and society through a focus on political ecology, sociological dimensions of environmental crisis and dynamics of social change. Other or on demand and other or on demand. 3
Directed study offers students, who because of unusual circumstances may be unable to register for a course when offered, the opportunity to complete an existing course with an established syllabus under the direction and with agreement from a faculty member.
Data collection based on participant observation within a social service organization; assignment approval by field-work advisor. (Requires eight prior courses in Sociology.)
Advanced study topics in selected areas of Sociology.
This class will look at the development of capitalism from an historical, sociological, and critical perspective and consider the ways capitalism has made and unmade the world. Themes may include: imperialism and the underdevelopment of the Global South, decolonization struggles, global urbanization, global financial institutions, global labor struggles, war and capitalism, global environmental crises and the struggle over resources, and market hegemony.
This course offers students an opportunity to revisit the initial spark that inspired their sociological imagination and take control of their learning by engaging deeply with their own interests within the discipline. Students will choose between two tracks: the Research Track, where they will design and conduct an independent sociological research project, or the Action Track, where they will create, implement, and evaluate a social justice project. The course emphasizes experiential learning, independence, and collaboration. Students will develop professional and research skills, navigate bureaucratic processes like IRB approval, and engage in peer reviews and discussions.
This course is an overview of the discipline of sociology, emphasizing the mastery of the discipline at an undergraduate level.
Source: Worcester State University's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 61
