31 courses with the subject SOCI, 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.
What is sociology? How do sociologists go about their work? This course examines Sociology as a distinctive perspective on human behavior. The links between personal experience and wider social forces are explored while covering the main fields of the discipline.
Sociologists suggest that the origins and causes of social problems lie outside of individuals, even though the effects of such problems influence the behavior of individuals. This course examines a variety of contemporary social problems, such as health and health care, addictions, poverty, unemployment, crime, violence, family issues, racism and ageism. After examining social issues, their causes and consequences, we will discuss possible interventions that could alleviate each problem.
This course provides an overview of the social work profession and introduces students to the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for generalist social work in contemporary society. It introduces the social work ethics, values, and basic practice principles, examines the social work theories and major methods of social work practice, and explores the social work services. Social welfare services, policies, and their historical origins will be presented along with the unique experiences of diverse and at-risk populations affected by various social problems. This course also explores current social issues such as poverty, violence, alcohol and other drug use, mental illness, crime, health care issues and discrimination. To enhance this understanding, this course examines underlying cultural assumptions as well as personal values. Throughout this course, students will examine the roles of social workers in addressing these social problems.
Introduction to Social Justice focuses generally on how to define social justice and what we can do to promote social justice in modern society. Social justice, however, is impossible to imagine without at least addressing some examples of social injustice; thus, the central goal of this course is to provide students with a framework and opportunity to study historical and contemporary examples of social injustice with an eye toward how we can ameliorate them. The course beings with an introduction to the study of social justice using the works of, among others, John Rawls, Brian Barry, Iris Marion Young, and Angela Davis before turning to examine examples of social injustice such as economic inequality, racial and gender inequality, reparations, mass incarceration, human trafficking, and environmental racism. Throughout the course, we will focus on the pursuit of social justice through a range of mediums and policy proposals as we explore both structural and individual approaches for pursuing social justice.
Religion has an essential effect on the development of any society since it impacts religious norms and models of behavior, establishes priorities and values, influences gender relations, predetermines roles, and influences the establishment of certain traditions, laws, and customs. This course focuses on the role of women in five of the world's major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It examines the traditional theological principles and the practical laws that have directly impacted women and women's lives within these religious traditions. Specifically, this course will explore how women from different parts of the world have been treated as members of various religious groups, how women have practiced religion, and how their beliefs and life experience have differed from those of men.
This course examines religious practices, customs, beliefs, and rituals in the context of social structures and movements. Religion exists in a social context, and always is shaped by and shapes its social environment. It is one of the most powerful forces of social cohesion, establishing and maintaining order, giving meaning, and initiating and influencing changes in societies. Students will be introduced to the basic concepts, theories, and the methods used to study religion and society. This will include attention to the meaning of religion as a complex phenomenon, the roles religion plays in society, the internal complexities of religious systems, and the implications of secularization and globalization for religious communities.
(same as CRMJ 210) This course will introduce you to the central sociological concepts of deviance, self-control, power, identity construction, and identity management. We will use the topic of deviance to explore how groups of people have the power to shape the social definitions of other people's actions and behaviors. We also will examine the consequence, identity formation, and meaning in everyday life for those who are defined as "deviant." Although the primary theoretical orientation of the class is social constructionist, we will examine the other important theoretical contributions of the broader field to the study and understanding of why people deviate or are identified as deviant. Prerequisite: SOCI 105 OR SOCI 155 OR SOCI 285
This course explores the social and cultural dynamics of families in industrialized countries. It examines family as an institution with a social and cultural history. The course engages the theoretical and historical definition of family, patterns and shifts in marriage and partner selection trends, and changes in family structures in modern societies. It begins with an exploration of the meaning of the family in sociological, historical, and cultural terms followed by discussion of marriage and partner selection in historical context. The course explores changes in family forms, peoples' perceptions of marriage and family, people's intentions to marry, form families and have children. Students will be actively engaged in discussions of changes in family structure, factors that caused or affected these changes, and the processes that resulted in those changes. The course takes an in-depth look at the meaning of marriage and the family in theoretical terms by discussing the question of what makes a family, the values inherent to family life, and the possibilities for redefining the meaning of family.
The course offers a sociological exploration into human rights as an idea and as a set of practices, within historical and contemporary settings, we will examine the various social constructions of rights as individually and collectively based, with attention paid towards critical examination of the United States and its practices at home and abroad.
In this course, we will use a sociological lens to talk about the ways in which the human and environment interact. We will deal with issues of the complex social processes that define, create, and actually harm our natural environment. We will pay attention to social problems, corporate crime, and government negligence that affects the environment, but we will also investigate why we think about the environment as something decidedly distinct from the human being. We will critically self-examine, and come to terms with how we, in our daily lives, serve to reinforce environmental distinctions and differences. We will also examine the steps that are being undertaken by modern social movements, environmental activists, and law enforcement agencies that serve to counteract environmental inequality and potential catastrophe. Through it all, we will maintain a focus on understanding the environment in both a macro- and micro-lens: we are the environment, and the things we do matter (more than we might think they do).
This course investigates how societies structure gender and how race, class, and gender intersect. It analyzes gender from interpersonal, interactional, institutional, historical, and cross-cultural points of view. The goal of the course is to formulate a theoretical and practical understanding of gender and gender inequality as it exists today and to develop strategies to create more egalitarian systems. Community organizing/ group work component. Specific topics include: feminist theory, women of color, political struggles, reproductive justice, economic justice, body politics. Substantial community-based work is required.
This course examines racial and ethnic relations in American society. What structural factors allowed for the relative success of some groups while denying the success of others? What roles have racism, prejudice and discrimination played in the American experience? Current issues in U.S. race/ethnic relations also are explored.
This course provides an overview of the social aspects of aging in America and beyond. The students explore how the elderly affect society and how society affects the elderly. The students analyze the impact of an aging population on key social institutions such as the family, religion, the economy, the political system, and the healthcare industry and examine the interaction of the elderly with society and with these social institutions. This course is designed to understand "ageism", to view aging as a phase of growth and development, and to raise student's awareness about the later stages of the human life cycle and the needs and challenges facing the current generation of older adults. It explores economic, social, and political perspectives, behavioral, and biological aspects of aging and the ways aging affects areas such as sexuality, family relations, friendship, personality, work, and leisure.
This course provides an overview of Social Welfare Policy in the United States, introduces students to the history and development of social welfare policy and services, and explores current social welfare issues and challenges that citizens face across the nation. While social welfare policy fundamentally affects the lives of all people in a society, understanding social welfare policy and knowing current social welfare systems and how they impact clients and communities are essential. The goal of this course thus is to help students understand why and how social welfare policy is developed and implemented in the United States, the roles of social workers in all areas of practice in promoting social justice, how social welfare policy operates, and what the resources and opportunities that shape service delivery systems are available for recipients of social welfare programs as well as service-providers.
Violence remains one of the most pressing issues facing our nation and our world. Violence is a leading cause of death, disability, and health care use worldwide. Every day we are confronted with new examples of the violence that individuals and groups inflict. As a complex problem, violence can only be understood and reduced through a multidisciplinary approach. In this course, students will investigate various aspects of the violence and analyze the patterns and correlates of interpersonal and collective violence using most contemporary research, theories, and cases in order to better understand the nature and dynamics of a variety of different, yet connected, forms of violence. Using empirically-based and rational counterpoint to the discourse on violence, this course will include discussion of the epidemiology of violence, roots of violence (including biological, psychological, and social causes), specific types of violence, media and the arts portrayal of violence, the impact and consequences of violence, and ways to control and prevent violence. This course will count as a social justice elective for CRMJ majors, an elective for Sociology majors, and an elective for Social Work minors, Criminal Justice minors and Sociology minors.
This course will provide an overview of women’s involvement in the criminal justice system as victims, suspects, offenders and criminal justice professionals. We will examine current patterns and practices of law enforcement, criminal courts and corrections relative to women as offenders, victims and employees. As well as explore the relationship between gender and crime and how gender impacts the experiences and involvement in the criminal justice system. Additionally, we will examine theories on women’s victimization and criminality, as well as Laws and their effects on the rights of women in the criminal justice system. The course will finish up with case studies of famous female offenders and their involvement in the criminal justice system.
This is a cornerstone course that aims to better prepare sociology and criminal justice majors for advanced coursework and writing academic papers in the discipline, and assist them with understanding their major field and its associated career options. This course will also develop students' ability to understand and operationalize the social world in sociological and criminological terms by introducing theory, research methods, current topics and debates in the discipline. Furthermore, students will learn how to conduct a literature review, search academic/scholarly articles, write a research paper, and cite correctly in sociological and criminological formats. This course will provide students an opportunity to build an intellectual community, connect with Hartwick alumni in relevant fields, and discuss concepts and research with other sociologists and criminologists.
This course facilitates the development of counseling skills and provides foundational education in core helping skills necessary to the preparation of counselors, teachers, and other professionals involved in human service delivery. While the counseling profession operates in a variety of settings, this course focuses on the helping strategies and interventions applicable to different groups and reaching across cultural divides with counseling skills to become optimally effective agents of change through therapeutic relationships. Students will examine basic concepts in counseling, function of the helper, the demands, strains, and barriers of the helping professions and their effects on the helper. Discussions will include the struggles, anxieties, and uncertainties of helpers. Central to this course will be an on-going self-evaluation of the students' attitudes, values, interpersonal skills, and motives for choosing counseling as a potential profession. The primary purpose of the course, however, is to provide students with the opportunity to learn and practice the basic skills of helping and provide students with an orientation to the field of counseling. Evaluation will be based on evidence of intrapersonal and interpersonal helping skills as demonstrated in role-play and/or written assignments. Didactic material aimed at fostering competency in the area of professional ethics and multicultural sensitivity also will be included.
Social theory provides the foundation for current sociological thinking and is fundamental to the understanding of ongoing discussions within the discipline. This course intends to introduce students to theoretical work by focusing on the works of classical social theorists (or ‘the Founding Three’) such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim and by investigating influential contemporary approaches to understanding and explaining social life. This course analyzes the nature of theory, critically examines modern society, and reviews major sociological theories, especially structural-functionalism, conflict theory, exchange theory, and interactionism. Special attention is given to leading figures representing the above schools of thought, such as Talcott Parsons, Immanuel Wallerstein, Erwin Goffman, Dorothy Smith, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, and others. Students will learn how classical approaches inform contemporary social analysis, how to interpret appropriate theory within a particular social context. The following questions will be addressed: What assumptions does the theorist make about society? What are the practical and political consequences and implications of such views and claims? How do social contexts shape theories? Topics include approaches to social order and change, modernity, ways of conceptualizing society and social life, institutional dynamics, class, inequality, and culture.
Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads; and social psychology analyzes these connections by studying everyday thinking, social influences and social relations. Students will explore the various ways people think about, affect, and relate to one another. The course is structured to promote depth of understanding, integration, and creativity. The course will cover topics such as the social self-concept, perceptions, attitudes, influence, conformity, aggression, helping behavior, and interpersonal relationships. This course has the following two goals: (1) to improve students' understanding of social psychological explanations for social influence and interaction and (2) to improve students' understanding of the research methodologies commonly used to understand social influence and interaction. Students will be engaged in the discussion of main questions that social psychologists tackle, social psychological theories, and research (its methods, its findings, and the underlying principles we have learned). The major activities and assignments are purposeful to stimulate students to think about the implications of this research for our everyday lives and for our understanding of various social problems.
A study of the social, cultural and environmental forces that affect population trends: the size, growth, composition, distribution, fertility, mortality and migration of human populations. Current historical and cross-cultural problems in population, food, health and environment will be explored. In particular, the impact of post-colonialism is examined in a cultural context.
In this course, we still study the history and present-day consequences of conspiracies mainly in the United States, but also internationally. This course will focus on the social psychological rationales behind belief, as well as the macro-level factors that influence beliefs. Specifically, we will examine the sociological origins and rationales behind freemasons, 9/11 truthers, anti-vaxxers, and coronavirus conspiracists, among others. This course will also count as criminal justice elective, as we will investigate the ways in which the justice system works to foil conspiracies, and how it has been implicitly or explicitly involved in those from the past.
Taking place in the Republic of Ireland. This course will explore Irish cultural and social institutions and how they have been shaped by Ireland's unique history. Students will be exposed to many facets of Irish society including the Irish language, customs and social institutions.
The course will provide an introduction to theory and research on one form of social movement mobilization: national-level movements organized for political change. Our focus will emphasize how political, organizational, and cultural factors shape social movement emergence and development. We will focus on current activism, including case studies of the American civil rights movement, the student movement of the late 1960s, the feminist movement, the abortion movement (pro-life and pro- choice) gay/lesbian mobilization and the recent emergence of transnational activism.
Major Health care changes, including governmental and private policies affecting health care delivery are based on health care reform(s). Health care reform has been a global issue over the years. Today, the healthcare industry is an immense part of the United States economy. Overall, health care spending amounts to 7 trillion + annually. Health care regulation and policy is complex, with nearly every health related discipline involved in decision-making and overseen by one regulatory body or another, and sometimes by several. Such regulations are enforced by federal, state, local governments, and even private organizations. Healthcare policy affects not only the cost citizens must pay for care, but also their access to care and the quality of care received, which can influence their overall health. A top concern for policymakers is the rising cost of healthcare, which has placed an increasing strain on the disposable income of consumers as well as on state budgets. Some of the organizations that have influenced healthcare policy include the American Medical Association, and the American Association of Retired Persons as well as large health insurance companies. Unfortunately, some groups may have a conflict of interest, which also raises ethical issues making the development of a policy difficult at best. This course describes the private, governmental, professional and economic contributions to the development and operation of the health care system. Students will explore the development and implementation of health care policy, health care technology, hospitals origin, organization and performance, health care workers, financing health care, role of all government entities, discuss the future of health care, and learn the special problems of high-risk populations and health system responses. And lastly, identify and describe the quality control activities of the current health care system and relate service provider behaviors to legal, ethical, and financial considerations.
Explores the social structural conditions of health. Topics covered are: the social distribution of wellness and illness, the cultural determinants of health and healing, alternative models of medicine, the impact of social structure and social policy on health and on the delivery of health services.
This course introduces the central issues and strategies involved in the collection and analysis of quantitative data with an emphasis on survey research, experimental designs, and statistical analysis using SPSS. The course is concerned with demonstrating the logic and meaning of statistical procedures and the conditions under which they are meaningful. This course is the "quantitative" half of the department's two-term requirement in sociological analysis. Both halves give central importance to identifying and developing meaningful research questions, recognizing crucial theory-method linkages, developing research plans, evaluating the credibility of research findings and presenting the results of one's research. Note: This requirement can be filled through CRMJ-390: Quantitative Analysis in Criminal Justice
This course introduces methods used in the collection and analysis of qualitative data including participant observation, field notes, interviews, discourse analysis, media analysis, ethnography, and community-based research. The rationale and theoretical underpinnings of qualitative analysis are examined together with the ethical issues associated with the use of qualitative methodologies. This course is the "qualitative" half of the department's two-term requirement in methods. Both halves give central importance to identifying and developing meaningful research questions, recognizing crucial theory-method linkages, developing research plans, evaluating the credibility of research findings, presenting the results of one's research, and ethics. Substantial community-based service learning fieldwork is required.
Internships in sociology include but are not limited to placements with local community action, social work, criminal justice, law enforcement, human right and youth advocacy programs or organizations.
Course utilizes studies of exemplary sociological research and individual research to model the integration of theory and methods. Involves applied research project including ethical issue, literature review, research design and analysis, and written and oral presentation of proposals and/or results. Note: This course can be fulfilled through CRMJ 490: Senior Seminar in Criminal Justice.
Internship
Source: Hartwick College's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 61
