16 courses with the subject SOC, 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 fundamental concepts of the discipline, its scientific method, and its application to human behavior. Change in the individual’s relationship to society including social role and interaction, social stratification, group and power relations, and relations between institutions. Breadth and Proficiency category: History and Social Sciences
(For description see: SPCE 102/SOC 102: Intro to Social Problems)
Family life in America from a comparative and historical perspective. The variations in different societies. The family as a social institution, changing attitudes, values and external social conditions, new perspectives on such problems as courtship, marriage, parenthood, conflict of values in family planning and the single parent family. Breadth and Proficiency category: History and Social Sciences
The role and influence of major racial and ethnic groups in American life and thought; emphasis on contemporary problems of conflict, adjustment and social change affecting American society. Breadth and Proficiency category: History and Social Sciences
Offered occasionally. Topics vary with each offering. SOC 302: Social Psychology (Also offered as PSYC 302. See PSYC 302 for course description.) 144
Social work as a profession today. Social work, its history, nature and scope; family casework, psychiatric social work, children’s services, court and medical social work, social work in correctional settings, public assistance, social group work, community organization. Field visits to social agencies.
Is propaganda the chief mode of discourse in contemporary mass media and in the communications issued by our major social institutions, both public and private, for- profit and nonprofit? This course explores the ways in which political and commercial organizations and policy makes use of propaganda to achieve social dominance and visibility at the expense of describing reality. Prerequisite: SOC 101.
How are emotions shaped by social conditions? This course explores how people’s emotional lives are largely the result of their formative experiences in institutions and are molded by the way society prohibits some emotional expressions while encouraging others. Rather than universal experiences, emotions are viewed in this course as contingent and malleable.
How are our experiences of work different today from those of people living in early or pre- industrialized societies? This course explores the ways in which modern bureaucratic institutions shape the individual’s social psychology and how one can locate meaningful work in contemporary society. Offered as a Gateway Course.
We often think of our bodies as simply a natural product. However, our understanding of bodies – whether healthy or sick, gendered and/or raced, or living or dead – is deeply rooted in culture. Globally and throughout time the exact same body can be interpreted in conflicting ways, whether we are comparing modern standards of the “healthy” body to the Victorian Era or exploring trends in body augmentation between cultures. Regardless, society ultimately gives the body meaning, and how we interpret bodily differences is a reflection of broad social values. In this class we will investigate how bodies are socially constructed and how these unique interpretations of bodies are a reflection of global social power structures. Students will explore how bodies fit (and don’t fit) in society through a diverse reading of articles by authors from around the globe, as well as movies and documentaries that feature topics including: the intersectional body; the desirable body, body control; the sporting body; and the birth and death of the body.
(For description, see: SPCE 312/SOC 312: Theorizing Injustice)
145
This course examines life on the margins of US society through first-person accounts and the perspectives of reformers, academic experts, and authors. This class does not approach homelessness, welfare receipt, or social deviance as inherently a social problem. Instead, we will trace the changing interpretation of social “deviant” and “dependent” behavior through US history and examine how US cultural norms have shaped our understanding of who is considered deviant. As we read about hobos, opium users, sex workers, welfare recipients, drug addiction, and contemporary homelessness, students will be exposed to the complexity of the experiences of individuals living on the margins of US society. Prerequisite: SOC 101, SPCE/SOC 102, SOC 202 or SOC 203
(Also offered as CJ 404. See CJ 404 for course description.)
(Also offered as CJ 405) Research techniques, research designs, data collection procedures and causal inference. Prerequisite: junior or senior status. Should be taken no later than fall of senior year.
(Also offered as PSYC 408. See PSYC 408 for course description.)
Source: St. Thomas Aquinas College's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 61
