It examines issues and topics such as wealth and poverty, deviant behavior, criminal justice, values, self-identity, social change, ethnic groups, war and peace, and the effects of social groups upon individual behavior and thought. Course material emphasizes primary sources including novels, social philosophy, journal research articles, films, dramas, poems and songs, and history. In some courses a standard text is also used.
International comparisons are often a prominent part of course work.
An individual research project is assigned in the Methods of Social Research class. A seminar mode is used in small classes. Students preparing for graduate school should include SOC 200 Statistical Methods. An introduction to the study of groups, institutions, and interactional processes in human societies with emphasis on the society of the United States. An introduction to the sociological study of marriage and family relations in the U.S. and in several other cultures.