200

This course challenges students to re-examine their values about the diversity of marriages and families in America. The class consists of an overview of the processes of family formation, maintenance and dissolution.

This course examines the social contexts of health, illness and health care.  Specifically, the class consists of an overview of the subjective experience of health and illness; the political, economic, and environmental circumstances that impact health; and the societal forces that shape medical systems and people’s responses to illness.

The course relies on a variety of sociological perspectives to examine the role of popular culture in contemporary society, with a particular emphasis on mass media and its role as an agent of socialization. Students learn how to be critical consumers of media images.

This course examines the social construction of sports as well as the impact of sports upon society. Specifically, the class consists of an overview of the social experience and patterning of sports; the political, economic, and environmental circumstances that impact sports; and the societal forces that shape sporting systems and events as well as people's responses to and interpretations of sports.

An exploration of sex and the interactions among and between people and institutions that form the boundaries through which sexualities are understood in the United States.

This course examines the social psychological development of children. Specifically, the class consists of an overview of the bio-social-psychological experiences of early human development; the processes, norms and agents that contribute to the socialization of children within specific social, historical, medical, and political contexts; and the ways societal forces shape the meaning and experience of childhood in contemporary societies.

Using a micro-sociological approach to social psychology, this class examines the ways in which peoples' "humanness" (e.g., thoughts, embodiment, feelings, positionality, interpretations, meaning-making, performances, subjectivities, identities, interactions, and lived experiences) shape and are shaped by social forces (i.e., culture, history, and social structure.) This involves an overview and critical analyses of concepts, theories, epistemologies, and methods/methodologies central to the principles, processes, and practices of a sociologically informed social psychology.

Special courses may be offered each year.