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GRADUATE COURSES
- Sociology 501: Research Methods - This introduction to research methods is normally taken in the first semester of graduate school. It introduces the student both to the epistemological foundations of sociological research and the tools used by sociologists to acquire and undestand empirical data.
- Sociology 515: Classical Sociological Theories - The classical period in sociology began in the 1840 and lasted until about 1930. This course introduces you to the major theorists who worked during this period and whose influence on the field can still be felt at the present time. In this course, we focus on six major figures: Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, Mead , and Freud.
- Sociology 575:Research Methods Seminar- The Art of Asking Questions- This role playing seminar explores the various ways in which sociologists ask questions to find out what they want to know about society. Various forms of interviewing and questionnaire administration are explored with respect to costs on the one hand and reliability and validity of data on the other. Videotape is used to enable us to replay critical moments in interviewing situations. Students take turns designing question sets, asking questions, answering questions, and criticizing the way in which questions have been asked.
- Sociology 603: Sociology of Religion-This seminar explores religion as it is seen and studied by sociologists. It focuses both on the way societies shape and influence religions and on the way religions shape and influence societies. We also delve into the complex mutuality that is found in all known societies between the inner spiritual lives of human beings and the institutionalized forms that societies find for the representation of the sacred.
UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
- Sociology 314: Contemporary Sociological Theory-In this course, we explore the four paradigms into which sociological theories are grouped. The first looks at society primarily from an historical perspective. The second takes a social engineeringperspective on society, asking how it can be improved. The third takes more of a political perspective on sociology. The fourth looks at society phenomenologically. Each of these paradigms has given rise to a distinct sociological tradition and a distinct style of "doing" sociology. We examine each of these traditions and the major theorists that have emerged from each.
- Sociology 319: Social Psychology -This is an interdisciplinary course located at the boundary between sociology and psychology.There is no way to separate the psychological from the sociological components of this course. The theories and findings of both sciences are indispensable from beginning to end.
- Sociology 410: Sociology of Alcohol Problems-This course looks at the way societies shape and respond to alcohol consumption with particular emphasis on problems associated with excessive alcohol consumption. The course begins with an exploration of the general problem of addiction and how addiction manifests itself with respect to alcohol. It goes from there to looking at variations in alcohol consumption historically and cross-culturally and at gender differences in the uses of alcohol and in vulnerability to alcoholism. We also study how relationships are affected by alcohol consumption, especially within the family.
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