Sociology
Sociology Department Chair: Ellen Block
Sociology Faculty: Ellen Block, Jake Jantzer, Michael Rosenbaum, Megan Sheehan, Ted Gordon
The Sociology Department offers courses in both Sociology and Anthropology. Sociology is the study of groups, the ways people behave in groups and how an individual's attitudes and actions are influenced by them. These groups include families, schools, religious associations, peer groups, political parties, and work organizations. Thus, sociologists are called on to interpret group conflicts, the assimilation (or non-assimilation) of new persons into a social system and the patterned behavior of people in organizations, to give just a few examples.
Anthropology is the study of humankind, and our department focuses on cultural anthropology, the study of humanity as cultural beings. Traditionally, anthropologists study indigenous cultural groups around the world, though contemporary anthropology focuses on cultural processes inherent in globalization, transnationalism, and migration. Anthropologists know that people globally are in movement and in contact with each other, so the study of human culture is always intercultural. Therefore, anthropologists study culture to help translate cultural difference and the multitude of human experiences with a particular attention to underrepresented and marginal groups.
Sociology and Anthropology's goals are to chart the interconnections between the various realms of thought and conduct, to find the balance between social and individual components in personal identity and to locate the social and cultural origins of harmony and strife in every area of experience. Our methods are varied, from large scale, statistical analyses, to longitudinal ethnographic case studies of a small community.
Sociologists and Anthropologists work professionally as researchers, policy consultants, professors, technicians, advisors, and counselors in private organizations and governmental agencies. Sociology and Anthropology help prepare students to work in a variety of fields such as public policy, social service, nonprofit organizations, law, community organizing, education, healthcare, counseling, human resources, criminal justice and corrections.
Assessment
The Sociology Department utilizes a process of course-embedded assessment. Various departmental objectives are assessed through assignments given in the courses which have primary responsibility for those specific objectives.
Major
The sociology department offers a major in sociology and a major in Sociology with a concentration in Anthropology.
SOCI 111 Introduction to Sociology (4 Credits)
Systematic description and analysis of the creation and composition of groups; development of the sociological imagination as the key to understanding the interconnectedness of individuals, cultures and social institutions. An introduction to sociological theory, methodology, and analysis as well as to the major topics studied by the discipline.
Prerequisites: None
Equivalent courses: SOCI 111Z
Attributes: CSD: Identity (CI)
SOCI 121 Introduction to Anthropology (4 Credits)
This course will provide an introduction to the field of anthropology. Anthropology is a holistic and comparative study of human diversity. Students will examine cross-cultural examples to shed light on all aspects of human life and culture from race, gender, identity and ethnicity, to language and religion, to technology and medicine, to the study human evolution and variation. Ethnographic examples stemming from both the United States as well as around the world allow students to reflect on their own identities and cultural contexts. It is often in comparison that we can see how our own cultural lens and experiences have shaped our perspectives of the world.
Prerequisites: None
Equivalent courses: HONR 220F, SOCI 121Z
Attributes: Benedictine Raven (BN), CSD: Identity (CI)
SOCI 206 Qualitative Research Methods (4 Credits)
This course will focus on qualitative research methods such as participant and non-participant observation, in-depth interviews, content analysis, and photography. Students will design their own qualitative research, collect qualitative data, and analyze their data in the context of existing literature.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 230 Family and Society (4 Credits)
Explores the family as a SOCIAL institution, recognizing the diversity of families around the world and within various cultures. The course places particular emphasis on the history, current challenges, and future directions of the family in United States, while examining how societal perspectives on gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and immigration status impact interactions and roles within the family. Students examine how families are influenced and shaped by social forces such as the economy, politics, and religion.
Prerequisites: None
Equivalent courses: SOCI 329
SOCI 250 Social Problems (4 Credits)
This course provides an overview of the sociological study of social problems and issues, both in the United States and in global perspective. The course will examine the nature and causes of social problems as well as possible solutions. Theoretical and methodological perspectives used to analyze social problems will also be considered.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 271 Individual Learning Project (1-4 Credits)
Supervised reading or research at the lower-division level. Permission of department chair required. Consult department for applicability towards major requirements. Not available to first-year students.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 277A Global Health, Culture and Inequality (4 Credits)
This course explores global health from an anthropological perspective. It examines how medical anthropologists attempt to understand global health challenges within a larger historical, cultural, political, and economic framework. This course will cover a wide range of health challenges from a variety of cultural and geographic contexts. We will examine a number of topics and diseases – both infectious and non-communicable – through case studies and ethnographies. Students will consider issues of gender inequality, maternal and child health, humanitarian aid, global mental health, and the bioethics of global health practices. The course emphasizes the numerous political, economic, structural and cultural forces that lead to the unequal distribution of disease globally.
Prerequisites: You must take INTG 100 or 205 prior to taking a Thematic Focus Course. You must take a Cultural and Social Difference: Identity (CI) course prior to or at the same time as Thematic Focus Courses.
Equivalent courses: SOCI 337I
Attributes: Social World (SW), Thematic Focus - Justice
SOCI 279A Quantitative Methods in Sociology (4 Credits)
This course will use a “hands on” approach by students to grapple with the quantitative analyses of data in the social sciences. Students will learn about the operationalization, computation, and transformation of variables. Students will create and test hypotheses using SPSS. They will also write up their results using a journal article format and give presentations of their results.
Prerequisites: SOCI 279Ais a Thematic Focus - Truth Course. You must take INTG 100 or 205 prior to taking a Thematic Focus Course. You must take a Cultural and Social Difference: Identity (CI) course prior to or at the same time as Thematic Focus Courses.
Equivalent courses: SOCI 205
Attributes: Quantitative Reasoning (QR), Social World (SW), Thematic Focus - Truth
SOCI 304 Sociological Theory (4 Credits)
This course focuses on the central ideas and assumptions of the founders of modern Sociology: Durkheim, Weber, Marx, and Simmel. We will read these influential theorists’ original work, discuss the epistemological significance of sociological theory, survey recent schools of thought and intellectual trajectories within the discipline, and apply sociological theory to contemporary issues.
Prerequisites: SOCI 111 or SOCI 111Z
Equivalent courses: SOCI 204
SOCI 319 Sex and Gender (4 Credits)
A survey of sociological knowledge about sex and gender as fundamental organizing principles of our social world. Examines the interplay of sex, gender, and sexual orientation as they change over time and across cultures. Critical analysis of what it means to live as a gendered, sexual being in today's society.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 323 Medical Anthropology (4 Credits)
Medical anthropology seeks to understand human health and wellbeing, the experience and distribution of illness, and methods of healing across cultures. While illness and health are universal concepts, the specific conditions that lead to illness and health, and the understanding of what these various states do to one’s body and one’s spirit, vary greatly. In our biomedically-oriented society, we often take for granted the various ways that culture, political economy, social structures, religion, and environment impact health. In this course, we explore the cultural variations that exist in the ways people experience, diagnose, and treat illnesses. We will cover a variety of topics from childhood disease and stress to medical travel and pharmaceutical marketing. The course readings will be rooted in ethnographic inquiry – that is, we will read about the lived experiences of people seeking health and healing, the methods anthropologists use to collect such data, and the theories that help us explain them. Course readings include a graphic novel about medical promise, an ethnography about Malawian medical students, and numerous case studies from all over the world that will bring us closer to understanding the various and complex ways people experience health, illness, and healing.
Prerequisites: None
Equivalent courses: SOCI 337M
Attributes: Social World (SW), Thematic Encounter3 - Truth
SOCI 324 Anthropology of Africa (4 Credits)
Africa is an immense continent of strikingly rich and diverse geography, politics and cultures. This course explores many of the central issues and debates in the anthropological study of contemporary Africa, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Media representations of Africa often focus solely on suffering, poverty, disease and corruption. African life is also frequently portrayed as a singular unified experience. Yet, African societies and communities are dynamic: both in their cultural, political and historical diversity, and in their responses to the legacies of colonialism and the challenges of the contemporary global context. While this course will examine many of the problems that contemporary Africans face, we will also contextualize these problems and counter prevailing narratives about Africa by exploring the resilience and rich cultural life on the continent. Topics will include: colonialism and post-colonialism, political economies, kinship and social organization, religion, health, gender, globalization, sexuality, and arts.
Prerequisites: None
Equivalent courses: SOCI 337C
SOCI 326 Cultural Thought and Meaning (4 Credits)
How have engagements with cultural “others” helped create knowledge, expand our understanding of ourselves and the world, and inspired us to think about humanity? In this class, we will learn about some of the key theoretical paradigms in cultural anthropology, from its earliest inception through contemporary, experimental anthropological thought. As anthropological theory must be deployed in ethnographic practice to have any effect, theoretical material in this class will be paired with ethnographies, articles, manuscripts, and films-which exemplify, challenge and build upon abstract concepts.
Prerequisites: SOCI 326is a Theamatic Focus - Truth Course. You must take INTG 100 or 205 prior to taking a Thematic Focus Course. You must take a Cultural and Social Difference: Identity (CI) course prior to or at the same time as Thematic Focus Courses.
Equivalent courses: SOCI 337H
Attributes: Human Experience (HE), Thematic Focus - Truth
SOCI 327 Food, Culture and Society (4 Credits)
Food is central to human life, but how food is defined, acquired, and consumed varies widely throughout the world. This class takes a four-field anthropological approach to the study of food. In this course, students will explore how food nourishes and shapes our bodies, how historical changes in food acquisition have shaped society, and how globalization is re-shaping what and how we eat. The social and cultural importance of food will be emphasized in this class, and students will examine the role of food in building identity, making meaning, organizing society, and creating social practices. This course will draw on anthropological theory and methods to understand the importance of food in shaping and giving meaning to human life.
Prerequisites: SOCI 327is a Thematic Focus Course. You must take INTG 100 or 205 prior to taking a Thematic Focus Course. You must take a Cultural and Social Difference: Identity (CI) course prior to or at the same time as Thematic Focus Courses.
Equivalent courses: SOCI 337L
Attributes: Social World (SW), Thematic Focus - Movement
SOCI 334 Deviant Behavior (4 Credits)
Definition, causes and theories of deviant behavior in the framework of social norms and institutions. Major deviant identities in American society.
Prerequisites: SOCI 111 or SOCI 111Z
SOCI 336A Culture and Diversity in Latin America (4 Credits)
This course offers an introduction to the region of Latin America and to the field of anthropology. Latin America is a vast expanse of geographic extremes from the glaciers of Patagonia to altiplano desert to the Amazon basin. The region is home to more than half a billion people, speaking over eight hundred languages, and living in twenty different nations. It is a region of contrasts, where wealth and poverty are often in proximity. It is the world’s most urbanized region, yet Latin America is often associated with agrarian communities. Using anthropological concepts such as culture, community, identity, and political economy, students will explore Latin America’s great diversity while also identifying the cultural factors that unify and shape Latin America.
Prerequisites: Before taking a Cultural and Social Difference: Systems Courses (CS) you first must complete the following Integrations requirements; Learning Foundations (LF), Theological Encounter (TE), and Cultural and Social Difference: identity (CI).
Equivalent courses: SOCI 337Q
Attributes: CSD: Systems (CS)
SOCI 336B Men and Masculinities (4 Credits)
This course will offer an exploration of current topics in the field of men’s studies. What is masculinity? How is it formed? Who does it benefit? What are its hazards? Readings from a variety of disciplines will challenge students to analyze the way masculinity functions across cultures and in their own cultural context.
Prerequisites: Before taking a Cultural and Social Difference: Systems Courses (CS) you first must complete the following Integrations requirements; Learning Foundations (LF), Theological Encounter (TE), and Cultural and Social Difference: identity (CI).
Equivalent courses: GEND 290D, GEND 360D, SOCI 337T
Attributes: CSD: Systems (CS)
SOCI 336C Corrections: Race, Gender and Power in Prisons (4 Credits)
In this course, students will examine how the corrections system works to enforce, shape, invent, and constrain people's behavior related to gender. Students will use first hand accounts, statistics, and ethnography to understand the relationship between gender, power, and the corrections system. The experiences of inmates, corrections officers, judges, and victims will be central to understanding how corrections systems work in relationship to power, gender, and race. Finally, we will consider how this can be used to shape corrections policy in the future.
Prerequisites: Before taking a Cultural and Social Difference: Systems Courses (CS) you first must complete the following Integrations requirements; Learning Foundations (LF), Theological Encounter (TE), and Cultural and Social Difference: identity (CI).
Attributes: CSD: Systems (CS)
SOCI 337B Wealth and Poverty (4 Credits)
Social and economic inequality is receiving increased attention in recent years. This class will explore a range of issues and research related to inequality. These questions include: Is economic and social inequality necessary? How does inequality overlap with race, gender, religion, and other demographic characteristics? How does inequality shape everything from the things we buy to how long we live? How does the United States compare to other nations in regards to inequality? Although some class days will involve lectures, many class days will examine these questions through discussions, films, and other activities.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 337F Sociological Perspectives on Environmental Issues (4 Credits)
Issues such as depletion of natural resources, pollution, loss of habitat, global warming (or not), population growth, urban growth and sprawl, biodiversity, toxic waste management, transportation, energy, vegetarianism, sustainable community development, and globalization will be considered. Aspects of these issues to be covered include: conditions of emergence, theories, applicable social movements and counter-movements, cross-cultural perspectives, and social change. Special attention will be given to consideration of low or minimal impact lifestyle efforts.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 337J Climate Studies: Culture, Science and Policy in a Changing Environment (4 Credits)
This course uses a cultural focus to understand how humans study, experience, interpret, and mitigate global climate change. We investigate climate science, politics, and economics, along with how climate change intersects with matters of justice, gender, globalization, media, development, and higher education. As we learn about these topics, we will conduct applied research on particular climate topics at various scales—local, state, national, and international—to work towards defining solutions and ways forward in a rapidly changing environment.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 337P Love, Sex, and Marriage: Anthropological Perspectives on Kinship (4 Credits)
Families are universal, yet their form varies widely across the globe. People hold strong ideas about who belongs to their family, what responsibilities family members have towards each other, who they can have sex with, and who they should marry. While our ideas about family seem natural and rigid, they are in fact eminently flexible and constantly changing. Kinship is a term used in anthropology to mean the web of social relations that make up families. In considering the different ways that people come to see themselves as related to one another, we will examine familial practices of different cultures, and consider how contemporary social changes like new reproductive technologies, migration, and transnational marriage are shaping family life around the world.
Prerequisites: None
Attributes: Social World (SW), Thematic Encounter3 - Movement
SOCI 337R Minnesota Native Nations (4 Credits)
Why do some Native nations have unique fishing rights? Why do some operate casinos? This topics course explores these and other questions that examine the ways Native nations continue to assert self-governance. For centuries, colonizers used military and assimilationist campaigns against Native nations. Fortunately, these campaigns failed to account for Native nations’ resilience and North American continues to be home to hundreds of distinct tribal governments. By exploring the histories and cultures Native nations in Minnesota and across North America, students in this course will learn from the strategies they use to resist colonization and assert their independence.
Prerequisites: None
Equivalent courses: INTG 277A
Attributes: Social World (SW)
SOCI 337S Communities (4 Credits)
Community has always been a central concept in Sociology, and this course will introduce you to the history of sociologists' analyses of communal life. We will study the relationship between the individual and the community, as well as relationships between communities. We will consider both geographic and relational communities, the degree to which these overlap, and changes in the structure and function of communities over time. The first half of the course will cover the history of sociologists' theoretical and empirical work on community, while the second half of the course will focus on contemporary American communities. Much of our time will be spent studying new, emerging forms of community made possible by technology and mobility.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 337V Native Health and Wellness (4 Credits)
How did Native American tribes meet all community members health and wellness needs? Why do Native communities today have some of the highest healthcare disparities in North America? As Native communities are revitalizing their health and wellness traditions, what lessons do they provide that can benefit everyone? In this course, student will investigate these and other questions as we explore the unparalleled resiliency of Native communities from Minnesota’s Ojibwe and Dakota communities to those across the continent.
Prerequisites: None
Attributes: Social World (SW)
SOCI 340 Criminology and Corrections (4 Credits)
Theoretical causes of criminal behavior. Strengths, limitations, and challenges to the effectiveness of police, judicial, and corrections systems in the U.S. Attention to the role of the media and cultural biases in analyzing the "crime problem." Course includes an optional Service Learning component. Alternate years.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 341 Urban Studies (4 Credits)
The city is a built environment that lends material form to social relations. We will study how people interact with the city, and how the city structures people’s interactions with each other. Liberating for many, the city offers unprecedented access to a variety of subcultures, lifestyles, and communities. For many others, the city constrains opportunity in unprecedented ways. This course will introduce students to theoretical and empirical work on cities and provide an opportunity for independent research: Students will learn a bit about ethnographic research methods and have opportunities to observe public spaces, take field notes, and analyze those notes in the context of relevant sociological and anthropological literature.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 342 Self and Society (4 Credits)
This is a course on sociological social psychology, with a primary focus on symbolic interactionism as a way to understand the many connections between society and the individual. We will think about the self and social identity: how these things emerge from interaction with others; how we selectively adjust and present ourselves to others; and the implications of these social processes for our individual and collective narratives. We will study how groups and institutions shape our self-concept, and also how our ideas about who we are contribute to the creation and negotiation of social reality.
Prerequisites: None
Attributes: Social World (SW), Thematic Encounter3 - Truth
SOCI 349 Environmental Anthropology (4 Credits)
We interact daily with the environment in a multitude of ways which often pass unnoticed. When we use cell phones powered by lithium batteries, when we wash our dishes with chlorinated water, when we drink coffee produced in other countries, and when we walk through the arboretum, we engage with nature and the politics that manage it. In this course, students will gain an anthropological framework for observing and critically analyzing diverse human relationships to the environment. The course addresses the questions: In what ways do human cultures perceive, use, and care for the natural world? What does it mean to live in the Anthropocene? How does resource management mediate the natural world? In what ways do people plan for, participate in, subvert, and are affected by environment management schemes? This course examines the relationships between human cultures and the environments they inhabit through ethnographic examples drawn from around the world.
Prerequisites: SOCI 111 or (SOCI 121 or SOCI 121Z) or (PSYC 111 or PSYC 111Z) or (ECON 111 or ECON 111Z) or ECON 111A or (POLS 111 or POLS 111Z) or POLS 121 or PCST 111
Attributes: Social World (SW), Thematic Encounter3 - Justice
SOCI 351 Race and Ethnicity (4 Credits)
Social scientists approach race and ethnicity as constructed concepts. This class will explore the ways in which racial and ethnic distinctions are constructed, how these distinctions are made meaningful to individuals and groups, how racial understandings are based on social and cultural contexts, and in what ways inequalities form along racial and ethnic lines. This course utilizes social science approaches to critically analyze race, ethnicity, and the ways these concepts impact people in today’s world.
Prerequisites: Before taking a Cultrual and Social Difference: Systems Courses (CS) you first must complete the following Integrations requirements; Learning Foundations (LF), Theological Encounter (TE), and Cultural and Social Difference: identity (CI).
Attributes: CSD: Systems (CS)
SOCI 353 Political Sociology (4 Credits)
Political participation, power and ideology as expressed in political structures and processes. Voting, political parties, social movements.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 357 Sociology of Education (4 Credits)
Examines the social factors affecting learning and educational processes. Considers the relationship between types of societies and systems of education and the rise of education as a social institution, the links between schools and social stratification, and the contribution of schools to the preservation of the social order.
Prerequisites: SOCI 111
Restrictions: Students with a class of First Year or Sophomore may not enroll.
SOCI 371 Individual Learning Project (1-4 Credits)
Supervised reading or research at the upper-division level. Permission of department chair and completion and/or concurrent registration of 12 credits within the department required. Consult department for applicability towards major requirements. Not available to first-year or second-year students.
Prerequisites: None
SOCI 377A Indigenous and LBGTQ+ Allyship (4 Credits)
What roles do Two-Spirit and other Indigenous gender identities play in Native American communities? How did colonialism impact these identities and what steps are being taken to reclaim them? As we explore the similarities and distinctions between Indigenous and Western gender constructions, students in this course will understand the roots of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ allyships and the tools necessary for develop successful coalitions.
Prerequisites: You must take INTG 100 or 205 prior to taking a Thematic Focus Course. You must take a Cultural and Social Difference: Identity (CI) course prior to or at the same time as Thematic Focus Courses.
Attributes: Social World (SW), Thematic Focus - Justice
SOCI 378A Transnational Anthropology (4 Credits)
Cultures and cultural groups have never been bounded to a single location – people have always been in movement, learning from people outside their cultural groups, and hybridizing ideas and ways of life. This course uses cultural anthropology theory and method to study transnational cultural groups that are present in contemporary Minnesota. In particular, we will study ethnographic manuscripts about Hmong, Somali, and Mexican people and topics including ethnicity, migration, refugeeism, tourism, nomadism, political economy, and medical anthropology. Students will be conducting original ethnographic research in a semester-long project that analyzes a particular transnational cultural case study.
Prerequisites: SOCI378Ais a Thematic Focuc Course. You must take INTG 100 or 205 prior to taking a Thematic Focus Course. You must take a Cultural and Social Difference: Identity (CI) course prior to or at the same time as Thematic Focus Courses.
Equivalent courses: SOCI 322, SOCI 337E
Attributes: Social World (SW), Thematic Focus - Movement
SOCI 379A Conspiracy Theory and the Social Construction of Reality (4 Credits)
This is a course grounded in the sociology of knowledge. As sociologists, our approach to the study of conspiracy theory will focus on how truth and falsehood are socially constructed in our society. We will ask a variety of questions in this class: Why do conspiracy theories seem so wildly popular at this moment in history? How are people convinced of the truth of either a conspiracy theory or an official narrative that contradicts it and aims to debunk it? How can people in one society find evidence for—and claim as true—wildly incompatible and mutually exclusive versions of reality? How can power, science, and media be used to bolster or undermine truth claims? While we won’t reach a final conclusion on the “reality” of any particular conspiracy theory, this course will improve your ability to weigh the plausibility and legitimacy of competing arguments about social reality.
Prerequisites: SOCI 379Ais a Thematic Focus - Truth Course. You must take INTG 100 or 205 prior to taking a Thematic Focus Course. You must take a Cultural and Social Difference: Identity (CI) course prior to or at the same time as Thematic Focus Courses.
Equivalent courses: SOCI 337O
Attributes: Social World (SW), Thematic Focus - Truth
SOCI 396 Sociology Capstone (4 Credits)
An integrative academic experience which engages majors in key debates and issues of concern to sociologists. Preparation for the transition to graduate school and/or exploration of the applicability of sociology in the workplace. Students demonstrate mastery of core concepts, theoretical perspectives, and methods of the discipline through original research. Emphasis placed on critical reading of scholarly journals and on student participation in sociological discourse. Topics determined by expertise of the faculty.
Prerequisites: None
Restrictions: Enrollment limited to students with a class of Senior.
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Sociology.
Attributes: Writing Requirement (WR)
SOCI 397 Internship (1-8 Credits)
Supervised field work and experience in a variety of social, administrative and research settings. Subject to approval of faculty advisor and department chair and completion of the pre-internship seminar. S/U grading. No more than 4 credit hours may be applied to the major.
Prerequisites: None
Attributes: Experiential Engagement (EX)