Graduate Courses
SOC 121 Introduction to Human Society
What is society and how does it make us who we are? Sociology offers insights
into discovering the world and one's place in it. Course study focuses on
an understanding of culture, social structure, institutions, and our interactions
with each other. (Fall, spring)
SOC 211 Community and the Modern Metropolis
How is community possible in the face of multicultural, economic, and ideological
forces that are characteristic of urban life? The cultural and structural
dynamics of the Twin Cities are a basis for exploring this possibility.
(Fall, spring)
SOC 231 Family Systems: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
Diversity in family systems is explored among world cultures and within
mainstream and sub-cultures in the United States. Students prepare and deliver
oral reports on world and American family topics. (Fall, spring)
SOC 265 Gender, Race, and Ethnicity
Who gets what, when, and how? Individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds--race,
ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality--receive unequal portions of wealth,
power, and prestige in our society. This course focuses on both the collective
and individual processes involved in social inequality.
(Fall, spring)
SOC 277 Introduction to Criminology
What do we know about crime in American society? How can we explain crime
sociologically? Topics include: theories and patterns of crime, police courts,
corrections, and criminal policy. (Prereq.: ENG 111. Fall)
SOC 295 Cultures of Violence
Street gangs and warfare. Police brutality and genocide. Domestic abuse
and terrorism. What are the dynamics underlying these and other forms of
violence? What do they have in common? How do they differ? This course takes
violence in its many forms as a topic for sociological analysis and concludes
with an examination of non-violent alternatives to conflict. (Interim only)
SOC 300, 301, 302, 303, 304 Special Topics in Sociology.
A variety of topics offered periodically depending on needs and interests
that are not satisfied by regular course offerings. (Prereq.: consent of
instructor)
SOC 300 Private Troubles, Public Issues: Contemporary Social Problems
This course represents an advanced-level study of social problems while
engaging the sociological imagination. Drawing a connection between microlevel
and macrolevel analyses, linking our own private troubles with larger public
issues, is critical to our understanding of society. With this in mind,
we will explore the following questions: How do social problems develop?
What impact do they have on individuals and society, and what is the connection
between them? What has been and/or can be done about them?
SOC 349 Complex Organizations
What is the nature of these modern organizations in which we spend so much
of our daily lives? Organizations as corporate actors are analyzed with
respect to their goals, culture, technology and structure, as well as corporate
deviance. (Prereq.: SOC 121 or consent of instructor. Spring)
SOC 360 Religion and Society
An examination of the interaction of religion and society in terms of sociological
analysis with particular emphasis on contemporary sociological research
on religious movements and institutions in American society. (Prereq.: SOC
121 recommended. Fall)
SOC 362 Statistical Analysis
This course is an introduction to descriptive and inferential statistics
in the social sciences; as such, it provides a foundation for understanding
quantitative analysis--be it in an academic journal or a daily newspaper.
(Prereq.: MPG 3. Fall)
SOC 363 Research Methods
Good research--do you know it when you see it? Can you produce it yourself?
Social science research skills are learned through the practice and application
of the basic tools of valid and reliable research design and data analysis.
(Prereq.: SOC 362 or consent of instructor and ENG 111. Spring)
SOC 375 Social Psychology
How does society construct the individual? How does the individual construct
society? This course analyzes the dynamic tension between the self and society,
as well as the major questions, issues, perspectives, and methods of the
field. (Prereq.: Soc 121 or consent of instructor and ENG 111. Fall,
spring)
SOC 381 The City and Metro-Urban Planning
Emphasis centers on alternative theories and approaches to planning and
shaping metropolitan areas. Readings, simulations, outside speakers, and
walking research field trips in a seminar format. (Prereq.: SOC 121 or 211
or consent of instructor and ENG 111. Spring)
SOC 485 Modern Sociological Theory
An examination of the major theoretical traditions within sociology, tracing
the course of their development in the 19th and 20th centuries. (Prereq.:
Two courses in sociology including SOC 121 or consent of instructor. Fall)
Internships and Independent Study Courses:
SOC 199 Internship
SOC 299 Directed Study
SOC 399 Internship
SOC 498 Independent StudyMetropolitan Resources
An independently designed course a student (or group of students) develops,
making extensive, systematic, and integrated utilization of resources available
in the metropolitan community, supplemented by traditional College
resources. (Prereq.: SOC 121 or 211 and/or consent of instructor. Fall,
spring)
SOC 499 Independent Study/Research
(Prereq.: SOC 121, consent of instructor and department chair. Fall, spring)