This course takes a sociological perspective on the subject of death. This means that the course is not designed to be therapeutic (e.g., it does not teach students how to grieve "properly" nor does it offer a systematic method for coping with death). Instead, we will adopt an analytical approach and examine the social aspects of death and dying. We will focus specifically on the variations in the ways that human beings interpret, react to, and deal with the biological phenomenon of death. Course topics include how the definition of death has become problematic, the demographics of death, cultural and historical variations in funeral rites and explanations of death, the American funeral industry, treatment of the dying, and other end-of-life issues.

This course is designed to provide students with a sociological framework for analyzing gender arrangements in contemporary American society. It will examine the significance of social forces in shaping differences between men and women as well as the social problems created by rigid gender expectations. It will also explore gender inequality within major social institutions, focusing on mensand womens different experiences of and opportunities within work, family, sexuality, and medicine. Prerequisite: 125. SS

This course will examine, from a sociological perspective, the ways race and ethnicity matters in society and the consequence of how we organize these concepts for peoples lives. These questions will be addressed: How does race and ethnicity shape social life How do social inequalities get organized along racial lines How does race and ethnicity intersect with other social categories of difference (e.g., class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, etc) How have inequalities developed over time, and in what ways have they transformed How racism shapes and is shaped by media, aesthetics, social movements, politics, the economy, housing policy, education, the environment, the criminal justice system, immigration, and intimate relationships will be explored. Prerequisite: any 100-level VUSM course or transfer student placement. SJE, SS

Culture of pre-literate and contemporary societies. Concept of culture; elements of culture, including technology, economic and political organization, family and kinship, associations, ideology, arts, and language; dynamics of culture stability and change. SS

This course will provide an overview of research in the social sciences. In this course you will learn how to read and evaluate research methods and design your own research study. The course follows the basic steps in social science research: problem identification, research design, subject selection, data collection, analysis, and interpretation. In learning these steps, you will also be introduced to the dominant methods used in social science research: surveys, experiments, qualitative interviews, ethnography, program evaluation, and mixed methods. Prerequisite: 125.

Marriage-family complex as a social institution: variations, interrelationship of family to other social institutions, dating, marriage, childraising, divorce, death, and remarriage, contemporary issues in marriage and family life, and future of marriage and family. This course will empower the student to make more informed decisions about marriage and family life choices. SS

Social psychology is a scientific area in the discipline of psychology that seeks an understanding of how people think, feel, and behave in social situations. This course will focus on gaining an understanding of social psychological explanations for social influence and to improve understanding of common research methodologies utilized in social psychological research. Topics of study may include social cognition, attitudes and persuasion, errors of everyday human judgment, social influence, obedience and conformity, romantic attraction, morality and pro-social behavior, aggression, intergroup relations and prejudice, and group processes. Prerequisite: 171. SS

This course will introduce students to the theories and scientific methods that sociologists use to explain human behavior and describe the organization of society. Students will acquire a sociological perspective to analyze how individuals are products of their social environments. Students will also examine the social patterns that comprise systems of social inequality and major social institutions within contemporary American society. Prerequisite: any 100-level VUSM course or transfer student placement. LDW, SS

This course will provide students with an overview of the criminal justice system. The structure and function of the police, courts, and corrections, as well as the policies these agencies use to control crime, will be examined. Students will also debate controversial issues related to criminal justice processing and compare the ideal of justice with the reality under this system. This course also introduces basic concepts of capacity building, resiliency, and how the criminal justice system and the community interacts. (Equivalent to CRMJ 150)

This course prepares students to understand, interpret, and conduct analyses of data for psychological studies and experiments. The course emphasizes the following concepts: 1) descriptive statistics (e.g., means, standard deviations), 2) standardized scores, 3) sampling error and uncertainty, 4) confidence intervals, 5) statistical significance, and 6) effect size. Analysis techniques are discussed for one-sample and paired-samples designs, mean comparisons between groups, meta-analysis, factorial designs, and correlation and multiple regression. Students will learn to use software to conduct statistical analyses and write about statistical results. Access to a personal computer or laptop running Windows, MacOS, or Linux is highly recommended. Prerequisite: acceptable math placement score or grade of C or higher in MATH 001 or 091. QL