Serves as the basic course in sociology. Emphasis is directed at the ways in which social institutions such as government, schools, the economy, social class, and the family develop and influence our lives. It is concerned not only with presenting various ways to understand our relationship to society but also with ways to change it.
Using the comparative approach to society, this course examines several distinct cultures as a means of understanding both the universal constants and the variations in human societies.
A sociological analysis of belief systems in contemporary United States. The different perspectives held by social groups are shown, and students are encouraged to examine their own perspectives. The role of churches, governments and families in conserving and changing the social structures of modern society are examined. Beliefs are related to political and economic interests and conflicts. Historical and international comparisons are made.
This course is designed to give students the opportunity to survey primary sociological texts and view films, offer commentary on and analysis of social behavior.
Examines various positive alternatives to war and violence, including disarmament, nonviolence, conflict resolution, and the United Nations. Students do volunteer work with an activist agency or interview an activist. The course stresses the historical and contemporary role of peace movements and allied social-change movements such as feminism, civil rights and environmentalism.
The purpose of this course is to examine critically the social forces that contribute to war, war's social consequences, and the possibilities for creating a more peaceful world.
Studies the meaning of work in our society. Class participants will assess their own life experiences and develop plans to integrate interests, values, and abilities into meaningful and realistic life/work options.
Jr. or Sr. status only
This course is organized around several key questions that are used to study the concepts of disability and ability from a variety of sociological and interdisciplinary perspectives. Specifically, the course explores representations of disability in popular culture and medical discourses to discuss disability and ability as social constructs. By looking at various literary and cultural representations, this course investigates constructions of the disabled and abled body, how this becomes politicized, and the implications of these constructions.
Studies the nature of the family in contemporary society, with particular emphasis on the family in America. What functions does the family perform in modern society? How is it changing? How do these changes affect our lives?
Examines the process of immigration and majority-minority relations in the United States over the last century with particular emphasis on the process of adaptation in a pluralistic society. The treatment of minority groups in other societies is examined as well.
Focusing on case studies of recent and pending environmental disasters, this course will trace how political, social, economic and cultural arrangements and choices contribute to environmental catastrophes and their resolution. In order to identify possibilities for agency, students will play several environmental games in which they will assume roles in the global economy, governmental and civil society to identify possibilities for agency. As a final project, students will describe a recent disaster identifying both structures that create environmental stresses and the options that might exist for structural changes. The project is intended to develop both critical thinking and communication skills.
This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of gender studies. A variety of topics are presented, such as gender stratification, work and family, sexual identities, media representations of women and men, women's movement, and violence against women. Feminist theories and methods are also introduced.
Course uses fieldwork approach to understand social problems and to discipline study and career pursuit in the area of public service.
Analysis of how social institutions define and respond to various forms of social deviance, from individual mental illness to gang violence to illegal acts by governments and corporations. Attention will be paid to the construction and management of deviant identities, the role played by social status, and the social importance of institutions of social control.
Focuses on the development and use of power in modern society. Emphasis is placed on the relationship of American political institutions to economic institutions, to social class, and to supporting ideologies.
An examination of the relationship between individuals and the social world around them. The course examines the underlying structures that pattern human interaction. Topics include the social construction of the self, the construction of social reality, and the sociology of emotions, among others.
This course examines the social impact of guns on the American psyche, from deer hunters and intergenerational family bonds to street gangs and broken families, from collectors and recreational users to hospital trauma. Self-defense issues are discussed within the context of the Second Amendment. The conflict between pro-gun and anti-gun special interest groups and the evolution of an American gun culture will be studied.
This course is designed to introduce students to the cultural and poplitical qualities of drugs in society. The course provides a historical and cross-cultural overview of the use of organic and simple processed substances, as well as a history of drug policy in the United States.
Course introduces students to ongoing debates in the field of Sociology regarding the American educational system, its structures and functions and how it relates to issues of inequality by race, class and gender. Students are expected to explore, examine and evaluate the current issues relating to the system of education in the United States.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology
This is an interdisciplinary, distance learning course devoted to understanding specific ethnic groups in Massachusetts, their histories and cultures, and the economic and political realities of their lives as defined by themselves and others. Different groups are studies each year. Groups such as African American, Puerto Rican, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Wampanoag and Mi'skmag will be examined in relation to the topics listed above.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology
Most social interactions and interventions involve communication. Thus, communication patterns present critical issues for sociological inquiry. This course introduces communication as a central yet often ignored element of social life. It surveys existing communication theories, then focuses on models used by marginalized populations in efforts to democratize communication systems. Finally, it introduces tools for communication strategizing. As a final product students will conduct a frame analysis of a current social topic. From a general liberal arts perspective, the course will stress critical thinking and writing skills.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology
Public sociology includes sociological initiatives targeting non-university audiences and serving the public good. This course will 1) introduce and critique the various conceptualizations of public sociology linking them to broad schools of sociological theory; 2) explore alternative field models and methods, preparing students for field projects in future semesters; and 3) expose students to sociological practitioners and practices compatible with the mission of the university and department. From a liberal arts perspective, the course stresses critical thinking and communication skills.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology
Course covers the following: The Sociology of American Radicalism, The 50s and McCarthyism; The Beats and the Hip world of Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg; The Vietnam War; SDS; Black Power; Women's rights; Gay Power; The Cultural Revolution of the Beatles, The Stones, The Doors, The Who; Rhythm and Blues; Surfers, Bikers, Perky Girls; The Right Wing Reaction and What It All Means Today re Clinton and Gore.
This course offers a critical examination of major classical sociological theories. It emphasizes the relationship between the individual and society and the competing pressures for social order and social conflict.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology; and Junior or Senior Status
This course offers a critical examination of major contemporary sociological theories, including critical theory, neo-Marxism, critical race theory, feminist theory, and postmodernism.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology and 48.321 Social Theory I
Examines the history of modern sports at the amateur and professional levels and international competition. The impact of race, sex, economics, and politics on the institution of sports will also be examined.
Focuses on the phenomenon of social class distinctions with particular emphasis on social class in America. The approach is both historical and sociological.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology
Deals with issues related to the quality of life in American cities. Students taking this course may engage in research projects on the city of Lowell and the role of the University of Massachusetts Lowell within that city.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology
An examination of the structure of social welfare services in America. Attention is directed at the functions that welfare and mental health institutions serve in American society; the attitudes and values that surround these institutions; and the role of the social worker within them.
Presents a historical and contemporary study of the sociopolitics of health, illness, and the health care industry in the United States. Attention is given to providers, consumers, owners, workers, and professionals in terms of their power, class, race, sex, and age. Reforms and alternatives are considered.
An analysis of non-violent efforts to achieve social change through demonstrations, civil disobedience, etc. Movements led by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others are examined.
An investigation of religious institutions and experiences. Emphasis is placed on the influence of religion on social change.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology
The course examines the role of social forces in defining the law. Topics include the legal profession, white-collar crime, and the importance of race, class and gender in the criminal justice system.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology
The course examines the development of social welfare policy in the United States as well as alternative strategies for social welfare provision. Particular attention is paid to the role of race/ethnicity, class, and gender in the formation of social welfare policy.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology
This course seeks an understanding of women's diverse positions in culture, the economy, the family and political life. The course focuses on women's commonalities and differences as well as women's attempts to organize for social change.
Considers organized action undertaken to alter the social position of a group. Organization, techniques of action, motivation of participants, and group ideologies are studied. Materials from historical, social, psychological, and sociological sources are used.
The seminar analyzes and discusses the growth, decline and rebirth of Lowell, Massachusetts. Special attention is given to shifts in technology and changes in work relationships, e.g., from farmwomen to immigrant labor force to high technology. Lowell's rich past and present is observed first hand by using the city as a laboratory.
An introduction to methods of social research, with emphasis on quantitative research methods. Presents basic statistical techniques used in social research as well as the computer software used for analyzing social science data. For majors only.
Academic Plan Sociology (BA) only, or permission of instructor.
Qualitative research methods. Discusses various strategies employed by qualitative researchers with special emphasis on field research. For majors only.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology, Sociology (BA); and Junior or Senior Status; or permission of Instructor
Provides students with the opportunity to directly observe and participate in the operation of a social service organization.
Prerequisites: 48.350 and permission of instructor.
Pre-req: 48.402, Sociological Research I OR 48.403, Sociological Research II
Study of the family structures and gender roles in various human societies.
Prerequisites: 48.101 plus either 48.231 or 48.241.
A research seminar on the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of war and peace. Special emphasis placed on ways to make and maintain peace in the world and particular regions.
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.
Considers the spread of industrial society globally. Emphasizes economic, political and cultural changes in various parts of the world and in the USA.
Pre-Req: Academic Plan Sociology (BA), Junior or Senior level; or permission of instructor.
The course examines the development of social welfare policy in the United States as well as alternative strategies for social welfare provision. Particular attention is paid to the role of race/ethnicity, class, and gender in the formation of social welfare policy.
Pre-Req: 48.101 Intro to Sociology
Academic Plan Sociology (BA) only, or permission of instructor.
The student, through regular and frequent consultation with an instructor, develops a course of directed reading in sociology and defines a problem for individual research.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
Academic Plan Sociology (BA) only, or permission of instructor.
A one-credit, short course available only to qualified seniors.
Prerequisite: Permission of Department Chairperson.
Academic Plan Sociology (BA) only, or permission of instructor.
A program of study which affords the advanced student with an additional opportunity to pursue a previously explored problem in greater depth or to initiate a new study. The purpose is to sharpen and refine techniques for scholarly research and presentation in the student's major discipline.
Prerequisites: demonstrated proficiency in an area selected for directed study and permission of instructor.
Academic Plan Sociology (BA) only, or permission of instructor.
A program of on-campus and/or off-campus experience for sociology majors and minors only. Specific requirements vary depending upon department policies and the nature of the program undertaken by the student. The intent of the practicum experience is to provide an occasion for investigation of a community, social, cultural, or artistic area and for applying techniques of problem solving and/or skills that are appropriate to the student's major discipline. May be repeated to a maximum of six credits. Students are graded satisfactory and unsatisfactory. The practicum experiences may not be substituted for a required course in the major.
Prerequisite: permission of Chairperson.
Academic Plan Sociology (BA) only, or permission of instructor.
