Sociology Spring 2023 Courses

 SOC 105 Individual, Group and Society: An Introduction to Sociology (3 Credits)

The language of sociology, the sociological perspective, and basic areas of sociological inquiry. Topics include: culture, socialization, self and society, social stratification and social class, the family, religion, policy, community organization, collective behavior, mass culture, social order and social change. This course fulfills a general education requirement and is required for Sociology majors and minors.

SOC 232 Methods and Techniques of Sociological Research (4 Credits)

This 4-credit course requires additional work outside of class, including flipped lectures, readings, and assignments. This course is required for all sociology majors. The meaning and relevance of "the scientific method" as A canon guiding the logic of Research in sociology. Historical perspective and Method of social research In the recent past. Survey Research, sampling, Questionnaire construction Analysis, and hypothesis- Testing; community study, Field observation, Unstructured interviewing, Participant observation. Control of bias.

SOC 237 Foundations of Sociological Theory (4 Credits)

The roots of modern sociology in the ideas of nineteenth and early twentieth century theorists, such as Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, Veblen and Cooley, with emphasis on the intellectual and social context and current relevance of the concepts and propositions they developed. This 4-credit course requires additional work outside of class time, such as flipped lectures, readings, and assignments. This class is required for all sociology majors.

SOC 254 Social Problems (3 Credits)

The origins and career of "social pathology" as a sensitizing concept. The interrelationship between social issues, and social problems, and public policy. The problem of bias in defining a social problem and in devising a strategy for meliorative intervention. Case studies with contemporary relevance. Role of voluntary agencies, mass media and legislative bodies in identifying social problems.

SOC 270 Sociology of Health and Illness (3 Credits)

This course examines health, illness, disability, and medicine from a social perspective. Topics may include: epidemiology, historical transitions in population health, social and cultural analysis of health and disease, medicine as profession and work practice, health policy, and the nature and role of health-related knowledge in professional and popular contexts.

SOC 272 Religion and Religious Groups (3 Credits)

The social bases for the function and impact of religion in contemporary society. How do religions shape our sense of community? What is the connection between private belief and collective action? In an increasingly diverse and interconnected world, do religions help to bring us together? Or do they strengthen our differences?

SOC 25000 Theory of Mass Culture and Mass Communications (3 Credits)
 

The character of mass society in comparison with earlier forms. "High" culture and "pop" culture and the mass media of communications. Social effects of the mass media and the problem of public control.

SOC 31114/ LALS 13100 The Hispanic Urban Child (3 Credits)

A survey of the sociological, psychological and educational needs of Hispanic children in the New York City public schools. Emphasis will be given to the study of language problems, family structure, race relations and community life.

SOC 31132/LALS 31132 Blancas, Negras Y Morenas: Gender and Race in Another America (3 Credits)

Using research on the experiences of immigrants in the US and those of ethno- racial minorities in Latin America, this course examines the roles of race and gender on nationhood formation, the construction of identities, inequality, and social mobility. Questions guiding this course include:

• How has a history of colonization in Latin America affected the stratification of Afro-descendants and Indigenous minorities?
• Why do biological markers, such as skin color, phenotype, or even hair, connote different social standings or statuses in Latin America and the U.S.?
• How do some Latinos may adopt a national identity (i.e., Mexican or Dominican), or a racial identity (Black, White, Mixed race), or even a collective or pan-ethnic identity (i.e., Hispanic, Latino/a/x or Latin American)?
• How may the increasing numbers of mixed-race, Latino/a/x people challenge U.S. Census racial categories and ideas about diversity, inclusion and representation?
   

SOC 31153/LALS 31136 Migration, Gender and Health in Latinx Communities (3 Credits)

Through an interdisciplinary feminist approach, this course explores how women, men, and youth experience health problems related to migration and social inequality. We will place health risks within a transnational context, examining the socio-economic, political, and cultural influences on particular social problems and health outcomes and critique the political discourse on health and how they construct racialized, sexualized others. We examine health promotion and other programs that aim to design culturally sensitive interventions about health problems by migrants and how communities and individuals work toward alleviating their own health risks.

SOC 31161 Sociology of Consumer Behavior and Marketing (3 Credits)

An applied course about the principles of consumer behavior and market research. The course focuses on how and why people make purchases and how advertising appeals of a sociological, psychological, and economic nature, including product presentation, pricing, packaging, product endorsements, and responses to competition, influence consumer decisions. Students will learn how to actually do market research, using techniques such as field observation, in depth interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires.

SOC 31163/PSY 31163 Child Welfare Systems: State Regulation and The Family (3 Credits)

This course is designed to provide students with a critical understanding of the role of state regulation on the lives of families, with a specific emphasis on child welfare, or family regulation, systems. Students will examine the strengths and weakness of social welfare policies impacting families through a lens of intersectionality. The course will provide space to envision alternative frameworks for raising children in safe and nurturing environments.

SOC 31169 / PSC 31169 / LALS 31169 / INTL 31128 Migration and Law (3 Credits)

This course offers an introduction to the field of international migration and US law. Specifically, this course will examine the relationship between the various and historical migration patterns and the laws that govern such migration in the US. This course will also discuss how politics, economics and globalization has shaped current migration trends and the US immigration legal system.

SOC 31171 Sustainability, Diversity & Inclusion: Vision, Realities & Praxes for an Enduring & Just World (3 Credits) *CANCELLED*

Immersing ourselves in New York's rich urban ecology with on-site visits, we address the social movements of "sustainability" and "inclusion" with a focus on their respective claims regarding "(bio)diversity" as essential to a healthy planet and a modern equitable society. We explore these claims in the context of our contemporary geopolitics and political economy where difference is, to the contrary, often characterized by inequality.

At this impasse of social vision and social reality, we examine the complex relationship between the appropriation and destruction of the material world; the changing ideas and increasing stratification in the social world; and, the contemporary systems of production that appropriate life and consciousness in the global information economy of late high modernity.

SOC 31182/ECO 31182 Data Justice and Algorithmic Accountability (3 Credits)

Social life is increasingly datafied and governed by algorithms that determine what ads and content we see, what opportunities we are given, and how resources are allocated. While regulations and advocacy groups attempt to reign in unethical and questionable practices, many data and algorithmic systems we encounter everyday remain hidden and unaccountable. This course centers on three questions: (1) How do data and algorithm systems work?, (2) What harms do these create?, (3) Should we attempt to fix these, and how?

SOC 31188/LALS 31107 Latinas & US Immigration (3 Credits)

This course explores the immigrant experiences of women from Latin America living in the US; specifically, how gender, class, race, and ethnicity combine to affect the migration and adjustment of these women to the U.S. We examine factors that promote migration, such as globalization, the growth of the service economy, and feminized labor, as well as how the resulting migration of women into US labor markets reshape gender relations in the family, work, and larger society. We also explore how stratification amongst migrants, particularly those of Black and Afro-descent, fuel racialized and feminized global capitalism.

SOC 31221/INTL 31221/BLST 31221 Legacies of Inequalities: Understanding Divergent Socioeconomic Developments in the Americas (3 Credits)

Why have some countries in the Americas struggled economically while others have thrived? What has been the impact of European colonization, the decimation of the aboriginal populations, and the arrival of millions of enslaved African Black people? This socio-historical survey course contrasts the differential socioeconomic developments of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the U.S. using writings from Dominican sociologist Pedro Francisco Bonó, Peruvian economist José Carlos Mariátegui, Cuban humanist José Martí, Puerto Rican humanist Luis Lorens Torres, Argentinian economist Raul Prebish, U.S. sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein, and other scholars. In addition, we delve into the influences of foundational, widely translated texts such as Black Skin, White Masks by Martinican psychologist Franz Fanon, Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire, and Open Veins of Latin America by Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano.

SOC 31315/ LALS 31315/ INTL 31315 Brown Lives Matters: Racialization, Police Violence and the US Latino/a/x Community (3 Credits)

This course explores the historical relations among race, immigration, and policing in the United States. We examine three main social processes: (1) how national and local organizations -such as the immigration apparatus, law enforcement agencies, the criminal justice system, and the Media - have criminalized Latinx communities: (2) how processes of racialization - the attaching of meaning to certain characteristics - have been used to justify the killing, detention, search, surveilling, and sterilization of brown bodies: and (3) the ways in which Latinx communities have organized to contest these narratives and practices. To examine these dynamics, this course reviews theories of policing, case studies, and peer reviewed articles.

SOC 32603 Internet Subcultures (3 Credits)

This course examines emerging internet subcultures and their relationships with social systems. Using sociological perspectives, we focus on how online subcultures are distinctive from other subcultures and how gender, race, class, and more are produced and navigated in online communities.

SOC 32607/ECO 32607 Economic Democracy, Mutual Aid, and Cooperatives (3 Credits) **CANCELLED; WILL BE OFFERED FALL 2023**

This course explores prefigurative possibilities for economic democracy with a focus on mutual aid efforts, which emphasize collective care via direct organizing, and cooperatives, in which all members have a voice in decision-making, rotate work responsibilities, and other collectivist- democratic practices. Students will learn about relational economics, examine existing models in practice alongside competing conventional for- profit firms, and study how these models can address economic and other inequalities.

SOC 38101/ECO 38101 Contemporary Issue of the Workplace (3 Credits) *CANCELLED*

Sociological analysis of contemporary and historical research about work and its social-organizational context, explanations for the degree of meaning, satisfaction, and autonomy people find in their work, and the implications of particular workplace practices.

SOC 38103/INTL 31113 Race and Ethnicity in International Perspective

Race and ethnicity are key dimensions of stratification in society. This course examines competing theories and definitions of race and ethnicity. Using case studies, it looks at the social construction of race and ethnicity in different societies around the world during different eras. 3 credits.

Note: CUNYfirst erroneously asks for a prereq of SOC 105 to enroll in SOC 381. If you haven't yet taken SOC 105 and need permission to enroll, please email the Dept. Chair  Prof. Katherine Chen at kchen@ccny.cuny.edu with your EMPLID # and request permission for SOC 381.

  SOC 38107 Justice, Law, and Society (3 Credits)

Sociological analysis of contemporary and historical research about work and its social-organizational context, explanations for the degree of meaning, satisfaction, and autonomy people find in their work, and the implications of particular workplace practices.

SOC 32605/PSY 31912 Trauma and Resiliency in Society (3 Credits)

This course offers a sociological investigation of trauma and resiliency within an individual's identity, an individual's neurobiology, and at the collective socio-cultural level. Class discussions will include topics related to the support and psychiatric care of survivors of interpersonal violence, community-level violence, and sociopolitical violence. Specific attention will be paid to Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color, with the aims of reducing the impact of trauma on individuals and society.

SOC 32607/ECO 32607 Economic Democracy, Mutual Aid, and Cooperatives (3 Credits)

This course explores prefigurative possibilities for economic democracy with a focus on mutual aid efforts, which emphasize collective care via direct organizing, and cooperatives, in which all members have a voice in decision-making, rotate work responsibilities, and other collectivist- democratic practices. Students will learn about relational economics, examine existing models in practice alongside competing conventional for- profit firms, and study how these models can address economic and other inequalities.

SOC 38103/INTL 31113 Race and Ethnicity in International Perspective (3 Credits)

Race and ethnicity are key dimensions of stratification in society. This course examines competing theories and definitions of race and ethnicity. Using case studies, it looks at the social construction of race and ethnicity in different societies around the world during different eras.

SOC 38209/WS 31610 Sociology of Sexualities (3 Credits)

Drawing upon sociological, feminist, queer, and disability theories, this course examines the conceptualization, reproduction, and stratification of sexualities in different historical and cultural contexts; We explore how interactions among ideological, racial, religious interests have created normative systems of sexual classification that justify not only disciplinary systems of punishments and rewards, but also unequally distributed power among those who conform, innovate, or deviate from norms.