SOC - Sociology

Students will analyze how individuals are organized into social groups, ranging from intimate groups to bureaucracies. This course introduces the organization of groups can influence individual behavior? nature and interrelationships of basic social institutions, such as family, education, religion, and economy. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 5 quarter hours

In this course, students examine Chicago's socio-cultural and economic evolution from an industrial powerhouse and economic engine to a post-industrial, global city. Connections to globalized circuits of finance, trade, and immigration since the 1950s have shaped Chicago's more recent history, politics, and socio-economic development. Students examine the city’s transition from industrialization and manufacturing to a society based on leisure, tourism, and the consumption of goods, services, and information. The course further examines the contours of the new Chicago by analyzing the specific ways that race and ethnicity, cultural diversity, and identity politics shape the city’s health and prosperity. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 5 quarter hours

This course will examine how culture and identity interact both on the individual and social levels. Through multi-cultural readings, students will examine how cultural differences affect our lives and how some life experiences are universal. Students will explore identity components such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. The class will stress literature, discussion, self-reflection, and critical analysis so students will be able to evaluate cultural and identity components in various settings. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 5 quarter hours

This course introduces the concept of intersectionality and examines 20th century ethnic and cultural movements in the United States. In particular, the course will examine the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, the Chicano movement, the Asian American Movement, the American Indian Movement, and the Gay Liberation Movement. The concepts in course will provide students with a better understanding of the political, cultural, and institutional contexts which social movements arise, as well historic illustrations of ways in which those contexts can be evaluated and challenged. The course also examines the historical and contemporary legacy through which ethnic movements and their successors live on today, while cultivating critical thinking regarding power relations and processes of social change within the United States. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 5 quarter hours