SY 221 Introduction to Sociology (3)
This course examines how people and groups shape everyday life, culture, and community. Students critically examine how everyday experiences are shaped by larger social forces.
SY 222 Honors Introduction to Sociology (3)
Prerequisite(s): Member of Honors Program or ACT English 25 or SAT Critical Reading 610.
Basic concepts, principles, and methods of sociological analysis are examined. Writing intensive, the primary goal is to teach students how to critically evaluate the world around them and their place in it using the sociological imagination.
SY 223 Social Problems (3)
This course examines major contemporary social issues and the ways individuals, communities, and institutions respond to them. Students develop critical thinking skills while considering causes, consequences, and potential solutions to today’s challenges.
SY 301 Researching Society (WI) (3)
Prerequisite(s): SY 221 or SY 222.
Researching Society asks the central question: how do we know? The course examines how sociologists formulate research questions, collect and analyze data, and generalize findings to build scientific knowledge about society. Topics include theory, ethics, research design, measurement, sampling, surveys, qualitative and unobtrusive methods, and both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. (Writing Intensive Course)
SY 308 Pop Culture (3)
This course examines popular culture as a site where social identities, power, and inequality are reflected and contested. Students will use sociological tools to critically analyze cultural forms and their role in shaping everyday life and social change in America and beyond.
SY 309 Disability and Society (3)
This course looks at how disability is shaped by culture, history, and everyday life. Students explore how ideas and social forces influence the way disability is understood, experienced, and represented in the world today.
SY 310 Modern Family (3)
What does “family” mean today? This course examines how social, cultural, and economic forces influence families. Students explore the many forms families take, origins and changing patterns of marriage and divorce, parenting, and inequality within and between families. Through this course students critically reflect on how families both shape and are shaped by the societies in which they live.
SY 313 Social Psychology (3)
SY 315 Deviant Behavior (3)
This course explores why certain behaviors are labeled “deviant” and how society responds to them. Students examine everyday examples alongside broader explanations to better understand how rules, norms, and definitions of deviance take shape.
SY 320 Criminology (3)
This course introduces criminology by examining the making of laws, the breaking of laws, and society’s response to those violations. Students explore the nature of crime, the development of law, the workings of the criminal justice system, and major explanations of criminal behavior.
SY 322 Juvenile Delinquency (3)
This course examines why juveniles commit crime, deviance, and delinquency. Its focus is on the juvenile justice system, the causes of juvenile delinquency, and debunking popular misconceptions surrounding juveniles’ antisocial behavior.
SY 324 Social Stratification (3)
This course examines systems of structured inequality and the ways societies rank people into hierarchies of wealth, power, status, and privilege. Topics include explanations for stratification, globalization, class divisions, poverty, mobility, and the intersections of race, gender, and other social identities. The course also considers how systems of inequality are reproduced, challenged, and transformed over time.
SY 326 Education and Society (3)
This course explores the relationship between education and society, examining classroom interactions, school policies, and broader social contexts. It considers how schools shape identity, influence social mobility, and affect students’ opportunities.
SY 340 Perspectives on Death and Dying (3)
An examination of the attitudes of differing cultures and subcultures toward death, which encourages students to supplement relevant readings by discussing personal attitudes toward death and dying. Current research in this topic will be explored by lectures, films, and readings. By better understanding death and dying, students can explore in this course opportunities for growth and for improving the quality of life. SW 371 is cross-listed with SY 340, and only one course may be taken for credit.
SY 356 Social Movements and Activism (3)
Crowds, mass behavior, fashions and fads, reform movements and revolutions are examined. Current examples are used to illustrate models and theories.
SY 358 Sports and Society (3)
This course examines sports from the individual athlete and fan experience to the role of teams, organizations, and larger institutions. Students will explore how sports connect to identity, power, and social change while gaining new insights into one of society’s most influential arenas.
SY 360 Race, Ethnicity, and Society (3)
This course examines race and ethnicity in the United States. In this course students will learn how ethnic and racial groups are created and how racial inequality is perpetuated by cumulative factors.
SY 362 Global Immigration Patterns and Trends (3)
Prerequisite(s): SY 221 or SY 222.
This course examines the structural and individual immigration patterns and trends between country of origins and destination countries. The course examines how economic, political, and social forces lead to push and pull factors in both voluntary and forced migration routes. Course topics include illegal immigration, brain drain, refugees/asylum seekers, transnational migrants, etc.
SY 364 Medicine and Society (3)
This course introduces students to key themes and current trends in how society influences health and illness. Topics include how social conditions affect disease, the role of health organizations, and the interactions between patients, providers, and the larger health system.
SY 365 Drugs and Society (3)
This course explores how communities both encourage and restrict the ways people use psychoactive drugs, examining cultural attitudes, social norms, and policies that influence everything from everyday habits to public debates.
SY 366 Religion, Spirituality, and Cults (3)
The study of religion in its social and cultural contexts. Comparatively examines how religious beliefs, rituals, and practices exist in close relation to other aspects of society and culture, giving to human existence coherence and purpose.
SY 367 Sexualities and Society (3)
This course explores how sexuality is perceived, defined, and experienced in the context of society. Topics include social norms, attitudes and beliefs about sexuality, public and private policies, as well as practices surrounding sexuality, and how sexuality is related to social institutions.
SY 368 Gender and Society (3)
This course explores perspectives on how gender is shaped by social norms and how it influences daily interactions, opportunities, and expectations. Students will examine how gender operates within schools, workplaces, families, politics, and media, as well as how individuals and groups challenge and redefine gender in society.
SY 370 Aging and Human Development (3)
SY 398 Special Topics in Sociology (1-3)
(1-3). Content varies from semester to semester according to student and faculty interest. May be duplicated up to 12 credit hours as long as each course taken is on a different topic.
SY 399 Study Tour (3)
Topics, excursions, and requirements determined by department. May be duplicated for credit; however, only three (3) credits may be applied toward any major or minor. Infrequently scheduled and subject to minimum and maximum numbers. Advance deposit required.
SY 425 Perspectives on Social Life I (3)
Prerequisite(s): SY 221, SY 222, or SY 223.
This course introduces students to the key perspectives that help us make sense of social life. It examines the major ways scholars explain how societies are organized, why people behave as they do in groups, and how social change occurs. Students learn to apply these perspectives to understand everyday experiences, social institutions, and current issues in the world around them.
SY 426 Perspectives on Social Life II (3)
Prerequisite(s): SY 221, SY 222, or SY 223.
This course examines contemporary ways scholars challenge traditional ideas about truth, knowledge, and identity. Students explore how culture, media, technology, and power shape everyday life and use these perspectives to analyze current social issues in a rapidly changing world.
SY 427 Understanding Society I (3)
SY 428 Understanding Society II (3)
SY 441 Independent Study (3)
Prerequisite(s): Students seeking admission must have advanced standing and secure approval of instructor and head of department.
An opportunity for the student with advanced standing to explore areas of special interest.
SY 442 Independent Study (3)
Prerequisite(s): Students seeking admission must have advanced standing and secure approval of instructor and head of department.
An opportunity for the student with advanced standing to explore areas of special interest.
SY 443 Independent Study (3)
Prerequisite(s): Students seeking admission must have advanced standing and secure approval of instructor and head of department.
An opportunity for the student with advanced standing to explore areas of special interest.
SY 460 Sociology Internship (3)
Prerequisite(s): Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0; and a minimum completion of 12 hours of sociology course work at Jacksonville State University.
Instructor approval required. This course provides students the opportunity to gain work/career experience in service/learning or business/corporate settings.
SY 480 Advanced Seminar in Sociology (3)
Prerequisite(s): SY 221, advanced standing and approval of instructor.
An examination of current issues in sociology. The content of the course will vary each semester.
SY 499 Senior Sociology Seminar (WI) (3)
Prerequisite(s): 12 hours of sociology courses (200+ level) with a C or better, or permission of the instructor.
This capstone seminar brings together the core ideas and concepts students have studied and applies them in new ways. Students will reflect on their learning, sharpen their writing and communication skills, and explore career paths and future opportunities. Offered Spring only. (Writing Intensive Course)