Sociology (SOC)
How to Read Course Descriptions
SOC 1. Principles of Sociology. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduction to the field of sociology; its basic concepts and principles; the analysis and explanation of culture, personality, social institutions, social change, population, social processes and collective behavior.
SOC 2. You, Sociology and the University. 1 Unit
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
This course is an introduction for students to the campus, campus resources, and the department of Sociology at Sac State. The goal is to connect students to information and resources to help them be successful as students in the Sociology program at CSUS, as well as clarify the process for success within, throughout, and beyond the Sociology program. This course is for all sociology majors. The class will be taught as a hybrid class.
Note: Required to be taken during first semester students changes or adds the major.
Credit/No Credit
SOC 3. Social Problems. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduction to major social problems in the U.S., with an emphasis on systemic problems, such as economic, racism and sexism. Problems in major social institutions such as the family, social services, criminal justice and the environment are also addressed.
SOC 5. Exploring Issues Facing Contemporary Families. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
An exploration of social issues that contemporary families face every day with an integration of the life course perspective and sociopsychological viewpoint. Issues covered may include varying family constellations, mate selection, intimacy, communication, adjustment, cohesion, attachment, aging, foster care and adoption, gender, race/ethnic/cultural influences, social stratification, family/partner violence, health, and social policy.
SOC 8. Sense and Nonsense in Social Issues and Research. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: Critical Thinking (A3)
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduces basic steps in the research process and/or basic steps in critically evaluating discussions on social issues. Students are taught to recognize common errors through the analysis of non-technical applied research and/or through newspapers and sociological articles about social issues and problems. Emphasizes the logical steps involved in thinking critically about social research and/or social problems such as quality of operational definitions, weaknesses in research design, sampling errors, value assumptions, logical consistency between premises and conclusions, and the structure of arguments.
SOC 10. Issues in Crime and Social Control. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduces the concepts utilized by sociologists in the analysis of controversial issues in crime and social control, e.g., norms, roles, subcultures, labeling, social conflict, social stratification, racism, sexism, etc. Particular attention is paid to sources of data and trends over time. Issues covered include, but are not limited to: capital punishment, drugs and drug policy, domestic violence, abortion, driving under the influence, police use of deadly force, private prisons and juvenile justice reform.
SOC 101. Introduction to Statistics for Sociologists. 4 Units
Prerequisite(s): Sociology majors only
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Provides students with an overall view of the role and techniques of statistics in the presentation and interpretation of social science data. Lectures emphasize descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and variability, and association and correlation. Introduction is given to statistical inference: sampling distributions, hypothesis-testing, and estimation. Lab sessions provide demonstrations and training in the practical application of concepts and techniques dealt with in lectures. Students learn to use the computer as an aid in data processing and analysis.
SOC 101X. Collaborative Practice for SOC 101. 1 Unit
Corequisite(s): SOC 101.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
SOC 101X Collaborative Practice for SOC 101. Discussion, 1 hour. Students concurrently enrolled in SOC 101 work collaboratively on, and discuss, problem sets designed by the SOC 101 instructor. Pedagogical strategies that encourage active, engaged learning are employed to facilitate student understanding and success in SOC 101.
Credit/No Credit
SOC 102. Research Methods in Sociology. 4 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101; Sociology majors only
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Students will be introduced to the basic steps in research; problem definition, research design, sampling, data collection methods, and analysis. Laboratory excercises reinforce methodological processes, including finding and evaluating existing research studies, operationalizing concepts, developing questionnaires, and analyzing primary data. Students will learn how to process and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data, including analytic induction, manipulation of computerized data files, bivaraite and multivariate analysis, table construction, and preparation of written research reports. Lab exercises reinforce computer and statistical skills.
SOC 103. Advanced Sociological Analysis. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 and SOC 102
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
An advanced course in research design and analysis. Introduces students to advanced data analysis techniques and how to use them to investigate social problems and issues. Students will build on the knowledge they have accumulated in previous courses in sociological research methods and theory to design and complete a research project. Specific methodological strategies taught will vary, and could include regression analysis, ethnography, comparative-historical methods, qualitative interviewing, evaluation research and longitudinal survey analysis.
Note: May be repeated for credit
SOC 106. Births, Deaths and Borders. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Studies population including growth and decline, fertility and mortality trends, migration, human ecology, and the interrelationship of population and socioeconomic change.
SOC 110. Urban Life and Problems. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Takes a political economic approach to urban development, with special emphasis on the roles played by various social groups and institutions. Particular attention is given to the effects of urban growth, oppositional movements to growth and the global developments that affect urban conditions.
SOC 118. Chicano Community. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: Race & Ethnicity Graduation Requirement (RE), GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Analyzes the institutions, norms, values, and traditions of the Chicano community. Included is an examination of the Chicano community's progress in mainstream American life with attention to the effect of ethnocentrism, racism and class.
SOC 120. Ethnic and Race Relations. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D, Race & Ethnicity Graduation Requirement (RE)
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Analyzes relations among various racial, religious, nationality, and gender groups as they interact with racism, ethnocentrism and class in the U.S. and the world.
SOC 122. Immigration Studies. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines the social phenomena of labor migration, immigration, and transnationalism, and places their origins and development in the context of political-economic national inequalities. Advances an understanding of why societies experience migration, immigration, and transnationalism, and evaluates competing and complementary theoretical frameworks explaining these migratory processes, particularly as they relate to the U.S. Special attention will be given to race, gender, and class relations as impacted by labor migration processes.
SOC 123. Black Studies in Sociology. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduces students to the sociological analysis of Black American life in the U.S. -- the complex phenomena of Black issues, emerging theories of race, and the cumulative scholarship on black identity, experience, socio-economic status, and social organization.. Focus is on the original contributions of social scientists to Black Studies in Sociology.
SOC 124. Social Justice in Interdisciplinary Perspective. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines the nature and forms of social justice and injustice. Key philosophical and theoretical models and debates over the meaning of social justice, using historical and contemporary examples to highlight important concepts and controversies are addressed. Faculty from different departments within SSIS, and occasionally from other colleges, will address how their discipline understands and analyzes issues of social justice. Students will be encouraged to critically assess the assumptions of various perspectives on social justice, and to address the relationship of academe and social activism in achieving social justice.
Cross listed as ANTH 130, ID 124, ENVS 124, ETHN 124 and FACS 124. Only one may be counted for credit.
SOC 125. Social Inequalities. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1 or equivalent.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examination of the ways race, class and gender, as well as the intersection of all three, affect the distribution of valued resources in a society. Other social inequalities such as age, sexual orientation, or nationality, etc. may also be examined. Attention is given to struggles to change or preserve economic and political inequalities.
SOC 126. Sociology of Gender. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines how gender designation of "male" and "female" impacts an individual's life; explores the social construction of masculinity and femininity in the family, school, workplace, everyday interactions, and within racialized and colonized societies; studies the consequences of gender difference and inequality that result in violence and abuse, sexual harassment, hate crimes, wage differentials and unequal opportunities.
SOC 127. Men, Masculinity and Society. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduces students to the field of men and masculinity. Examines the construction of masculinity in sports, family, work and other social relationships, showing how it affects and is affected by people, institutions and society. Explores the diverse experiences based on race, class, occupation, physical ability and sexuality, and the implications for people from such diverse groups.
SOC 128. Sociology Of Sexuality. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1 or instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Studies sexuality including historical and cultural differences in sexual attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. Also examines the mutual influence of sexuality and social institutions, such as the family, the economy, politics and religion.
SOC 129. Social Change and Migration in Latin America. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
This course examines the social, political, and economic changes many societies underwent in Latin America throughout the 20th and 21st century, the role the U.S. played in shaping these changes, how this past has shaped today's U.S.-Latin American relations, and how this interconnectedness has shaped migration to the U.S. Focus will be on specific case studies and using a sociological perspective to study and understand these social changes globally and locally.
SOC 130. Political Sociology. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1 or equivalent.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Analyzes political order and change from the viewpoint of cultural values and the institutional structure of societies. Examines group behavior patterns related to ideology, elites, masses, classes, movements, parties, and other power groups. Surveys differing theories and methodologies for the study of political processes across cultures and societies.
SOC 133. Sport in a Global Perspective. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing; a WPJ Portfolio score OR ENGL 109M or ENGL 109W
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: Writing Intensive Graduation Requirement (WI)
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines sport in a global context, focusing on the dynamic nature of sports in response to changes in society. Addresses the effect sport has on both the society and the individual, from socialization to nationalism. Focuses on both participants (youth, amateurs, professionals) and spectators (parents, fans, etc.) at all levels of involvement, from community to international competition. Highlights cross-cultural differences in the relationships between sport and other social institutions such as government, corporations, and the media.
SOC 134. Sociology of Film. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduces the "Sociological Imagination" by linking the personal histories found in films to larger social structures. The evolution of important contemporary global and domestic social issues is discussed by analyzing the sociological content of major motion pictures. The socio-historical development of the American film industry is also examined to explore its ideological role in challenging and perpetuating various forms of class, race, and gender discrimination.
SOC 135. Sociology of Popular Culture. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: Humanities (Area C2)
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Analyzes social processes that produce popular culture by contrasting interrelationships between institutional power structures and collective behavior. Examines theories of popular culture, mass movements, and individualism; social change, cultural hegemony, sub-cultures, and organizational studies.
SOC 136. Social Movements. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1 or instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Analyzes old and new social movements -- pre-political and political, cultural and identity types -- class, labor, feminist, ethnic, environmental, left and right. Challenges by movements to institutional order. Surveys differing theories and methodologies for the study of movements and degree of change (reform, revolutionary) across cultures and societies.
SOC 137. Sociology of Science. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines paradigm changes of science in society and how views of science and technology are socially constructed. Analyzes the representations of scientists, scientific inquiry, and technological innovation. Explores the ways in which science has driven social change, and vice-versa.
SOC 138. Environmental Sociology. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Studies human society, the natural environment, and their mutual interactions. Examines environmental sociology at several levels, from the micro level of individual communities to the meso level of government policies to macro theoretical considerations. Analysis of environmental issues in a global context also included.
SOC 139. Animals in Society. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines social relationships between humans and animals as pets, companions, workers, entertainers, and food. Analyzes the representations of animals. Studies our relationships with animals both on the level of social groups and as individuals. Applies sociological approaches to the study of human-animal relationships, including the social movements around animal rights.
SOC 140. Sociology of Education. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1 or equivalent.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines the organization and functions of educational institutions; the rise of mass education and changes in educational systems to the present; the role of teachers, parents, and schools in education; the impact of gender, race, and class on educational outcomes and processes.
SOC 144. Sociology of Health and Illness. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1 or instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines the social contexts of health, illness, and medical care. Emphasizes the debates and contrasting perspectives that characterize the sociological study of health and illness. Topics include the social, global, environmental, and occupational factors influencing health and illness; the politics surrounding physical and mental illness; the patient's perspective on illness; ethical issues in medicine as they relate to medical technology; and health care reform. The influence of health status on identity and interaction will also be addressed.
SOC 146. Sociology of Aging. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Analyzes the process of aging in the context of social structure and processes. Specifically, it deals with such issues as the age structure of society, social values and norms that define the aged, social stratification and aging, social institutions and the aged, theoretical and methodological issues in social gerontology.
SOC 150. Social Psychology. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines major principles governing face to face interaction and their application in understanding the student's own experience: creating and preserving meaning, "realities" and selves through dramaturgy, negotiation and power; the relationship between status and intimacy; the impact of status resources (such as race and gender) on the status assignment process; the self concept; the role of emotions in social life.
SOC 155. Criminology. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines social dimensions -- causes and characteristics -- of adult crime and deviant behavior in American society. Makes some international comparisons. Police, courts and prisons are examined. Special attention is given to current issues in crime and deviance.
SOC 156. Delinquency. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines social determinants of juvenile delinquency, including family, urban conditions, social-psychological and sociological factors. Analyzes the juvenile justice system, including law enforcement, the courts and community treatment programs.
SOC 157. Issues in Courts and Prisons. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Sociologically analyzes American courts and prisons from prosecutorial intake through sentencing and incarceration. Emphasis is on the role of social factors (in particular race, class and gender) in decision-making practices at each stage of processing. Topics will include, but are not limited to: preventive detention, prosecutorial intake, plea-bargaining, jury selection, pre-sentence investigation reports, sentencing, and legal reconstruction of the American prison in the modern era.
SOC 158. Sociology of Deviance. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduces students to the history of attempts to define and explain deviant behavior; explains social conditions and processes associated with careers of deviants; examines relationship of deviance to problems of social control.
SOC 160. Asian Societies. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: Humanities (Area C2)
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Cross-cultural study focuses on Japanese and Chinese societies and cultures and their influences on other Asian developments. Emphasizes their distinctive institutions, norms, values, and traditions in relation to contemporary social, economic, and political processes.
SOC 162. Middle Eastern Societies and Culture. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: Humanities (Area C2)
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Discusses the fundamental aspects of Middle East Societies covering such topics as population, family, women, patterns of living, social stratification, education, economic development, politics and armies in the Middle East.
SOC 163. Conflict, Oil and Development in the Middle East. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines in detail the major sources of conflict in the Middle East with special reference to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the arms buildup in the Arabian-Persian Gulf, energy crisis and the multi-national aspect of Middle East oil. Attempts to discuss the impact of these conflicts on the processes of social and economic development.
SOC 164. Sociology of Globalization. 3 Units
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines globalization and its effect on local societies, including the impact of globalization on local labor and work practices, the social organization of local firms and business enterprises, local social structures such as gender, class, race/ethnicity, and local social patterns such as consumption and leisure activities.
SOC 166. The Family. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduces students to the sociology of the family including an examination of the family in various cultures with the emphasis on the American family in all its many forms.
SOC 168. Self and Society. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing; a WPJ Portfolio score OR ENGL 109M or ENGL 109W
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: Writing Intensive Graduation Requirement (WI)
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines the relationship between the individual and society: social interaction, human development, behavior in groups and collectivities, personality and social structure. Theories and empirical studies.
SOC 169. Changing American Family. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Spring only
Analyzes the American family, past, present, and future, focusing on explanation and consequences of changes in child-bearing, courtship, marriage, and the interrelationships between the individual and the family and society. Focuses on connecting course material to real world organizations and programs in the community that are associated with or linked to families. Per week: lecture two hours; fieldwork in the community two to three hours.
SOC 170. Sociology of Children and Adolescents. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduces students to the sociology of childhood and adolescence, focusing on theoretical foundations, methodological challenges, and empirical examination of youth from preschool through high school. Focuses on peer relations within wider contexts shaped by gender, race, and social class.
SOC 171. Sociology of Religion. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Acquaints students with the sociological foundations of religion in society. Emphasis is on the history, development and overall structure of the institution of religion, its relation to social, ethnic and class-based groups and its effect on society in general, and how its social development in America differs from other cultures.
SOC 175. Work and Occupations. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines the social organization of work and economic organization; the rise of industrial society and changes in workplace relations to the present; the role of technology and ideology in the workplace; industrial reforms and alternative forms of economic organization.
SOC 176. Labor and the American Social Structure. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing; a WPJ Portfolio score OR ENGL 109M or ENGL 109W
General Education Area/Graduation Requirement: Writing Intensive Graduation Requirement (WI), GE AREA D
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduction to the study of labor in the U.S., including the nature of work, characteristics of the work force, and an overview of contemporary labor and industrial relations systems within the framework of current U.S. economic and political developments.
SOC 185. Bullying as a Social Experience. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
This course educates students on bullying as a social experience, introducing how social forces, environment and context impact the culture of bullying. Students will develop an understanding about how programs and policies impact bullying rates based on social theoretical perspective. Students will gain a better understanding of how research is related to intervention and prevention practices. Then, from a whole school approach, using the resources available to the school, students will implement different components of an anti-bullying program at a school site.
SOC 190. Sociology of Small Groups. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1 or equivalent.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines social structure and social determinants of behavior in small groups; socialization, social control, social change, leadership, social ranking, social conflict and morale.
SOC 191. Culminating Course in Sociology. 1 Unit
Prerequisite(s): 85 units need to be completed prior to start of the course.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
The course offers Sociology students a culminating experience that has students reflect on their experience as a student in the sociology major, their success in the learning goals and outcomes of the Sociology program, and ultimately engage with their future career goals and their preparation to reach them. This class will be taught fully online.
Note: Students are expected to take this class during their second to last semester (the penultimate semester).
Credit/No Credit
SOC 192. Sociological Theory. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Surveys the history of sociological theory from Comte to the present.
SOC 193A. Mentoring in Sociology. 1 Unit
Prerequisite(s): Instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Provides opportunity for freshman, sophomores, and juniors majoring in sociology to be mentored for improved student success and retention. Students receive peer mentoring to facilitate closer integration into campus community through participation in events, organizations, and conferences sponsored by the sociology department. Students learn how to build productive relationships with professors and receive timely advising for better retention and success rates. Course does not count toward sociology major but toward degree requirements.
Note: May be repeated twice for credit; Three times with exception as determined by the instructor.
Credit/No Credit
SOC 193B. Peer Mentoring in Sociology. 2 Units
Prerequisite(s): One year of residency at Sac State; 2.8 GPA required; Open only to Sociology majors.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Provides opportunities for junior and senior sociology majors to mentor and gain practical out-of-class experience. Students learn the principles of mentoring and contribute to student retention and success and close the retention gap. Course provides practical orientation and guidance for the best practices in mentoring that contribute to a positive campus culture.
Note: May be repeated twice for credit; Three times with exception to be determined by the instructor.
Credit/No Credit
SOC 194. Special Topics in Sociology. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1 or instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines contemporary issues and social developments within the research specialization of department faculty. Provides a forum to discuss and evaluate controversies and advancements in the discipline of sociology, including theory and methodology.
SOC 195. Internship and Fieldwork. 1 - 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Supervised internship and fieldwork experience in a variety of settings: (1) public or private agencies in the Sacramento community, and (2) ethnic and/or minority communities. Supervision is provided by authorized persons in the field and collaborative supervision is provided by sociology faculty at Sacramento State.
Credit/No Credit
SOC 198. Linking Statistics Education and Practice. 1 - 2 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 and instructor permission
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Advanced exploration of the scholarship of learning as applied to sociological methods and/or data analysis. Students will work independently on an applied semester project, but will also attend agreed upon number of computer lab hours each week and engage in course activities with a focus on how to best structure learning opportunities and apply content.
Note: Admission requires approval of professor and Department Chair. No more than 3 units from SOC 195, SOC 198, or SOC 199 combined may be applied to the Sociology upper division major requirement.
SOC 199. Individual Study Projects. 1 - 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Individual projects or directed reading; open only to students who appear competent to carry on individual work. Admission requires approval of the sponsor of the project and the Department Chair.
Credit/No Credit
SOC 200. Orientation and Writing for Sociological Graduate Studies. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Admission to MA in Sociology program.
Term Typically Offered: Fall only
This course introduces students to our graduate program and provides students with insights into how the profession works. Students will learn about campus and departmental resources that will aid them in their studies. This class fulfills the requirements for the required Graduate Writing Intensive Course and will train students in the skills needed for successfully writing sociological papers at a graduate level. Students will also be introduced to department faculty who will share their research interests and writing strategies.
SOC 200A. Orientation to Graduate Studies in Sociology. 1 Unit
Prerequisite(s): Classified graduate status.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Describes our graduate program, clearly explains our requirements and standards for successful completion of the M.A., shows students how the profession works and how to work in the profession (public submissions, conference presentations, job searches), and explains how to get through the program in a timely manner with a strong thesis. We will discuss Ph.D. programs and the application process, job opportunities and the role of professional sociologists outside academe.
SOC 210. Urban Sociology. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Classified graduate status.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Critically examines major theories, research, and debates in the field of urban sociology, including social ecology, Marxist, subcultural, and postmodernist perspectives. Course materials will be framed within two main themes; the dynamics of cooperation and conflict under urban conditions, and the tension between private interests and public life in urban settings. Methodological emphasis will be on case studies, ethnographic, and social historical analysis.
SOC 214. Research Methods. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Deals specifically with such issues as the role of research within the discipline, the ethics of conducting research, the rationale behind field and survey methods, the validity and reliability of data collected through these methods and alternative approaches to data collection.
Note: Open to classified graduate students in sociology, all others by instructor permission only; Graduate Writing Intensive
SOC 215. Data Analysis. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Introduces techniques used to analyze sociological data. Emphasis will be placed on the basic concepts of quantitative models used to explore causality, along with an introduction to software to carry out multivariate analysis. Qualitative analytical techniques and software will also be introduced.
SOC 220. Seminar: Social Change. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Classified graduate status in sociology; all others by instructor permission only.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Course deals with main theoretical orientations in sociology representing radical, liberal and conservative viewpoints on social change. Examines the historical context of events that affected Western countries such as the Industrial Revolution, French Revolution, and the emergence of nationalism and human rights. Course approach is theoretical, historical and global.
SOC 222. Immigration and Coloniality. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
This course focuses on human migration and its modern origins and development in a global context of political-economic inequalities. The course offers historical, comparative, and theoretical perspectives on immigration and incorporation of immigrants to the United States. It examines competing and complementary theories on migration, and assesses their explanatory power on the basis of historical, empirical, and standpoint evidence. This graduate elective course aligns with various program learning objectives including critical thinking, intercultural knowledge and competency; and inquiry and analysis.
SOC 225. Social Stratification. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Classified graduate status in sociology; all others by instructor permission only.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Analyzes contemporary issues in stratification literature including class, status, power, sex/gender, identity, ethnicity, mobility, equality/inequality. Discusses differing theories, methodologies, and controversies according to student interests.
SOC 226. Sociology of Gender. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Intended to introduce graduate students to diverse theories that explain gender relations in contemporary society. Provides a critical perspective on how we construct men's and women's identities and how the consequences of such a construction affect institutions, culture and society. Broken up in four sections: origins of gender inequality and issues surrounding research, theoretical perspectives, marginalized groups, and gendered issues in society.
SOC 230. Seminar: Social Organization. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Classified graduate status or instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Analyzes and critiques institutional structure. Studies shared understanding in groups, corporations, communities, institutions or societies and their hierarchical order.
SOC 235. Social Psychology. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Open to classified graduate students in sociology, all others by instructor permission only.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines advanced social psychology. Focuses on symbolic interactionism, ethnomethodology and other recent developments in sociological social psychology, phenomenology, humanistic social psychology and critical reflexive sociology.
SOC 238. Environmental Sociology. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines the complex relationship between human society and its surrounding environment. Theoretical perspectives are complemented by empirical research on environmental issues. Special attention is given to issues relating to the local and regional California environment. Analyzes environmental issues in a global context.
SOC 240. Seminar: Sociological Theory. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Classified graduate status in sociology; all others by instructor permission only.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Analyzes and critiques terms and issues in social and sociological theory including levels of social reality and differing perspectives - positivism, idealism, realism, post-modernism, feminism, etc.
SOC 255. Social Research in Crime and Deviance. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Comprehensively reviews and evaluates major sociological theories of crime and deviance, methods of studying crime and deviance, current empirical research in crime and deviance, empirical testing of sociological explanations of crime and deviance, and empirical evaluation of crime and deviance control policy.
SOC 260. Contemporary Issues of the Middle East and North Africa. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Discusses in-depth several contemporary issues such as the political dimension of Islam, population growth and food security, oil and development, regional conflict, national integration and forces of modernization, etc. The selection of the topics will depend on current events.
SOC 265. Race and Ethnic Relations. 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines the social constructs of race and ethnicity as "central organizing principles" in the making and development of our modern world, particularly in the U.S., and how they have interacted with class and gender to create and maintain cultural and material social inequalities. Evaluates competing and complementary theoretical frameworks explaining how race and ethnicity affect individual and group social-structural location (e.g., class position, educational attainment, and political power).
SOC 266. Sociology of The Family. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Classified graduate status or instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Sociologically examines the family, with an emphasis on the contemporary American family. The numerous stages and variations of the family life cycle will be considered, with an emphasis on changes and the causes and consequences of the changes.
SOC 270. Master of Arts Thesis/Project Seminar. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): SOC 200, SOC 214, SOC 215, and a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
This course provides students with the structure and support to develop their thesis or project prospectus (proposal). The instructor will guide students through the writing process to finish their prospectus and present it at the end of the semester. SOC 270 intends to prepare students to implement and complete their faculty-guided thesis or project in SOC 500.
Credit/No Credit
SOC 294. Special Topics in Sociology. 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Open to classified graduate students in sociology; all other sociology graduate students by instructor permission
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Examines contemporary issues and social developments within the research specialization of department faculty. Provides a forum to discuss and evaluate controversies and advancements in the discipline of sociology including theory and methodologies.
Note: May be repeated twice for credit
SOC 295. Internship and Fieldwork. 1 - 3 Units
Prerequisite(s): Instructor permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Supervised internship and fieldwork experience in a variety of settings: (1) public or private agencies in the Sacramento community, (2) ethnic and/or minority communities, and (3) educational institutions including area community colleges and universities. Supervision is provided by authorized persons in the field and collaborative supervision is provided by sociology faculty at Sacramento State.
Credit/No Credit
SOC 299. Special Problems. 1 - 3 Units
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Individual projects or directed reading.
Note: Open only to students who appear competent to carry on individual work. Admission requires approval of the sponsor of the project and the Department Chair.
Credit/No Credit
SOC 500. Master of Arts Thesis/Project. 3 - 6 Units
Prerequisite(s): Advancement to candidacy, successful completion of SOC 270, a minimum 3.0 GPA, and thesis or project chair permission.
Term Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
SOC 500 Culminating Experience is a supervised course that helps graduate students complete their MA project/thesis. It is for graduate students who are writing their MA project/thesis. Students must complete 3 units of SOC 500 to graduate but may take up to 6 units in the one semester they enroll in it. Students must get permission from the Department Chair and project/thesis chair to enroll and have a structured plan prior to enrolling.