Course Information

Elective Requirements (15 hours):
Fifteen hours from the following options:
Sociology 103 or 241.
Sociology 203, 209, 251, 308, 312, 314, 321, 323, 333, 356, 375, 390, 460, 499 or
Psychology 208

One of the following courses may also count as a Sociology elective: Economics 306, History 357, or Psychology 211.

What courses count towards my MQPA? (Major Quality Point Average).

All courses with “SOCI” prefix count towards a sociology major's MQPA. Also: ECON 306; HIST 357; PSYC 203, 208 and 211.

What MQPA must I have to graduate?

A minimum MQPA of 2.00 is required to graduate.

What if I decide to do an internship?

A Sociology Internship (SOCI 480) may not be counted as an elective course toward the major, though Sociology 480 grades will be included in the Major Quality Point Average (MQPA) for Sociology majors.

How are GCC Sociology majors prepared for a future professional career?

Sociology majors are provided with focused, discipline-specific instruction in professional writing by taking the Writing Intensive (WI) course Sociology 277 “Social Research Methods,” and in professional speaking by taking the Speaking Intensive (SI) course
Sociology 452 “Sociology Colloquium.”

Information Literacy (IL) instruction is also incorporatedin Sociology 277, focusing on knowledge and use of electronic information technologyand resources, critically assessing this information, and teaching skills that explorescholarly research and publishing processes within the field of Sociology.

How can I tailor my Sociology major to my particular professional interests?

By choosing electives which relate to that career.

Students preparing for careers in criminal justice are encouraged to take the following
courses as part of their major:

Sociology 203, 314, 333, 356, 480, and Economics 306 or History 357. In addition students should select the following general electives: History 317-318; Political Science 308 and 309; and Psychology 312.

Students preparing for careers in any of the helping professions or in Christian ministry are encouraged to take the following courses as part of their major: Sociology 203, 251, 308, 312, 314, 333, 356, and 480; Psychology 208 or 211, or History 357. In addition, they should consider the following general electives: Religion 216 and Psychology 206, 210, 310, and 312.

How do I know when the courses I need will be offered?

Students are expected to contact their advisors for a detailed schedule of courses recommended to meet requirements for a major.

How do I obtain a minor in Sociology?

Course requirements for a minor in Sociology (18 hours):
18 hours of Sociology courses are required, including Sociology 471.

How do I obtain a minor in Family Studies?

Course requirements for a minor in Family Studies (19 hours):
Psychology 203.
Sociology 312.
One course from: Psychology 204, Political Science 277, or Sociology 277.
Three courses from: Psychology 209, 211, 322, or Sociology 251.

SOCI Course Listing

101. FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY.	323. SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE.
103. INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY.	333. INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE.
201. SOCIAL PROBLEMS.	356. POVERTY AND STRATIFICATION.
203. SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR.	360. INDEPENDENT STUDY.
209. PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL WORK.	375. GLOBAL SOCIETY.
241. MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY.	390. STUDIES IN SOCIOLOGY.
251. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.	452. SOCIOLOGY COLLOQUIUM.
277. SOCIAL RESEARCH METHODS.	460. INDEPENDENT STUDY.
308. SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION.	471. WORLDVIEWS IN CONFLICT I: SOCIAL THINKERS FROM THE REFORMATION TO THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY.
312. THE FAMILY AS A SOCIAL INSTITUTION.	472. WORLDVIEWS IN CONFLICT II: MODERN SOCIAL THOUGHT.
314. CRIME AND DELINQUENCY.	480. INTERNSHIP IN SOCIOLOGY.
321. SOCIAL CHANGE.	499. HONORS IN SOCIOLOGY.
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101. FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY.	An introductory study of the major and enduring theoretical ideas, concepts, methods, and debates that have shaped and informed the discipline of Sociology from its inception to the current day. Topics include the origins of the discipline, the social conditions under which humans may thrive, social order, religion, and inequality. Attention is also paid to the ways in which the Christian tradition perceives and in some cases may challenge contemporary social conditions.	Recommended to precede all other Sociology courses. Semester course, three hours.
103. INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY.	An introduction to the study of culture, its meaning and significance for human beings, and the ways in which man organizes his activities to meet universal human needs, especially in simpler societies.	Fall semester only, three hours.
201. SOCIAL PROBLEMS.	An analysis of American social problems related to family, sexuality, drugs, crime, health, poverty, race, and global problems related to gender, population, the environment, religion, war and terrorism.	Semester course, three hours.
203. SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR. back to listing	A study of the social aspects of personal deviation including consideration of the alcoholic, the drug addict, the suicidal and the sexually maladjusted from the perspective of social background, causative factors, and possible therapy.	Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or 201. Alternate spring semesters, three hours.
209. PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL WORK.	An introduction to the social work profession and to the social welfare field, including historical development, theory, ethics/values, policy, and key aspects of and specialization in practice. Biblical views of, and calling to, the field will be considered. The course will also take a balanced look at private and public, secular and religious, settings and approaches; as well as considering the growing social entrepreneurship movement.	Alternate Fall semesters, three hours.
241. MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY.	A study of the social and cultural aspects of medicine and health, strongly emphasizing the results of cross-cultural and comparative research. Topics include health professionals and services around the world, alternative healers, the demography of health and illness, and privatized versus government-sponsored health care systems.	Alternate Spring semesters, three hours.
251. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.	A general introduction to marriage and the family emphasizing practical living. Topics include dating, courtship, engagement, marriage, romantic love, and marital adjustment including the roles experienced through life -parenthood and child rearing and divorce.	Semester course, three hours.
277. SOCIAL RESEARCH METHODS. back to listing	Research methods in the major phases of sociology investigation: the logic of research, its design and analysis, and specific methods of data collection. Includes training in locating, assessing, importing, modifying and analyzing secondary data; general knowledge of key sociological information sources; basic MicroCase and SPSS statistical software training; and hands-on instruction in all stages of writing professional research reports. This course fulfills the discipline-specific Writing Intensive (WI) and Information Literacy (IL) requirements for Sociology majors.	Three lectures and two lab hours per week. Prerequisite: Six hours of sociology including Sociology 101. Fall semester only, four hours.
308. SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION.	This course will examine religion from a sociological perspective, including such topics as sociological theories about religion, how religion affects individuals and societies, secularization and worldwide religious resurgence, effects of globalization upon religion, America’s contemporary religious climate, contemporary American Evangelicalism, and the future of religion.	Prerequisite: Sociology 101. Alternate Fall semesters, three hours.
312. THE FAMILY AS A SOCIAL INSTITUTION.	A course that focuses upon the status, development, and future of the modern American family from historical, cross-cultural, and sociological perspectives. Examines contemporary debates over legal definitions of “family,” patterns of family structure, families and the elderly, family policy, and reviews non-governmental approaches to strengthening the family. Recommended for those students contemplating careers in teaching, the helping professions, ministry, public policy, and research.	Alternate Spring semesters, three hours.
314. CRIME AND DELINQUENCY.	A study of crime and juvenile delinquency in contemporary society. Basic factors in crime, detection, punishment, delinquency, gangs, courts, probation, and the science of criminology are studied.	Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or 201. Alternate Spring semesters, three hours.
321. SOCIAL CHANGE. back to listing	An analysis of patterns, mechanisms and strategies of past and future social change in a rapidly changing world. Social and political movement theory, revolutions, the force of religion in social movement activism, and recent changes in American society are considered.	Prerequisite: Sociology 101. Alternate Spring semesters, three hours.
323. SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE.	An examination of the way meaning and culture are constructed in American life. Particular attention is paid to cultural conflict in American social and political history, from the late 18th century to the present. Also examines how pluralist democracies might mediate cultural conflicts.	Open to all sociology majors and others by permission of the instructor. Alternate Fall semesters, three hours.
333. INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE.	An overview of every element of the criminal justice system, looking at the process of handling offenders from crime detection through arrest, adjudication, prosecution/defense, sentencing, incarceration, probation, and parole. Issues of criminal law (ethics, philosophy, and basic structure and rules) and policy, defendants, victims, and the roles of different criminal justice agents will also be considered. Biblical perspectives will be examined throughout, as will, where appropriate, private alternatives to response to crime.	Alternate Fall semesters, three hours.
356. POVERTY AND STRATIFICATION.	An overview of the nature and extent of poverty and stratification in the United States and the world, including consideration of empirical data, sociological theory, and Christian perspectives. Special attention will be given to private, faith-based solutions to chronic poverty.	Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or 201. Alternate Fall semesters, three hours.
360. INDEPENDENT STUDY. back to listing	Available to students with a minimum of twelve hours in sociology.	Prerequisite: Consent of department chairman. Semester course, one, two or three hours.
375. GLOBAL SOCIETY.	This course investigates the processes of globalization and their effects upon the political, economic and cultural spheres at the national and international levels. Particular attention is devoted to the implications of culture, including religion, as a moral order for the development of global society.	Alternate Spring semesters, three hours.
390. STUDIES IN SOCIOLOGY.	This course, which varies each semester, involves the examination of different areas of sociology with a focus on new areas not covered in regular coursework.	Semester course, three hours.
452. SOCIOLOGY COLLOQUIUM.	Guided intensive study of a specific sociological problem or topic under the guidance of one Sociology faculty member, and training in the art of professional speaking in the field. Students will orally present and defend their study proposals and completed final projects before the Sociology faculty and other students in the class. This course fulfills the discipline specific Speaking Intensive (SI) requirement for Sociology majors.	Prerequisite: senior status. Spring semester only, two hours.
460. INDEPENDENT STUDY. back to listing	Available to students with a minimum of twelve hours in sociology.	Prerequisite: Consent of department chairman. Semester course, one, two or three hours.
471. WORLDVIEWS IN CONFLICT I: SOCIAL THINKERS FROM THE REFORMATION TO THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY.	A survey of the classical era of sociological theorizing and the 20th Century development of those models. Includes Tocqueville, Comte, Marx, Freud, Weber, Simmel, Durkheim and major schools of thought such as conflict theory and functionalism. Attention is also paid to major themes of sociological theory, including community, authority, secularization, stratification, and alienation.	Fall semester only, three hours.
472. WORLDVIEWS IN CONFLICT II: MODERN SOCIAL THOUGHT.	An examination of the competing approaches to social theorizing that have come to prominence since World War II, with particular attention to American social theory. Topics include symbolic interactionism, the Chicago School, rational choice, globalization, ethnography, ethno methodology, phenomenology, world systems, and post-modernity.	Prerequisite: Sociology 471. Spring semester only, three hours.
480. INTERNSHIP IN SOCIOLOGY.	This course offers practical experience appropriate for the sociology field.	Prerequisite: Consent of department chairman. Semester course, one to six hours
499. HONORS IN SOCIOLOGY. back to listing	Open only to seniors who have honors grades and who have completed a minimum of fifteen hours in the department. Application must be made to the department and a proposal for the study must be approved before registering. The student studies under the guidance of department staff.	Prerequisite: Fifteen hours in sociology including Sociology 477. Semester course, one, two or three hours.
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This site is maintained by Jenny Evertz.

Last updated October 2008.

This site is maintained by Dr. David J. Ayers.

Last updated August 2009.