DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

COURSE SYLLABI FOR FALL 2009

LATE STARTING CLASSES

Registration Deadline is Saturday, December 12, 2009

Sociology 312: Causes of Crime and Delinquency

A survey of criminological theories exploring why some people are more likely to engage in crime than others and why crime rates vary over time and space and across social groups. Attendant policy issues will also be discussed.

Prerequisites: Sociology 205 OR Sociology 213.

Sociology 313: Social Control

The study of informal and formal social control strategies for guiding and monitoring individual behavior and social interaction. Discussion of key social control agents and instituttions, including the family, schools, peers, media, religion and the criminal justice system.

Prerequisites: Sociology 101 or Sociology 213.

Registration Deadline for late starting classes is Saturday, December 12, 2009

Sociology 326: Sociology of New Mexico

New Mexico as a social system: the infrastructure of communities and ethnic groups, stratification, major social institutions, deviance and inter-group relations.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101.

Sociology 331: Collective Behavior
The study of riots, disturbances, social movements and other forms of contentious collective behavior. Strategies of conflict and conflict resolution are considered.
Prerequisite: Sociology 101.

Registration Deadline for late starting classes is Saturday, December 12, 2009

Sociology 371: Classical Social Theory

The study of nineteenth century sociological theory, with particular emphasis on Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101.

Sociology 398: Special Topics in Sociology: Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality

This course covers sociological theories about inequality and social location: race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality. We will explore similarities and differences in the experiences of various groups in the United States by focusing on systems of privilege and oppression. We will investigate several questions: What are the historical and contemporary explanations for stratification and inequality? How do the intersections of additive and multiplicative inequalities affect life chances and choices within the United States? What are the social processes that reproduce, camouflage, and/or interrupt categorical inequalities? What are the possibilities and avenues for change?

Prerequisite: Sociology 101.

Registration Deadline for late starting classes is Saturday, December 12, 2009

Sociology 398: Special Topics in Sociology: Mainstream and Alternative Media

This class explores the historical and contemporary issues surrounding the state of our public sphere. Students will be expected to understand the sociological (political economic and cultural contexts) of both the mainstream and alternative media. This class is divided into two sections. The first focuses on the contemporary state of the mass media in the United States. Books discussed in this section include The New Media Monopoly by Ben H. Bagdikian Den Emeritus and Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times by Robert W. McChesney. The second section focuses on the conception, theories, and historical development of the alternative media. The primary text for this section is Voices of revolution. The dissident press in America by Roger Streitmatter.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101.

Sociology 418: Special Topics in Criminology: Comparative Criminal Justice Systems

This course is a survey of selected international criminal justice systems (United States, China, Saudi Arabia, and France) including policing, courts, and correctional systems. The course will emphasis the differing legal traditions, historical, and cultural perspectives that make the systems unique and/or similar. Moreover, the course will focus on transnational institutions that deal with crime as a global phenomenon with a special emphasis on terrorism.

Prerequisites: Sociology 101, (205 or 213), 312, and 313.

Registration Deadline for late starting classes is Saturday, December 12, 2009

Sociology 420: Race & Cultural Relations

Comparative and structural analysis of intergroup relations in the United States and/or other countries and regions.

Prerequisites: Sociology 101 and Sociology 216.

Sociology 422: Sociology of Religion

Study of belief, commitment, and practice within religious and spiritual traditions and institutions, with a focus on contemporary United States, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or RELG 107 or RELG 263 or RELG 264.

Offered with RELG 422.

Registration Deadline for late starting classes is Saturday, December 12, 2009

Sociology 423: Gender and Crime

This course will outline similarities and differences in offending patterns across males and females and discuss various explanations for those differences. Discussions will also focus on the dynamics of female offending, the formal social control of female offenders and the role of women in the correctional system.

Prerequisites: Sociology 101, (205 or 213), 312 and 313.

Sociology 441: Complex Organizations

Structure and functional dynamics of formal organizations; the role of bureaucracy in modern social organization.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101.

Registration Deadline for late starting classes is Saturday, December 12, 2009

Sociology 471: Contemporary Social Theory

Comparative analysis of major contributions to sociological theory in the 20th century.  Functionalism, Phenomenology, French Structuralism, Analytical Marxism.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101.