I. General Information
1. Course Title:
Introduction to Sociology
2. Course Prefix & Number:
SOCL 1401
3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:
Credits: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Lab Hours: 0
4. Course Description:
This foundation course is highly recommended as the starting point from which students may logically proceed to higher level sociology classes. Students will be introduced to the fundamental concepts of the sociological perspective, including culture, socialization, organization, authority, deviance and inequality.
5. Placement Tests Required:
| Accuplacer (specify test): |
Next Gen Reading |
Score: |
236 |
6. Prerequisite Courses:
SOCL 1401 - Introduction to Sociology
There are no prerequisites for this course.
9. Co-requisite Courses:
SOCL 1401 - Introduction to Sociology
There are no corequisites for this course.
II. Transfer and Articulation
1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:
|
Name of Institution
|
Course Number and Title
|
Credits
|
|
St. Cloud State University
|
Soc 160 Principles of Sociology
|
3
|
|
Bemidji State University
|
Soc 1104 Introduction to Sociology
|
3
|
III. Course Purpose
MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:
Goal 5 – History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences
IV. Learning Outcomes
1. College-Wide Outcomes
| College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies |
Students will be able to: |
| Demonstrate reading and listening skills |
Students will attend class lectures, read a college-level text, write and present a paper on an assigned outside sociology reading. |
| Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations |
Students will apply sociological theory to contemporary social issues and events in human history. |
2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of
the course:
|
Expected Outcome
|
MnTC
Goal Area
|
|
Indentify and communicate alternative explanations for contemporary social issues and events
|
5
|
|
Indentify the scientific methods & data that social scientists use
|
5
|
|
Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures
|
5
|
V. Topical Outline
Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.
1. Lecture Sessions
|
The History of Sociology:
The Enlightenment period in which science emerged
Founders of sociology and their key contributions
Noted 20th Century sociologists and their key contributions
Theoretical perspectives: the functionalist and conflict approaches to understanding social phenomena.
|
|
The Circle of Culture:
Elements of culture are institutions, values & norms, language and symbols, art & architecture, technology
Ethnocentrism vs. cultural relativism
Subcultures and countercultures
|
|
Societies:
Humanity’s ancient African origins
Six survival strategies: Hunter-gatherers, Pastoralists, Horticulturalists,Agriculturalists, Industrialists, Post-Industrialists. Opportunities for sustainable civilizations
The Institution network
Status & role
|
|
Socialization:
Nature vs. nurture;
The Agents of socialization
Re-socialization in “total” institutions
Cooley and Mead on “The Self.”
The Existence, or not, of “free will.”
|
|
Social Interaction:
Human social interaction
Obeying authority symbols
Goffman’s symbolic interaction
Stanley Milgram’s Shocking experiments
The social construction of reality
|
|
Social Organization:
Groups are the basic unit of analysis
Defining Leadership, Power and Authority
Informal groups
Formal groups
Bureaucracy, Merton’s dysfunctions of bureaucracy
Secret organizations.
|
|
Social deviance as social construction:
Cultural barriers to understanding deviance
Sociological theory and deviance
Types of crime, white collar vs. street crime
“Corrections” racism and classism in the justice system
The medicalization of deviance
|
|
Stratification:
Measuring inequality
Theoretical explanations for inequality
Capitalism, socialism & communism
The unequal distribution of wealth in the United States
How inequality is maintained
Caste systems and class systems
Marx on class consciousness and false consciousness
Microcase statistical correlation of social variables
|
2. Laboratory/Studio Sessions
|
Textbooks
|
|
Author(s)
|
Title(s)
|
Publisher(s)
|
Edition/Date(s)
|
|
Gary Payne
|
Introduction to Sociology, Rethinking Civilization
|
Gull River Publications
|
Latest
|
I. General Information
1. Course Title:
Introduction to Sociology
2. Course Prefix & Number:
SOCL 1401
3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:
Credits: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Lab Hours: 0
4. Course Description:
This foundation course is highly recommended as the starting point from which students may logically proceed to higher level sociology classes. Students will be introduced to the fundamental concepts of the sociological perspective, including culture, socialization, organization, authority, deviance and inequality.
5. Placement Tests Required:
| Accuplacer (specify test): |
Next Gen Reading |
Score: |
236 |
6. Prerequisite Courses:
SOCL 1401 - Introduction to Sociology
There are no prerequisites for this course.
9. Co-requisite Courses:
SOCL 1401 - Introduction to Sociology
There are no corequisites for this course.
II. Transfer and Articulation
1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:
|
Name of Institution
|
Course Number and Title
|
Credits
|
|
St. Cloud State University
|
Soc 160 Principles of Sociology
|
3
|
|
Bemidji State University
|
Soc 1104 Introduction to Sociology
|
3
|
III. Course Purpose
2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:
Goal 5 – History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences
IV. Learning Outcomes
1. College-Wide Outcomes
| College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies |
Students will be able to: |
| Demonstrate reading and listening skills |
Students will attend class lectures, read a college-level text, write and present a paper on an assigned outside sociology reading. |
| Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations |
Students will apply sociological theory to contemporary social issues and events in human history. |
2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of
the course:
|
Expected Outcome
|
MnTC
Goal Area
|
|
Indentify and communicate alternative explanations for contemporary social issues and events
|
5
|
|
Indentify the scientific methods & data that social scientists use
|
5
|
|
Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures
|
5
|
V. Topical Outline
Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.
1. Lecture Sessions
|
The History of Sociology:
The Enlightenment period in which science emerged
Founders of sociology and their key contributions
Noted 20th Century sociologists and their key contributions
Theoretical perspectives: the functionalist and conflict approaches to understanding social phenomena.
|
|
The Circle of Culture:
Elements of culture are institutions, values & norms, language and symbols, art & architecture, technology
Ethnocentrism vs. cultural relativism
Subcultures and countercultures
|
|
Societies:
Humanity’s ancient African origins
Six survival strategies: Hunter-gatherers, Pastoralists, Horticulturalists,Agriculturalists, Industrialists, Post-Industrialists. Opportunities for sustainable civilizations
The Institution network
Status & role
|
|
Socialization:
Nature vs. nurture;
The Agents of socialization
Re-socialization in “total” institutions
Cooley and Mead on “The Self.”
The Existence, or not, of “free will.”
|
|
Social Interaction:
Human social interaction
Obeying authority symbols
Goffman’s symbolic interaction
Stanley Milgram’s Shocking experiments
The social construction of reality
|
|
Social Organization:
Groups are the basic unit of analysis
Defining Leadership, Power and Authority
Informal groups
Formal groups
Bureaucracy, Merton’s dysfunctions of bureaucracy
Secret organizations.
|
|
Social deviance as social construction:
Cultural barriers to understanding deviance
Sociological theory and deviance
Types of crime, white collar vs. street crime
“Corrections” racism and classism in the justice system
The medicalization of deviance
|
|
Stratification:
Measuring inequality
Theoretical explanations for inequality
Capitalism, socialism & communism
The unequal distribution of wealth in the United States
How inequality is maintained
Caste systems and class systems
Marx on class consciousness and false consciousness
Microcase statistical correlation of social variables
|
2. Laboratory/Studio Sessions
|
Textbooks
|
|
Author(s)
|
Title(s)
|
Publisher(s)
|
Edition/Date(s)
|
|
Gary Payne
|
Introduction to Sociology, Rethinking Civilization
|
Gull River Publications
|
Latest
|