This course introduces students to the ways sociology uniquely contributes to an understanding of the social world, social problems, and human experience. Students consider the origins and consequences of social norms, institutions, and inequalities. The course examines society-wide or global phenomena as well as smaller social settings where individual behavior and experience are in greater focus.

An introduction to sociology through the study of contemporary social problems. Topics include inequalities of income, wealth, housing, education, and health as well as related social problems such as systemic racism, crime, poverty, homelessness, and climate change. With a particular focus on how sociologists study the process through which social conditions become defined as problems, the way various stakeholders frame those problems, and their potential solutions, students explore sociology in general and the social construction of social problems in particular. This exploration includes readings, class discussions, and community-engaged learning with local organizations addressing social problems.

Theories of society are used in a variety of ways to make sense of the world in which we live. This course examines the evolution of sociological theory, and the history of sociology as a discipline. Major schools of social theory are compared and analyzed, with emphasis on their role as foundations of sociology. Prerequisite(s): one course in sociology.

This course is a practical introduction to the research methods used by sociologists, including survey research, content analysis, participant observation and field research, qualitative interviewing, community-based research, case studies, focus groups, and comparative historical research. The assumptions of various approaches to social science research are considered, along with application of methods of collection and analysis for both qualitative and quantitative data. Prerequisite(s) or corequisite(s): SOC 204.

In this course, students learn how to think about social issues numerically. They learn the fundamentals of social statistics with a focus on interpretation, including quantitative data types, learning how to describe and present data (including data visualization), sampling, probability, and bivariate and multivariate analyses. Basic analyses such as hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, correlation, and regression are covered. Recommended background: basic math proficiency, some algebraic knowledge.

Although the “so what” of social scientific research involves value judgments, the discipline of sociology does not have a sub-field devoted to ethics—what people should and should not do. This course explores some normative controversies endemic to contemporary society and sociology. We examine how the discipline’s founders thought about the relationship between sociology and ethics. We also study topics such as liberalism and its critics, economic justice, multiculturalism, feminist ethics, racism and anti-racism, and speech norms in social and academic life. Another sociology course is recommended as a pre- or co-requisite but not required.

This course introduces students to theory and findings in social psychology, which involves empirical study of human behavior and mental processes in social situations. Topics include impression formation, interpersonal attraction, and persuasion, as well as prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. The readings, lectures, and discussions consider these and other topics in a variety of domains. The course also examines the research methods used by social psychologists, especially experiments, with an emphasis on recent efforts within the field to strengthen the quality of evidence on which we base our conclusions. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 101.

This course provides a broad overview of crime and justice from a sociological perspective. Topics include why certain behaviors are deemed criminal and others are not, how and why criminal laws are developed, why some individuals break those laws, and the role of the criminal justice system in society. The course also considers theories of crime and justice, approaches to the measurement of crime, the social factors associated with crime, and media representations and public perceptions of crime and justice. Recommended background: one course in sociology.

Many Americans have had contact with the criminal justice system, from police stops to incarceration or probation, components of our corrections systems, which, broadly speaking, attempt both to punish criminal behavior and change it. Yet we have all been subject to more informal systems of corrections and social control, from being grounded to being admonished by a teacher. This course provides a broad overview of sociological perspectives on social control in general and criminal justice corrections in particular. Topics include the origins, forms, and functions of social control; theories of punishment; the history of criminal justice corrections; modern challenges within corrections systems; mass incarceration; alternative forms of sanctions; and treatment of offenders. The course also considers research issues faced by corrections practitioners, including projects with community partners whose work involves correcting behavior. Recommended background: SOC 211.

Since the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Amendments of 1965, the United States has received millions of immigrants from virtually every part of the world. The magnitude of these recent immigrant flows has reshaped the demography of the nation. But the magnitude of the flows is only part of the story. Today’s immigrants are extremely diverse, ethnically, culturally, and racially. Students explore sociological approaches to immigration as they discuss, debate, analyze, and critique academic, political, and mainstream articulations of immigration processes in the United States.

What is the role of symbols and ideas in social life? This course introduces the diversity of current sociological approaches to this longstanding issue at the heart of the discipline. Students examine how "cultural objects," such as pop songs, newscasts, public monuments, and even collective memories are created and understood. They also explore sociological studies of culture in its more anthropological sense, as patterns of behavior and belief, and as culture relates to phenomena such as social movements, religion, sexuality, political conflict, globalization, and social stratification. Recommended background: one course in sociology.

This course examines how social and structural forces shape health, illness, and the health care system. Through critical analysis of health and illness in the United States, the course explores the field of medical sociology. Topics include social factors associated with health and disease, disability, the organization of health care, medical ethics, and the relationship between health care and human rights. Recommended background: one course in sociology.

The sociology of religion examines the collective roots and consequences of religious life. This introduction to the subject emphasizes critical historical moments when the role of religion in social life changed profoundly. Students focus on the transformations of the "Axial Age" (900-200 B.C.E.) that generated "world religions" such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and Judaism and gave religion a new critical distance from social life; and on the Protestant Reformation, which helped create the modern world, influencing aspects of life that seemingly have little to do with religion. The final section of the course explores religion in contemporary American society.

This course introduces students to the health care systems of nations in the developed and developing world. Health care takes place within culturally unique social, historical, and political contexts, which shape factors such as disease, nutrition, violence, reproductive health, and environmental and occupational hazards. The course explores how these diverse forces shape illness experience, health care utilization, organization and training of health care providers, and systems of health care delivery. Drawing on a critical perspective, this course utilizes sociological methods and theories to explore health and illness around the globe. Recommended background: one course in sociology.

What constitutes the urban? And how is it distinct from other forms of physical and social organization? This course introduces students to major themes in urban sociology. Students explore how the city operates as a site of conflict, not only in its conceptualization, but also as a site of struggle over social, physical, economic, and political resources. Topics include the contest over the emergence of the discipline through the Park/Dubois debate, empirical studies on "urban problems," industrialization, urban renewal, suburbanization, gentrification, racism, globalization, segregation, ghettos, schooling, policing, prisons, immigration, and urban farming.

This course introduces students to social movement theory and interest group politics in the United States via the case study of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) politics from the immediate post-World War II period to the present, and it examines the relationship of sexuality to the racial and gender dynamics of U.S. identity-based social movements. The course traces the development of research methodologies to study collective action from early rational choice models to resource mobilization theory to new social movement models and political opportunity and process models. How the LGBTQ+ movements drew upon, expanded, and challenged foundations established by both African American civil rights and feminism is also explored. Prerequisite(s): any 100-level course in Gender and Sexuality Studies, Politics, or Sociology.

This course considers how racial identity, class, culture, and privilege intersect with education systems and structures to shape students’ schooling experiences and academic outcomes. Through readings, discussion, projects, and fieldwork, students explore several questions: What are race and racism, and how do they matter to education? How has the U.S. tradition of racially segregated and unequal schooling played out historically? What are the effects of that legacy for children and for society today? And how do schools currently work to address opportunity gaps? Topics covered include bilingual education, tracking, and access to higher education. A thirty-hour field experience is required. Recommended background: EDUC 231.

This course addresses structural inequalities in the United States from an intersectional perspective. With attention to privilege and marginalization through structures like racism, capitalism, gender, sexuality, and citizenship, students explore recent sociological studies and engage in addressing inequalities in our campus and local communities. Topics include patterns in the distribution of privilege, power, and resources in society as well as possibilities for resistance and social change to challenge structural inequality.

Why and how do countries around the world control international migration? This course tackles this question in three parts. First, we explore why people migrate and define the myriad categories of migrants. Second, we examine how they control their own citizens seeking to emigrate (leave their 'home' country); noncitizens (foreigners) living within their territorial borders; and, noncitizens attempting to enter their territory. The third part of the course introduces several theories that explain why states control migrants and why they adopt particular forms of migration control. Upon completing the course, students understand that migration control is not unique to the United States. They can compare migration control regimes around the world and explain the role of historical and contemporary drivers, including colonialism, racism, capitalism, nationalism, and democracy.

Most, if not all, economic activity-whether it takes place at the level of individuals, organizations, or markets-requires rules, norms, and institutions. Efficiency alone cannot account for the existence and nature of those rules, norms, and institutions. Beliefs, values, power structures, perceptions of self-interest, political structures, racial dynamics, gender dynamics, path dependencies, and additional factors hold explanatory potential as well. This course investigates these factors. In the process, students explore some of the most important theoretical frameworks in sociology and politics such as rational choice theory, historical institutionalism and statist theory, and some key topics in sociology such as international development.

This course focuses on the social construction of gender through a consideration of a series of interrelated social institutions and practices central to gender inequality. Emphasis is placed on the intersections between gender inequality and inequalities of race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, and nation. Recommended background: one previous course in gender and sexuality studies or sociology.

Studies on deportation have mostly focused on the pathways to the criminal justice system, prison experience, and deportation processes to highlight the conditions in which individuals are criminalized and removed. This course builds on a growing literature paying attention to what happens to individuals after they are being deported to their so-called “countries of origin”, specifically those who are deported from the United States to Latin American and Caribbean nation-states. While students learn about the historical context and hegemonic narratives shaping the design of ever-growing migration policies affecting BILPOC immigrant communities in the US, the course centers the voices of deportees to analyze the different strategies they use to deal with the traumas and stigma of deportation in “origin” societies that often portray them as de-facto criminals. The course emphasizes the socio-cultural capital deportees use to find ways to belong in receiving societies.

This course offers an in-depth examination of core issues in political sociology. Attention turns to the formation of nation-states, nationalism, postcolonialism, neoliberalism and welfare states dynamics, international organizations, social movements and revolutions, democracy and regime change, violence, power, and related topics. Students encounter a variety of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, with empirical analyses focusing on case studies from across the globe. Recommended background: one or more courses in the social sciences.

Grief is an inherent aspect of the human condition, influenced by societal norms and expectations that shape how individuals, families, and communities navigate loss. This seminar explores the ways grief processes are molded by social phenomena such as religious traditions, popular culture, family structures, medical care, and the “death industrial complex.” Emphasis is placed on moral evaluations of grief, including why losses such as miscarriage and suicide are met with silence and social stigma, and how the concept of “prolonged grief disorder” may pathologize reactions to normal life events. Through group discussion, individual research projects, class presentations and personal reflection, students will engage with the multifaceted social contexts framing personal and collective experiences of loss. Prerequisite(s): SOC 205 and two additional courses in sociology.

Populist movements and parties have gained power and prominence in recent years. Often defying traditional left-right distinctions, they have in many cases adopted anti-globalization, nationalist or nativist, and anti-elitist positions. They have enjoyed electoral and other successes in Europe, Latin America, North America, Asia, and Africa. This seminar examines the causes of their rise, nature of their rhetoric and policies, and profound impact on cultural, political, economic, and other social processes and dynamics. Prerequisite(s): EUS 101 or one course in politics or sociology.

Despite crises and challenges, the European Union (E.U.) represents one of the most remarkable achievements of the contemporary world. This seminar first reviews the history and structure of the E.U. It then examines a series of topics related to the policy, social, and power dimensions of European integration. These topics include the drivers of integration, the transformation of domestic societies and institutions, the demands of E.U. law, the rise of a European identity, immigration, the consequences of expansion in Eastern and Central Europe, the salience of regions, and the E.U. on the international scene. Comparisons with other trade blocs conclude the seminar. Prerequisite(s): one course in sociology or politics, or EUS 101.

The racialization of immigrants is intimately tied to the construction of race for all groups in U.S. society. In this seminar students engage the intersecting literatures of race, ethnicity, and immigration to explore implicit and explicit discussions of racial hierarchies, and how immigrants fit into and challenge existing accounts of assimilation and incorporation. They deconstruct the racialization of citizenship status with particular attention to how blackness is integral to the immigrant racialization project. Recommended background: SOC 204. Prerequisite(s): AFR/AMST/GSS 250 or SOC 205.

Black immigrants occupy a liminal space on the race-ethnicity spectrum. This seminar interrogates this peculiar dilemma by drawing on the cases of Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, and African immigrants to the United States. Students explore how first- and second-generation immigrants construct their identity and define their relationship to blackness. They examine the role of ethnic conflict, cultural performativity, nationality, political and class ideologies, transnationalism, and citizenship status on immigrants’ everyday lives. Prerequisite(s): SOC 204 or 205.

This seminar draws on theoretical perspectives and research methodologies employed by two major subfields of sociology, the sociology of work and medical sociology. Health professionals in the United States work in rapidly changing technological, political, economic, and demographic environments. Students explore these and other issues facing health professionals, such as job satisfaction, stress, and efforts to balance work and family. They examine a wide range of health occupations, including (but not limited to) physicians, nurses, dentists, allied health professionals, and practitioners of complementary medicine. Students draw on a diverse range of theoretical frameworks and both qualitative and quantitative research methods employed in the study of health professions. Prerequisite(s): SOC 204 and 205.

This seminar explores debates in the research and policy literature on poverty and intersecting inequalities, particularly in the United States. Topics include policy related to housing, health, education, and food access; care work; and the integration of work and family. These topics are addressed with attention to social inclusion and exclusion on the basis of systemic inequalities, including race, class, gender, sexuality, and nation, as well as critical analysis of neoliberal approaches to poverty policy. Prerequisite(s): AFR/AMST/GSS 250 or SOC 205 or SOC 250 or GSS/SOC 270.

This seminar explores the history and structure of the family as a social institution, as well as youth and childhood as socially constructed life stages, particularly in the United States. This exploration attends to dynamics of privilege, exclusion, and marginalization, including systemic racism, capitalism, and inequalities of gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, nationality and citizenship. Students consider how these dynamics shape family structure, and how intersecting dimensions of inequality are reproduced and resisted through families. Prerequisites: SOC 205, AMST/AFR/GSS 250, GSS/SOC 270, SOC 250, or SOC s14.

This seminar examines how race and crime-as well as race and punishment-are intertwined from historical and contemporary perspectives. Students consider crime and deviance from an empirical and theoretical view as well as patterns of punishment that disproportionately affect various racial and ethnic groups. Students seek to understand how the present is informed by the past, and they contribute to the scholarly conversation with individual research projects. Prerequisite(s): SOC 204 and 205.

In this seminar, students examine crime and deviance over the life of individuals, how behavior changes, and the role of social institutions and relationships in affecting life outcomes.Why and how do people begin engaging in crime and deviance? Why do some people engage at high rates while others only dabble in minor crime? How and why do people eventually stop engaging in crime altogether? Students select a particular issue early in the semester to study in detail, resulting in an empirical or analytical project. The goal is not only to fully understand life-course criminology research, but also to advance this work in new and innovative ways. Prerequisite(s): SOC 204 and 205. Recommended background: SOC 101.

Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study per semester.

Students in this course engage with psychological research relevant to race relations, reviewing, evaluating, and applying both classic work (such as social identity theory) and contemporary work (such as implicit bias research). After studying the limitations of intrapsychic and interpersonal approaches, students also consider the roles that institutions and policies play in maintaining racial hierarchies. Throughout the course, students aim to remain grounded in historical context and, consistent with an intersectional approach, they also remain cognizant of the ways that race’s impact is also influenced by other category memberships, such as gender and class. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 218 or SOC 206.

The United States has experienced more than three centuries of growth and change in the organization of public education. This course examines 1) contemporary reform issues and political processes in relation to school, research, legal, policymaking, and student/family constituencies and 2) how educational policy is formulated and implemented. The study of these areas emphasizes public K-12 education but includes postsecondary education. Examples of specific educational policy arenas include school choice (e.g., charter schools, magnet schools, and vouchers), school funding, standards and accountability, and college access. A thirty-hour field experience is required. Prerequisite(s): EDUC 231.

Surveillance in a pervasive feature of modern societies—indeed, surveillance is often considered part of what defines “modern” social life. In this course, students will explore how personal, everyday uses of surveillance devices and experiences of data collection shape and are shaped by larger efforts to control populations, and how mobile digital connectivity influences those dynamics. Together, we consider foundational texts in academic studies of surveillance; techniques of surveillance found in health, education, and other social spheres; surveillance as a component of modern governance; and persistent stratifications in surveillance practices.

The racialization of immigrants is intimately tied to the construction of race for all groups in U.S. society. In this seminar students engage the intersecting literatures of race, ethnicity, and immigration to explore implicit and explicit discussions of racial hierarchies, and how immigrants fit into and challenge existing accounts of assimilation and incorporation. They deconstruct the racialization of citizenship status with particular attention to how blackness is integral to the immigrant racialization project. Recommended background: SOC 204. Prerequisite(s): AFR 250, AMST 250, GSS 250, or SOC 205.

Sociology examines the causes and consequences of social behavior, providing the tools to understand the relationships between individual lives and larger social structures and inequalities. This course is a capstone reflection on the discipline of sociology and the application of the sociological imagination to understanding the world. This intensive culminating experience synthesizes and integrates materials from prior sociology courses as well as exposes students to current controversies in the discipline. Discussions focus on core sociological concepts, theories, and methods, applying them to different substantive areas in the field. Prerequisite(s): SOC 204 and 205. Co-requisite(s): SOC 457 or 458.

Individual and group conferences in connection with the writing of the senior thesis. Students register for SOC 457 in the fall semester. Prerequisite(s): SOC 204 and 205. Corequisite(s): SOC 405.

Individual and group conferences in connection with the writing of the senior thesis. Students register for SOC 458 in the winter semester. Prerequisite(s): SOC 204 and 205. Corequisite(s): SOC 405.

This course examines the family as a social institution and personal family stories, with attention to structural inequalities and their intersections with individual lives. Course materials include sociological memoir, qualitative research on family experiences, engagement with local initiatives related to families in Lewiston-Auburn, and a range of story-telling media like documentaries, podcasts, and other creative work. Students explore these topics and materials in the context of dynamics of privilege, exclusion, and marginalization, including systemic racism, capitalism, and inequalities of gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, nationality, and citizenship. Throughout the course, students also construct sociological analyses of their own families, with a variety of options for creating final products that document those individual family stories.

This course explores how race, class, gender, and sexuality shape lives throughout childhood and youth. With attention to the active agency of children and youth as well as the constraints created by structures of inequality, the course addresses the social construction of childhood from infancy through late adolescence. Students engage these topics through readings, multimedia materials, class discussion, and community-engaged learning activities working with children and youth. Recommended background: recent community-engaged learning experience in a local public school or youth-serving organization.

This course explores the aging experience, focusing on early adulthood, middle age, and late life. Students are introduced to the social forces shaping the aging experience, paying particular attention to how race and ethnicity, gender, and social class influence the life course. Topics include key transitions in the life course produced by the intersection of individual lives with institutions such as family, health care, and the workplace. The course applies the theoretical perspectives and methodological techniques of life-course sociology to an exploration of life trajectories and the meanings of age.

This course examines the art, science, and politics of people watching through a sociological lens. Taking a critical perspective, we explore how dynamics of race, class, gender, ableism, and power pattern social interactions in public space. Students will move beyond people watching as a casual pastime and develop qualitative literacy skills by systematically collecting and analyzing observational data. The course emphasizes theoretical engagement with the ethics of surveillance, the politics of interpretation, and the reproduction of inequality, while encouraging students to reflect on their positionality as observers. Students will produce a community ethnography. Recommended background: prior engagement with the Lewiston community.

Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study during a Short Term.

In this Short Term Innovative Pedagogy course students help design refinements to the required research methods course in sociology. Topics for particular focus include community building within the major, inclusive pedagogy, antiracism in social science methods, balancing low-stakes assignments with graded work, and ways to broaden the range of sociological topics considered in the course. Students also explore and recommend more engaging approaches to development of key skills like literature review, research design, and supporting an argument with evidence, all with attention to ensuring the course provides the foundation sociology majors need to understand sociological studies and to pursue their own research in the senior thesis. This exploration includes interviews with department faculty, informal surveys or focus groups with current students and recent alumni, and engagement with literature on pedagogy and curriculum. Prerequisite: SOC205

In this Short Term Unit, students will design a course on the Sociology of Loss that will be taught the following academic year. Students will compile materials, select course topics, generate ideas for class sessions, and create assignments. Recommended Background: coursework in sociology.