Course Objectives:

This course is an introduction to the basic concepts, theoretical perspectives, and social themes in contemporary sociology. We will be looking at sociological insights into the structure of human society. The primary goal of this course is to introduce the students to the realities of human society such as socialization, stratification (racial/ethnic, gender, class, religion, etc.), group behavior, social structures, and strategies that promote social change. The emphasis will be on learning to think about, identify, and consciously affect the structure of our social surrounding.

Syllabus

Discussion Topics:

Defining Sociology

Socialization

Research Methods and Social Theory

Order and Conflict

The Structure of Society

Culture

Social Control

Participatory Research

Community Mapping

Pair-wise Ranking Instructions and Matrix

Pairwise Ranking Results with Undregraduate Students of the University of New Mexico

Stratification

Assimilation

Affirmative Action

Community-Based Dialogue and Reconciliation

Race and Ethnicity

Discussion Questions for the Film, Color of Fear

White Privilege

Human Mating According to Evolutionary History

Gender Inequality

Women in Development (WID) / Gender and Development (GAD)

Religion

Panel of Individuals from Different Religious Faiths

Politics and the Economy

Education

Parting Thoughts

Library of quotes on/by:
• Gender and Development
• Race and Ethnicity
• Education
• Auguste Comte
• Emile Durkheim
• Max Weber
• Jean-Paul Sartre
• Post-Modernism
• Research Methods
• Social Theory
• Dependency Theory
• Karl Marx and Marxism
• Market Economics
• Socialism--Anarchism
• Participatory Community Development
• Negotiation / Facilitation/Mediation
• Architecture and Planning
• Comparative Development
• Constructing Social Theory
• Student Journals
• Environmental Protection
• Technology Transfer

Volunteer for a Community

Non-profit Organizations that Need Volunteers