Welcome to Principles of Sociology! You will be introduced to sociological principles through exploring the relationship between the individual, attitudes, behavior, and the community. This includes contemplating issues like race, gender, class, sex, age, and organizational infrastructures and their tendencies towards power, authority, and status. This course will introduce you to the definition of sociology and its emergence as a field of study. Sociological theories and sociological research will be explored. The sociological imagination is presented, and the central sociological concepts essential to your understanding of the field. The topics of culture, socialization, deviance, conformity, crime, and social control will be covered. Social inequalities and social change will be discussed, and the social organizations and institutions that contribute to each of these concepts.

Course Outcomes

• Explain major methods of socialization and social control, including political and legal systems, and be able to explain the concept of deviance.
• Explore how social factors contribute to social inequalities and efforts to create social change.
• Understand and apply sociological concepts to personal, social, and organizational issues by developing a “sociological imagination.”
• Demonstrate an understanding of how social inequality, stratification, and the social constructions of race, ethnicity, and gender operate within society.
• Analyze various social phenomena through the lens of different sociological theoretical perspectives.

Institutional Outcomes

• Information Literacy and Communication - Utilize appropriate current technology and resources to locate and evaluate information needed to accomplish a goal, and then communicate findings in visual, written and/or oral formats.
• Relational Learning - Transfer knowledge, skills and behaviors acquired through formal and informal learning and life experiences to new situations.
• Thinking Abilities - Employ strategies for reflection on learning and practice in order to adjust learning processes for continual improvement.
• Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning - Follow established methods of inquiry and mathematical reasoning to form conclusions and make decisions.
• Community and Career - Participate in social, academic, and professional communities for individual growth and to function as a citizen of a multicultural world.