DAVID B. BARKER, Ph.D. Program Director
FACULTY: Associate Professor: David B. Barker, Adjunct Professor: Richard W. Moodey.
The Sociology Program is primarily a service provider offering courses and academic support for students, programs, and departments throughout the University. Substantive areas of inquiry covered by courses offered in the Sociology Program include: culture, human diversity, minority-majority group relations, social inequality, social theory, deviant behavior, and social institutions. Instruction in social research methods, applied statistics, and use of statistical software is also available.
SOCI 110: Basic Sociology
An introduction to the theories and methods of sociology, and to selected substantive areas.
The substantive areas selected will vary.
3 credits, Fall, Spring
SOCI 111: Introduction to Anthropology
An introduction to the traditional four fields of anthropology: archaeology, linguistics,
physical anthropology, and cultural anthropology.
3 credits
SOCI 120: Individual, Culture, and Society
An introduction to the social scientific study of human diversity, and to the practical
implications of such knowledge.
3 credits, Spring
SOCI 210: Deviant Behavior
An analysis of the processes by which behavior is characterized as deviant or conforming.
Issues treated include labeling, control, stigma, and deviant careers.
3 credits
SOCI 211: Social Psychology
Social Psychology examines how situations influence the affect, behavior, and cognition of the
individual. Course topics include: the self, group behavior, attitudes and persuasion, attributions
regarding causes of behavior, aggression, interpersonal attraction, and intimate relationships
Prerequisite: PSYC 111
3 credits, Fall, Spring
SOCI 230: Minority Groups
A study of the way certain categories of Americans, including but not limited to racial and ethnic
minorities, have come to be objects of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Various ways
of working to overcome prejudice and discrimination are discussed.
3 credits, Spring
SOCI 292: Cultural Anthropology
An introduction to anthropological descriptions and explanations of the highly diverse ways
of life created by people living in different times and places.
3 credits
SOCI 293: Physical Antropology
An introduction to physical anthropology, its history, methods, theories, and
selected practical applications, including forensic anthropology. Topics
include: the social history and application of physical anthropology, race and
human variation, primatology, and hominid evolution.
3 credits
SOCI 351: Statistics for the Social Sciences
This course provides students with the skills needed to perform basic data analysis. Course
topics include: descriptive statistics (the use of graphs and numeric summaries) and
inferential statistics (methods for estimating population characteristics using sample data).
Instruction on the use of statistical software is provided.
3 credits, Fall
SOCI 352: Methods in Social Research
Practical guidance in the design of both quantitative and qualitative research. Topics include
theory and research design, conceptualization, measurement, data construction and analysis,
and the ethics of social research.
Prerequisite: SOCI 351
3 credits
SOCI 390-394: Supervised Readings and Special Topics in Sociology
3 credits
SOCI 395-399: Independent Study
1-3 credits