Sociology
Professor G. MURPHY-GEISS (Chair); Associate Professors W. ROBERTS (Associate Chair), E. POPKIN, S. WONG, V. MUNOZ; Assistant Professors C. HUGHES, C. FIGUEROA, P. INARA RODIS
Sociologists seek to understand the complexities of social life by understanding people as situated within the larger contexts that shape their experiences and outcomes. The scope of our curriculum is quite broad, ranging from the study of individual behavior, interaction and organization to the analysis of global social processes. Our overall goal is to develop in students a deep, intellectual curiosity about how society works – both its organization and the consequences of that organization. Our major requires courses in sociology's key theoretical approaches and diverse methods of gathering and evaluating evidence, to inform students' understandings of themselves and their active engagement in the pursuit of social justice.
Sociology prepares students for a wide variety of careers. Our students have gone on to careers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors (policy, advocacy, activism, research). Many of our alumni pursue graduate degrees in sociology, law, public policy, education, medicine, public health, and related fields.
Major Requirements
To see more information about the sociology major — defining elements of the discipline, career paths of majors, methodological skills developed through our curriculum, and requirements — download the Sociology Major Requirements
Sociology Major (11 credits total)
A good way to enter the major is through any of the First Year Foundations courses offered by the sociology department. Alternatively, students may enter through any of our 100-level courses, including Thinking Sociologically (SO100), Inequality in the U.S. (SO101), Art and Society (SO105), Gender Inequality (SO112), Racial Inequality (SO113), Global Inequality (SO116), Deviance and Social Control (SO118), Environmental Sociology (SO130), or any of our topics courses (SO190). Any one of these courses will satisfy the prerequisite for 200-level courses in the curriculum.
Required courses (5 credits) [recommended timeline indicated in brackets]
- SO228 Social Theory [2nd year; no later than 3rd year]
- SO229 Sociological Research Design [2nd year; no later than 3rd year]
- Either SO401 Quantitative Research Methods or SO402 Qualitative Research Methods [3rd or 4th year]
- SO450 Senior Thesis (2 credits) [4th year]
Electives (6 credits)
- No more than three 100-level electives may count toward the major
- At least one 300-level elective must be completed prior to undertaking senior thesis (SO450)
- SO451 Senior Seminar does not count toward the major
- Study abroad programs that include a sociological element may contribute 1 elective (at the 100-level) toward the major
Concentrations
The sociology department offers two areas of possible concentration for majors, each building on the core elements of the major. A concentration is not required for the major. For those interested, a concentration offers a guide to students seeking to specialize in the designated area while also signaling their expertise to potential employers and graduate schools. The concentration will be noted on a student’s transcript. You may download the Sociology Concentration Sheet (.pdf) here.
Requirements:
- Declared sociology major.
- An intended concentration must be declared before the start of the senior year.
- Students may only choose one area of concentration.
Offerings:
- Research Methods and Data Analysis Concentration
- Health and Society Concentration
Research Methods and Data Analysis Concentration
11 credits
A concentration in Research Methods and Data Analysis requires coursework covering a broad array of research methods, including both quantitative and qualitative methods, community engaged research, and actual data analysis through coursework and senior capstone. This concentration is ideal for students interested in graduate-level study in data analysis, applied and evaluation research, epidemiology, as well as those interested in careers in government, program evaluation, public opinion polling, and a broad array of non-profit organizations.
Required Courses in the Major (5 credits):
- SO228 Social Theory
- SO229 Sociological Research Design
- SO401 Quantitative Research Methods or SO402 Qualitative Research Methods
- SO450 Senior Capstone (2 credits) – Must make use of a method(s) informed by course work.
Additional Required Courses (2 credits):
At least one additional methods elective from the following (1 credit):
- SO290 Advanced Topics: Data Analysis and Visualization
- SO411 Community Based Praxis
- SO390 Visual Ethnography
- Other options may become available in the department
- Options from other departments (consult with your major advisor)
Additional Electives (3 credits):
- No more than three 100-level electives may count toward the major
- At least one 300-level elective must be completed prior to undertaking senior thesis (SO450)
- SO451 Senior Seminar does not count toward the major
- Study abroad programs that include a sociological element may contribute 1 elective (at the 100-level) toward the major
Questions about the Research Methods & Data Analysis Concentration? Contact Professor Gail Murphy-Geiss (gmurphygeiss@coloradocollege.edu)
Health and Society Concentration
11 credits
A concentration in Health and Society requires coursework covering research methodologies and theories of medical sociology, examining individual experience, institutional structures, laws and policies that affect health, and broader systems of inequality that lead to unequal rates of illness and access to care. This concentration is ideal for students interested in graduate-level study and social research on health and medicine, including epidemiology, as well as those interested in careers in public health, medicine or health care services, and health-related non-profit organizations.
Required Courses (5 credits):
- SO228 Social Theory
- SO229 Sociological Research Design
- SO401 Quantitative Methods or SO402 Qualitative Methods
- SO450 Senior Capstone (2 credits) – Focus of capstone must fit concentration; may also satisfy the community engagement requirement of the concentration
At least three courses from the following (to be completed prior to capstone) (3 credits):
- SO246 Sociology of Health and Medicine
- SO206 Rethinking Violence in Society
- SO250 Global Health and Gender
- SO290 Advanced Topics: Global Health
- SO290/SO390 Advanced Topics: Global Mental Health Policy
- SO292 Sociology of Body and Health
- SO320 Mental Health Policy
Community Engagement Element (may or may not be for credit):
Options, subject to approval, include:
- Internship. Possibilities include:
- SO310 Internship in Social Organization with health organization
- An approved independent internship with a health organization for which no credit is granted
- Public Interest Fellowship Program internship (with health organization)
- Approved study abroad program with a health focus and containing a community engagement or community-based research element. Students should consult with their advisor. Possible programs include those by SIT, HECUA, Augsburg, and American University.
- Community engaged experience through the Collaborative for Community Engagement or Sociology Department Program:
- Community-Based Research experience (e.g., SO411 Community Based Praxis (PP) or similar)
- SO328 Community Based Research (contingent on partners in any particular year; consult with Dr. Rojo)
- Capstone that involves CBR or community engagement/action with a health organization
Additional Electives (3 credits):
- No more than three 100-level electives may count toward the major
- At least one 300-level elective must be completed prior to undertaking senior thesis (SO450)
- SO451 Senior Seminar does not count toward the major
- Study abroad programs that include a sociological element may contribute 1 elective (at the 100-level) toward the major
Questions about the Health and Society Concentration? Contact Professor Wade Roberts (wroberts@coloradocollege.edu)
Courses
Sociology
An introduction to sociological perspectives through investigation of the social sources of the self; the unequal distribution of power, privilege, and prestige; the social construction of institutions and their impact on human activities; and processes of social change. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement. (Not offered 2024-25).
Examines various forms of social inequality in the U.S. from a sociological perspective, including systems of inequality based primarily on race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, as well as their intersections. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPUS requirement.
(Summer only 2024-25).
Examines the influence of art on society and of society on art, including the use of art as propaganda and social protest, the social sources of creativity, the relation between artists and audiences, the roles of patrons and critics, and the workings or arts organization. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPUS requirement.
The causes of inequalities of wealth, income, power, and prestige. The effects of economic deprivation on personal life. The reproduction of inequality from generation to generation. The possibilities of the elimination of gross social inequalities. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. (Not offered 2024-25).
How sex roles shape our experiences. Sources and consequences of the differences between males and females. Biological differences, cross-cultural patterns, socialization processes, participation in the economy and the family. Possibilities for and consequences of changing sex roles. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPG requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPUS requirement.
The study of race as a dimension of inequality. Individual and institutional forms of racism and discrimination. Historical, comparative and theoretical perspectives. Prerequisite: None. 1 unit. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPUS requirement.
This course introduces the global roots and dimensions of recent social change emphasizing development as a transnational project designed to integrate the world. Economic and political globalization and the powerful counter-movements responding to rising inequality in the global south are explored during the course. May meet either the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures or Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPG requirement.
An examination of rule and norm-breaking behavior and theories about why individuals and groups engage in such behaviors. This course focuses on how a sociological understanding of deviance is distinct from biological and psychological explanations. The topics to be considered include the origins and functions of deviance, the institutional production and categorization of deviance, the impact of deviance on personal and social identity, deviant careers and the relationship between deviance and social change. Meets the Equity and Power: EPUS requirement.
The relationship between human societies and their natural and built environments. Topics may include the social construction of nature; the relationships between capitalism, materialism, and environmental degradation at local and global levels; urban development and growth; environmental racism; environmental justice and activism; the politics of environmental regulation and resource management; and the prospects for environmental sustainability. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPUS requirement. (Not offered 2024-25).
This quarter-unit adjunct course surveys multiple aspects of global engagement, including global health, sustainable development, and global citizenship. Introduces students to relevant academic debates about each of these domains of global practice and the broader moral and ethical context of global engagement, focusing on issues of responsibility, accountability, and community participation. Meets weekly over the course of a semester (Not offered 2024-25).
May meet either the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures or Social Inequality requirement. (Summer only 2024-25).
This course will focus on how the current era of globalization shapes the political economy of the Andean region of Latin America with a particular emphasis on the effect of neoliberal policies and the proliferation of new social movements. Based for four weeks in Quito, Ecuador, students will be placed in volunteer internships with non-governmental organizations that work on issues such as indigenous rights, indigenous education, environmental issues, and emigration to the United States and Spain. Reading and writing assignments will be supplemented by lectures by Ecuadorian academics on various facets of globalization and visits to local community organizations. Students will live with families and participate in course field trips to various regions of the country. During the final two weeks of the course, students will travel to La Paz and Cochabamba, Bolivia and meet with community organizations, academics, and government representatives engaged in issues such as privatization of water, nationalization of hydrocarbons, coca production and e radication efforts, indigenous activism, and efforts to expand free trade in the region. May meet either the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures or Social Inequality requirement. (Summer only 2024-25).
Examination of a variety of sociological issues and problems. Topics will vary from year to year depending on the interests and expertise of the faculty. (Not offered 2024-25).
This class presents an introduction to the sociology of violence. Topics will include various modes of violence (e.g., interpersonal violence, community violence, state violence) and how individuals and collectives engage in, respond to, and address violence. This course prepares students to use their sociological imaginations to consider the factors that create and sustain violent conditions and the impacts of violence at the individual, family, community, and societal levels. (Not offered 2024-25).
(Summer only 2024-25).
The study of the social organization and function of religion with emphasis on its interaction with other ideas, social structures, and processes. Consideration of major theorists (Durkheim, Weber, Troeltsch) will be integrated with contemporary socio-religious issues such as secularization, fundamentalism, televangelism, new religious movements, globalization, and the relations between religion and race, class, and gender. (No credit if taken after SO114. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement. (Not offered 2024-25).
(Summer only 2024-25).
Introduction to the foundations of sociological theory from the 18th through the 21st centuries. Explores individual theorists and schools of thought and their interrelations. Emphasis on connections between theory and substantive areas of sociological research. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement.
Survey of the variety of methods of sociological research, both quantitative and qualitative, focusing particularly on survey and interview, field research, content analysis, secondary analysis, experimentation, and historical-comparative methods. Labs will cover the basics of quantitative analysis and computer training in SPSS and N6. Includes the examination of exemplars from the sociological literature, as well as practice of hands-on research skills and sociological writing. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Quantitative Reasoning requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SA requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement.
This is a community based half-block/extended format introductory course. Our goal over half-block is to understand the theory of youth organizing and critical pedagogy. Colorado College students will then apply their learning via a partnership with local high school students. Colorado College students will mentor the high school students two afternoons per week throughout the spring semester with the goals of developing critical consciousness, facilitating critical pedagogies, and engaging the students in youth let community-based projects. (Not offered 2024-25).
Examines the relevance of place in social life and the role of spatial thinking and analysis in understanding social issues and promoting social change. Topics ranging from poverty to segregation, community development, public health, environment, crime, and demographic change may be addressed. Unequal access to community amenities or exposure to disamenities will be a common theme throughout. Emphasis on applied sociology and the application of mapping (GIS) and statistics in support of social justice advocacy, social awareness, and community-based research. Some prior experience with basic social statistics is required. No prior experience with GIS is required. (Not offered 2024-25).
An exploration of the social history of the American family, from its extended kinship form through the development of the nuclear family ideal, to the more varied forms existing in contemporary society. Emphasis is placed on how gender and race structure relationships within the family as well as the family forms themselves. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement.
Since the early 1980s, both legal and undocumented immigration to the United States have reached historic highs. This course examines contemporary migration from Latin America and how it has transformed urban and rural areas in the U. S. and prompted new questions about racial and ethnic diversity and immigrant rights. After considering the historical linkages between Latin America and the U. S. and the conditions that have generated high levels of migration, the course assesses urban economic restructuring and the ethnic and gendered divisions of labor, the role of immigrant networks in international migratory processes and immigrant organizing initiatives. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. (Not offered 2024-25).
(Summer only 2024-25).
An examination of law as a ubiquitous and ongoing process in society. This course will consider broad interdisciplinary perspectives and models in law and society studies with special attention to social contexts, specific readings and case studies related to major law and society themes, and contemporary debates related to legal issues. Visits to El Paso County courts will include data collection on behalf of local court watch organizations Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPUS requirement.
An examination of the conditions that facilitate social movement activism and the strategic choices activists face as their movements develop. Analysis of the changing grievances and goals of social movements in late modern societies. Examples from recent social movements of the left and right, such as the civil rights, student, women's, environmental, anti-tax, and anti-abortion movements. (Not offered 2024-25).
Presents a sociological alternative and complement to the bio-medical paradigm and critically examines public health, the healthcare system, and medicine in their larger social, economic, and political milieus. Topics may address the social determinants of health; domestic and global health-related inequities; policy; and health work as a profession. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPUS requirement. (Not offered 2024-25).
This course is an introduction to the sociology of 'third world' development and provides and overview of the causes and consequences of economic growth and social development in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. After reviewing the historical creation of the 'global south' and the theoretical explanations of development and underdevelopment, the course focuses on emerging trends associated with the current era of globalization including the changing international division of labor, the dominance of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and associated neoliberal economic policies, economic integration in the Western hemisphere, international migration, and both grassroots and state development initiatives. May meet either the Critical Perspectives: May meet either the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures or Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPG requirement.
Critically examines the field of Global Health from a Latin American Decolonial framework, allowing for a critical understanding of gender as a health outcome. (Not offered 2024-25).
This course will examine changing patterns of U.S. immigration policy in the U.S.-Mexican border region, with an emphasis on the criminalization of U.S. immigration policy, and assess this policy in the context of a broader review of immigration theory. Other issues that will be explored include: the conditions within Mexico and Central America that have generated emigration to the U.S., the nature/challenges of the migrant journey to the U.S., and the role that Latino labor plays in the U.S. economy. The class typically includes a field component along the U.S.-Mexico border. May meet either the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures or Social Inequality requirement. (Not offered 2024-25).
The changing demographics of front range communities in Colorado and the socio-economic conditions that generate poverty will be examined as a case study of immigration theory. The increasing diversity of Colorado Springs, Denver, and Pueblo, due in part to high levels of immigration particularly from Latin America, creates new challenges for the city including the provision of adequate housing and social services and racial and ethnic integration in public schools and other institutions. This community based learning course offers students the opportunity to volunteer with a local organization serving immigrants. Particular emphasis will be placed on student teaching of English as a Second Language classes to recently arrived immigrants. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. (Not offered 2024-25).
This course reviews the prevalent theories within the field of sociology of development leading to specific examination of neoliberal and post neoliberal development policy in Latin America. Following this inquiry, the course explores the emergence of grassroots resistance in the region in the context of an assessment of new social movement theory. The course includes a substantial field component in Latin America. (Not offered 2024-25).
An examination of contemporary French society through the sociological analysis of structure, culture(s), and everyday life, especially as compared to the United States. Topics include: religion/secularism, taxation and welfare, education, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, immigration, commerce, politics, the environment, families, work, health issues, leisure food, and time. Taught in France; conducted in English. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPG requirement. (Not offered 2024-25).
Functions of the school in modern society. The school as a social system and as a formal organization. Development and allocation of resources to public education. Impact of social and technological change on the school. The school as an agent of social control and of innovation and change. Problems of education in the urban setting, including the desegregation issue. (No credit if taken after SO380.)
A more specialized examination of a variety of sociological issues and problems. Topics will vary from year to year depending on the interests and expertise of the faculty.
Investigates critical theories of the body in order to examine how the human body has been used as an object of medicine and a form of social control. The content in the course combines theories of the body rooted in feminist studies and sociology of health and illness with foundations in the method of content analysis. In the course, students will use their methodological training to launch their own investigation of the body as a social construction with complex meanings related to gender, race, sexuality, and social class. Topics covered may include weight, sex assignment, beauty, athletics, illness, and ability.
Examines the visual as both technique of representation and mode of knowing, gaining competence in the aesthetic and technical dimensions of image production while developing a critical lens.
An advanced examination of the ways in which sexual identities, desires and practices are socially constructed and, as such, how they vary historically and culturally. Addresses a range of theoretical and methodological approaches that have contributed to the sociological study of sexuality, including psychoanalytic theory, survey research, social constructionism, feminist theory, critical race theory and queer theory. Specific topics include the political economy of sex; the construction of sexual identities; intersections of sexuality, gender, race and class; social movements; sexuality and institutions; families; marriage 'moral panics.' Offered in some years as a field research and writing course. (Not offered 2024-25).
How different types of community structures allow for different types of individual and group actions - deviance and conformity, successful and unsuccessful challenges to outside authority, the emergence of spectacular subcultures. Both historical and more contemporary case studies. Emphasis on network theory and its applications, using computer programs to analyze relations among actors. No prior programming experience is necessary.
Examines the social base for cultural institutions, for constructing cultural meanings and for producing both high and popular culture. Cultural institutions as seats of both power and conflict. The impact of cultures and subcultures on identity formation. The response of cultural institutions to the rise of postmodernity. (Not offered 2024-25).
Examines ways in which sociology offers critical insight into social inequalities and how such insight can inform social policy and political efforts for social change. (Not offered 2024-25).
Uses Critical Discourse Analysis on current public policy to bring to light the values underpinning mental health, acquiring a methodological tool that brings into evidence how language impacts the treatment afforded to individuals diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement.
An examination of the major principles and arguments of symbolic interactionist theory and its applications. Symbolic interactionism is an approach to studying the social world that privileges micro-level phenomena. Particular attention is paid to interactional accomplishments of self and identity, the nature, structure, and norms of social interaction, and interactional regulation of bodies and emotions (Not offered 2024-25).
This course centers on ideas of space, place, and community and relates them to major theoretical approaches in sociology. It explores the history of urbanization and urbanism, how people are socially and spatially organized, how urban life affects social interaction, and the stratification of neighborhoods as it relates to inequality more broadly. Particular attention is paid to place-related topics such as housing, education, employment, crime, development, politics, and gentrification.
This intensive course engages with theories, epistemologies, and methods of community-academic collaborations. It considers who determines research agendas, makes knowledge claims, and claims ownership over knowledge production. Finally, it asks whether and how to use the tools of the academy towards social justice. Students contribute their research skills to a project that benefits a community organization.
Library or primary research or a combination thereof in an area of sociology in which the student has a personal interest, curiosity, or concern.
Library or primary research or a combination thereof in an area of sociology or social psychology in which the student has a personal interest, curiosity, or concern.
A more specialized examination of a variety of sociological issues and problems. Topics will vary from year to year depending on the interests and expertise of the faculty. (Not offered 2024-25).
Fundamental issues in quantitative research design, data collection, and analysis. It focuses on more advanced analytical techniques, including spatial and regression analysis, making use of core software programs such as Stata, SPSS and GIS. Emphasis on the practical application of statistical methods to analyze sociological data, as well as the interpretation and presentation of results. Required of majors who do not take SO302: Qualitative Research Methods.
Prepares students to conceptualize, design, and conduct research and to analyze and interpret data obtained through qualitative methods such as field research, participant observation, in depth interviewing, narrative analysis and action research. Required of majors who do not take SO 301- Quantitative Research Methods.
Course designed for the student to intern in an organization which is closely related to the work of one or more standard sociology courses. Students will test a body of classroom theory or description against 'reality. ' Students will examine and describe the structure and workings of the organization and be of assistance to the organization. Must be arranged at least one block in advance. May be taken as a block course(s) for 1 or 2 units, as a yearlong course for 1 unit, as a half block course for .5 unit, or over 4 blocks for .5 unit.
A course designed to put sociology into practice for a community, organization, or movement. A praxis course is distinguished by genuine collaboration with community partners and by a process of reflection that incorporates lessons learned in the classroom and application of theoretical understandings to work for social change. Must be arranged at least one block in advance. May be taken for up to 1 unit on any schedule, including as a block course(s), as a year- or semester- long course taken as adjuncts, as a half block with or without additional adjunct blocks or as only adjuncts.
An independent project on a topic of the student's choice. The project might entail a position paper, empirical research designed to test a hypothesis or describe some phenomena, a theoretical piece dealing with an important sociological problem, or a combination of the above.
Advanced study of a topic of sociological significance. (Not offered 2024-25).