FALL 2025 Course List

SOC 101                     Introduction to Sociology                                                Cr 3

Introduces the fundamental concepts, principles, and methods of sociology, analyzes the influence of social and cultural factors upon human behavior and evaluates the effect of group processes, social classes, stratification, and basic institutions in contemporary society. Satisfies the General Education Social Contexts and Institutions requirement.

SOC 101-0001        MoWe       3:30 PM –  4:45  PM                   Michael Haedicke                  DPC 117 SOC 101-0002         Tu/Th       2:00 PM –   3:15 PM                    Sarah Walton                 Williams Hall 211 SOC 101-0003         MW           11:00 AM – 11:50 AM           F   11:00 AM – 11:50 PM                  Glenn Eichel                    Murray 106 SOC 101-0004       Tu/Th       12 :30 PM –1:45 PM                   Karyn Sporer                        Boudreau 310 SOC 101-0990        Online    10/13/25-12/5/2025                     Karyn Sporer                             Online SOC 101-0991         Online    10/13/25-12/5/2025                    Karyn Sporer                              Online

CRJ 114                     Survey of Criminal Justice                                               Cr 3

 This course is designed to provide an overview of the justice process and the criminal justice system in general.  Concepts of crime, deviance and justice will be discussed. Individual rights in a democratic society will be explored. As will the legal definitions of various crimes. The law enforcement, judicial, juvenile justice and corrections subsystem will also be explored, and a number of reform proposals presented.

CRJ 114-0001          Tu/Th       9:30 AM –  10:45 AM                     TBD                           Online Live CRJ 114-0002         MWF         5:00 PM – 5:50  PM                    Aaron Nolan               Murray 106                

CRJ 214                     Intro to Criminology                                                           Cr 3

The police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May 2020 sparked nationwide uprisings and triggered many questions about the role of crime and the criminal legal system in the United States. This course will cover various issues and operations of crime and the criminal legal system in the United States through a sociological lens. Specifically, the course will provide general sociological overviews of crime, cops, courts, and corrections. Each section of the course will examine contemporary issues and theoretical understandings, while also acknowledging the historical context. As a sociological study of crime and criminal justice, the course will explore how social forces shape the way crime and the criminal legal system operate, with particular attention to the ways in which race, gender, and class intersect to influence the administration of justice. Additionally, the course will address the societal consequences of criminal justice policies on families and communities, including a focus on reentry following incarceration. This course concludes with discussions of alternatives to the criminal legal system.

 CRJ 214-0001           Monday        9:00 AM – 11:50 AM       Ebonie Epinger                           Online  

CRJ 220                    Corrections                                                                           Cr 3

This course will introduce students to the history, changes, and social impacts of the corrections system within the United States.  Students will learn how the American correctional system became a hallmark for the punishment and management of offenders with one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.  As part of this course, students will also examine important criminal justice policies and learn the component parts of the U.S. correctional system. Examples of topics covered in this class include the establishment of community corrections, the societal impact of mass incarceration, and the impacts of mass incarceration on both urban and rural communities.

CRJ 220-0180        Tu/Th       5:00  PM – 6:15  PM                    Arron Nolan                         Neville Hall 208

CRJ 290/SOC 290  Topics in Sociology:  Research in Sociology               Cr 3

Explores the relationship between theory and research. Specific topics include the nature of scientific proof in the social sciences, measurements of variables, hypothesis and theory testing, sampling, research design, ethical issues in research, and the relationship between research and policy-making

CRJ.SOC  290-001                   Tu/Th       2:00 pm – 3:15 pm           Michael Haedicke        FEEDC 337  

SOC 201                        Social Inequality                                                                     Cr 3 Structural analysis of social inequality within American society and the global community. Emphasis on the causes, extent and social consequences of inequality, especially those based on race, gender, social class and the level of economic development.

 Soc 201 -001                               MW        2:00 PM – 3:15 PM            Michael Haedicke         DPC 107        

SOC 220                        Sociology of Deviance                                                         Cr 3

This course examines the nature and meaning of deviant behavior and the relationship between social norms and deviance. We explore what is, and what is not, considered deviant in the United States and around the world and how that comes to be determined. By the end of this course, you will understand how deviance is constructed, defined, viewed, and reproduced. You will be able to critically evaluate institutional responses to and control of deviance. Our study covers many topics including sex and sexuality, extreme tattooing, religion, cult, white supremacy, drugs/alcohol, deviant subcultures, and corporate crime. We examine the important theories of deviance and the relative nature of deviance.

  SOC 220-0001        MW           9:00 AM –  9:50 AM                    Glenn Eichel                          Stevens 375           F    9:00 AM –   9:50 AM                    Glenn Eichel                              Online

SOC 240    Topics in Sociology:                                                                                          CR 3                  

 In this course we will examine the various patterns that exist in certain family systems that consciously or unconsciously harm one or more of their own members, such as families where alcoholism is present, where there is physical, verbal, emotional, or sexual abuse. We will examine concepts such as scapegoating in family systems, gaslighting, projection, denial, inter-generational trauma, domestic violence, sexual abuse, sibling abuse, family “rules” as well the way in which family narratives and stories often silence the narrative of abuse and privilege the stories of some family members over others. As a system, the family unit would ideally support and protect all of its members; however, we will explore what happens in families when this is not the case and give voice to the stories of the most vulnerable members in a family system, the targeted individual, scapegoat, “black sheep,” or “identified patient.” We will explore these types of family dynamics across racial, ethnic, class groups and investigate these patterns through the lens of gender as well. We will also examine the various strategies that targeted individuals in families have used to break free from harmful family dynamics, including the role of the first-personal narrative (autobiographical writing), expressive arts as therapy (dance, music, art therapy), as well the role of professional counseling. We will draw on a range of literature in this course, including clinical mental health literature but also anthropological, sociological and literary sources to examine the harms that are sometimes done within the most intimate social system in society, the family, harms that are then frequently silenced. The theoretical models employed in our analysis will include feminist pedagogical, sociological, clinical counseling, and family and systems theories.

                   Family Systems that Harm & Pathways to Healin SOC 240-0990                           Asynchronous                             Mary Okin                                 Online

CRJ 314 Law & Society                                                                                        Cr 3

 Presents a sociological perspective on law and the legal system in the United States and other societies.  Topics include problems in defining law, sociological theories of the origins and consequences of law, international differences in modes of dispute resolution, the relation between law and social change, studies of the legal profession and legal discretion in the criminal justice system. Credit cannot be earned for both CRJ 314 and SOC 314.

CRJ 314-001                        Tu/Th       12:30 PM – 1:45 PM              Aaron Nolan                       Online Live

SOC 311 Rural Sociology                                                                                     Cr 3

 This class examines key theories, concepts, and data relevant to the field of rural sociology. In this course, we will explore a range of sociological topics and how they are relevant to rural people and places, including social institutions, stereotypes, depictions of rural people/places in media, criminal justice, the economy and work, inequality/poverty, race, class, gender, and sexuality. Through this course, we will engage our sociological imaginations to understand the importance of space and place and how and why rural and urban places are similar and different from each other. In this class, through assignments that apply place-based frameworks, students will develop a sociological toolkit that enables them to critically examine and understand rural-urban dynamics as well as apply these insights to their own personal experiences of rural-urban differences.

SOC 311 – 001          Tu/Th 12:30 PM -1:45 PM                    Sarah Walton                       Boudreau 121