| SYG
2010 Social Problems
- This course surveys
some of today's
major social problems
and contemporary
social issues,
such as inequality,
poverty, world
population growth,
environmental abuse,
the changing nature
of work, crime
and criminal justice;
as well as social
problems related
to the aging of
America. The goal
of this course
is to develop a
sociological perspective
and an ability
to analyze these
contemporary problems
using a "sociological
imagination."
|
| SYO 4540 Organizations - Although organizations were present in earlier societies, it was not until the advent of modern industrialized societies that we find large numbers of organizations who perform many highly diversified and specialized tasks. This course surveys the origins of formal organizations in modern societies. We examine the various typologies of organizations and organization theories. Also the course explores the problems associated with organizational behavior and social control. |
| SYP 4730 Aging and the Life Course - This course examines the social aspects of aging. Topics include family intergenerational relationships, social support networks and caregiving, health issues among the elderly, the economics of aging, population demographics, retirement, widowhood, and social theories of aging. We analyze the social structural influences on individual decisions, values, behaviors, and experiences as we age. During the semester we will take a look at how individual opportunities, choices, and experiences are a product of two forces: the unique characteristics of the individual and her/his position in a social structure. |
| SYA 4930 Sociology of Mental Health - The focus of the sociology of mental health and disorder is on collective behavior that is attributed to the general society. Therefore, sociology focuses less on individual experience and more on conditions that determine why so much experience is common to different people. There are four objective for this course: (1) to be able to define the problem of mental disorder from a sociological perspective; (2) to become familiar with the major issues and research findings in the sociology-oriented literature on mental disorder, (3) to develop an understanding of the underlying sociological theories and conceptual models that help to explain the social factors associated with mental disorder, and (4) to become familiar with a number of instruments used to assess mental disorders. |
| SYO 6540 Organization - The study of organization is an examination of social units that have a particular purpose, attract participants, acquire and allocate resources to accomplish goals, and use some form of structure to divide and coordinate activities. This graduate seminar surveys the origins of formal organizations in modern societies and how these principals of organization have influenced and impacted virtually every aspect of the world around us. |
| SYP 6730 Social Theories of Aging - This course surveys the past and current states of development in the social theories of aging. In the relatively short history of social gerontology as a scientific field there has been a significant effort invested in theory building in an attempt to explain the social processes of aging. Some examples of these theories include Disengagement Theory, Activity Theory, Continuity Theory, Modernization Theory, Age Stratification, Social Exchange, The Political Economy of Aging, Life Course Perspective, and gender theories of aging. |
