Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Sociology

Department Faculty
Kendralin Freeman, Associate Professor, Chair
Ervin Kosta, Associate Professor
Whitney Mauer, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies
Renee Monson, Professor
James Sutton, Professor

As a discipline, sociology is the study of social structure and social interaction and the factors for making change in both. This includes the study of people, groups, organizations, spaces, and institutions. Sociology stands as an essential social science, applying a multitude of methodologies to complex questions in an ever-evolving human environment. Sociology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges is activist and change-oriented. Sociology brings methodological rigor to core humanist concerns. The sociology program at HWS has a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; not only do our faculty seek to convey an understanding of society, but its members have a keen interest in social problems, social theory, and social change. All faculty are involved in research and teaching that involves social issues, such as race, class, and gender inequality, community development, alcohol and other drug abuse, prison life, welfare policy, organizational dysfunction, urban life, educational reforms, and marriage and the family. Much of what we teach revolves around issues of personal and social development, the distribution of social rewards, and the liberatory power of sociological consciousness. Without exception, our faculty can be described as having a strong emphasis on the applied and as sharing a commitment to the community, broadly construed.

We aim to share this sociological understanding with our students so that they not only learn about the social world, but also criticize and work actively to change it. Our majors often put their course work into action while they are still at HWS through independent research, participation in community service and service learning, honors projects, academic conference participation, and internships. Graduates use their sociological education in countless ways, including graduate school, working for non-profit organizations, doing social work, and in business management.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Sociology Department at HWS is to educate and engage students in the consideration of social problems, forces, and processes that shape their lives. This process equips students with marketable skills to successfully navigate the labor force, critical thinking skills to successfully navigate local and global citizenship, and competencies in interpersonal and institutional dynamics to purposefully engage in social life.

Offerings

The Sociology Department offers a major in Sociology, a minor in Sociology, and a combined Anthropology/Sociology major in conjunction with the Department of Anthropology. All courses to be credited toward any major or minor in the department must be passed with a grade of C- or better.

We expect that our majors and minors will address the following goals while earning a degree in Sociology:

• Define and use foundational concepts of sociology, such as: the self, culture, status, crime, roles, norms, globalization, organization, stratification, deviance, social class, gender, race, sexuality, community, space, power, ethnicity, social change, urban, family, labor, and place.
• Examine and understand the reciprocal relationship between individuals, small groups, social processes, and social structures.
• Interrogate dimensions of difference (e.g., race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, ability) intersect to produce disparate experiences of power, belonging, and inequality in the social world.
• Interpret, clarify, and assess major theoretical platforms in sociological thought.
• Read, write, communicate, and apply sociological ideas verbally, graphically, and statistically explaining social patterns and social issues.
• Understand, evaluate, and produce sociological research using appropriate quantitative and qualitative methodologies and, when applicable, testable hypotheses.

Sociology Major (B.A.)

disciplinary, 11 courses
Learning Objectives:

• Define and use foundational concepts of sociology, such as: the self, culture, status, crime, roles, norms, globalization, organization, stratification, deviance, social class, gender, race, sexuality, community, space, power, ethnicity, social change, urban, family, labor, and place
• Examine and understand the reciprocal relationship between individuals, small groups, social processes, and social structures.
• Interrogate how dimensions of difference (e.g., race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, ability) intersect to produce disparate experiences of power, belonging, and inequality in the social world.
• Interpret, clarify, and assess major theoretical platforms in sociological thought.
• Read, write, communicate, and apply sociological ideas verbally, graphically, and statistically explaining social patterns and social issues
• Understand, evaluate, and produce sociological research using appropriate quantitative and qualitative methodologies and, when applicable, testable hypotheses.

Requirements:
SOC 100; SOC 211; SOC 212; SOC 300; SOC 465; and six additional sociology courses at the 200-level or higher, at least one of which must be a 300-level seminar. One 200-level or higher anthropology course can substitute for a 200-level sociology elective course. SOC 450 or SOC 499 arrangements can be counted for a maximum of two courses toward the major. All courses must be passed with a grade of C- or higher. No more than one course with a CR grade may be counted towards the major.

Sociology Minor

disciplinary, 6 courses
Requirements:
SOC 100; either SOC 211, SOC 212 or 300; and four additional sociology courses. SOC 450 or SOC 499 arrangements can be counted for a maximum of one course toward the minor. All courses must be passed with a grade of C- or higher. No more than one course with a CR grade may be counted toward the minor.

Anthropology/Sociology Major (B.A.)

11 courses
Learning Objectives:

• Examine and understand the reciprocal relationship between individuals, small groups, social processes, and social structures.
• Conduct anthropological and sociological research using appropriate methodology, including but not limited to ethnographic fieldwork and quantitative analyses, and integrate this research into anthropological and/or sociological analysis.
• Interrogate how dimensions of difference (e.g., race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, ability) intersect to produce disparate experiences of power, belonging, and inequality in the social world.
• Recognize how human cultural knowledge relates to human social behavior, including perceptions of race, class, and ethnicity.
• Read, write, communicate, and apply sociological and anthropological ideas verbally and visually, explaining social patterns and societal issues.
• Interpret, clarify, and assess major theoretical platforms in anthropological and sociological thought.

Requirements:
ANTH 110; SOC 100; any four of the five courses from department core offerings (ANTH 273, ANTH 306, SOC 211, SOC 212, SOC 300); a 400-level seminar in either anthropology or sociology; two electives in anthropology and two electives in sociology that together form a cluster, to be chosen in consultation with the advisor. All courses must be passed with a grade of C- or higher. No more than one course with a CR grade may be counted toward the major.

Sociology Policy on Courses Transferred into the Major/Minor

• Students can take SOC 100 elsewhere.
• Sociology majors/minors must take the required core courses (SOC 211, 212, and 300) at HWS. Exception: they have taken the course here at least once but have not achieved the minimum grade of C- or better. Students must get the approval of the department chair and the faculty member(s) teaching the course at HWS before transferring in a substitute core course taken elsewhere.
• Sociology majors must take SOC 464/5 (senior seminar) and the 300-level seminar at HWS.
• Students may count a maximum of two 200-level sociology courses taken abroad toward the major. These courses must be approved by department faculty. Students may count a maximum of one 200-level sociology course taken abroad for the minor.

Course Descriptions

SOC 100 Introduction to Sociology  An introduction to the fundamental concepts of sociology, this course focuses on such central issues as the social nature of personality; the effects of social class, race, and gender on social life; the interactional basis of society; and the place of beliefs and values in social structure and social action. A fundamental concern is to analyze the reciprocal nature of social existence, to understand how society influences us and how we, in turn, construct it. Typically, the course applies the sociological perspective to an analysis of American society and other social systems. (Freeman, Kosta, Monson, Sutton, offered every semester) Note: All upper level sociology courses require SOC 100 as a prerequisite.

SOC 201 Public Policy Making, Implementation, and Evaluation  This course is an overview of the public policy process: policy making, policy implementation, and policy evaluation. It draws on core concepts and frameworks from three related disciplines - sociology, economics, and political science - to examine how legislation is proposed and passed, how policies are implemented on the ground, and what tools are used to analyze and evaluate the justice and efficacy of public policies. The primary focus is on U.S. policy, with case studies from other nation-states serving as comparative context. Substantive policy areas addressed in the course may include poverty and welfare, education, crime, and labor policies. (Monson, offered alternate years)

SOC 206 Kids and Contention: The Sociology of Childhood in the U.S. Context  This class tackles the contentious history of childhood and youth in the U.S. context from a sociological perspective. We'll explore the history of childhood and youth, paying close attention to the ways in which young people are able to impact their social environment. Childhood is a social category that has historically been constructed by policies that fulfill the needs of adults. This course will provide us with a context to understand and interpret those policies and also investigate how children respond. We'll also examine how policy and other institutions inform particular norms, values, and stereotypes of young people, sometimes regardless of data or input from the young people themselves. Throughout the semester, we'll evaluate the role(s) of children in the various institutions, including schools, families, courts, neighborhoods, peer groups, and as consumers. (Freeman, offered alternate years.)

SOC 210 Gentrification  A term coined in 1964, gentrification refers to the return of the creative/professional middle classes to central city locations, where their quest for homes of interesting architectural provenance, cheap real estate and low rents, and proximity to cultural amenities often results in increasing rents and neighborhood upscaling that displaces existing working class residents. Despite its inability to challenge ongoing suburbanization in absolute terms, gentrification has nonetheless occupied a disproportionate amount of attention form sociologists, urban studies scholars, policymakers, as well as increasingly the mass media and the public interested in issues in urban decay and regeneration. This course will introduce students to the already voluminous literature on gentrification, focusing on earlier debates of the 'classical' era, such as production vs consumption explanations, to more recent theoretical developments that include planetary gentrification, commercial/retail gentrification, advanced or super gentrification, rural gentrification, etc. The course will make constant references to urban changes visible in downtown Geneva as well as more regional cities such as Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse. Students who have passed SOC 100, ANTH 110, POL 110, or ECON 160 with a minimum grade of C-, or have the permission of instructor, will be able to register for this course. (Kosta, offered occasionally)

SOC 211 Research Methods  This course is an introduction to the basic issues and fundamental trends of social research. The logic of inquiry, research design, sampling, validity, reliability of indicators in social data, and logistical and ethical problems in the collection and analysis of data form the central problems for consideration. Techniques of data collection, such as, participant observation, content analysis, experimental design, unobtrusive measures, and survey research are discussed. The course is intended to prepare students for original research efforts and also to help them become more sophisticated consumers of the literature of the social sciences today. (Monson, offered annually)

SOC 212 Data Analysis  This course provides an introduction to the organization and analysis of data in the process of social research. Presentation of data in tabular and graphic forms, the use of elementary descriptive and inferential statistics, and the use of bivariate and multivariate analytic procedures in the analysis of data are examined. This course includes a laboratory experience in the use of computing software to display data and test hypotheses. The course is ultimately intended to prepare students for original research efforts and to help them become more sophisticated consumers of the literature of the social sciences today. (Perkins, Freeman, offered annually)

SOC 213 Poverty and Place in Rural America  This course centers on the study of place-based poverty in the United States with a focus on rural areas. The course examines the ways in which social and economic rewards are geographically and racially stratified, asking "Who gets what, where and why?" This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying poverty by including geographic and humanistic dimensions. Course content will address theoretical and conceptual approaches to poverty, poverty and population measures, and explanations of geographically concentrated poverty. Through novels and non-fictions texts students will discover lived experiences of the rural poor with particular attention to Black, Latinx, and American Indian peoples. Students will also critically examine popular representations of rurality and poverty in the U.S. Lastly, students will take a case study approach to evaluate or predict a poverty program's structural and cultural impacts, including impacts on the poverty statuses of selected minority groups. This course counts as a Social Science core for the Environmental Studies major/minor. (Mauer, offered occasionally)

SOC 214 Urban Ethnography  Rapid urbanization in the 19th century provided a crucial impetus to the development of sociology, as scholars wondered how 'the city' transformed traditional forms of identity and community. Urban ethnography - the systematic observation of social life in the city - became one of the most important methods that defined the Chicago School of Sociology. This course will introduce students to the body of knowledge amassed over a century of urban ethnography, focusing on urban ethnographies both theoretically and methodologically. We will cover topics of sustained importance to ethnographers, such as poverty, crime and violence, race, social class, public space, work, immigration, consumption, housing and homelessness, and the informal economy. We will cover important debates within ethnography, including issues of ethics, representation, and the politics of doing an ethnography. Throughout the semester, we will ask what is specifically urban about any given ethnography, as well as what is specifically ethnographic about what's being studied in the readings we consider. Students might be expected to conduct their own ethnographies. The course will make references to urban changes visible in Geneva, as well as more regional cities such as Rochester, Syracuse, and Buffalo. Students who have passed SOC 100, SOC 210, ANTH 110, or BIDS 207 with a minimum grade of C- or have obtained permission of instructor will be able to register for this course. (Kosta, offered occasionally)

SOC 221 Race and Ethnic Relations  What is race? What is ethnicity? Has race always existed? Why should the history of people of color matter to contemporary policy and social relationships? In this course, students analyze minority group relations including inter-group and intragroup dynamics, sources of prejudice and discrimination, social processes of conflict, segregation, assimilation, and accommodation. Minority-majority relations are viewed as a source of hierarchy, contention, and change, and the history and current context of our multigroup society are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on racial and ethnic groups in the United States. (Freeman, offered alternate years)

SOC 223 Inequalities  Inequality is a fundamental aspect of social structure, but we, as individuals, frequently find it simple to justify without investigating its history. Despite the adoption of the rhetoric of equal rights and democratic values, inequality thrives in the United States. Our placement in Geneva, NY allows us, as sociologists, a unique opportunity to observe these systems of inequality within our city and relate them to broader patterns in the nation as a whole. This course is designed to give students a foundational knowledge in sociological theory of inequality stemming from Marx, Weber, and DuBois and continuing through contemporary theories of intersectionality. These perspectives will then be used to understand inequality in social class, race, gender, sexualities, and in the global arena. (Freeman, offered alternate years)

SOC 224 Social Deviance  This course explores the social etiology of deviant behavior, the functions of deviance, and societal reactions to deviance. An interdisciplinary approach is taken to the internalization of norms, guilt, shame, punishment, and conformity as they relate to deviance. Various theoretical approaches are examined. Social deviance is considered as a regular aspect of societies, and this course is directed toward a normative theory of culture, addressed to the problems of order, conflict, and change. (Sutton, offered alternate years)

SOC 225 Working Families  What is a 'working family?' What work is done by families? When do families work well, and who or what makes these judgments? The family is analyzed as a social institution embedded in particular historical contexts and shaped by broad economic change, cultural shifts, and political movements. Particular attention is paid to how various axis of social inequality (gender, class, race, and sexuality) shape our individual experience of family life as well as state-level evaluation of various family forms. The questions we consider include: How are families affected by the institution of paid work, and how do workplaces respond (or not) to shifting family configurations? Are two-parent, single-parent, or extended families more common historically and cross-culturally? What social forces contribute to changes in divorce rates and single parenthood? What are the causes and consequences of male-breadwinner and dual-earner families? How have cultural norms concerning motherhood and fatherhood changed over time? (Monson, offered alternate years)

SOC 226 Sex and Gender  What is the connection between biological sex and our identities as men and women? How is the variation over time and across cultures in gendered behavior explained? What are the sources and consequences of differences between women and men? How are these differences linked to inequalities of race and class as well as gender? What social forces will alter gender relations in the future? This course provides an introduction to sociological perspectives on gender relations as a social structure. Several theoretical frameworks for understanding the sources and persistence of gender differences and inequality are considered. Students examine a range of social institutions and ideological constructs shaping the social structure of gender, such as the state, family, employment, sexuality, and reproduction. (Monson, offered alternate years)

SOC 238 Immigrant America  Ethnicity and race are constantly evolving social constructions, yet they remain among the most persistent forms of structured social inequality. Focusing on the United States, but with reference to other multi-ethnic societies, this course will consider the immigration histories to examine why and how the salience of ethnic identity increases and decreases at particular historical moments, how the categories of race and ethnicity inform each other, and how they are inexorably related to the continuous remaking of the American mainstream. This course will pay particular attention to the immigration patterns of the turn-of the-twentieth-century (Ellis Island) groups, and the Chicago-school tradition of urban ethnographies that documented the lives of those groups during the 20th and 21st centuries. (Kosta, offered alternate years)

SOC 251 Sociology of the City  More than 80 percent of Americans and 50 percent of the world's peoples now live in urban areas. Such figures show that the city has become one of the most important and powerful social phenomena of modern times. As a result, it is imperative that we understand the city's influence on our lives. This course provides a basic introduction to urban life and culture by examining the development of the city in Western history. Classic and modern theories are examined in an attempt to grasp what the city is and what it could be. (Kosta, offered alternate years)

SOC 261 Sociology of Education  This course is an examination of the interplay between the formal ideal and informal personal aspects of education and other social processes. Topics of discussion include the potential of critical experience as contrasted to institutional certification; the assessment of personal career choices; educational experience as a life long aspect of the legitimation and stratification processes; friendships and voluntary association as resources for the resolution of stress; and education as a selective recruitment and promotion process involved with evolving social trends. Participants are expected to work from a critical, introspective sociological perspective. (Freeman, offered alternate years)

SOC 263 Juvenile Delinquency  This course outlines the history of juvenile delinquency in the United States and highlights current trends and patterns of delinquent behavior. A number of explanations have been proposed for why young people engage in deviance and crime, and a range of responses have been developed to identify, rehabilitate, and at times punish juveniles who do not behave appropriately. This course provides an in-depth look into these explanations and responses, and it critically examines how social power, inequalities, gender, poverty, and other sociological themes are intertwined with juvenile offending and the social control of juvenile delinquents. A sample of substantive topics focused on in this course includes gangs, juvenile sex offenders, substance abuse, violence, and the juvenile justice system. (Sutton, offered alternate years)

SOC 265 Penology  This course focuses on penal and correctional responses to criminal offending. It provides an overview of the key historical developments that have led up to the trends, patterns, challenges, and practices that characterize contemporary corrections, with special emphasis on the United States. Foundational philosophies of punishment, including retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation, are explored, and newer correctional paradigms such as evidence-based practices and restorative justice are introduced. This course examines jails and prisons extensively, while also devoting considerable attention to the death penalty, probation, parole, and community-based programming. A number of current substantive topics pertaining to corrections and punishment are additionally focused on in this course, including solitary confinement, prisoner reentry, violence in correctional facilities, prison gangs, mental health challenges, staff experiences and perspectives, and disparities pertaining to race, class, gender, and other dimensions of social stratification. (Sutton, offered alternate years)

SOC 266 Sociology of Police and Policing  This course focuses on police and policing from a sociological perspective. It provides an overview of the key historical developments that have led up to the practices, trends, challenges, and controversies that characterize contemporary policing. The primary focus is on urban municipal police and policing in the United States, though attention will also be devoted to federal law enforcement, private police, and policing in rural areas. Foundational themes that will be examined include the idea of police, routine policing, police socialization, police misconduct, and police organizations. We will additionally focus on a number of substantive topics, including but not limited to policing paradigms, women and policing, police accountability and reform, police ethics, police subcultures, the lives and perceptions of police officers, police (mis)use of force, and contemporary social movements that protest (e.g. Black Lives Matter) and support (e.g. Back the Blue) modern police and policing. A recurring theme that we will see is that discretion is inevitable when policing. Accordingly, we will explore systematic forms of police discretion that reflect and reinforce disparities pertaining to race, class, gender, and other dimensions of social stratification. (Sutton, offered alternate years)

SOC 271 Sociology of Environment  This course examines the development and future implications of environmental issues from a sociological perspective. Topics of discussion include: technological fix and social value definitions of environmental issues; how occupational and residence patterns are involved with the perception of and response to environmental issues; urban policies as aspects of environmental issues (e.g., zoning, public transport, etc.); stress involved with current life styles and occupations; and the personal, group, and social responses to resolve environmental problems. Topics of interest to students are discussed as they develop during the course. (Kosta, offered occasionally)

SOC 300 Classical Sociology Theory  The founders of sociology were deeply concerned about problems that continue to be of vital importance for contemporary sociological inquiry. Questions such as the nature of society and its relationship to individuals, the relation between sociological theory and social practice, whether sociology is a science and, if not, what it is, and so on, are all absolutely central to the sociological enterprise, and yet often become lost. This course returns to the classics in an effort to uncover the questions sociologists need constantly to ask themselves if they wish to reflect cogently upon their role in the contemporary world. Required of all sociology majors. (Kosta, offered annually)

SOC 353 Global Cities  Global Cities is a course that introduces students to the variety of the urban experiences across the globe, particularly in light of the continuing breakneck urbanization across Africa, Latin America, and Asia. However, the enduring concept of "the global city" that gives this subject of urban studies its name is a complicated concept that simultaneously critiques both the centralization of the Western European urbanization experience, moored as it was in a particular version of industrialization that's no longer the urban norm, as well as the set of "Chicago school" style theories that sought to theorize that Western European urban experience. (Kosta, offered alternate years)

SOC 357 Race and Education  This course provides an in-depth analysis of the ways in which education in the United States, at times challenges and at times reproduces racial hierarchy. Using a combination of macro and micro level sociological theories (e.g., structural functionalism, social reproduction, intersectionality, interactional), we'll explore the socialization, organization, and assessment practices of schooling in the United States with a lens toward racial inequality. Education is often touted as the key to equality, particularly in the US context. This course explores how education, despite this idealized view, has reproduced, and in some cases, exacerbated existing social inequalities. Using both micro and macro sociological frameworks, we will engage several key works that establish how schools create a social order that is not egalitarian and how, in fact, schools were never intended to promote equality across demographic groups. We will also explore reforms and alternatives to promote racial equality through schooling. Discussions of primary texts will not only engage sociological theory but will also analyze methodological choice and relevance for questions of educational equality. (Freeman, offered alternate years)

SOC 362 Criminology  This course provides a comprehensive overview of criminological theory and its applications. The major theories of crime and criminal behavior are presented, crime trends and patterns are investigated, and the main sources of crime data are critically assessed. Substantive crime topics such as fear of crime, victimization, drug use, murder, burglary, white-collar deviance, and sexual assault are also examined. Although interdisciplinary approaches to understanding crime will be explored given that the field of criminology is inherently interdisciplinary, this course is ultimately grounded in broader sociological principles and concepts, including but not limited to race, gender, class, power, social inequality, socialization, and social interaction. Discussions of course topics will be theoretical and empirical, with special attention given to the roles that data and research play in the evaluation of theory and the development of evidence based practices for responding to crime. (Sutton, offered alternate years)

SOC 375 Social Policy  This course focuses on U.S. income support policies designed to address poverty due to old age, unemployment, and single parenthood, using case studies of other Western welfare states for comparative purposes. The course traces the historical development and restructuring of the U.S. welfare state, from the "poor laws" in the colonial era, through the New Deal of the 1930s, the War on Poverty in the 1960s and 1970s, and the "end of welfare" at the turn of the 21st century. Central questions considered include how families, labor markets, and states intersect, and whether welfare states' policies ameliorate or reinforce inequalities of gender, race, and class. (Monson, offered alternate years)

SOC 450 Independent Study Permission of the instructor required. (Offered annually)

SOC 465 Sr Seminar: Research Practicum  Students must have passed 2 of the following SOC 211, SOC 212 or 300. (Staff, offered annually)

SOC 495 Honors  Permission of the instructor required. (offered annually)

SOC 499 Sociology Internship  A minimum of 150 hours of work or practice under the supervision of a sociology faculty advisor. Students are expected to keep a reflective journal and to produce a paper that relates their experience to more general issues in sociology. The length and scope of the paper shall be determined in consultation with the internship faculty advisor. Internship advisor permission is required to take this course, and prior departmental approval is required for any students who wish to repeat SOC 499. Permission of instructor.