Learning Objectives

1. The discipline of sociology and its role in contributing to our understanding of social reality, such that students will be able to:
1. describe how sociology differs from and is similar to other social sciences as well as other disciplines, and give examples of these differences;
2. use sociology as part of an interdisciplinary approach to social issues;
3. describe and illustrate how sociology contributes to a liberal arts understanding of social reality; and
4. apply the sociological imagination, sociological principles, and sociological concepts to her/his own life.
2. The role of theory in sociology, such that the student will be able to:
1. define theory and describe its role in building sociological knowledge;
2. compare and contrast basic theoretical orientations in sociology;
3. show how theories reflect the historical contexts of the times, places, and cultures in which they were developed;
4. describe and apply some basic theories or theoretical orientations that are relevant to students’ service learning and internship experiences; and
5. describe and apply some basic theories or theoretical orientations in at least one area of social reality.
3. The role of evidence and qualitative and quantitative methods in sociology, such that the student will be able to:
1. identify basic methodological approaches and describe the general role of methods in building sociological knowledge;
2. compare and contrast the basic methodological approaches for gathering data;
3. design a research study in an area of choice and explain why various decisions were made;
4. indicate how methodological approaches differ in applied settings; and
5. critically assess a published research report and explain how the study could have been improved.
4. Basic concepts in sociology and their fundamental theoretical interrelations, such that the student will be able to:
1. define, give examples, and demonstrate the relevance of the following: culture, social change, social structure, sociological imagination, institutions, socialization, power, and [other basic sociological concepts that the CSUCI sociology faculty deem central]; and
2. show how these and other concepts are best understood and applied from an interdisciplinary approach.
5. How culture and social structure operate, such that the student will be able to:
1. show how institutions interlink in their effects on each other and on individuals, and how these linkages vary across cultures;
2. demonstrate how social change factors such as population or urbanization affect social structures and individuals, and how these effects vary across cultures;
3. demonstrate how culture and social structure vary across time and place, and the effects of such variations; and
4. identify examples of specific policy implications using reasoning about social structural effects.
6. Issues of inequality and difference, as they are manifested in differences by subculture, class, age, sexuality, race, ethnicity, gender, and disability such that the student will be able to:
1. explain the origins of such differences and inequalities;
2. compare theoretical approaches to these differences and inequalities;
3. explain the consequences of such differences and inequalities;
4. show how issues of inequality vary across and within cultures; and
5. indicate appropriate social policies for addressing such differences and inequalities.
7. The macro/micro distinction, such that the student will be able to:
1. compare and contrast theories at one level with those at the other;
2. summarize some research documenting connections between the two; and
3. develop a list of research or analytical issues that should be pursued to more fully understand the connections between the two.
8. Reciprocal relationships between individuals and society, such that the student will be able to:
1. explain how the self develops sociologically;
2. demonstrate how societal and structural factors influence individual behavior and the self’s development;
3. demonstrate how social interaction and the self influence society and social structure; and
4. distinguish sociological approaches to analyzing the self from psychological, economic, and other approaches, and show how sociology contributes to an interdisciplinary approach.
9. The role of sociology in understanding our multicultural and global world, such that the student will be able to:
1. illustrate how basic social facts differ across cultures;
2. demonstrate how social developments in one part of the globe affect social developments in other parts;
3. connect current events in a society with the cultures and subcultures in that society;
4. indicate the limitations of an ethnocentric perspective on social reality and how to attenuate such ethnocentrism; and
5. compare and integrate the sociological perspective on multiculturalism and globalization with the geographical, philosophical, psychological, economic, historical, and other perspectives.
10. In depth at least one area within sociology, such that the student will be able to:
1. summarize basic questions and issues in the area;
2. compare and contrast basic theoretical orientations and middle range theories in the area;
3. show how sociology helps understand the area;
4. summarize current research in the area; and
5. develop specific policy implications of research and theories in the area.
11. To think critically, such that the student will be able to:
1. move easily from recall, analysis, and application to synthesis and evaluation;
2. identify underlying assumptions in particular theoretical orientations or arguments;
3. identify underlying assumptions in particular methodological approaches to an issue;
4. show how patterns of thought and knowledge are directly influenced by political-economic social structures;
5. present opposing viewpoints and alternative hypotheses on various issues; and
6. move easily from a the disciplinary perspective of sociology to an interdisciplinary perspective.
12. To develop values, such that the student will see:
1. that an interdisciplinary approach provides a more complete perspective on social reality than that provided by separate disciplines;
2. that sociology contributes a unique view of social reality as part of an interdisciplinary approach; and
3. the importance of reducing the negative effects of social inequality.