This survey course provides an introduction to the sociological study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture. Typical course topics include socialization, the family, criminology, deviance, inequalities, sex and gender, race and ethnicity, health and medicine, self and identities, and globalization. Students gain an understanding of how organizations, institutions, and structures of society shape individual and group experiences. Max hours: 3 Credits. GT: Course is approved by the Colorado Dept of Higher Education for statewide guaranteed transfer, GT-SS3.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Additional Information: Denver Core Requirement, Social Sciences; GT courses GT Pathways, GT-SS3, Soc Behav Sci:Hmn Behav, Cul.

A young college student updates her social media page to stay in touch with family and high school friends while making new friends on campus. An upstart automobile manufacturer builds a factory manned by robots to produce electronic vehicles designed to reduce the environmental impact of automobiles. The military deploys battalions of unmanned drones to engage with adversaries without risking the lives of their soldiers. Technology mediates nearly all aspects of social life, from reproduction and parenting to crime control and heath care. This course is designed to provide students an introduction to the different social dimensions of technological innovation as well as the theoretical and methodological tools sociologists use to study them. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Additional Information: Denver Core Requirement, Social Sciences.

Restriction: Restricted to Freshman level students. Term offered: spring, fall. Max Hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Restricted to Freshman level students

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.

Introduction to careers and planning for career success in sociology and the social sciences for all beginning sociology majors or those considering the major. Discussions about career opportunities, the various sociology undergraduate and graduate degree paths, research being conducted within the sociology department, and strategies for being a successful and engaged sociology major. Prereq: SOCY 1001, Preferred: Current or anticipated SOCY major. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: SOCY 1001

Typically Offered: Fall.

Introduces students to critical sociological perspectives on social inequality. Major sociological factors contributing to the production and reproduction of inequality in various social organizations and institutions are analyzed. Prereq: SOCY 1001 or permission of the instructor. Term offered: fall, spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: SOCY 1001

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.

This class explores different forms of deviance and ways in which deviant categories are created,and examines sociological theories of deviance, social order, and social power. The course also addresses how different groups gain control over social definitions and the consequences these definitions have in the form of norms, laws, and informal social sanctions. The impact of these definitions for individuals also is considered, namely for how people construct and manage their identities. Topics covered include drug smuggling, gang membership, computer hacking, shoplifting, homelessness, eating disorders, transability, BDSM, self-injury, and sex work. Term offered: fall, spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.

Studies the development and functioning of persons, especially within a group context, and the dynamics of small groups. Emphasis on the import of symbols for human behavior, development of self-concepts, and processes of competition and cooperation in group dynamics. Term offered: fall, spring, summer. Max hours: 3 Credits. GT: Course is approved by the Colorado Dept of Higher Education for statewide guaranteed transfer, GT-SS3

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Additional Information: Denver Core Requirement, Social Sciences; GT courses GT Pathways, GT-SS3, Soc Behav Sci:Hmn Behav, Cul.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Explores U.S. cities as built environments, cultural spaces, and sources of community. Topics include the history of urbanization; social and spatial organization of cities; race and residential segregation; suburbanization; and urban problems such as crime, environmental hazards, and gentrification. Prereq: Sophomore standing or higher. Term offered: fall, spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.

Increases the understanding of differences in views of sexuality, specifically the link between sex and reproduction and its role as the motivation for gender roles and sex acts. Explores the history of sexuality, cross-cultural studies and primate modeling. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with WGST 3010. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Typically Offered: Spring.

A sociological examination of race and ethnicity in contemporary U.S. society. Includes a focus on the nature and causes of prejudice and discrimination. Dominant-minority relations are examined, with an emphasis on current status of minority groups and issues. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Term offered: fall, spring, summer. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Additional Information: Denver Core Requirement, Cultural Diversity.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Explores our culture's relationship with drugs and alcohol from a sociological perspective, investigating all spheres of substance use: recreational, medicinal, instrumental, & religious. Examines our long turbulent history with these chemicals, and ways in which they have shaped our society. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Term offered: spring. Max Hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Typically Offered: Spring.

Drawing from theories in the sociology of education, this course evaluates the relationship between race, ethnicity, gender, class, immigration status and educational experiences, aspirations, and outcomes. Topics include socialization, tracking, educational policy, college access, and educational equity. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Typically Offered: Spring.

Causes and consequences of sex role differentiation at the individual, group and societal levels. Current issues related to changing norms and values concerning gender in modern society are examined. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with WGST 3080. Term offered: fall, spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.

This course provides students with a basic understanding of survey methods and statistical analysis. In addition to learning the basics of inferential statistics and sampling methods, students will conduct their own survey research, analyze data, and produce reports. Prereq: SOCY 1001 with a C- or higher. Term offered: fall, spring, summer. Max hours: 4 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: SOCY 1001 with a C- or higher.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

This course focuses on the development of skills involved in designing qualitative research studies, collecting and analyzing qualitative data and evaluating qualitative research. Primary focus is on ethnography, in-depth interviewing, and content analysis. Students read, analyze, and conduct qualitative research. Prereq: SOCY 1001 with a C- or higher. Term offered: fall, spring. Max hours: 4 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: SOCY 1001 with a C- or higher.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.

An overview of major sociological theories and concepts. The emergence of the discipline and the contemporary development of sociological theories are examined. Prereq: SOCY 1001. Term offered: fall, spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: SOCY 1001

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.

Explores how societies define and attempt to solve “social problems.” Possible topics: income disparities, race/ethnic relations, gender inequality, and sexuality, in addition to the relationship between these issues and social institutions such as education, religion, health care, and criminal justice. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Term offered: fall, spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Additional Information: Denver Core Requirement, Social Sciences.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.

This course covers key issues in population health and emphasizes how sociological perspectives both challenge and augment biomedical perspectives on health and health care. We also discuss the social causes and consequences of race/ethnic, sex, and socioeconomic disparities in health. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with PBHL 3440. Term offered: fall, spring, summer. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Theories, nature and causes of crime as a social phenomenon. Processes of making laws, breaking laws, and reaction toward the breaking of laws. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Term offered: fall, spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.

Special topics in sociology to be selected by the instructor. Note: Can be taken more than once when topics vary. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Focusing on death, dying and bereavement using medical and social perspectives, this course explores how illness, prolonged dying and sudden death impact care providers, families and communities. Discussion, film, readings and music address the connection of social and medical issues. Cross-listed with HEHM 3570. Term offered: fall. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Typically Offered: Fall.

Focuses on the meaning/use of music in society. Explores censorship, organization of the recording industry, sociocultural contexts in which music is produced/distributed/listened to and the relationship between music and technology along with musical applications and associations. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Typically Offered: Spring.

Examines the contemporary Asian American experience, including the adaptation of new immigrants or refugees, economic and educational problems, ethnic identity, intermarriage, anti-Asian discrimination and other civil rights issues, and recent political activism. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with ETST 3697. Term offered: spring. Max Hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Typically Offered: Spring.

This course explores multiple dimensions of family as a social institution. Using a critical approach, we examine historical, cultural, and political views about families. We consider multiple forms of contemporary families, discuss the many issues facing families, and study how families and family life have become politicized. Cross-listed with WGST 3700. Term offered: fall, spring, summer. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Various cultural and social frameworks are used in a sociological examination and international comparison of select social issues, such as globalization, terrorism, inequality and discrimination. Analysis of selected issues across cultures explores how societal and cultural characteristics shape these issues. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Term offered: fall, spring, summer. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Additional Information: Denver Core Requirement, International Perspectives.

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

An examination into the category of “animal” as a social construct and the relationship between humans and non-human animals, which produces consequences of difference and subsequent inequality. The course utilizes different sociological perspectives to examine the social patterns, processes, and institutions that establish our lived experiences with non-human animals. Prereq: Sophomore standing or higher or by instructor permission. Max hours: 3 Credits

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Prereq: sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 6 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

Designed experiences involving application of specific, relevant concepts and skills in supervised employment situations. Note: students must work with the Experiential Learning Center advising to complete a course contract and gain approval. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.

This course is reserved for CU Denver faculty-led study abroad experiences. The course topic will vary based on the location and course content. Students register through the Office of Global Education. Department consent required. Repeatable. Max hours: 12 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 12.

Additional Information: Global Education Study Abroad.

In this course, we will consider the social and legal construction of race and immigration. We will also explore how immigrants have been racialized both historically and in the current moment. In addition, we will consider the role of culture in shaping the immigrant experience and immigrant outcomes. Restriction: Junior standing or higher or instructor permission. Cross-listed with SOCY 5020, ETST 4020 and ETST 5020. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Spring.

This course focuses on social, economic, and political factors that shape the uneven distribution of health and illness in the United States. Social determinants of health are explored, including socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, neighborhood environments, social relationships, and gender. Cross-listed with SOCY 5050. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Typically Offered: Spring.

Examines U.S. health care institutions and issues such as rising costs, the effects of class, racial and gender inequality, professionalization and monopolization of roles, construction of illness and health, managed care, for-profit health care, and ethics of health care decisions. Prereq: junior standing or higher or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with SOCY 5110. Term offered: fall. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Fall.

Concepts of population change, methods of analysis, and applications to contemporary social issues. Topics include age and sex distributions, fertility, mortality, and migration, and the social causes and consequences of these phenomena. Prereq: Junior standing or permission of the instructor. Cross-listed with SOCY 5220. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Spring.

Reproduction involves more than biological processes, assuming symbolic, political, and ideological meanings. This course examines contested meanings of reproduction, including how people experience reproduction, controversies over who should reproduce (and under what circumstances), and how public policy mediates these conflicts. Prereq: Junior standing or permission of the instructor. Cross-listed with SOCY 5270, WGST 4270 and WGST 5270. Term offered: fall. Max hours 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Fall.

A sociological examination of central issues (e.g., work, retirement, family support, health) pertaining to the aging population. Heterogeneity in aging, as shaped by gender, race, ethnicity and social class is addressed, as well as policies pertaining to the adult population. Prereq: Junior standing or permission of the instructor. Cross-listed with SOCY 5290. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Spring.

Factors involved in delinquent behavior. Problems of adjustment for delinquents, and factors in treatment and post-treatment adjustment. Major theories covered include strain theory, social learning theory, control theory, and labeling theory. Course also reviews methods for testing these theories. Prereq: junior standing or higher or permission of the instructor. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Spring.

Investigates the distribution of wealth, income, and economic power in the United States with a focus on social institutions and factors that shape inequality. Prereq: Junior standing or permission of the instructor. Cross-listed with SOCY 5440. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Spring.

Social sciences help us understand the phenomena of hate groups and group violence and contribute toward their elimination. Examples are examined using theoretical perspectives on different levels of analysis and within different areas of research. Prereq: Junior standing or permission of the instructor. Cross-listed with SOCY 5460. Term offered: fall. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Fall.

In this course, we will ask why inequality, crime, and police are unevenly spread across cities. We will examine why crime varies by neighborhood, whether place-based policing is racially biased, and why prisons are filled with people from just a few zip codes. We will study racial and economic segregation, gentrification, white flight, and suburbanization in the context of criminal justice. Spatial analysis is a growing field combining geography, sociology, and criminology. We will study it by reading cutting-edge researchers who use mapping, interviews, statistical analysis, and ethnography. Restriction: Restricted to students with Junior standing or higher or with instructor permission. Cross-listed with SOCY 5590. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

This course introduces students to the nature and functions of religion in society, emphasizing western religions in the U.S. Students will develop and apply an understanding of classic and modern sociological theories of religion to current events and disciplinary developments. Cross-listed with SOCY 5610, RLST 4020, RLST 5020. Prereq: junior standing or higher or permission of instructor. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Spring.

An in-depth overview of the theories and research regarding the life course understanding of infancy, childhood and adolescence. Children's lives and cultures in relation to adults and their transition from childhood to adolescence are studied. Prereq: junior standing or higher or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with SOCY 5640. Term offered: fall. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Fall.

Examination of the adult life course—post-adolescence to death, focusing on key social transitions of adulthood (e.g., independence from parents, marriage, retirement), and historical, institutional, and social factors that create variation in their timing, meaning, and individuals’ role experiences. Prereq: junior standing or higher or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with SOCY 5650. Term offered: spring. Max Hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Spring.

Life-course perspective on inequality and crime. Studies transitions, trajectories and turning points as key features of the life course. Considers how inequalities and criminal behavior are shaped by timing of experiences, historical and geographic contexts, others' lives, and human agency. Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree majors. Cross-listed with SOCY 5690. Term offered: fall. Max Hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors

Typically Offered: Fall.

Consideration of the formulation, interpretation, and legitimacy of legal rules within the context of social organization. The examination of a major social institution in modern society. Prereq: junior standing or higher or permission of instructor. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Spring.

Courts are a centerpiece of modern legal systems that mediate social relationships and people’s relationship to the state. This course explores the connection between courts and democratic society by considering the operation and evolution of courts in the U.S. Cross-listed with SOCY 5740. Restriction: Restricted to Junior standing or above. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Spring.

Advanced study of special topics in sociology to be selected by the instructor. Note: May be repeated for credit when topics vary. Prereq: junior standing or higher or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with SOCY 5770. Repeatable. Max hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Advanced study of special topics in sociology to be selected by the instructor. Note: May be repeated for credit when topics vary. Prereq: Junior standing or permission of the instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Course focuses on the study of violence among individuals involved in intimate relationships; factors in society such as norms, laws and institutions that are related to creating violence among intimates; and social policies, prevention, intervention and treatment programs. Prereq: junior standing or higher or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with SOCY 5780, WGST 4780 and WGST 5780. Term offered: fall. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Typically Offered: Fall.

Introduces students to tools and develops skills to facilitate internship and job search. Students gain understanding of work contexts, exploring employment laws and policies, dynamics of race and gender in job searching, and research on careers and job negotiation. Prereq: Must have earned a minimum of 75 credits. Term offered: fall, spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.

Prereq: junior standing or higher or permission of instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 12 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 12.

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Students will engage in original research projects supervised and mentored by faculty. Students must work with faculty prior to registration to develop a proposal for their project and receive permission to take this course. Prereq: junior standing or higher. Repeatable. Max Hours: 6 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.

Prereq: junior standing or higher

Practical experiences for undergraduates in application of principles of research design and data processing to a social research problem selected by the instructor. Prereq: junior standing or higher or permission of instructor. Repeatable. Max Hours: 6 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.

Prereq: junior standing or higher

This course is reserved for CU Denver faculty-led study abroad experiences. The course topic will vary based on the location and course content. Students register through the Office of Global Education. Department consent required. Repeatable. Max hours: 12 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 12.