The course is an introduction to sociological thinking about sexuality. It explores the social construction of sex; cultural discourses about sex; and the role sex plays in nation-building and social control. It examines role of sex in giving meaning and value to intersecting social identities. It introduces a theory of sexual scenes, particularly as it pertains to collegiate hookup culture. And it asks students to imagine alternative ways of organizing our sexual lives, identities, relationships, and societies.

Sociology of Race and Ethnicity focuses on race and ethnic categorizations and relations. It examines the social stratification and impact of race and ethnicity on the everyday lives of people. This course provides you with the scientific tools necessary for examining power dynamics and deconstructing socially constructed identities globally. It significantly attends to the historical experiences of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States especially.

Consideration of the family as a social institution and a special form of small group. Examination of theoretical and empirical research focusing upon mate selection, marital interaction, and child socialization. Topics include contemporary demographic trends and cultural practices.

Examines the social construction of gender and the consequences of gender equality. Topics include socialization, intimate relations, paid and unpaid work, violence, and social change.

This course is an introduction to sociological research, concepts, and theories about education. In the course, the purpose and function of education for the individual and society are critically considered, and a substantial amount of time is spent discussing the links between education and inequality. Topics that are discussed in detail include: the potential and limitations of schools, schools as agents of socialization, cross-national differences in educational systems, social relationships in schooling (the influence of community, social capital, parents, and peers), within and between school inequalities (school effects/ ability grouping), the effects of school characteristics and ascriptive forces on schooling outcomes, and variation in schooling outcomes themselves (achievement, attainment, labor market outcomes). Students will gain an appreciation of the role of schools as powerful determinants of the opportunities that individuals experience in modern societies.

The social patterns, processes, and institutional structure of urban life.

Examines forms of human behavior that have been defined as deviant by the larger society. An emphasis is placed on understanding the social construction of such definitions, especially their cross-cultural variations, as well as motivations and social implications for those whose behavior is judged as deviant.

Examination of critical contemporary social problems and social policy options. Emphasis is placed on understanding the multidimensional sources of crisis, unrest, and instability as well as policy options and tradeoffs associated with ameliorative efforts. Topics vary by semester and instructor.

Introduces students to sociological study of religious phenomena, including religious beliefs, practices, and behaviors as conditioned by sociological factors. A key emphasis is the relationship between religious systems and other social institutions, e.g., politics, family, economy, and social stratification.

Semester Abroad. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Emphasizes the public's perception of the crime problem and various sociological measures of amounts and trends of criminal behavior in society. Causal and noncausal theories of criminality, and the sociological implications of various selected offenses are explored.

An analysis of the structure and functions of sports in contemporary American society. Topics include the relationship between sports, socialization, ideology, sports and totemism, the organization of sports, and the economics of sports.

This course will provide a sociological introduction to America's rapidly growing Asian American populations and to the major issues facing these populations.

Examines global change and its implications for individuals and groups via exploration of issues of globalization of the economy, international development, urbanization, immigration, social movements, changing gender relations, etc. Emphasis will be placed on how such changes have come about and course focus will be international in scope with emphasis on Latin America, Asia, and/or Africa.

Examines the concepts of occupations, professions, and work organizations. It considers issues about employee selection, job involvement, alienation, satisfaction, performance, and compensation; industrial mental health, occupation safety, health and medicine; social conditions of work in bureaucratic organizations, work groups and union membership; supervision and human resource management; and the changing conditions of work resulting from technological change, social change, shifts in the occupational structure and the interface of work with other institutions such as the family.

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Special topic announced each semester.

Special topics course as designed by visiting or permanent Sociology faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours under separate title.

Special topics course as designed by visiting or permanent Sociology faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours under separate title.

Special topics course as designed by visiting or permanent Sociology faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours under separate title.

Special topics course as designed by visiting or permanent Sociology faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours under separate title.

Special topics course as designed by visiting or permanent Sociology faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours under separate title.

Special topics course as designed by visiting or permanent Sociology faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours under separate title.

Transfer Coursework at the 1000 level. Department approval may be required.

To provide substantive exposure to basic sociological concepts, theories, methods, and tools. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

An examination of the dynamic relationship between population and society. The course focuses on the contemporary demography of developed and developing countries, with an emphasis on societal problems linked to population.

Special topic announced each semester. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Special topics in Sociology.

Special topics in Sociology. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Special topics in Sociology.

Special Topics in Sociology. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

This course provides an introduction to the main themes and key debates in sociolegal research. Like the field of “law and society,” it is interdisciplinary, and our readings will span sociology, political science, philosophical jurisprudence, and legal scholarship. We will read a mix of canonical law and society readings, as well as more recent pieces. Among the themes we will focus on are: legal pluralism, legal consciousness, the meaning and nature of law, the persistent “gap” between “law on the books” and “law in action,” and the ambivalent place of law in political resistance and movements for social change.

Survey of theoretical and empirical literature on the distribution of wealth, power, and prestige within and across societies and historical periods. Emphasis is placed on the impact of social change on stratification systems.

This course is an introduction to the Sociology of Human Reproduction. We frequently think about reproduction as a natural/biological event, but like other aspects of human life, it is socially constructed: shaped by and experienced in and through various social practices. We will cover topics ranging from childbirth to breastfeeding, contraception to childlessness, and even little-known issues such as man" -opause (i.e.,male menopause). Much of the social science work on human reproduction comes from either demographic or feminist traditions so course readings reflect this dual genealogy.

Introduction to the sociological significance of medicine and medical procedures and professions.

Introduction to the sociological significance of law and legal procedures and professions.

Examination of social organization, interaction, issues, and problems via the depiction of these issues and themes in selected commercial and documentary cinematic statements as illustrative material. Weekly class meetings are divided into lecture, screening, and discussion. Specific topical foci differ by semester.

An historical examination of the human condition in Latin America emphasizing three primary spheres of social relations: political, economic, and ideological. Within each sphere the following themes are addressed: national-international relations, urbanization, rural social structure, demographic trends, cultural change, and stability.

An introduction to the sociological study of organizations in the private and public sectors. Topics include models for studying organizations, organization processes (communication, decision-making, negotiation, leadership), the impact of structural culture, and environmental factors on organizational behavior.

This course examines political and economic aspects of global and local environmental problems. Topics include how societies and the environment interact, why some environmental risks have gained most attention, how support for environmental concerns can be measured, responses by environmental social movements, and visions of sustainable societies in the First and Third Worlds.

An introduction to the political economy of the environment in Latin America.

An examination of issues involved in everyday social interactions, this course focuses on dimensions of interpersonal behavior against the background of sociological roles and role-playing, Emphasis is placed on the nature and process of interpersonal relationship, encounters, and public behavior against the backdrop of societal assumptions, norms, practices and beliefs. Related issues of affect/emotion, attitudes, cognition and perception will be discussed.

Paris, one of the most distinctive and historically rich cities in the world, is used as a living laboratory for an examination of social patterns, processes, and organization of contemporary urban life. Course materials and field investigations serve to contextualize modern Paris in the conditions that spawned its dramatic transformation over the past two millennia and its continuing evolution into the present. Much of this summer class is experiential: learn by doing-planning, exploring, observing, mapping, and interpreting. In-class and field projects focus on how cities and urban systems are organized, the structuring of public space and its uses, modes of interpersonal interaction, how people perceive and attach meaning to the built environment, how we "read" cities, and represent urban spaces and places in our minds via "cognitive maps".

This class will explore the history, sociology, law, and politics of women’s incarceration in the United States and Louisiana in particular exploring how different disciplines approach the subject. The class will investigate and map the work of local, national, and international organizations working on issues related to women in prison. We will use women in prison as a location to explore gender issues such as violence against women, discrimination against women in employment, racism and intersectionality, devaluation of women, and enforcement of gender norms such as compulsory heterosexuality. We will examine how law oppresses women but also how individuals and groups have changed policies to improve women’s prison conditions and reduce the collateral consequences of convictions.

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Transfer Coursework at the 2000 level. Department approval may be required.

Logic and techniques of social research, the relationships between theory and method, and alternative strategies in data collection.

Basic training in descriptive and inferential statistics with social science applications. Topics include measurement, tabular and graphic displays of data, central tendency, dispersion, probability, estimation, hypothesis testing, and linear regression.

Special Topics in Sociology.

An introduction to classical and contemporary sociological theory.

Transfer Coursework at the 3000 level. Department approval may be required.

In this course students will develop a practical working knowledge of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks used in analyzing urban issues of social justice through a combination of classroom instruction, applied ethnographic field instruction, practitioner engagement, and professional development activities.

This course examines the relationship among community changes/characteristics, crime, and punishment focusing on New Orleans. It includes an intense community engagement component that involves residential outreach to assess viewpoints on common crime prevention, policing and punishment practices.

Open to especially qualified upper level students. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Open to especially qualified upper level students. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

From local disasters to global crises, this course explores the grave consequences to human development springing from ecological catastrophes and the ways in which wellbeing, social equality, and economic advance are intimately linked to the environment.

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Open to especially qualified upper level students with approval of instructor. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Open to especially qualified upper level students with approval of instructor. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Transfer coursework at the 4000 level. Departmental approval required.

Honors Thesis.

For especially qualified seniors with approval of the faculty director and the Office of Academic Enrichment. Students must have a minimum of a 3.400 overall grade-point average and a 3.500 grade-point average in the major.

Capstone Component: SOCI 6320.

Semester Abroad. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Junior Year Abroad. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Junior Year Abroad. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Special topic announced each semester. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Adv Special Topics in Sociology. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Adv Special Topics in Sociology. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Advanced Special Topics course as designed by visiting or permanent Sociology faculty. For description, consult the department.

Adv Special Topics in Sociology.

Analysis of both the distribution and institutional bases of power in society and the values which legitimate them. Class, bureaucracy, occupations, and political participation as these correlate with power.

This class is a sociological exploration of the establishment and consequences of different kinship forms including monogamy, polygamy, polyamory, and polyqueer.

This course examines research in several areas of the sociology of gender. Topics include the acquisition of gender identity, face to face interactions, the changing roles of women and men, the intersection of work and family, and social movements. Students will conduct original research in one of these areas.

An advanced sociology course on sexuality. The core theme of the course is to explore how the way we think about and experience the erotic, sex, and sexuality are constructed through and shaped by social processes. Considerable time will be spent on sexuality as a system of stratification that is separate from but intersects with inequalities on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, and class.

Mental health has been typically understood as one of the defining characteristics of "normality"; in contrast. mental illness has long been stigmatized and contested. This course aims to show that the boundaries between the two have been far from stable and depend on the social and historical contexts in which they are drawn.

An examination of social and psychological factors affecting the prevalence and incidence of disease in human populations. Topics also considered include the organization of the health professions, comparative medical systems, social change and health care, and social factors affecting the utilization of health services.

Advanced seminar in the social causes and effects of health, illness, and healthcare.

Study of food and agriculture systems, particularly in the Gulf South and Latin America, from a sociological perspective.

Sociological examination of the dynamics of race and ethnic relations in the United States. This course provides an opportunity for students to read about, think, and discuss issues of racial and ethnic relations in society. Topics include the social construction of racial classification systems, the historical record of the interaction between the races in America, public policy, and possible mechanisms for dealing with some of the issues that many consider most problematic in our society.

This course examines the US Criminal Justice system as a mechanism of racial control. It covers the socio-historical construction of race, different theories and practices of racism and their manifestation and institutionalization in the contemporary US Criminal Justice system, and ongoing strategies of resistance and antiracism.

This course will examine key conceptual and research issues such as the development of criminal behavior and criminal careers; stability and change in criminal behavior across developmental stages of the life course; trajectories, transition, and turning points through life; qualitative and quantitative approaches to studying crime and the life course, and social change and its link to individual lives.

Theories of stratification, status systems in various societies, measurement and research of social classes in the United States.

This course will consider the sociological, political, and cultural criticisms of the traditional definitions of family. This course focuses on family demography, gay/lesbian family issues, African-American families, and the "family values" wars as organizing topics.

The sociology of culture provides a useful lens to examine culture in everyday life, in mass media, and in the fine arts.

This course focuses on the sociological intersections of gender, work, and family across a variety of countries, with emphasis on (but not limited to) the European Union and the United States. Major themes are (1) how national context influences the work-family nexus for adults (women and men) and children (girls and boys), (2) how people negotiate, share, and create culture as it relates to work-family issues, and (3) how the experiences and ideologies of parents and children vary within and across societies. The course will cover a wide range of sociological vantage points, from macroscopic to microscopic issues.

Climate change is the most daunting ecological calamity facing all of humanity. This is a discussion-based course designed to evaluate the process of globalization and the political and economic forces therein that affect the environment, with particular focus on climate change and disasters. The course motivates students to critically evaluate the claims of various schools of thought on the relationship between globalization, climate, and the environment. In order to accomplish these objectives, we must first fully understand macro-sociological interpretations of development. In turn, we will extensively consider the interconnections among society, political-economic dynamics, the process of globalization, and natural systems (ecology). The successful integration of these themes depends heavily on your involvement in and preparation for class meetings. To that end, each student should dedicate her/him/themselves to devoting adequate time to contemplate the readings prior to each class meeting and structure thoughtful contributions to class discussion. The process of climate change is a complex web of cause, effect, and feedback among human and natural systems. Your experience in this class will be enhanced to the degree that you appreciate and interrogate the complex relationships that are the nexus of societal and environmental interactions.

This course examines how government policies and programs have shaped and affected cities and metropolitan areas in the United States and around the world over the last hundred years or so. The course investigates policies and planning actions pertaining to community organizing, welfare reform, adaption to climate change, post-disaster recovery and rebuilding, tourism and urban cultural production: real estate, housing, and uneven development, and sustainability. The course will focus on policies that have impacted the built environment and address relationships between cities, communities, and broader socio-political and economic processes. As a capstone course, assignments and course activities are designed for advanced undergraduate or for graduate students interested in connecting the course subject matter with a service learning project within the sociology of urban policy and planning.

The primary objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the fundamental sociological and various social science, humanities, and environmental perspectives on the urban environment. We will also engage with related fields such as political ecology, urban political and urban ecology, political economy of the environment, racial ecologies, and the general study of urban and environmental issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. Further, weaved within the entire course will be a emphasis on important issues related to social and environmental in/justices, including inequality, poverty, stratification, racism, and racial, gender, and sexual orientation inequality (among a number of other related issues). To do this, we will examine specific social and societal institutions including (but not limited to) housing, work, criminal in/justice and mass incarceration, pollution and neighborhoods, healthcare, public and environmental health, government and politics, public policies and a number of specific programs associated with all of those institutions. Additionally, we will discuss the history of urban policies and urban development, and environmental policies and related programs, as they all relate to the sociological concepts, issues, and institutions outlined previously. Lastly, we will explore the practices of inquiry and analysis associated with sociological and other social science approaches from a liberal arts perspective.

This course provides an overview of sociological research pertaining to globalization and the environment. Topics include macro-comparative theories of development. and the interconnections among society, political-economic dynamics, the process of globalization. and natural system (ecology).

This service-learning course enriches student understanding of environmental justice at the global and local level. Students will sharpen their knowledge of various environmental movements. activism. and advocacy in the classroom. which will be supplemented with experience in the field. Specifically. students will collaborate with environmentally-focused organizations and nonprofits in the greater New Orleans area to implement environmental justice activities in the local community.

This course will examine the social functions of educational institutions, the role of education in the American social and economic structure, and major controversies and debates concerning educational policy as social policy.

This course explores the development of racial categories throughout Latin America and the implications of these social constructs for group identities, community building, and social activism. We will begin with a theoretical overview of the scholarship on race and ethnicity in Latin America and on the process of racialization. We will explore the limitations of using a Western lens to understand race and racism in Latin America and the Caribbean. Students will learn to expand how they conceptualize these terms in order to better understand Latin America's distinct racial landscape. Students will engage the empirical scholarship of indigenous populations as well as on Latin Americans of African descent. Students will learn about the complexities of mestizaje he erasure of blackness and rising inter-ethnic conflict.

An advanced theoretical and empirical analysis of the determinants of organized non-institutionalized forms of collective action. Topics include the interplay of structural conditions and voluntaristic actions, the logic of collective action, culture, and ideology as they shape social movement outcomes. The specific types or dimensions of collective action examined may vary from semester to semester.

Exploration and development of organizational structures, processes and consequences. Interdisciplinary focus drawing conceptual, theoretical, and methodological tools from sociology, management, economics, and applied fields such as law and public administration. The seminar will examine classic and current issues in the sociology of organizations and the influence of complex organizations on different contexts and institutions (e.g., economy, family, healthcare, politics).

This course examines the dimensions of sustainable development in Latin America from the theoretical perspectives of environmental sociology and the sociology of development.

This course will introduce students to the ways in which scholars and researchers apply social science knowledge, methods, and theories to legal problems such as criminal trials, civil disputes, and arbitration proceedings. The course will address socio-legal questions and problems related to the following areas of civil litigation: premises liability and inadequate/negligent security, product liability and human-factors related litigation, climate change, toxic torts and crime torts, racial segregation and fair housing, and employment discrimination lawsuits.

An examination of the implications of law in the persistence and change of social systems, the relation of sociological theory and research to legal institutions, and law as an organization and profession.

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

This course provides an introduction to key themes and practices in qualitative research methods, including major theoretical and methodological debates, project design, gaining access, and gathering and analyzing data. Courses may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

A sociological examination of how changing political, economics and developmental issues in Latin America shape and are shaped by gender relations.

An examination of the factors shaping the emergence, development, and decline of social movements in Latin America. Issues addressed include why people join movements, what constraints there are on building of social movement organizations, and in what ways are leaders and ideologies crucial to movement development.

This course examines theories of the bases and distribution of power in Latin America. Topics include the role of elites and domestic class coalitions in state formation and regime transitions, the role of civil society/labor, popular associations, political parties in democratization, and the role of culture, including religion, in political life.

This course is a study of the causes and social effects of urban growth and decay in rich and poor countries in the Americas. Examines contemporary urban social classes and political coalitions, and how these are changing with shifting regional economies. The course discusses theories of urban societies and regional growth, and examines case studies and theories from Latin America.

Certain social networks and types of social practice specialize in subverting the state and dominant society. In this class we look diffusely at social mobilization and focus on manifestations beyond social movements. We look at protest, at crime and violence, and at religion. The goal is to understand social history, or the way people who are not in positions of institutional power come together to change their world, sometimes to make the world better and sometimes to make it worse. Our goal is to develop sensibilities and analytic outlooks that allow us to understand these types of social mobilization as a way of understanding social change in Latin America, beyond the institutions that political scientists and economists tend to focus on.

Course topics vary. Courses will include: Latin American Immigration, Race and Ethnicity in the Americas, Caribbean Societies, and Drugs and Alcohol in the Americas.

Graduate Level Independent Study.

Course topics vary. Topics include: Innovations in data analysis.