Skagit Valley College

Catalog Course Search Details

 Course Title:   Intro to Sociology: D

 Title Abbreviation:   INTRO TO SOCIOLOGY: D

 Department:    SOC&

 Course #:    101

 Credits:    5

 Variable:     No

 IUs:    5

 CIP:    451101

 EPC:    n/a

 REV:    2018


 Course Description  

An overview of the social structure and the processes of social interaction which contribute to the formation and understanding of human conduct. Includes a survey of basic sociological perspectives and theories, institutions, socialization patterns, stratification, minorities in society, social problems, human environments, social control, and social change processes.

 Prerequisite  

Prerequisite: Completed ENGL& 101 with a grade of 2.0 or higher.

Additional Course Details

Contact Hours (based on 11 week quarter)

Lecture: 55

Lab: 0

Other: 0

Systems: 0

Clinical: 0


Intent: Distribution Requirement(s) Status:  

Academic Social Sciences  

Equivalencies At Other Institutions

Other Institution Equivalencies Table
Institution Course # Remarks
CWU 107
U of W 110
WSU 101
WWU 202

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

  1. Appreciate the methods and significance of the sociological enterprise both as a scientific approach to the study of our social environment as well as an explanatory science for understanding human interactions and social forces
  2. Describe and understand the basic building blocks, research strategies, and theories in sociology
  3. Understand the nature of stratification systems and how they are related to specific ageing and health care, and related forms of social inequalities
  4. Understand key aspects of mass society through patterns of group behavior, institutional life and opportunity structures
  5. Understand the major concepts and technical language the sociologist employs to describe and analyze various aspects of the social system

General Education Learning Values & Outcomes

Revised August 2008 and affects outlines for 2008 year 1 and later.

0. Application and Integration

Definition: Applying information from one or more disciplines and/or field experiences in new contexts (Outcome 0.1); developing integrated approaches or responses to personal, academic, professional, and social issues (Outcomes 0.2-0.5).

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
0.3 Identify and evaluate the relationships among different perspectives within a field of study and among different fields of study.

1. Information Literacy

Definition: Recognizing when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
1.3 Evaluate information and its sources critically.
1.4 Evaluate issues (for example economic, legal, historic, social) surrounding the use of information.

2. Critical Thinking

Definition: The ability to think critically about the nature of knowledge within a discipline and about the ways in which that knowledge is constructed and validated and to be sensitive to the ways these processes often vary among disciplines.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
2.1 Identify and express concepts, terms, and facts related to a specific discipline.
2.2 Analyze issues and develop questions within a discipline.
2.3 Identify, interpret, and evaluate pertinent data and previous experience to reach conclusions.
2.8 Describe how one’s own preconceptions, biases and values affect one’s response to new and ambiguous situations.

3. Communication

Definition: Understanding and producing effective written, spoken, visual, and non-verbal communication.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
3.1 Recognize, read, and comprehend academic and/or professional writing.
3.4 Produce academic and/or professional writing and integrate it into written and spoken projects.

4. Community & Cultural Diversity

Definition: Recognizing the value of human communities and cultures from multiple perspectives through a critical understanding of their similarities and differences.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
4.1 Identify and express concepts, terms, and issues associated with the diverse perspectives of race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and culture.
4.2 Understand, value and respect human differences and commonalities as they relate to issues of race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and culture.
4.3 Understand the historically and socially constructed nature of—and the meanings attributed to—human differences.
4.4 Demonstrate effective communication across differences in human communities and cultures.

5. Global & Local Awareness & Responsibility

Definition: Understanding the complexity and interdependence of, and stewardship responsibilities to, local and global communities and environments.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
5.2 Identify diverse communities and their shared/competing interests and develop strategies for prevention and resolution of conflict.
5.3 Understand the consequences of choices as they relate to local/global community and environmental issues.

8. Mathematical Reasoning

Definition: Understanding and applying concepts of mathematics and logical reasoning in a variety of contexts, both academic and non-academic.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
8.3 Interpret information and reasoning expressed mathematically (for example in spreadsheets, diagrams, charts, formulas, etc.).

9. Scientific Literacy

Definition: Understanding scientific principles, and analyzing and applying scientific information in a variety of contexts.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
9.1 Demonstrate an understanding of fundamental scientific concepts.
9.2 Demonstrate their understanding of the principles of scientific methods, analysis, and reasoning.

Course Contents

  1. Development of sociology as a scientific study of human behavior
  2. Definitions of sociology, basic orientations in sociological analysis, and sociologic perspectives
  3. Elements of social organization and intstitutional structure: communication, roles, norms, statuses, groups, social structure
  4. The nature of institutional life - the family, education, religion, economy, bureaucracy, formal and informal organizations
  5. Socialogical perspectives on social structure
  6. Social stratification and political and economic power
  7. Minorities in society: social mechanisms of minority/majority relations and the forms and consequences of discrimination
  8. Social impacts of the Civil Rights Movement: pluralism and the multicultural enterprise
  9. Development processes, social change, and Ecosystems
  10. Research strategies, observational techniques, and research design as used in sociology
  11. Applying sociology to Census Data - computations in social realities
  12. Sociological theories: classical, evolutionary, cultural, functional, conflict symbolic interactionsim, developmental, and World Systems theory
  13. Reflections on Sociological theory: the role of diversity in sociological outlooks
  14. Social problems: consensual and deviant behavior, labeling and stigmatization, institutional breakdowns, social control, enforcement vs. justice, conformity and group pressures