Courses

Search for courses listed in this bulletin. To find a semester course schedule (including instructors, meeting times and locations), go to mynmu.nmu.edu.

SN 325 Noticias en Español 4 cr.  (4-0-0)
  • Offered: Contact Department
  • Prerequisites: SN 301 or SN 302 or instructor permission.

This course will provide the opportunity to improve your reading, writing, and conversation skills in Spanish. We will read a variety of articles from Spanish and/or Latin American online newspapers and other sources. Topics range from current events (“the news”), politics, the arts, culture, sports, and every other realm of human endeavor. May be taken for credit more than once.

SN 381 Spanish Theatre Performance 1 cr.
  • Offered: Contact Department
  • Prerequisites: SN 202 or four years of high school Spanish.

Students produce and perform a play in Spanish.

Notes:

May be repeated for credit.

SN 425 Masterpieces of the Golden Age of Spanish Literature 4 cr.
  • Offered: Contact Department
  • Prerequisites: SN 301 or SN 302 or instructor’s permission.

Students examine some of the masterpieces of Spain’s Golden Age literature. They will learn about historical, political, economic, social and cultural contexts of societies that produced the texts and will improve their abilities to critically read and analyze literary works.

SN 428 Spanish Literature Since 1900 4 cr.
  • Offered: Contact Department
  • Prerequisites: SN 301 or SN 302 or instructor’s permission.

Students examine 20th and 21st century works from Spain. They will learn about historical, political, economic, social and cultural contexts of societies that produced the texts and will improve their abilities to critically read and analyze literary works.

SN 429 Spanish American Literature Since 1900 4 cr.
  • Offered: Contact department.
  • Prerequisites: SN 301 or SN 302 or instructor’s permission.

Students examine 20th and 21st century works They will learn about historical, political, economic, social and cultural contexts of societies that produced the texts and will improve their abilities to critically read and analyze literary works.

SN 435 Latin American Women Writers 4 cr.
  • Offered: Contact Department
  • Prerequisites: SN 301 or SN 302 or instructor permission.

Students will read texts written by women throughout Latin America. They will learn about historical, political, economic, social and cultural contexts of societies that produced texts and will improve their abilities to critically read and analyze literary works.

SN 491 Internship in Spanish 1-12 cr.
  • Offered: Fall Winter Summer
  • Graded: S/U
  • Prerequisites: SN 202 or department head permission. Student must submit required forms to registrar for their internship before the end of the 4th week of a semester in which the internship will take place.

Students will engage in an internship using primarily Spanish in accordance with NMU internship policies.

Notes:

May be repeated for credit as internship opportunities vary.

SN 495 Special Topics in Spanish 1-4 cr.
  • Offered: Contact Department
  • Prerequisites: SN 301 or SN 302 or instructor’s permission.

This is an experimental course based on linguistics, cultures, authors, genres or literary periods not covered in other regularly approved Spanish courses.

Notes: May be repeated for credit if topic varies.
SN 498 Directed Study in Spanish 1-4 cr.
  • Offered: Contact Department
  • Prerequisites: Instructor and department head permission.

A directed study course designed to meet a specific academic requirement of the student who is unable to earn the credit during regularly scheduled course offerings. The student and professor agree to the specific topic and requirements needed to earn the credit.

SO 101 Introductory Sociology 4 cr.
  • Offered: Fall Winter Summer
A study of social organization, culture and social interaction with particular emphasis on American society. The sociological approach is developed through such concepts as status and role, social stratification, socialization and social change. This approach is used to study crime, population, family, religion, education and other areas.
SO 113 Social Problems 4 cr.
  • Offered: Fall Winter Summer
Survey of the major social problems in contemporary American society including urban problems, population, environment, power, family, health care, work and leisure, aging, poverty, race and ethnic relations, sex roles, war, deviant behavior, drugs and alcohol, social movements, crime and delinquency, and others.
SO 120 Introduction to Food Studies 4 cr.
  • Offered: Fall

Examines the complex social, economic, and cultural relations that determine what we eat. Analyzes how problems in the food system, including environmental degradation, labor injustices, and unequal access to healthy food are social problems that reflect an ongoing tension between the agency of individual eaters and the power of institutions and social structures.

SO 208 Methods of Social Research I 4 cr.
  • Offered: Fall Winter
  • Prerequisites: SO 101 or instructor's permission.

Introduction to techniques of data analysis for social research. Applied uses of descriptive and inferential statistics are emphasized. Computers and statistical software are used as part of the instruction process.

Notes: Cross listed as SW 208.
SO 232 Sociology of Family and Intimate Relationships 4 cr.
  • Offered: Fall Winter Summer
  • Prerequisites: SO 101 or instructor permission.

Examination of social changes that have affected family relations in western culture and the multifaceted effects of these changes and the social significance of these changes in a complex social order. Also explores many of the issues and problems confronting contemporary families.

SO 263 Criminology 4 cr.
  • Offered: Fall
  • Prerequisites: SO 101 or SO 113 or CJ 110 or instructor's permission.

This course explores the nature, extent, causes and methods of treatment and prevention of crime. Emphasis is on the theories and methods of studying crime and criminal behavior as a social phenomena.

Notes: Cross-listed with CJ 263.
SO 283 Tribal-Centered Victim Services 4 cr.  (4-0-0)
  • Offered: Summer
  • Prerequisites: NAS 204 and Instructor approval.

This course provides students with an introductory, experiential opportunity to practice social service work with Tribal communities in the Upper Peninsula. Students will be placed in a Tribal victim services agency where they will both observe and perform relevant tasks under the guidance of an agency supervisor. Students will concurrently participate in a seminar course with an NMU instructor, which will emphasize integration of knowledge and skills learned in the classroom and practicum through discussion and self-reflection.

SO 287 Culture, Society, and Happiness 4 cr.  (4-0-0)
  • Offered: Contact Department

Human happiness is a focus of multiple traditions -- artistic, poetic, religious, philosophical, scientific, and social scientific. This course addresses the social and cultural factors that contribute to, or detract from, the experience of happiness. The emphasis is on social forces – interpersonal, institutional, and global -- that shape our human journey on a path toward well-being.  

Notes: Cross-listed with AN 287.
SO 292 Sociology of Sport 4 cr.  (4-0-0)
  • Offered: Contact Department

This course introduces students to the sociological study of sports with particular emphasis on American society. The course covers topics such as culture, structure, social interaction, deviance, and power. The central theme, however, is differentiation and stratification by race, gender, and class. In short: students will use sociological theories, methods, and empirical data to better understand the social institution of sport and its relationship to individual and collective lives.

SO 295 Special Topics in Sociology 1-4 cr.
  • Offered: Contact department
  • Prerequisites: SO 101 or instructor's permission.
Topic varies with the area of specialization of the faculty member teaching the course. Notes: May be repeated if topic differs.
SO 308 Methods of Social Research II 4 cr.
  • Offered: Fall Winter
  • Prerequisites: SO 208 or equivalent or instructor's permission.
Introduction to methods, concepts and techniques of social research, including sampling, questionnaire and interview design, experiments, observation, evaluation research, and ethics. Involves research projects on social science issues. Computers and statistical software may be used as part of the instruction process. Notes: Cross listed as SW 308.
SO 312 Religion and Society 4 cr.
  • Offered: Winter odd years
  • Prerequisites: SO 101 or AN 100 or AN 101 or AN 110, or instructor permission.

This course introduces students to the sociological and anthropological traditions that examine religious practices and their relationship to sociocultural systems and processes. The thematic study of diverse religious practices, in North America and throughout the world, will shed light on the nature and functions of religion as a core social institution. Both classical and contemporary sociological and anthropological theory will emphasize the role of religion throughout human history.

Notes: Cross-listed with AN 312 Religion and Society.
SO 322 Social Class, Power and Mobility 4 cr.
  • Offered: Fall semester of even-numbered years
  • Prerequisites: SO 101.
The development and organization of systems of social stratification. Relationship of social mobility to social stratification. A survey of theories, methods, class characteristics and the channels, types and forms of social mobility.
SO 343 Sociology of Deviant Behavior 4 cr.
  • Offered: Fall Winter Summer
  • Prerequisites: SO 101.
A survey of individuals and groups that are considered “deviant” in our society. Various theories and research methods will be used to study the nature and extent of social deviance in American society. Additionally, processes of social reaction and social control will be analyzed.
SO 351 Social Change 4 cr.
  • Offered: Fall
  • Prerequisites: SO 101.
The latest theoretical and factual knowledge applied to the understanding of contemporary social change and the master trends shaping our lives, including robotization of work, computerization of live space, visual media and the social consciousness, environmental impacts, coping with the stress of change, and the prospects for planning change.