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• SOCY 1001: Introduction to Sociology

Link to course materials, including syllabus, Spring 2008

This course provides an introduction to Sociology for undergraduate students.  In a very general sense, we make use of various sociological perspectives to examine social interaction, institutions, as well as social problems.  A key aim is to teach students the importance of using their "Sociological Imagination" to link our individual circumstances to the larger social context.  We learn of the ways in which Sociology can help us make sense of our world and the social problems we face.

• SOCY 2077:  Environment and Society

Link to syllabus (PDF file) Fall 2005

Course webpage, Fall 2005

This course provides a Sociological examination of the association between society and the natural environment for upper-level undergraduate students.  Within Environmental Sociology, researchers aim to examine how society effects the environment, as well as how the environment effects, and reflects, society.  During this semester, we will review Environmental Sociology as a foundation for critical consideration of trends in public environmental opinion, environmentalism as a social movement, human-induced environmental decline, and injustices as related to environmental context.

• SOCY 4007:  Global Human Ecology

Link to syllabus (PDF file) Fall 2005

Course webpage, Fall 2005

Examines global environmental issues from sociological perspectives. Focuses on such problems as overpopulation, world hunger and poverty, pollution, resource shortages, environmental impact of technology and population dynamics, public policy, and strategies for change.

• SOCY 5007: Foundations of Environmental Sociology

Link to syllabus (PDF file) Spring 2005

Link to course readings

This course provides an overview of Environmental Sociology for graduate students.  Weekly topics include: 1) the emergence of a Environmental Sociology as a subdiscipline, 2) social theory and the environment, 3) social dimensions of the built environment, 4) social construction of environmental issues, 5) environmental opinion, concern, behaviors, 6) environmentalism and social movements, 7) technology, risk, and the environment, 8) society and natural resources, human dimensions of environmental change, 9) gender and environmental issues, 10) environmental justice, and 11) the social dimensions of 'natural' hazards.  A key aim is to expose students to the wide variety of topics that are central to the subdiscipline.

• SOCY 5117: Population and the Environment

Link to syllabus (PDF file) Spring 2001

This course is a graduate seminar providing an overview of social science theory and research relating population and the environment.  In general, our readings and discussions provide insight into different arenas of association between humans and the environmental context.  For instance, we explore the values and perceptions which individuals hold regarding the environment.  We also examine human population factors related to climate change, biodiversity, and the ways in which gender mediates human-environment associations.  Specific regional research allows the opportunity to consider the ways in which demographic processes exert influences on these environmental resources, as well as the ways in which environmental characteristics exert influence on demographic processes.  Finally, we spend a week examining the social distribution of environmental hazards, an issue often termed "environmental justice." The readings represent recent academic research from multiple social science disciplines including sociology, geography, economics, and political science.  Through the course of the semester, we will examine theoretical and empirical work at local, national, regional, and international scales, examining a wide range of domestic and international issues which relate to human-environment interactions.