Sociology (SOC) & Anthropology (ANTH)
This is an archived copy of the 2019-2020 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.wofford.edu.
Students will immerse themselves in the study of society and culture, learn about human thoughts and behaviors through time, from the prehistoric past through the current day, and use social theory to investigate ethnicity, race, gender, class, history, religion, philosophy, politics, economics, power, status, landscapes, and more. They will practice collecting ethnographic and survey data; work in community engagement projects; and address issues related to social justice and bio-cultural diversity.
Honors Courses and In-Course Honors
The Department of Sociology & Anthropology encourages its students to undertake honors work. For further information, the student is referred to the sections on Honors Courses and In-Course Honors in the Catalog.
Requirements for the Joint Major in Sociology and Anthropology
The major requires 30 credit hours a outlined below. It is strongly recommended that Sociology students fulfill their mathematics requirement by completing MATH 140 Statistics. Typically, students will complete SOC 450 Capstone during the spring of their senior year.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | 6 | |
| Introduction to Archaeology and Physical Anthropology | ||
or ANTH 202 | Introduction to Cultural Anthropology and Communications | |
| Introduction to Sociology | ||
| Social and Cultural Inquiry | 3 | |
Select one of the following: | ||
| Ethnography | ||
| Social Research | ||
| Social Theory | 3 | |
| The Development of Sociological Theory | ||
| Complex Problems and Critical Thinking | 15 | |
Select one course from Anthropology (ANTH) or REL 210 | ||
Select one course from Sociology (SOC) | ||
Select an additional 9 credit hours from Anthropology (ANTH), Sociology (SOC) or REL 210 | ||
| Capstone | 3 | |
| Capstone | ||
| Total Hours | 30 | |
| 1 | Students may apply courses offered outside of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology to the Complex Problems and Critical Thinking requirement with prior approval of the Department Chair. |
Requirements for the Joint Minor in Sociology and Anthropology
The minor requires the completion of 15 credit hours as outlined below. Students may take SOC 450 Capstone as one of their Complex Problems and Critical Thinking requirements, if they desire.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | 6 | |
| Introduction to Archaeology and Physical Anthropology | ||
or ANTH 202 | Introduction to Cultural Anthropology and Communications | |
| Introduction to Sociology | ||
| Complex Problems and Critical Thinking | 9 | |
Select one course from Anthropology (ANTH) or REL 210 | ||
Select one course from Sociology (SOC) | ||
Select three additional credit hours from Anthropology (ANTH) and Sociology (SOC) courses or REL 210 | ||
| Total Hours | 15 | |
Anthropology (ANTH)
ANTH 201. Introduction to Archaeology and Physical Anthropology. 3 Hours.
The study of humanity from the perspective of two of the four main subfields of anthropology. Archaeology studies humankind through time, since the species' appearance in the evolutionary record until the historical era, and across the wide geographical range of hominins. Physical anthropology studies humandkind as evolving from biological organisms in all of our variations stretching from the tropical to the polar regions and from pre-birth to death. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirements for graduation.
ANTH 202. Introduction to Cultural Anthropology and Communications. 3 Hours.
Taught in tandem with ANTH 201, this course focuses on the study of humanity from the perspective of cultural anthropology and linguistics. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirements for graduation.
ANTH 225. Human Ecology. 3 Hours.
An ecological approach to an examination of the relationships between natural resource bases and the human societies they support. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirement for graduation.
ANTH 280. Selected Topics in Anthropology. 1 to 4 Hours.
Introductory-level independent research or exploration in topics not offered in the
regular department courses.
ANTH 300. Ethnography. 3 Hours.
An introduction to nonquantitative methods in anthropological research, including case studies, participant observation, and unstructured interviews. Students will apply these methods in their own study of a social scene. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirement for graduation.
ANTH 305. Building Sustainable Communities through Engagement. 3 Hours.
Students are exposed to the realities, challenges, and aspirations of Spartanburg?s Northside neighborhood and the multiple ways in which sustainability is conceptualized and practiced in everyday life. The community engagement component of this course requires students to spend additional hours each week learning from and working with the Northside in various capacities. By the end of the semester, students will identify either an internship or a service-learning project based in the Northside that they will develop the following semester.
ANTH 306. Research Seminar - Sustainability, Community & Service Learning. 3 Hours.
This course is the continuation of ANTH 305. During this semester, students put their service learning projects into practice. They will combine ethnographic research with community engagement as they continue developing and implementing projects collaboratively with the community. These projects are all connected to sustainability and community building between Wofford and the Northside.
Prerequisite: ANTH 305 with a minimum grade of D.
ANTH 310. Ethnographic Film. 3 Hours.
This course in visual athropology leads the student through a series of case studies about peoples around the world as they represent themselves and as they are represented by others in film and writing. To expand students' social science research skills, this course teaches students how to interpret visual documentations of culture and how to produce films. Students will explore cross-cultural patterns and differences in human societies by viewing films about peoples from Australia, the Canadian Arctic, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, and many other places. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirement for graduation.
ANTH 311. Ecological Anthropology. 3 Hours.
Explores the ways people perceive and manage ecosystems using an evolutionary, comparative, and interdisciplinary approach. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirement for graduation.
ANTH 312. Medical Anthropology. 3 Hours.
Explores understandings of health, disease, and the body using a comparative biocultural approach to examine medical systems throughout the world. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirement for graduation.
ANTH 313. Cultures of Southeast Asia and Oceania. 3 Hours.
Explores the geographical, historical, cultural, religious, and ecological characteristics of the people of this region. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirement for graduation.
ANTH 314. Prehistory and History of Native American Culture in the Southeast. 3 Hours.
Explores the prehistoric and historic Native American Cultures of Southeastern North America. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirement for graduation.
ANTH 412. Global Health. 3 Hours.
Global Health encourages students to integrate information about local, lived, experiences of health with broader sociopolitical processes. This course uses the methodology of cross-cultural comparison to explore underlying patterns in human health and to study theories that explain health-related phenomena in diverse communities. Students learning will focus on how major transformations in human health articulate with demographic, nutritional, and epidemiological transitions as well as how wellbeing links to immigration, modernization, urbanization, environmental change, and other ongoing global flows.
ANTH 480. Advanced Topics: Anthropology. 1 to 4 Hours.
Advanced-level independent research or exploration in topics not offered in the
regular department courses.
ANTH 493. Case Studies in Public Health. 3 Hours.
This course is structured by a series of case studies that contain public health principles and focus on specific public health problems, its symptoms, treatments, prevention, and solutions. Work inside and outside of class deepens the investigation of public health principles, problems, and solutions by developing questions and answers for each case study.
Prerequisite: ANTH 201 with a minimum grade of D or ANTH 202 with a minimum grade of D or ANTH 312 with a minimum grade of D or SOC 210 with a minimum grade of D.
Sociology (SOC)
SOC 210. Introduction to Sociology. 3 Hours.
An introduction to the sociological perspective, focusing on the interrelations of
individuals, groups, and institutions in modern society.
SOC 215. Social Problems. 3 Hours.
An examination of the question of what constitutes a social problem, along with a focus on one or two social problems such as war, poverty, inequality and consumerism.
SOC 220. Sociology of Criminal and Deviant Behavior. 3 Hours.
An application of the sociological perspective to an understanding of criminal and
deviant behavior and to attempts to control such behavior.
SOC 230. Urban Sociology. 3 Hours.
The class examines life and human interactions in metropolitan areas. It focuses on the structures, processes and changes in urban areas and the problems cities face.
SOC 240. Race and Ethnicity. 3 Hours.
An examination of the history, major issues, and sociological dimensions of race and ethnic relations in the United States, which are both fundamental elements of social stratification.
SOC 250. Sex & Gender Across Cultures. 3 Hours.
Debates over gender and human sexuality in western societies generally assume that there are only two gender roles, male and female, and only two types of sexuality, heterosexual and homosexual. Some nonwestern culture have a far broader range of both gender roles and sexualities. This class examines gender roles and human sexuality primarily in nonwestern cultures, and explores what these cultures have to teach us about gender and sex in our society. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirement for graduation.
SOC 280. Selected Topics in Sociology. 1 to 4 Hours.
Introductory-level independent research or exploration in topics not offered in the
regular department courses.
SOC 302. Environmental Sociology. 3 Hours.
An examination of the increasing impact of human beings on the natural world, focusing especially on how social and cultural factors affect our willingness or unwillingness to conserve and protect the natural world.
SOC 315. Sex, Gender and the Family. 3 Hours.
Examines the relationship between biological sex and gender, diversity and changes in gender roles and in families, and how these relate to larger changes in societies and cultures.
SOC 320. Social Psychology. 3 Hours.
An examination of the relationship of the individual to groups and society, focusing
on both experimental studies under controlled conditions and nonexperimental studies in natural settings.
SOC 326. Social Inequalities & Stratification. 3 Hours.
The course focuses on a basic and broad understanding of the sociology of inequality and stratification. It examines inequality in the United States as it relates to class, race, gender, nativity, sexual orientation, and health.
SOC 330. Social Research. 3 Hours.
An introduction to the methods and techniques of collecting and analyzing social
data.
SOC 340. The Development of Sociological Theory. 3 Hours.
A review and analysis of the history of social thought leading up to and focusing
especially on the development of modern sociology in the 19th and 20th centuries.
SOC 346. Globalization & Society. 3 Hours.
This course focuses on the various ways in which globalization is conceptualized using a sociological perspective. Topics addressed may include development theories, cultural change, unequal exchange, capital and labor flows, environmental justice, transnational corporations, and sources of resistance and alternative visions. Additionally, class structure, racism, and sexism will be investigated at the global level. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirement for graduation.
SOC 406. Social Movements. 3 Hours.
An examinationof some of the core theories and concepts related to social movements (the collective attempts to effect change) with an emphasis on the Middle East and North African region, including: resource mobilization, political opportunity/process, framing, new social movements, cultural approaches, and transnational advocacy. Successful completion of this course satisfies the Cultures and Peoples requirement for graduation.
SOC 450. Capstone. 3 Hours.
Designated primarily for seniors completing the major in Sociology to review and
integrate what they have learned in their studies in the major and to design and
execute a research project on a topic of their choice.
SOC 480. Advanced Topics in Sociology. 1 to 4 Hours.
Advanced-level independent research or exploration in topics not offered in the
regular department courses.