This course is designed to introduce students to the field of sociology, the exploration of society and how it operates. Sociology broadens social insights, fosters critical thinking, trains students in methods of gathering and analyzing data, and helps students develop their writing skills. By thinking actively about the issues facing contemporary American society, students will learn to examine life situations and the influence of society and groups on people's lives, careers, hopes, fears, and personalities.

This class will emphasize how society is stratified: how organizations and institutions influence the way Americans think, talk, feel, and act and how different groups (such as racial and ethnic) and divisions (such as gender and class) within society have differential access to power and privilege. We live out our lives in relation to social and physical environments; sociology studies these environments and their effects on our experiences and behaviors.

This is a Foundation course in the General Education Program's Curricular Area 4: Social Institutions and Behavior. It is grouped within Cluster 2: Social Behavior, along with the introductory courses in Anthropology, Psychology, and Women and Gender Studies. As a Foundation course, American Society is designed to focus on writing, critical thinking, and reasoning. This course supports Area 4, as it critically analyzes concepts, patterns, and issues that affect the organization of groups and the relationship between the individual and the society in which he/she lives. It discusses the values and ethical issues that underlie social, political, and economic organizations. In addition, this course analyzes distinctive methods of inquiry appropriate to the study of social institutions using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Students should be aware that due to the General Education Program requirements, they must move from one foundation course in Cluster 2 to any of the twelve linked second-level courses in the same cluster.