Take One of these Sociology Classes Before You Graduate

After my three years of undergraduate education in sociology, I feel as though I’ve gotten to know the ins-and-outs of the department. Sociology classes are great to take because there’s normally no prerequisites and you don’t need too much background knowledge to understand the class material. Not to mention, they will broaden your worldview and help make you much more educated on various social issues. Here are my top five suggestions for courses to take!

Intro to Sociology

Intro to soc aka SOC 105 is a great class because it opens you up to the whole magical world of sociology. You’ll learn about all of the different sociological perspectives and read from a diverse group of authors that you wouldn’t get the chance to read any other time. While you don’t have to take this course to enroll in other higher-level soc courses, if you do it’ll definitely help you understand future classes a little better. 

Sociology of Drugs and Alcohol

SOC 339 is a wonderful course to take. Professor Marrone is a very understanding professor and she is very passionate about all of the material she teaches. Especially with the ongoing opioid epidemic in America, this class is a “must” in my mind because it really helps you to understand at an in-depth level addiction in several aspects, namely how it intertwines with our healthcare and legal systems. 

Sociology of Ethnic and Race Relations

SOC 310 is probably the number one class I think everyone needs to take before they graduate. You will get a deep dive into the history of race and racism and I promise you there is a lot to learn. Of course, as with all sociology courses, this class is integrally related to ongoing current events and I am confident it will continue to maintain its pertinence. (p.s. if you can’t squeeze this class into your schedule, check out Professor Fleming’s book How to Be Less Stupid About Race – it’s kind of like SOC 310 ‘lite’).

Sociology of Human Reproduction

 I feel guilty recommending people to take this course (SOC 340) because every enrollment period it fills up so fast. If you do happen to have a good enrollment date, you might get the chance to take this lovely class. While the textbook does cost a whopping $100, it is a moving collection of essays and book excerpts surroundings the topics of reproduction and pregnancy. If topics like IVF, infant mortality, or the Pro-life/choice movements interest you, I highly insist you take this class. Regardless of your background I can guarantee you will learn so much. Honestly, I really wish I could retake this class, because I just miss it so bad. It also doubles as WST 340, so if you’re a women studies minor/major, please take this class! 

Sociology of Youth

SOC 243 is a really fun introductory course in sociology. The topics covered in the class include adolescent development, youth culture, and generation gaps. There isn’t too much reading and so it’s not an overly time-consuming course, but just by showing up to lecture you’ll learn so much. There’s also quite a bit of psychology enveloped into the course material, and so all of you psych majors out there are likely to enjoy it. 

While I’ve taken a few other courses throughout my undergraduate career, these are some of the highlight on the sociology side of things. Sociology is such a fun major because it’s pretty much all electives with relatively few required courses, so you really just get to take whatever you’re interested in. Hopefully I’ve inspired you to take one of these classes! I promise you’ll learn a lot without having to break your GPA. 

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