Spring 2025 Courses
Undergraduate Courses
SOCI 1110: Intro Sociology
It seems fitting to begin this course with a quote from “The Promise” by a famous sociologist, written in the early 1960s. It refers to changes which occur in a society and the effect of these changes on the individual. During this past 18 months we have certainly witnessed significant changes in our society, and C. Wright Mills’ “The Sociological Imagination” will provide insight to these changes and their effect on society and the individual.
This course will introduce students to the fundamental concepts and principles of sociology. Topics include the study of cultures, patterns of social values, social institutions, stratification, and social change.
1110- 001 | Albright | TR 11:00-12:15 | FACE | CRN 50849
1110-002 | Goodman | TR 9:30-10:45 | FACE | CRN 50850
1110-003 | Torrez | ONLINE | CRN 61945
1110-005 | Torrez | ONLINE | CRN 59407 | 2nd Half Term
1110-007 | Torrez | ONLINE | CRN 50854
SOCI 1996: T: Making History
1996-002 | Leong | TR 11:00-12:15 | FACE | CRN 79578
SOCI 2120: Intro Criminal Justice Systems
Prerequisite: Sociology 1110 [SOC 101], or consent of the instructor. This course focuses on the study of crime, the criminal justice system and crime-related public policy. Discussion of key criminological concepts, the measurement of crime and delinquency, the distribution of crime in society, victimization, public opinion, the criminal justice system, and crime control strategies and policies.
2120-001 | Olson| MWF 10:00-10:50 | FACE | CRN 79090
2120-003 | Swanagan | ONLINE | CRN 50868
SOCI 2210: Sociology of Deviance
This course is designed to provide an overview of the study of deviance and social control from multiple sociological perspectives. The instructor will present how sociologists research deviance and social control and the ethical issues involved in studying human subjects involved in these activities. The course also examines central sociological theories for understanding the causes of deviant behavior.
*Prerequisite required: SOCI 1110: Intro Sociology
2210-001 | Lyons | TR 12:30-1:45 | FACE | CRN 50873
2210-002 | Staff | TR 3:30-4:45 | FACE | CRN 79167
SOCI 2315: The Dynamics of Prejudice
This course is designed to help students understand how attitudes and beliefs of individuals shape intergroup relations and their impacts on the daily lives of individuals as well as the effects that these beliefs have on the larger social structure of American society. We will examine how profoundly our society and the groups to which we belong, influence us and our beliefs and ultimately how these beliefs shape prejudice in our society. In this course, students are encouraged to challenge ideologies that are considered "common sense" or that are taken for granted and this in turn will allow them to critically engage issues in society such as racism, classism, sexism, and will leave with an understanding on how privilege affects our views on disability, LGBTQ issues, religion and immigration. Rather than investigating these themes in the abstract, students will identify and unpack how these larger structural issues play integral roles in their everyday lives, interactions, and existence. Ultimately, this course aims to address the social inequalities that exists in our society as a result of prejudice and will challenge students to identify and engage in strategies to work towards changing these aspects of society.
2315-001 | Rodriguez Candeaux | TR 2:00-3:15 | FACE | CRN 79240
2315-002 | Setter | ONLINE | CRN 80801
SOCI 312: Causes of Crime & Delinquency
A survey of criminological theories exploring why some people are more likely to engage in crime than others and why crime rates vary over time and space and across social groups. Attendant policy issues will also be discussed.
*Prerequisite required: SOCI 2120: Intro to Criminal Justice Systems OR SOCI 2210: Sociology of Deviance
312-001 | Olson | MWF 11:00-11:50 | FACE | CRN 55455
312-003 | Olson | TR 2:00-3:15 | FACE| CRN 79133
SOCI 325: Couples, Family, and Friendship
An overview of sociological research on the strongest social relationships and primary social groups: those of love, family and friendships.
325-001 | Thomas | TR 12:30-1:45 | FACE | CRN 79127
SOCI 340: Sociology of Medical Practice
An introduction to the delivery of health care in the U.S. and selected other countries is pursued with an emphasis on the interaction of patients, professionals and health care institutions.
340-001 | Torrez | TR 12:30-1:45 | FACE| CRN 79734
SOCI 346-001: Health & Social Inequalities II
This service-learning course provides students the opportunity to apply knowledge about social inequalities and health to working with community members to create change that improves health and reduces health disparities.
Goodkind | MW 9-10:45 | Face | CRN 55450
SOCI 371: Sociological Theory
The study of how theory is constructed and applied by sociologists including traditions from 19th-century sociological founders and contemporary theoretical formulations.
*Prerequisite required: SOCI 1110: Intro Sociology
371-001 | Weddington | TR 12:30-1:45 | Face | CRN 55449
371-002 | Goodman | TR 11:00-12:15 | Face | CRN 55448
SOCI 380: Intro to Research Methods
A survey of the major methods of social research: foundations of social research, research design, sampling and measurement, quantitative and qualitative research methods and data analysis.
*Prerequisite required: SOCI 1110: Intro Sociology
380-001 | Goodman | MWF 10:00-10:50 | Face | CRN 55447
380-002 | Goodman | MWF 11:00-11:50 | Face | CRN 79168
SOCI 381L-001: Sociological Data Analysis
Introduction to quantitative sociological data analysis using basic statistics (both descriptive and inferential) and to the use of statistical software to analyze empirical data.
*Prerequisite required: SOCI 380: Intro to Research Methods AND Math 1350: Intro Statistics
381L-001 | Park | TR 2:00-3:15 & W 12:00-12:50 | Face | CRN 55335
381L-002 | Davis | ONLINE | CRN 56380
SOCI 398-001: Sociology of New Mexico
The course will examine the social, economic and cultural changes in New Mexican society from pre-Spanish colonial times to the present. The process by which New Mexican society has moved from a rural/traditional/self-sufficient society to an urban/modern/capital society will be examined. The social institutions of the family, religion, education and health care services in New Mexico are presented.
Torrez | TR 11:00-12:15 | Face | CRN 61730
SOCI 398-002: ST: US Women of Color
Leong | TR 2:00-3:15 | Face | CRN 80653
SOCI 398-004: ST: Health & Social Inequality Lab
Goodkind | ARRANGED | CRN 55438
SOCI 415-001: Inequality and Power
This course focuses on the contemporary dynamics of social inequalities and power in US society. It lays particular emphasis on racial, gender, and economic oppression while outlining how these intersect with other systems and institutions.
Ray | Online | CRN 61946
SOCI 418-001: Social Justice in Criminology
Martensen | TR 2:00-3:15 | FACE | CRN 79160
SOCI 418-002: Juries: Sociology of Law
For the average citizen, there are few ways to be heard and even fewer to challenge power and authority. The American jury system stands out as the primary avenue through which an individual can confront powerful institutions such as governments and corporations. Through this system, even the most vulnerable and marginalized citizens can challenge even the most powerful entities.
This class aims to illuminate this reality through the lens of prisoner lawsuits. These lawsuits filed by otherwise voiceless and powerless prisoners challenge the prison industrial complex, which comprises both powerful governmental actors and influential prison contractors.
We will delve into how plaintiff trials and juries play pivotal roles in shaping public policy and fostering societal change. Juries, also often mocked, maligned and even feared, hold all the power at the end of the journey. The first task for any trial lawyer or budding trial lawyer is to understand, respect and effectively communicate with potential jurors during jury selection and with the seated jurors throughout the trial. The jury must be the focus from day one of a prisoner lawsuit.
Prisoner lawsuits present a virtual minefield of issues, biases, prejudices against prisoners, government, prisons/jails and corporations. It will be a fascinating journey of exploration as the students, the instructors and guests unravel the social science of trials and juries together and then piece together the stories that will appeal to a jury of 12 ordinary citizens.
Olson | R 4:00-6:45 | FACE | CRN 79165
SOCI 424-001: Race, Class, & Crime
This course examines how incarceration and criminalization affect people along racial, ethnic, class, and gender lines. The class will explore historical and modern contexts of mass incarceration and punishment in the racialized U.S. context. This class will discuss contemporary research as it relates to race/ethnicity and criminal legal institutions, including the racialized contexts of modern criminal justice reforms.
Martensen | TR 12:30-1:45 | Face | CRN 79161
SOCI 425-001: Crime Through the Life Course
A number of important crime related phenomena are associated with age and development. At the aggregate level, communities with a relatively high percentage of young people exhibit higher crime rates than those with fewer young people. At the individual level, criminal behavior peaks in adolescence and slowly declines thereafter. Recent theoretical and empirical work in life course and developmental criminology seeks to make sense of these age-related patterns. The goal of this course is to familiarize you with age-related crime patterns as well as current theoretical and empirical debates regarding how to best explain these patterns. We will examine how childhood experiences shape later behavior, why so many adolescents challenge social rules, and why most adolescents age out of problem behavior as they move into adulthood. In addition, as we work our way through the semester, we will pay attention to the policy implications of the theoretical and empirical work that focuses on crime through the life course.
Broidy | TR 11:00-12:15 | Face | CRN 79162
SOCI 427-001: Sociology of Madness
Different historical and cultural frameworks for defining, making sense of, and responding to madness are examined. The social causes and social distribution of madness are critically examined.
Barker| Online | CRN 56225
SOCI 488-001: Sociology & Criminology Internship
The Sociology and Criminology Department offers a 3 or 6 credit upper division course that gets you out in the community. If you are interested in getting some practical experience in the community either out of intellectual curiosity or for professional development or both, consider taking the Sociology and Criminology Department’s internship course. The course, taught by Dr. Colin Olson, introduces the civic and professional aspects of internships and helps students develop the skills of an organizational ethnographer. At the end of the semester students write a short ethnographic paper on their internship site.
- 3 and 6 credit options
- 10-20 hours weekly field experience
- Junior and Senior status
- Fall/Spring Semesters
- 1 hour hybrid weekly small group discussion of organizational ethnography
- Taught by Dr. Colin Olson
- For more information, contact Dr. Olson at colino@unm.edu
- See more information here.
- See the flyer here.
Restriction: junior or senior standing, permission of instructor, 6 hours upper division SOCI course
Olson | M 12:00-12:50 | Face | CRN 61270
SOCI 490: Directed Study
Tutorial arrangement for investigation of selected issues in sociology. Specific arrangements must be made with a member of the Sociology department faculty responsible for supervising the work before enrolling in the course.
Graduate Courses
SOCI 524: Theories in Medical Sociology
This course examines some of the theoretical traditions and tools used in the subfield of the sociology of health and illness, also known as medical sociology. Medical sociology is often seen by the larger discipline of sociology as atheoretical. This critique is not entirely unfounded. However, this class is organized around some of the theoretical orientations that inform medical sociology. You will read some original theoretical texts, but many of the readings are examples of works that put sociological theory to use. In other words, although this class places an emphasis on theory, many of the readings foreground the important dialogue between theory and method.
Barker | R 3:00-6:00 | Face | CRN 79177
SOCI 580: Methods of Sociological Research
This course introduces graduate students to the basic concepts that underlie social science research methods. Students will review different research designs and techniques, learn the relative strengths and weaknesses of different approaches, and be exposed to relevant social science research that applies these methods. Course topics include causation, sampling, measurement, experiments, survey research, longitudinal study designs, qualitive methods, and research ethics.
Ragan | W 2:00-4:30 | Face | CRN 79164
SOCI 582: Advanced Social Statistics II
Additional advanced methods for quantitative social research: regression methods for categorical outcomes (logit, poisson, etc), missing data methods, and multilevel models.
*Prerequisite: 581, or a similar course.
Thomas | T 3:00-5:30 | Face | CRN 79175
SOCI 595: Social Inequalities
This course will examine how various mechanisms of power and oppression are intimately entangled and co-constitute one another, and how they operate in our everyday life. Specifically, the seminar will make unknown five institutions that condition modern society and shape daily life-- Sex, Prisons, Schools, Borders, and Technology.
Ray | M 1-3:30 | Face | CRN 56178
SOCI 551: Problems: This independent-study course is taken for a grade. The faculty member and student should create a plan for substantiative study, in lieu of coursework.
SOCI 596: Readings: This is a CR/NC course that can be taken for up to 6 hours to fulfill enrollment requirements and formalize advisement in preparation for writing the MA thesis.
SOCI 696: Reading: This is a CR/NC course that can be taken for up to 6 hours to fulfill enrollment requirements and formalize advisement in preparation for the PhD comprehensive exams.
SOCI 699: Dissertation: Students in the dissertation stage (post comprehensive exam) are required to enroll in 699 every Fall & Spring through the semester in which they defend.
