Sociology
Professor Kelly A. Dagan
Assistant Professor Jericho McElroy
Assistant Professor Jaclyn Tabor
Assistant Professor David Walter
Instructor Angela Gonzales Balfe
The Department of Sociology, rooted in the liberal arts at Illinois College, is dedicated to developing students’ awareness of the interconnections between individual lives and the larger social context. Through our courses and faculty advising, we ask students to question the taken- for-granted by requiring them to examine the impact of society on individual choices, behaviors, and attitudes, as well as how patterns of individual choices, behaviors, and attitudes create the society in which we live. In addition, we encourage our students to recognize the ways in which their sociological knowledge complements understanding other disciplines in which they are participating.
Students must earn a ‘C-’ or better in each course to be counted towards the major or minor. All prerequisite courses must be completed with a C or better.
Majors & Programs
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Sociology, Major -
Sociology, Minor
Courses
SO 101: Introduction to Sociology
SO 202: Race and Ethnicity
SO 206: Social Stratification
SO 207: Gender and Sexuality
SO 210: Social Statistics
SO 218: Social Problems
SO 224: Families and Society
SO 248: Health and Society
How did depression become an “epidemic”? Why do many racial minorities get better healthcare in prison than in their communities? When did doctors become one of the richest professional groups in America? This course introduces students to medical sociology through three lenses. First, we examine the social determinants of health: the ways that race, class, and gender intersect to produce disease and disability for some and wellness for others. Second, we look at the social construction of illness, asking how cultural conceptions can help explain why – for example – people with schizophrenia live better in poor developing countries than in rich, Western ones. Finally, we explore the political economy of medicine: how our health care system does more than just heal, but also serves as a tool for social control and an engine for capitalist accumulation. Although many of our readings will refer to the United States, we will use examples from outside the United States to highlight alternatives to dominant ways of thinking about health, illness, and medicine.
SO 280: Sociology of Sport
This course approaches the understanding of sport by applying sociological theory and concepts. Specific issues that will be addressed include the history of sport in America, the centrality of sport to American culture, and how sport reflects and affects the structure of social class, gender, sexuality, and race in America.