Curriculum

Florida State University offers a multitude of courses that highlight the importance and impact of government and civic engagement. Courses highlighted by IOP@FSU offered at FSU have one theme in common: they touch on the topics of government institutions and civic and political participation. All emphasize the importance of the role of government and civic engagement in our communities.

“Information is the currency of democracy”

Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

Core Courses

Political Science (POS)

  • 1041: AMERICAN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
    • This course investigates how the national government is structured and how the American political system operates. Covers the philosophical and constitutional foundations of American government, the branches of the national government, the mechanisms by which citizens are connected to their government, and the policy outputs of government.
  • 3122: STATE POLITICS
    • This course focuses on government and politics in the American states. It looks at the governor, the legislature, and the courts; the history of federalism; and policies, practices, and social institutions that affect state government. Includes a study of state policies in such areas as welfare, education, crime, and the environment.
  • 3182: FLORIDA GOVERNMENT
    • This course covers the history and current organization of Florida government - the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Considers such topics as the Florida Constitution, how Florida compares to other state governments, and the effects of interests outside state government.
  • 3204: PUBLIC OPINION AND ELECTORAL BEHAVIOR
    • This course explores political attitudes and behavior. It examines such topics as the sources of political knowledge; how political attitudes are formed and changed; how public opinion is measured; and why people vote the way they do.
  • 3443: POLITICAL PARTIES AND CAMPAIGNING
    • This course describes, explains, and evaluates the structure, activities, and functions of political parties in the United States. Examines party organization and leadership, nominations and elections, the American electorate, and political campaigning.
  • 3691: LAW AND SOCIETY
    • This course surveys the American legal system including the role of lawyers; sources and types of law; and courts, legislatures, executive agencies, and other law-making institutions. Also links law and legal behavior to the social, economic, and political features of modern society.
  • 4070: RACE, ETHNICITY, AND POLITICS
    • This course examines how race and ethnicity are interwoven in American politics by viewing the role of African-American, Latino, and Asian-American voters, candidates, and public officials, and looking at the political attitudes of these groups.
  • 4206: POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY 
    • This course examines the psychological origins of citizens’ political beliefs and actions, while providing an overview of the theories and methods used in the field of political psychology. Topics cover information processing, emotion, attribution, tolerance, stereotyping, prejudice, and political communication.
  • 4235: MEDIA AND POLITICS 
    • This course examines the role of the news media, both print and electronic, in shaping public opinion and voter behavior.
  • 4275: POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS 
    • This course examines the planning and administration of electoral campaigns for students interested in campaign participation as volunteers or professionals.
  • 4284: COURTS, LAW, AND POLITICS
    • This course surveys the judicial system and its links to politics in the United States. Covers the U.S. Supreme Court, other federal courts, and state and local courts. Topics include legal education and law careers, role of lawyers in court, selection of judges, how civil and criminal cases get to and through the courts, plea bargaining, judicial decision-making, and court-made public policy.
  • 4413: THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY
    • This course focuses on the evolution and power of the American presidency and the relations of the President with the branches of government.
  • 4424: LEGISLATIVE SYSTEMS
    • This course studies Congress and the behavior of its members. Includes the recruitment and election of members of Congress, the functioning of party leaders and congressional committees, the influences on congressional policy-making, and the sources of stability and change in Congress.
  • 4606: THE SUPREME COURT IN AMERICAN POLITICS
    • This course reviews the political role of the Supreme Court with particular attention to case law concerning judicial review, commerce power, federalism, and presidential and legislative power.

Public Policy (PUP)

  • 3002: INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC POLICY 
    • This course is an introduction to the development of public policy in the United States. Covers main policy areas including housing, education, the economy, homeland security, etc.
  • 4008: PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS
    • This course introduces students to the evaluation and anaylsis of public policy, using the political economy approach.
  • 4024: INTEREST GROUPS, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, AND PUBLIC POLICY
    • This course examines the varied effectiveness of interest groups and movements on public policy formation, with emphasis on resources, organizational structure, ideology, strategies, and tactics.

Comparative Politics (CPO)

  • 2002: INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS 
    • This course addresses government institutions and current political parties throughout the world, as well as theories that explain similarities and differences among countries. Topics may include electoral systems, parliamentary systems, causes of political change, democratization, political culture, ideologies, and economic and social policy. Examples are drawn from Western democracies and developing countries.
  • 3703: COMPARATIVE DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS 
    • This course examines political institutions (including executive, legislative, judicial, as well as electoral systems) and evaluates their importance and role in democratic societies.
  • 3743: STATES AND MARKETS
    • This course analyzes the multifaceted ways in which political and economic spheres interrelate. Students will be exposed to relevant debates on democracy and growth, the state’s role in the economy, corruption, natural resources, and redistribution.

Economics

  • 3622: GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY
    • This course examines the factors in the development of economic forces, resources, institutions, and ideas relating to American economic growth analyzed through growth theories and issue debates on economic history.
  • 4532: ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF POLITICS 
    • This course uses economic models to analyze political decision making. A theory of constitutions is developed and applied to the U.S. Constitution. Models of majority rule decision making and bureaucratic supply are used to develop an understanding of supply and demand in the public sector.
  • 4554: ECONOMICS OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 
    • This course covers state and local revenues, expenditures, and borrowing; intergovernmental relationships.
  • 4704: INTERNATIONAL TRADE
    • This course discusses the theory of international trade, the gains from trade, tariffs and other trade restrictions, cartels.

Public Administration (PAD)

  • 3003: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN AMERICAN SOCIETY
    • This introductory course in public administration studies the management of large-scale government bureaucracies including organization, career systems, and financing. It also focuses on the role of bureaucracies in modern society in the formalization and implementation of public policy.
  • 4120: MANAGING FLORIDA’S GOVERNMENT AND ITS KEY POLICY ISSUES
    • This course provides students with a basic understanding of the history, organization, and management of government in Florida and key issues facing the state. The course first focuses on the history and structure of Florida government and how it has shaped the Sunshine State. The course next addresses critical issues facing Florida, including public finances, economic development, growth management, criminal justice, environmental protection, and education and social welfare.
  • 4414: AMERICAN PUBLIC SERVICE 
    • This course studies the structure and political role of the civil service, evolution of government employment, current personnel policies, rights and responsibilities of public servants, and labor management relations. The impact of the public service on American society is explored.
  • 4603: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
    • This course studies the constitutions, statutes, executive orders, and procedures that control the administrative authorities of government.
  • 4842: U.S. INTELLIGENCE POLICY
    • This course is an introduction to the United States Intelligence Community (IC), its significant role within the U.S. government and how intelligence informs and shapes U.S. policy. This course prepares students interested in national security for additional education in intelligence studies, homeland security, and international affairs. Through lecture, assigned readings, classroom discussion, and guest speakers, the course addresses the IC and its preeminent role and effect on U.S. policy both domestically and internationally. Students explore the intersections of the IC with Congress, the DNI, the Executive branch, national security law, finance and intelligence sharing.
  • 4843: U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY 
    • This course familiarizes students with the U.S. Intelligence community, the processes and platforms for information/data gathering and analysis, and how the subsequent “intelligence” is used by policy/decision-makers. Throughout the course, students are given opportunities to gather, analyze, and report their findings to case-studies and then compare their conclusions to real-world outcomes. Students gain a broad knowledge of U.S. Intelligence operations and the social, economic, military, and covert actions resulting from Intelligence recommendations.
  • 4890: HOMELAND SECURITY; POLICY AND PRACTICE
    • This course is designed to introduce students to the concept and application of homeland security policies and their influence on U.S. domestic policy.

American History (AMH)

  • 2010: THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES TO 1877
    • Begins with the colonial and revolutionary background of U.S. politics. The bulk of the course studies U.S. political parties and elections from the 1790s to 1877. Special emphasis is placed on the presidency and on the groups and issues that have influenced political parties.
  • 2020: A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1877
    • Studies U.S. political parties and elections from the end of Reconstruction to the present. Special emphasis is placed on the presidency and on the groups and issues that have influenced political parties. AMH 3351 is not a prerequisite for 3352.
  • 2095: THE AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE UNITED STATES
    • Course surveys American Indian relations with the people and the government of the United States, beginning in the 1760s and continuing to the present. Examines the Indians’ diplomatic and military struggles, first to retain their territories and later to maintain some level of self-determination and cultural integrity. Students will also be exposed to the Indian perspective on familiar historical events such as the Civil War, the New Deal, and the 1960s.
  • 2097: NATIONALITY, RACE, AND ETHNICITY IN THE UNITED STATES
    • The history of immigration to the United States. Includes the evolution of ethnic cultures and the role of race, acculturation and assimilation, and the conflict from colonial times to the present. 
  • 3544: THE UNITED STATES AND VIETNAM, 1941-1975
    • This course examines the involvement of the United States in Vietnam from World War II through the fall of Saigon in 1975 and considers the legacy of this experience for American foreign relations and society.
  • 4270: THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1945
    • This course focuses on the political and cultural issues faced by the United States during the period of the Cold War (1945 to 1988). Special attention is given to postwar affluence, suburban America, the mass society, the movement from isolationism to interventionism, McCarthyism, the civil rights movement, social conflict in the 1960s, and the rise of postwar conservatism.
  • 4511: TWENTIETH-CENTURY UNITED STATES FOREIGN RELATIONS 
    • This course covers the responsibilities of global power and how American foreign policy changed to meet rapidly altering circumstances.
  • 4420: THE HISTORY OF FLORIDA
    • This course explores the history of Florida from its pre-Columbian origins to the present.

Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS)

  • 2339: THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN US: EXPLORING RACIAL INEQUALITY IN THE U.S. 
    • This course explores the issue of contemporary racial inequality in the United States. More specifically, the course has been designed to provide students with information about trends and patterns of racial inequality in the U.S. today, allowing them to explore competing explanations for continuing racial inequality, and challenging them to propose and critically assess ideas about potential mechanisms for change.
  • 2390: PUBLIC OPINION AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 
    • In this course, students explore the factors that structure individual’s attitudes towards politics and how the distribution of public opinion on major issues affects government. More specifically, the course has been designed to provide students with a critical examination of the psychology of political attitude formation, the opportunity to gather and analyze - both independently and as a group - data about citizens’ political beliefs, and an empirical evaluation of government responsiveness toward citizens’ demands.
  • 2391: WHY IS GOOD POLITICS NOT GOOD ECONOMICS?
    • This course is designed to help students understand current economic issues so that they can become more informed citizens and voters. Students learn the basics of economic thinking and how markets and the political process work, and then apply these concepts to current economic issues such as minimum wage, legalization of drugs, trade restrictions, and fiscal and monetary policy during an economic crisis.
  • 2402: MATHEMATICS FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
    • This course offers an introduction to ways in which mathematical lenses can be used to explore important current social and environmental issues in relation to their local social and political contexts.
  • 2410: CITIZENSHIP AND DEBATE: MODELS FROM THE ANCIENT WORLD 
    • This course explores current controversial issues in American society through their counterparts in ancient Greece and Rome. Students extract selections of debates from great works of Classical literature, explore the strengths and weaknesses of opposing arguments, and engage with the parallels that have ensnared political culture in their own day. Throughout, students are concerned with the question of whether political conflict is integral, or an obstacle, to the embodiment of democratic principles.
  • 2413: FIGHT THE POWER: PROTESTING WITH SONG IN AMERICA: 20TH CENTURY VERSUS 21ST CENTURY 
    • Political and social protests are a fact of life in the United States. Protest movements have effectively used songs in the past to convey their message and will continue to do so in the future. This course challenges students to consider how songs may be created or adapted to protest movements.
  • 2432: POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: FROM INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES TO ON-LINE DEMOCRACY
    • This course centers around an ancient political question: how can we live together? In the 21st century new forms of participation are developing which should make us question the traditional political paradigms. The course addresses these problems by examining evidence from different contexts and by adopting a multidisciplinary approach.
  • 2455: THE ROLE OF THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL 
    • While we might not admit it, every thinking person wants to be a public intellectual, that is, somebody who deals with the best ideas but in a way that speaks to the broadest possible audience. In this class students will read, discuss, and write about six public intellectuals, each of whom is a thinker who, rather than merely contributing to a particular discipline (though they have certainly done that), has used that discipline to explicate the world, thereby making both more alive and dynamic.
  • 3342: BOOMERS AND MILLENNIALS: CHANGING GENERATIONS
    • In this course, students are guided through original empirical research to appreciate the sources of changes across contrasting generations, and to follow up the impact of generational change for a wide range of social, economic and political dimensions of everyday life. Research projects compare different generations at equivalent points in the life cycle.

Leadership Studies (LDR)

  • 2160: PEER LEADERSHIP
    • Peer Leadership will develop potential campus student leaders and improve overall peer leadership efficacy. It will give students a deeper understanding of themselves and appreciation for the diversity of others. This course also serves as an opportunity to provide all student leaders with direct training and preparation for campus leadership and mentoring roles.
  • 2162: LEADERSHIP IN GROUPS AND COMMUNITIES
    • This course is designed to inspire, teach, and engage students in the process of learning leadership within the context of working with groups and communities. This course helps students develop the skills necessary in order to be effective in the leadership process and to practice these skills within their community. The course is highly interactive, with student participation and outside class involvement as critical components to the learning process.
  • 2163: EMERGING LEADERS
    • This course enables students to develop their intellectual, interpersonal, and social skills through their experiences as members in organizations. This course is designed to prepare students for leadership roles and challenges they face in their organizations, on campus, and in the community. The course is highly interactive with student participation and outside class involvement as critical components to the learning process.
  • 2213: LEADERSHIP FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
    • This course introduces students to theoretical frameworks in the field of social justice. Through these theories, the notions of privilege, oppression, power and difference are explored. Attention is given to specific social justice issues related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, ability, age and class. Students examine social justice in the context of leadership and come to understand their unique role in creating social change on campus, in their academic discipline, and within our larger society.
  • 2241: BLACK MALE LEADERSHIP
    • The purpose of this course is to introduce the study of leadership and leadership efficacy as it relates to Black males, using text and outside readings, activities, and a variety of assignments. Students in this course will be introduced to and discuss some of the social, psychological, and cognitive realities of Black males in America. Discussion will be centered on the perceptions, images, realities and myths relating to Black men. A special emphasis will be placed upon Black male leadership in the Black community.
  • 2242: GENDER AND LEADERSHIP
    • This course explores the complex intersections of gender and the intricacies of enacting leadership. Students will consider gender as a socially constructed concept and discuss the historical inequities in which this construct has developed and how this has influenced their understanding and enactment of leadership. This course considers the experiences of women, trans*, genderqueer, and men leaders, as well as concepts of gender expression and the intersectionality of identities as influencers on leadership access and practice. To address these perspectives, the course reviews research from a variety of disciplines, including education, social psychology, sociology, economics, and management and organizational science.
  • 2243: LATINX LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
    • This course is a theory-to-practice, interactive and identity-based leadership course discussing and analyzing components of Latinx Leadership Development. (Latinx is a gender-neutral term for Latino/a.) This course explores the historical and cultural aspects of Latinx culture and how it intertwines with leadership development, learning, and practice. Students in this course will learn the core tenets of Latinx Leadership Development, aspects of Latinx Leadership Development in U.S. society, local community, and culture. Students will have the opportunity to reflect individually and in groups on how concepts of Latinx Leadership Development are prevalent in their personal and professional lives. The course will be highly interactive with student participation, group discussion, group activities, and opportunities for personal reflection.
  • 2290: LEADERSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
    • This course is designed to introduce students to the concept of leadership and action related to sustainability. It looks at the interconnectedness and complexity of the three pillars of sustainability (environment, economic, and social) as well as discusses the development of the leadership skills needed to create social change. In conjunction with class discussions and readings, students develop a personal sustainability plan to help align passion and values into active practice.
  • 3215: LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE.
    • This advanced undergraduate leadership course examines the change process and prepares leaders who are effective in working with individuals, groups, and organizations in leading and managing change. This is an interactive theory-to-practice course, focused on leadership as a change process.

Philosophy of Man and Society (PHM)

  • 2121: PHILOSOPHY OF RACE, CLASS, AND GENDER
    • In this course we will study selected contemporary philosophical, literary, and journalistic discussions of questions regarding race, class, and gender with a particular emphasis on the status of these discussions in the United States. We will survey theoretical accounts of the concepts of race, class, and gender, as well as their interrelatedness, and we will examine their application to various contemporary social issues.
  • 2300: INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
    • This course is an introduction to some of the main issues in political philosophy: the justification of political authority, role of law, political obligation, neocolonialism, disobedience, revolution, rights, the appropriate ends of government, patterns of distribution and justice.
  • 3331: MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT
    • This course focuses on major political ideas of the modern world emphasized through a study of selected political theorists such as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Burke, Hegel, Marx, Engels, Bentham, Mill, Jefferson, Madison, Lenin, and Mussolini.
  • 3400: PHILOSOPHY OF LAW
    • This course is a comprehensive survey of the most important schools of thought, traditional problems, and current issues in Anglo-American philosophy of law. Chief theories discussed are natural law, positivism, realism (including the law and economics movement), and critical legal studies (including race and gender theory). Also explored are different views about the interpretation of law and the role of the judiciary in American politics. Includes analysis of legal cases and consideration of issues such as justice, equality, liberty, privacy, and punishment.
  • 4340: CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THOUGHT
    • This course is an exploration of a set of issues, a trend, or a school of thought in contemporary political philosophy. May be repeated to a maximum of nine semester hours.

Related Courses

African-American Studies (AFA)

  • 3101: THEORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
    • This course engages theories of race discrimination and oppression as it relates to African Americans. Students systematically and objectively examine the sources of American oppression and explore how it shapes the life chances of African Americans from prior to the Reconstruction Era to the twenty-first century. The course explores the timing and manner of their entry into U.S. society, conflicts with other groups, encounters with prejudice and discrimination, as well as the extent to which they have secured access to cultural, economic, political, and social assimilation into U.S. society.
  • 3330: BLACK FAMILIES IN AMERICA
    • This course explores the social, economic, and cultural forces that have shaped the development of African-American families. In examining historical and contemporary transitions in the structure and functioning of African-American families, special emphasis is given to the bifurcation in the distribution of wealth and power in American society, as well as the role of racial stratification. The course also seeks to empirically examine contemporary policy and political debates on crucial issues confronting African-American families.
  • 4007: BLACK POLITICAL THOUGHT & SOCIAL MOVEMENT
    • This course is a critical introduction to Africana political thought and social movements with an emphasis on the African-American experience. The course is a comprehensive exploration of Africana political history, ideology and political practice.

Asian History (ASH)

  • 3382: THE HISTORY OF THE US & EAST ASIA, 1850 TO THE PRESENT
    • This course investigates the history of the U.S. and modern East Asia from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, covering political interactions and cultural encounters between Americans and Japanese, Koreans, and Chinese.

Economic Problems & Policy (ECP)

  • 3143: AFRO-AMERICANS IN THE AMERICAN POLITICAL ECONOMY 
    • This course examines the market, institutional, governmental, and social processes that have contributed to the economic well-being of African-Americans. Also covers theoretical material related to wage determination, labor market discrimination, and marriage and transitions in family structure, as well as interaction between race and class as determinants of the life chances of African-Americans.
  • 3451: ECONOMICS AND THE LAW
    • This course is focused on the impact of the legal system on economic activity and the role of economic analysis in assessing the relative efficiency of alternative legal rules and institutions.
  • 4413: GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF BUSINESS
    • This course is an introduction to the economic analysis of antitrust law and regulation. Topics include price fixing, monopolization, predatory pricing, exclusive dealing, tie-ins, price discrimination, mergers, antitrust enforcement policies, and case studies in economic regulation.
  • 4530: ECONOMICS OF HEALTH 
    • This course provides an overview of the U.S. health care system and the role that economics plays in advancing our understanding of it. Topics included are the demand for medical care and health insurance, the role and impact of government in funding health care services (Medicare and Medicaid), cost benefit analysis, pharmaceuticals and the FDA, organ donation and vending, as well as health care and insurance in other developed countries. Throughout the course, students have opportunities to improve their writing through instruction and assigned papers.
  • 4613: URBAN ECONOMICS 
    • This course is an analysis of trends in urban economies in the U.S. and elsewhere. Introduction to economic and demographic data sources for analysis of urban areas; issues confronting contemporary urban places.

Foundations and Policy Studies

  • 1005: INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATION 
    • This course offers students a broad view of education from historical, cultural, psychological, political, social, and philosophical perspectives. Includes lectures, discussions, and field experience.

General History and Historiography

  • 3491: MEDICINE AND SOCIETY
    • This course examines the development of public health and the history of medicine in the United States from the colonial period to the present. Topics cover changes in medical knowledge, the medical profession, government responsibilities, and public responses; how individuals accept, modify, or reject medical authority; how race, class, gender, and ethnicity shape health practices and the delivery of medical care; how the health of a community can be protected; and what constitutes a public health hazard.

Geography

  • 1400: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
    • Introductory survey of geographic theories, issues and applications from the human perspective. How people interact with each other politically, economically, culturally and socially across distances, scales, and across the natural environment. Global contrasts between urban and rural habitation, local versus transnational trade, and regional uneven economic development.

History of Philosophy

  • 3130: PLATO AND HIS PREDECESSORS
    • This course focuses on Ancient Greek philosophy from its beginnings to the work of one of its greatest practitioners. Questions posed include: What is there? What can I know about it? What should I do?
  • 3140: ARISTOTLE TO AUGUSTINE
    • This course focuses on philosophy from the “Master of Those Who Knew” (Aristotle) through the end of the ancient world and the dominance of Christianity. Topics include: the structure of the World-Order, God, Man’s place.
  • 3400: MODERN PHILOSOPHY
    • This course is a critical study of the theories of 17th- and 18th-century Western philosophers through a careful examination of representative texts from both the empiricist and rationalist traditions.

International Relations (INR)

  • 2002: INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
    • This course introduces students to the study of international relations. Major topics include the different actors that participate in international relations and the different goals they pursue, the processes of conflict and cooperation, and recent trends in international politics.
  • 3084: TERROR AND POLITICS 
    • This course focuses on terrorist organizations and government responses to them.
  • 4102: AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY 
    • This course focuses on the role of the U.S. President, State Department, Congress, Central Intelligence Agency, and Defense Department in making foreign policy. Examines the decision-making process and domestic sources of foreign policy, such as the electorate, public opinion, interest groups, and the media. Looks at the past and the future of American foreign policy with an emphasis on current issues.

International Studies (INS)

  • INS3003: INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
    • This course introduces students to the core questions and concerns of international affairs. This course surveys the many distinct academic disciplines that together contribute to the development of an interdisciplinary understanding of the international system. The course examines how each of these disciplines understands the international system, the questions it raises, and its strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the course provides an introduction to many of the global issues of interest to international affairs majors, including terrorism, democracy, and globalization. At the end of this course, students have the skills and knowledge required to construct their own specialized plan of study in international affairs.

Interdisciplinary Social Science (ISS)

  • 4014: EVIDENCE BASED PUBLIC POLICY
    • This is an interdisciplinary public policy course that emphasizes the social science concepts which provide fundamental insights into how public policy is created through collective action and how it can succeed or fail by the actions of individuals and institutions.
  • 4164: INTERSECTIONS, POWER, POLICY
    • Intersections, Power, & Policy provides the theoretical study of race, class, and gender from across social science disciplines and the methodological tools for the evaluation of public policy. The course is designed to further develop student skills in the critical evaluation of public policy and will expose students to diverse contemporary public policies ranging from congressional legislation to executive orders in Florida as well as nationally.

Law & Process (CJL)

  • 3510: THE COURTS
    • This course examines the jurisdiction, policies, and procedures of courts in the administration of criminal justice.
  • 4038: LAW, SOCIETY AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 
    • This course examines how law shapes and is shaped by economic relations, morality, social solidarity, state institutions, political domination, democratic governance, and legal consciousness, and how law impacts and is influenced by race, gender, and class relations. The course explores how social groups use law and legal ideology to press their rights to remedy social inequalities and to what extent these groups are successful. Students become familiar with major theoretical traditions in law and society as well as sociological issues such as civil rights, the legislation of morality, and the administration of justice.
  • 4565: COURTS AND SOCIAL POLICY
    • This course examines the role of courts in determining social policy as it relates to criminology. Emphasis is directed toward the political and social inputs that influence judicial decision making and the role of democracy and punishment in the courts. These topics are examined using current social policy. The course satisfies oral competency requirements.

Public Health Concentration (PHC)

  • 4157: HEALTH POLICY AND SOCIETY 
    • This course introduces students to the major public health concerns currently facing the U.S. population and a variety of policies intended to address them. The course begins with a overview of how the American health care system works and how it compares to other health care systems across the world. Students also examine how issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, and age influence the availability, cost and quality of the health care individuals receive.

Social Work (SOW)

  • 4620: DIVERSITY & SOCIAL JUSTICE
    • This course enhances student understanding of human diversity and prepares students to engage in a lifetime pursuit of cultural competence. Students are encouraged to reflect upon and discuss the intricacies of their own particular dominant and/or minority social statuses and their relations to other individuals and communities. The course is designed to train students to apply theoretical frameworks to the forms and mechanisms associated with diversity, differences, and oppression. Emphasis is placed on enhancing respectful and empathic communication, and on the advancement of social and economic justice and human rights in national and global contexts.

Sociology of Demography (SYD)

  • 3020: POPULATION AND SOCIETY 
    • This course examines the causes and consequences of population change in the United States and the world with an assessment of the impact of demographic change on various social institutions.
  • 4510: ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY
    • This course examines the larger social forces that shape our natural environment; the social foundations of environmental problems; and the social responses to environmental issues, conflicts, and movements.
  • 4700: RACE AND MINORITY GROUP RELATIONS
    • This course explores historical and contemporary race relations in the United States from a sociological perspective. Specifically, we will study the underlying issues that characterize the relations between and among different ethnic and racial groups in our country.
  • 4730: AFRICAN AMERICANS IN MODERN SOCIETY 
    • This course examines the African-American experience in the U.S. with the goal of understanding how historical conditions and events shaped current circumstances. Focus is on African-Americans as situated in all major institutions (economy, polity, family, education, religion, welfare, military, criminal justice) and the consequences of their placement. The course applies sociological theories of race/ethnicity to past and current developments.

Social Organization (SYO)

  • 3530: SOCIAL CLASS AND INEQUALITY
    • This course explores the origins and organization of social movements, the dilemmas and challenges facing social movements, the relationship between social movements and political institutions, and the role of social movements in causing social change.
  • 4300: SOCIOLOGY OF POLITICS 
    • This course deals with American political institutions, political organizations, pressure groups, and the public’s participation in political processes. Discussion focuses on current political issues from a sociological perspective.
  • 4461: NEW MEDIA AND SOCIAL CHANGE
    • This course surveys some of the research outlining the influence of mass media on individuals, institutions, and culture. The course pays attention to both “old” media (e.g., television and newspapers) and “new” media (e.g., websites, and social media) and broadly explores how technological changes effect social institutions and society.

Social Processes (SYP)

  • 3350: COLLECTIVE ACTION AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 
    • This course explores the origins and organization of social movements, the dilemmas and challenges facing social movements, the relationship between social movements and political institutions, and the role of social movements in causing social change.
  • 3540: SOCIOLOGY OF LAW
    • This course examines the interrelationship between the legal order and the social order. Limitations of civil and criminal law for conflict management and for implementation of social policy are considered.