Teaching

For each course that I am currently teaching click on the link in the sidebar to take you to the course website where you can download the syllabus, assignments, readings, and view a course calendar. Below is a description of each of the ten courses I teach.

1. Introduction to Sociology (SOC 250)

The course provides students with an introduction to the topic of sociology. We talk about the science of sociology and how it is performed. We also examine prominent historical and current social theorists to learn about fundamental research in social science and what this research has taught us about human behavior. We explore such topics as culture, socialization, social interaction, networks, organizations, inequality, deviance, stratification, race, and gender.

2. Quantitative Reasoning/Statistics (SOC 305)

The course provides students with intermediate level instruction regarding the topic of research methods. Students will learn the process of research, including forming a research question, literature review, data gathering, statistical analysis, and hypothesis testing. Unlike the first course in the research methods series, this course focuses more narrowly on understanding and using statistical techniques with the SPSS statistical program. Students will learn how to find data, process data, analyze data, and present data in a meaningful way.

3. Urban Sociology (SOC 340)

Today’s urban form is the result of a long progression of demographic, economic, and ecological processes. This course examines underlying factors that have allowed urban environments to become the dominant form of human settlement over the last ten thousand years. The course begins with a discussion of the evolution of human settlements overtime. Then the evolution of cities in America is examined, specifically focusing on the causal factors that have created the city forms we see today. This is followed by examination of theories and concepts that help us to understand the ways in which cities function, both historically and in modern times. Then topics such as segregation, crowding, homelessness, diversity, environmental outcomes, and crime are examined. Several benefits of cities will also be examined, such as innovation and efficiency. The class then examines how the urban experience plays out globally in places such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The class end swith an examination of future directions in urban development, such as the new urbanism, smart growth, and virtual communities.

4. Urban Crime Patterns, +GIS (SOC 342)

The course introduces students to the spatial patterns of crime and their relationship to other features of the urban environment. It examines the classic studies of the Chicago School and the theories of urban crime developed there. Current studies applying and extending these theories will be reviewed. Lastly, the course examines the use of GIS to analyze urban crime patterns. Participants will have an opportunity to run GIS software and conduct basic GIS analyses of urban data. Data and examples will be drawn whenever possible form the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

5. White Collar Crime (SOC 345)

The course examines issues relating to white-collar crime, defined by Sutherland (1940) as "crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation." Students examine various forms of white-collar crimes, including crimes against consumers; crimes against the environment; institutional corruption; corporate crime; medical crime; and computer crime. Students also discuss theories explaining why individuals commit white-collar crime as well as examine a number of high profile cases in the white-collar crime literature.

6. Environmental Sociology (SOC 346)

The course examines the relationship between human society and the natural world, with a focus on the relationship between the environment and economic and political systems, as well as social class, race/ethnicity, and gender. Students will examine topics such as consumption, population growth, development, technology, environmental justice, and social movements. Students will learn about a wide-range of environmental issues, ranging from small-scale local issues to large-scale global issues.

7. Social Networks (SOC 348)

The course examines the theoretical and substantive themes within social network science. Social network science is a fast-growing interdisciplinary field; the theoretical heart of which is that social structure emerges as a result of interaction between social actors. Social network science is a diverse area of study covering a wide-range of topics, such as delinquency, friendship, health, innovation, organizational performance, virtual networks, power, sexual behavior, and terrorism.

8. Research Methods (SOC 390)

The course provides students with an introduction to the topic of research methods. Students learn the process of research, including forming a research question, ethical considerations, literature review, data gathering, statistical analysis, and hypothesis testing. By the completion of this course students will understand how basic research is conducted and understand different types of research design, such experimental, survey, qualitative, and quantitative methods. Students will also learn how to judge the merits of research and to spot error in poorly design studies.