Common Course Outline

Catalog Description

Course Description

This course uses Sociological theory to examine the complex social interactions of various marginalized groups in the United States including Racial, Ethnic, Gender, Religious and many others. It also will investigate how social, political, economic, and environmental structures create inequalities for those marginalized groups. A special emphasis is placed on race, power, and justice along with the persistent structural racism and sexism embedded in those interactions. College level reading and writing recommended.

Date Last Revised (Month, year)

December, 2024

Outline of Major Content Areas

1. Race
   1. Understanding race
   2. Social construction of race
   3. Creation of subordinate groups
2. Racism
3. Racial profiling
4. Color-blind racism
5. Hate crimes
6. Prejudice
7. Stereotyping
8. White privilege
9. Theories of prejudice
10. Discrimination
11. Institutional discrimination
12. Environmental justice
13. Affirmative action and reverse discrimination
14. Immigration
15. Patterns of immigration to the US
16. Controlling immigration and issues related to controlling
17. Refugees and asylees
18. Ethnicity and Religion
19. White ethnic groups
20. Religious pluralism
21. History and prejudice against:
    1. Native Americans
    2. African Americans
    3. Hispanic Americans
    4. Muslim and Arab Americans
    5. Asian Americans
    6. Jewish Americans
22. Gender
    1. Sociological perspective on gender
    2. Feminist movement
    3. Family and political gender roles
23. Other minority group’s history and current issues:
24. Aged and elderly
25. People with disabilities
26. Sexual Orientation and Gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgendered

Learning Outcomes (General)

The student will be able to:

1. Apply sociological theoretical concepts to various minority group experiences in the United States and discuss the process by which stratification affects individuals.
2. Identify empirical patterns of social inequality and the effects they have of creating and reproducing social hierarchies in human society.
3. Describe how social inequality is related to race, power, justice, and economics in the United States and how these forces affect marginalized populations leading to social movements and eventual social change.

Learning Outcomes (MnTC)

Goal 5/History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences

The student will be able to:

1. Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
2. Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.
3. Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues.

Goal 7b/Race, Power, and Justice in the United States

The student will be able to:

1. Understand historical and contemporary systemic structures of racism that sustain social, political, economic, and/or environmental inequities, particularly for Black, Indigenous lands and people, and other communities of color.
2. Describe individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations among racial groups in the United States and how inequality is maintained by redefining race and other social identities and structures.
3. Identify communication and relational skills necessary for living and working effectively in a racially, culturally, ethnically, and linguistically stratified society with historic and ongoing practices and structures of exclusion.

Methods for Evaluation of Student Learning

Methods may include but are not limited to:

• Objective Exams
• Written papers
• Quizzes
• Written homework

RCTC Core Outcome(s)

This course contributes to meeting the following RCTC Core Outcome(s):

Global Awareness and Diversity

Students will demonstrate an understanding of and respect for human diversity through their words and actions.

Special Information (if any)

None