If you complete this course and do well, you will be able to:

1. Cultural and Social Understanding
   1. Identify and assess the relationship between institutions and individuals.
   2. Identify the elements of culture, including norms, values, symbols, and beliefs, and explain the impact that culture has on human interactions.
2. Critical Thinking
   1. Evaluate evidence carefully and utilize reasoning skills in order to demonstrate comprehension of complex social issues.
   2. Use sociological concepts/scholarly sources to examine complex social issues and promote problem solving.
   3. Apply course concepts to construct a logically sound and well-reasoned argument.
3. Communication
   1. Demonstrate the ability to develop, convey, and exchange ideas in writing, as appropriate to a given context and audience.
4. Theory and Application
   1. Explain the major theoretical perspectives: structural-functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism.
   2. Demonstrate the ability to apply theories to understand individual and group behavior within the context of social institutions.
5. Research Methods
   1. Demonstrate an understanding of various sociological research methods.
   2. Explain the use of the scientific approach in conducting sociological research.
6. Sociological Imagination
   1. Explain the sociological imagination and apply it to better understand the social world.
7. Institutions and Social Structure
   1. Discuss the relationships between individuals and social structures, including the process of socialization.
   2. Examine social stratification as it relates to statuses such as race/ethnicity, social class, sex/gender, and others.

Student Learning Outcome (SLO)

• Students will identify core concepts of cultural analysis such as cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, material culture, values.