THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE

                                                               FACULTY SENATE

Senate Document Number     6908S

Date of Senate Approval     04/24/08
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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

APC Document 61:                                           Change requirements for General Sociology

Effective Date: Fall 2008

1.         Delete:  On page 233, under General Sociology, item I:

  1. Required courses in the major—36 hours including: SOC 100, 225, 310; 335 or 336; 420, 455 and 465; 15 additional hours in Anthropology or Sociology, at least 9 of which must be in Sociology. Nine of the 15 hours must also be at the 300-400 level.

 

            Add:     On page 233, in place of deleted entry:

  1. Required courses in the major—36 hours including: SOC 100, 225, 420, 455 and 465; one course from SOC 335 or 337; 18 additional hours in Anthropology or Sociology, at least 12 of which must be in Sociology. Twelve of the 18 hours must be at the 300-400 level.

Impact:
The deletion of SOC 310 will not reduce the total number of required credit hours in the major (still at 36). Instead of taking 310, students will take one of the department’s electives. 

Rationale:
SOC 310 is the department’s second theory course. SOC 225 is a substantial theory course, and requiring both contributes to redundancy as well as a situation in which the core courses of our department are dominated by the requirement of two theory as well as two methods courses. The department feels that this is excessive. All of the department’s courses, including its electives, offer students important theoretical insights and methodological perspectives. Moreover, in this revised curriculum, students will be given an opportunity to strengthen their knowledge of social theory in the revised 465 course.
The department wants to keep the total number of required hours at 36. Removing SOC 310 from the list of required courses necessitates the addition of another elective course. The increase from nine to twelve hours at the 300- 400 level reflects the department’s objective to deliver a curriculum that is demanding and integrated. With this change, the curriculum will be equally split in terms of core and elective courses: both are at 18 hours. This design gives students the opportunity to explore a large number of electives that the department regularly offers. These electives cover important themes, including difference and diversity; stratification and inequality; race, gender and sexuality; religion; international. This design is also intended to better prepare our students for their senior projects. In the past, students had difficulty integrating the knowledge from core and elective courses. Under this revised curriculum, the department thinks that core and electives courses are less separated by this artificial division.
The addition of SOC 337 to the curriculum allows students to choose from three methods courses: SOC 335 or 337 or ANTH 336. Offering a third methods course gives the department and students greater flexibility in terms of the preparation for the senior competency course (455). In the past, combining quantitative and qualitative methods in one single course entailed costly trade-offs in terms of preparing our students adequately for their competency course. Under this revised scheme, students will be able to choose from three different methodological perspectives, reflecting the department’s expertise in ethnographic, quantitative and qualitative research methods.

 

  1. Delete: On page 233, under General Sociology, item III.
  1. Other department requirements—A grade of C or better in SOC 455 and 465 satisfies the senior demonstration of competency, oral competency, and computer competency requirements.

 

Add:           On page 233, in place of deleted entry:

  1. Other department requirement—Completing SOC 455 with a grade of C or better satisfies the senior demonstration of competency, oral competency, and computer competency requirements.

 

Impact:
Students will now demonstrate senior competency in SOC 455. Under the old curriculum, students began their project in 455 and finished it in 465.

Rationale:
This change streamlines the curriculum. Students frequently struggled to finish their projects in 465 because the two-course sequence contributed to procrastination and the impression that they had more time than they actually did. Moreover, in the past, 465 brought together Sociology and Anthropology students, and the department’s experience is that Sociology and Anthropology students often proceed and work at a different pace. Undoubtedly, this difference is in part a reflection of different methodologies, ethnographic in the case of Anthropology and, often, quantitative in the case of Sociology. This difference makes it difficult for faculty who taught 465 to “bring it together”, not just in terms of making sure that students finish their projects, but also in assuring that 465 functions as a truly capstone course that affords students a bigger picture of what their project contributes to, rather than being a course in which they are so preoccupied in finishing their project that they literally have little or no time to see the world in sociological or anthropological perspective.