CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

The social world is often taken for granted or reduced to explanations that stem from conventional wisdom and personal experience. This course is designed to encourage students to develop social scientific frameworks for analyzing the social world in a context that transcends conventional wisdom and personal experience.  The major question is “What are the social forces, operating in society and often beyond the control of individuals that shape individual behaviors and societal changes?”  Topics include culture, socialization, social and economic inequalities, social structure, organizational behavior, social groups, deviance, and social institutions (family, religion, education, and political economy.

Health and Fitness Focus:

Sociology is simply the study of societies.  We aren’t focused on why people are the way they are, but why societies are the way we are.  In this, theme related course, we will be looking at the impact society has on sport and vice versa, the impact sport has on society. We will be looking at broad sociological questions regarding obesity in the United States, aging and sport, fitness culture, women in sport, intersex athletes, body image and eating disorders, athletes with disabilities, racism in sport, and physical education in schools. This list is not exhaustive. There are so many areas where sports, health and fitness intersect with issues in society, we have the freedom to analyze all of these multidimensional aspects of society.

A link to the syllabus is below.  You will also find useful guidelines and rubrics for completing essays, as well as book ideas for the final project in this course.

Soc Imag syllabus Spring 2020 Health and Fitness

Book Report List Health Fitness