The Sociology Student’s Guide to Changing the World—One Course at a Time

Are you inspired to make change and understand what really makes our communities tick? Careers in sociology are similarly focused on making a positive impact and studying social life, social change, and the social consequences of human behavior. Sociology online classes are designed to give you the knowledge and background you need for a sociology career.

Courses in the study of sociology are designed to push students to see the world around them with a critical lens. If you want to bring about real change in our society, studying sociology is an amazing first step. Sociology courses equip you with all of the tools you need to make an impact within your community, as well as on a global scale.

The SDSU Global Campus Bachelor of Arts in Sociology online program where you can take courses from SDSU’s expert faculty from anywhere in the world. The program consists of 42 required units of online classes–18 of which are core classes, 12 are electives, and the rest coming from GEs and writing requirements. 

Sociology online classes can be broken down into four major categories: 

What Will I Learn About Research Methods?

Research plays an incredibly key role in the study of sociology. Sociology is all about studying human behavior and interactions, and there’s no better way to do that than by watching real people. Observing society firsthand is the best way to truly understand social life, as well as the occurrence of social change. 

• SOC 301 Social Research Methods: This is an introductory course about research studies in sociology including surveys, field experiments, observations, ethnography, content analysis, etc.
• SOC 406 Intermediate Social Statistics: Learn how to utilize statistical analysis techniques to interpret data from research studies and hypothesis tests. You’ll work with values of variance, partial correlation, log-linear models, and much more. 

• SOC 407 Survey and Experimental Research Methods: Find out how to best conduct quantitative research studies from sampling size, to questionnaire construction, to experimental designs. 

• SOC 408 Qualitative Research Methods: Take a closer look at the aspects of qualitative research studies including patient observation and interviewing. Additionally, learn how to identify issues in research designs, as well as how to best work with qualitative data. 

What Can I Learn About Theory?

When formulating research questions, sociologists likely utilize common theories as a jumping off point. Basic theories of sociology are the framework for understanding society, as well as social phenomena. Once you know all about these building blocks, you can connect individual situations to their roots in broader issues. 

• SOC 401 Classical Social Theory: Learn all about the classical theories of society, and the history of U.S. and European theoretical developments. Some of these theories include functionalism, historicism, positivism, and theories of modernity. 

• SOC 403 Contemporary Social Theory: Expand your theoretic knowledge into contemporary theories like critical theory, feminist theory, post-structuralism, and theories of postmodernity.

What Will I Learn About Social Inequality?

Inequality within our society is an ever-present issue. Those who want to make a change in this area need to first garner an understanding of how these systems operate. By learning all about the problem, you can work to become a part of the solution. 

• SOC 433 Wealth, Status, and Power: In this course you’ll be able to learn about patterns of unequal distribution of wealth, power, and prestige. You can then apply this knowledge to analyze the impact these disparities have on communities. 

• SOC 455 Sociology of Intersectionality: Take a closer look at systems of privilege and oppression, and how they intertwine with each other. You’ll focus mainly on issues involving gender, race, and class.  

What Can I Learn About Social Movements?

Learning all about previous impactful movements can help to breed you into a leader of future revolutions. These courses will teach you all about how people have brought about social change in the past, and hopefully inspire students to follow in their footsteps. 

• SOC 450 Social Change: This deep dive into social change will have you unpacking topics like modernization, industrialization, urbanization, and revolution. These will all be analyzed at a societal level, as well as a direct interpersonal level. 

• SOC 457 Protests, Reforms, and Revolutions: Learn all about the development of revolutionary and reform movements. Through case studies you’ll be able to understand the full process from recruitment of members to social consequences. 

• SOC 458 Nonviolence, Peace, and Social Change: Expand your knowledge of social change to nonviolent methods. Learn all about the potential power nonviolent action can have on global, national, and local conflicts.

• SOC 459 The American Labor Movement: Go through the history of the American labor movement starting from the late eighteenth century. Additionally, you’ll look at race and gender divisions within the labor force. 

What Electives are Offered?

SDSU offers a wide range of elective courses for sociology majors both in person and online. Some are very specialized to people’s niche interests such as SOC 330 Culture and History of Surfing and SOC 442 Homicide in America. Others look at topics that are more widely applicable like SOC 335 Sociology of Popular Culture and SOC 460 Technology and Society. 

You can use your electives as a way to try your hand at all different areas of the field, or focus solely on your favorite. No matter what path you choose, you’ll be learning all of the tricks of the trade through industry relevant coursework and research-driven education. Apply to SDSU Global Campus today to join our students in working to change the world!