Community and Environmental Sociology course catalog
All 73 recorded UW–Madison courses in this department, including courses not offered this term. Open a course for prerequisites, historical grades and instructors.
AAE/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/PORTUG/SOC/SPANISH 982: Interdepartmental Seminar in the Latin-american Area
1–3 credits
Interdisciplinary inquiry in Latin American society and culture.
AAE/C&ESOC/SOC 340: Issues in Food Systems
3–4 credits
With primary emphasis on the U.S., the course covers social, economic and biological dimensions of food systems. Using classroom and community experience, the course combines academic approaches with practitioner knowledge. A community project is required.
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260: Latin America: an Introduction
Credits unavailable
Latin American culture and society from an interdisciplinary perspective; historical developments from pre-Columbian times to the present; political movements; economic problems; social change; ecology in tropical Latin America; legal systems; literature and the arts; cultural contrasts involving the US and Latin America; land reform; labor movements; capitalism, socialism, imperialism; mass media.
AGROECOL/C&ESOC/ENTOM/ENVIRST 103: Agroecology: an Introduction to the Ecology of Food and Agriculture
Credits unavailable
Agroecology has blossomed across the world in recent decades as not only a science, but also a practice, and a movement. Employ the multiple disciplines and perspectives that Agroecology affords to analyze our agricultural and food systems within a broader context of dynamic social and ecological relationships.
AMERIND/C&ESOC/SOC 578: Poverty and Place
Credits unavailable
The allocation of economic and social rewards in the United States; emphasis on persistently poor regions and communities; analysis of selected minority groups and their poverty statuses; poverty programs and their consequences for structural and cultural changes.
ANTHRO/C&ESOC/ECON/SOC 925: Seminar: Socio-economic Change in Underdeveloped Areas
Credits unavailable
Social and economic factors relating to stability, growth, and change in the non-Western areas of the contemporary world.
C&ESOC 200: Sociological Research Methods for Change
Credits unavailable
Learn key academic and action-oriented research methods in community and environmental sociology. Gain familiarity with methods to foster democracy and justice through positive change in the real world. Identify common ways that social science research can fall short of its goal to foster positive change and learn methods to address those failures.
C&ESOC 289: Honors Independent Study
Credits unavailable
Research work for Honors students under direct guidance of a faculty member in an area of Community and Environmental Sociology. Students are responsible for arranging the work and credits with the supervising instructor.
C&ESOC 290: Activating Ecological Society
3 credits
Work toward an ecological society, where organizations and organizers create the conditions for mutually beneficial relationships across species, social space, and time. Discover tools that help you to activate ecological society. Identify communities to work with and your best role. Learn how to navigate power structures to make change and how to weave together different ways of knowing. Reframe problems into questions, use processes for consensus building, and galvanize dissent into purpose. Develop competency in identifying predominant organizations (for-profit, non-profit, and cutting-edge entities such as community trusts). Create an action portfolio demonstrating an ability to activate ecological society.
C&ESOC 299: Independent Study
1–3 credits
Research work for students under direct guidance of a faculty member in an area of Community and Environmental Sociology. Students are responsible for arranging the work and credits with the supervising instructor.
C&ESOC 375: Special Topics
1–4 credits
Specialized topics in community and environmental sociology. In-depth investigation into the sociological aspects of a variety of community and environmental issues, such as globalization, climate change, social and environmental sustainability, technology.
C&ESOC 399: Coordinative Internship/cooperative Education
1–8 credits
An internship under guidance of a faculty or instructional academic staff member in Community and Environmental Sociology and internship site supervisor. Students are responsible for arranging the work and credits with the UW-Madison instructor and the internship site supervisor.
C&ESOC 400: Study Abroad in Community and Environmental Sociology
Credits unavailable
A study abroad equivalency that does not equate to a UW-Madison course. Requires current enrollment in a UW-Madison sponsored study abroad program.
C&ESOC 499: Independent Study in Engaged Sociology
1–3 credits
Provides hands-on experience in an engaged or applied sociology research project in order to gain scientific knowledge and/or in-depth experience in a subfield of engaged sociology. Subfields may include applied demography, food systems research and engagement; environmental research and engagement; public health research and engagement; and more.
C&ESOC 500: Capstone Experience
Credits unavailable
A capstone experience involving the application of sociological concepts and methods to concrete social and environmental problems. Involves working in teams, engaging in problems using approaches such as service learning, community based research, and interdisciplinary approaches.
C&ESOC 681: Senior Honors Thesis
2–4 credits
Individual study for undergraduate students in an Honors program completing a thesis in the area of Community and Environmental Sociology, as arranged with a faculty member.
C&ESOC 682: Senior Honors Thesis
Credits unavailable
Second semester of individual study for undergraduate students in an Honors program completing a thesis in the area of Community and Environmental Sociology, as arranged with a faculty member.C&E SOC 681
C&ESOC 691: Senior Thesis
2 credits
Individual study for undergraduate students completing a thesis in the area of Community and Environmental Sociology, as arranged with a faculty member.
C&ESOC 692: Senior Thesis
Credits unavailable
Second semester of individual study for undergraduate students completing a thesis in the area of Community and Environmental Sociology, as arranged with a faculty member.C&E SOC 691
C&ESOC 699: Special Problems
1–4 credits
Individual advanced work in an area of Community and Environmental Sociology under the direct guidance of a faculty member.
C&ESOC 990: Research
1–12 credits
Independent graduate research under supervision of a faculty member.
C&ESOC 999: Reading and Research
1–3 credits
Independent graduate research under supervision of a faculty member.
C&ESOC/CURRIC/ENVIRST 405: Education for Sustainable Communities
3 credits
How can education - for children and adults, in school and out - help to address crucial environmental and social sustainability challenges? What ideas and strategies have guided environmental and sustainability education over the years? What can individual people do to address environmental challenges, and what can only be accomplished by people working together? What does sustainability have to do with justice - and vice versa? Examine the principles behind behavior change and empowerment, community action and whole-scale social reform. Drawing on research and theory from across the social sciences, we will explore the uncertain relationship between education and advocacy, seeking the means by which education can have the greatest impact without compromising the core ideals of a democratic society.
C&ESOC/EDPOL/SOC 755: Methods of Qualitative Research
Credits unavailable
Introduces qualitative, or ethnographic, research methods, emphasizing those suitable for educational and other organizational settings. Considers strengths and limitations of qualitative approaches in relation to varied research problems. Explores methodological procedures from entry into the field through writing.
C&ESOC/ENVIRST/GEOG 434: People, Wildlife and Landscapes
Credits unavailable
Explores the relationship between humans and wildlife amid diverse landscapes, both historic and contemporary, tropical and temperate. Investigates how humans shape wild animal populations by modifying physical environments, and by hunting, domesticating and introducing species.
C&ESOC/ENVIRST/SOC 540: Sociology of International Development, Environment, and Sustainability
3 credits
Sociological analysis of relationships among economic growth, environmental sustainability and social justice in the developing world. Considers frameworks for understanding poverty, hunger, educational and technological inequality, and the impact of globalization on prospects for socially and ecologically sustainable development.
C&ESOC/F&WECOL/SOC 248: Environment, Natural Resources, and Society
3 credits
Introduces the concerns and principles of sociology through examination of human interaction with the natural environment. Places environmental issues such as resource depletion, population growth, food production, environmental regulation, and sustainability in national and global perspectives.
C&ESOC/GEN&WS/SOC 347: Gender and Sexuality in Rural Places
Credits unavailable
A sociological examination of the influence of rurality and place on gender and sexual performances, norms, and identities in rural geographies.
C&ESOC/GEN&WS/SOC 904: Sociological Perspectives on Gender
Credits unavailable
Advanced topics in the analysis of gender relations in society.
C&ESOC/HISTORY/POLISCI/SOC 259: Forward? the Wisconsin Idea, Past and Present
1–3 credits
Engage in ongoing reflection and dialogue on the Wisconsin Idea and how it informs the mission of the University of Wisconsin. Consider the Wisconsin Idea as it has developed since its beginnings, with a focus on what it means today and what it can mean in the future.
C&ESOC/ISYE/NE/SOC 708: Societal Risk Management of Technological Hazards
Credits unavailable
Issues involved in decision-making regarding technological risks and risk management in areas such as nuclear power, hazardous waste disposal, and pollution control. Risk perception and cognitive biases; risk analysis and decision analysis; political issues in risk management; regulatory mechanisms; and risk communication. Selected case studies.
C&ESOC/MEDHIST/PHILOS 565: The Ethics of Modern Biotechnology
Credits unavailable
An in-depth study of a selection of ethical issues arising from the application of modern biotechnology to microorganisms, plants, non-human animals, and human beings. We will aim at a discussion that is informed by empirical research and by work done in ethical theory, political philosophy, and other relevant disciplines, and whose character is rigorous, clear, nuanced, and unbiased.
C&ESOC/POPHLTH 370: Introduction to Public Health
Credits unavailable
Introduction to the principles of public health. Using local and global health problems as examples, introduces epidemiology, evidence-based public health practice, evaluation, and communication. Covers the major subject domains of public health including infectious and chronic disease, environmental health, injuries and accidents, and health care systems. Key theoretical models and empirical approaches of public health are discussed.
C&ESOC/SOC 140: Introduction to Community and Environmental Sociology
4 credits
Sociological examination of the linkages between the social and biophysical dimensions of the environment. Key topics include community organizing, local food systems, energy transitions, environmental justice, resource dependence, and sustainable development.
C&ESOC/SOC 210: Survey of Sociology
3–4 credits
Introduction to the field of American sociology, its subfields and specialized areas of research, theoretical traditions and research methods.
C&ESOC/SOC 211: The Sociological Enterprise
3 credits
Basic principles and definitions of sociology. Readings and discussion of the perspectives of sociology, the individual and society, groups and social process, stratification, organizations and power, demography, and social change.
C&ESOC/SOC 222: Food, Culture, and Society
3 credits
Social and cultural dimensions of food production and consumption. Uses historical and cross-cultural analytical frameworks. Treats a wide variety of topics including indigenous, racial, and ethnic foodways, industrialized food systems, sustainable agriculture, movements for food justice.
C&ESOC/SOC 245: Technology and Society
Credits unavailable
Covers technology, the social forces shaping its development, and social impacts of its adoption. Examine one's assumptions about technology and its relationship to society.
C&ESOC/SOC 341: Labor in Global Food Systems
Credits unavailable
Overview of our current food system and how new technologies and globalization are reshaping it, focusing especially on the implications for workers throughout the food chain. Learn about the ways that social movements are working to reshape commodity chains by promoting local production, fair trade, and labor justice.
C&ESOC/SOC 343: Sociology of Health and Medicine
Credits unavailable
Social, cultural, and structural factors in shaping definitions of health and illness, distribution of disparate health outcomes, and the organization of health professions and healthcare.
C&ESOC/SOC 357: Methods of Sociological Inquiry
3–4 credits
Scientific methods in the study of society; procedures for testing sociological theory: problem definition, hypothesis construction, collection and evaluation of data. Practical experience conducting small research projects.
C&ESOC/SOC 360: Statistics for Sociologists I
4 credits
Presentation of sociological data; descriptive statistics; probability theory and statistical inference; estimation and tests of hypotheses; regression and correlation and the analysis of contingency tables.
C&ESOC/SOC 361: Statistics for Sociologists II
4 credits
Applied linear regression modeling for social scientists. Bivariate and multiple regression, dummy variables, interactions, nonlinear relationships, indirect effects and omitted variable bias, outliers, heteroskedasticity, and mulitcollinearity; associated diagnostics and corrections. Use of Stata and/or SAS for dataset creation and analysis.
C&ESOC/SOC 365: Data Management for Social Science Research
Credits unavailable
Understanding the structure of different types of social scientific data, techniques for data evaluation, cleaning, documentation and visual display, merging data from multiple sources, restructuring data for analysis.
C&ESOC/SOC 475: Classical Sociological Theory
3 credits
Classical theory; Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and other important classical theorists and schools of thought.
C&ESOC/SOC 532: Health Care Issues for Individuals, Families and Society
Credits unavailable
Issues related to health and health care delivery in our society. Topics include social, cultural and ethical influences on consumer definitions of health and use of medical care, and on the health care system's responses.
C&ESOC/SOC 533: Public Health in Rural & Urban Communities
3 credits
Sociological approaches to community, rural, and public health. Examines epidemiological evidence for and policy solutions to health issues that impact vulnerable populations in diverse geographic and social settings. Topics include mental health, environmental and occupational health, preventive care, substance abuse.
C&ESOC/SOC 541: Environmental Stewardship and Social Justice
Credits unavailable
Application of sociological theory and analysis to environmental issues. Examines the ways in which environmental stewardship and conflict are embedded within broader cultural, social, and political contexts.
C&ESOC/SOC 573: Community Organization and Change
Credits unavailable
Examines theories of community change and different models of community organizing.
C&ESOC/SOC 618: Social Network Analysis
Credits unavailable
Social network analysis is a social scientific approach examining individuals as embedded in networks of social relations. Covers the fundamentals of network thinking, network tools, and the analysis and presentation of social network data. Direct practice with network data using software R.
C&ESOC/SOC 630: Sociology of Developing Societies/third World
3 credits
Review of problems and prospects of so-called "developing societies." Includes theory of economic/social development, political economic organizations of "developing" societies, history of colonialism/imperialism, attempts to industrialize and results of those attempts.
C&ESOC/SOC 650: Sociology of Agriculture
3 credits
Introduction to sociology of agriculture in advanced industrial-capitalist societies, including theoretical, historical, and empirical issues of agriculture in the United States.
C&ESOC/SOC 652: Sociology of Economic Institutions
Credits unavailable
Sociological perspectives on the organization of the firm, financial markets, and work, intermediate associations (unions, ethnic economies), the state, and the international economy. Contrast between neoclassical, traditional institutionalist, post-fordist, and neo-fordist perspectives on the nature and evolution of these institutions.
C&ESOC/SOC 693: Practicum in Analysis and Research
Credits unavailable
Practical experience in techniques of social research through assignment to a research project for the semester. Focuses on the art and practice of research and the writing of research reports.
C&ESOC/SOC 724: Intermediate Political Sociology
3 credits
Critical examination of theories and research in political sociology. Topics include: power and interests, state-formation, social movements, class and political behavior, revolutions, ideology, and states and social policy.
C&ESOC/SOC 730: Intermediate Social Psychology: the Individual and Society
Credits unavailable
Major social psychological theories and research that focus on the individual in social context. Topics include: perspectives on socialization, the self, social perception and attribution, attitudes, language and nonverbal communication, and attraction and relationships.
C&ESOC/SOC 750: Research Methods in Sociology
3 credits
Application of scientific methods to the analysis of social phenomena; methodological orientations in sociology; types of research procedure: nature of sociological variables.
C&ESOC/SOC 875: Special Topics
1–4 credits
Advanced topics in sociology. Topics vary.
C&ESOC/SOC 922: Seminar-race and Ethnic Relations
Credits unavailable
Theoretical, methodological, and current research problems.
C&ESOC/SOC 923: Seminar-social Stratification
3 credits
Advanced study of current research in social stratification, e.g., historical and comparative studies of inequality; mathematical and econometric modeling of mobility and achievement processes; demographic approaches to power and inequality.
C&ESOC/SOC 940: Seminar-sociology of Economic Change
3 credits
Theoretical and technical problems in research concerning organizational and socio-psychological aspects of changes in large scale social systems.
C&ESOC/SOC 945: Seminar-rural Sociology
3 credits
Theory and research in alternate semesters in rural aspects of population, stratification, social change, and groups and institutions.
C&ESOC/SOC 948: Seminar: Environmental Sociology
Credits unavailable
Examines topics such as theories of environment and society, the treadmill of production, environmental movements, political ecology, environmental justice, consumption, ecological modernization, sustainability, environmental risk, and the sociology of environmental science.
C&ESOC/SOC 960: Seminar-current Methodological Issues in Social Psychology
Credits unavailable
Alternative research designs and processes, measurement, and analytical techniques in social psychology; experience in developing and utilizing research plans and techniques.
C&ESOC/SOC 971: Seminar-topics in Demography and Ecology
Credits unavailable
Advanced study of selected topics related to population and society, including health and inequality across the life course, environmental and spatial demography, biodemography.
C&ESOC/SOC 977: Seminar-human Ecology
Credits unavailable
Review of ecological theory and research; critical assessment of the ecological complex (population, organization, environment, and technology); problems of measurement.
C&ESOC/SOC 985: Research: Community and Environmental Sociology
1–3 credits
Critical analysis of recent theoretical and methodological issues through presentations of research in progress.
C&ESOC/SOC 987: Research: Race and Ethnic Studies
1–3 credits
Analysis of recent research and theory, based on reviews of literature and presentations of research in progress.
C&ESOC/SOC 993: Research: Sociology of Economic Change Trainees
1–3 credits
Presentations of research in progress concerning social and economic change in developing countries.
C&ESOC/SOC 995: Research: Methodology Trainees
1–3 credits
Workshop on social science research methods and professional development, e.g. ethics, communication, data management, novel research methods.
C&ESOC/SOC 997: Research: Demography and Ecology Trainees
1–3 credits
Interdisciplinary training workshop on current research in population science from scholars at research and teaching institutions around the world.
C&ESOC/SOC/URBRPL 617: Community Development
Credits unavailable
Social, cultural and personality factors influencing community development, with reference to developing countries as well as contemporary rural communities; consideration of theoretical and operational issues.
C&ESOC/SOC/URBRPL 645: Modern American Communities
Credits unavailable
Relevance of the concept of community to American society. Review of several basic theories of community and analysis of the nature of community in the broader political and economic context.