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SOC 310 City Life: Communities and Neighborhoods

This course examines the changing social fabric of the U.S. city with emphasis on the making and unmaking of neighborhoods and communities. Beginning with an examination of the changing social, ethnic, and economic makeup of the city, students will conduct community-based research projects. They will also investigate challenges faced by grassroots groups seeking social change.

Prerequisites

4 Undergraduate credits

Effective May 6, 2016 to present

Meets graduation requirements for

Learning outcomes

General

  • Can critically interpret evaluate and apply census data, mapping, public documents, popular and academic sources at an upper division college level.
  • Can evaluate the impact of race, class and economic and technological developments on the spatial and cultural dimensions of urban life.
  • Can understand and critique various citizen and government based approaches to building strong urban communities.
  • Can write critically and analytically at a level consistent with upper division university standards.
  • Understands key social dynamics in the development and current state of the modern city.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

Goal 5: History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences

  • Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
  • Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
  • Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.
  • Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues.

Goal 9: Ethical and Civic Responsibility

  • Examine, articulate, and apply their own ethical views.
  • Understand and apply core concepts (e.g. politics, rights and obligations, justice, liberty) to specific issues.
  • Analyze and reflect on the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific issues.
  • Recognize the diversity of political motivations and interests of others.
  • Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.