Course Descriptions

In this course, projects, reports and discussions are coordinated to relate to the student's employment situation, which must be in an approved refrigeration or air conditioning occupation. A training agreement and an evaluation are required of each student.

This course is designed to cover the refrigeration piping and oil return in a grocery store setting. Students will learn about case controllers and temperature controls.

Meets MnTC Goal Areas 2, 5 and 7. This course is an introduction to the study of societies and the social factors that influence individual and group behavior. The course incorporates sociological and other critical thinking models for the investigation of various components of social life: culture, socialization, social organization, social stratification, social institutions, populations dynamics and social change.

Meets MnTC Goal Areas 5 and 9. This course stresses acquiring an enriched understanding of social issues and prospects for improving them. Students will investigate social trends and factors affecting social problems, contrast sociological perspectives of social problems, deal constructively with information and ideas associated with social issues, examine the ethical dimensions inherent in problem definition and intervention design, and define personal and public responsibilities in relation to select social issues. Social issues covered may include parenting and family issues; crime, delinquency and violence; aging, health and health care issues; poverty and inequality; cultural pluralism; urban growth and population; environmental issues; sexual issues; and global issues.

Meets MnTC goal Area 5. This course emphasizes an enriched understanding of social issues and prospects for improving them through direct work/research in a sociological setting. In an actual community setting, students will participate in and make observations of social intervention. These observations will be critically processed in relation to key sociological concepts. The nature of service learning usually necessitates that students be prepared to be off-campus and to participate outside of regular class hours (20-25 hours). Students may need transportation to field sites. Additional expenses may be incurred. Course may be repeated for credit up to three times.

Meets MnTC Goal Areas 5 and 10. Students will use the sociological perspective to examine the relationship between the social and physical environment. The course evaluates the ways in which the environment, sustainability, resources, and conflict are embedded within broader cultural, social, health, economic, and political contexts. Students will seek to understand environmental stewardship and social justice while considering intersections of race, ethnicity, class, and gender.

This course is a sociological examination of significant rule-making and rule-breaking that surveys explorations/explanations of non-conformity relevant to juvenile delinquency, crime, health and environmental welfare, mental illness, sexual violence, substance abuse and certain other non-normative lifestyles

Meets MnTC Goal Areas 5 and 7. Families will be examined from the sociological perspective and will be compared across time and cultures. Family relationships, family structure and the effects of race, class, gender, age, social institutions and social policy will be explored in this course. Integral to this course are comprehensive discussions on topics such as dating, cohabitation, marriage/partnering, employment, domestic violence, parenting, divorce, remarriage/re-partnering and elder care. This course provides understanding of the family, family roles and the impact on the individual. Understanding public and private, platonic and intimate relationships can assist in the development of tolerance toward others.

Meets MnTC Goal Areas 2 and 5. This course will provide a thorough overview of the field of criminology: the study of the theories which attempt to define and explain crime, criminal behavior and society's reactions to crime, including a focus on juvenile delinquency, the judicatory process and penology.

Meets MnTC Goal Areas 5 and 7. This course examines the ambiguities and conflicts embedded within the broad and inclusive concept of diversity and endeavors to combine subjective interpretations of diversity with sociological perspectives to better prepare students to participate in, and appreciate, an increasingly diverse culture.

Meets MnTC Goal Areas 5 and 7. This course is a sociological study of the forces which have transformed the rural setting and impacted future trends in rural America. The course will also focus on the diverse cultural heritage contributing to the rich cultural mosaic found in rural scenarios.

Meets MnTC Goal Areas 5 and 7. This course examines the social and cultural dimensions of the production, preparation and consumption of food. The course will include discussion of a wide variety of topics including food citizenry, sustainable food production, agroecology, hunger, food sovereignty, food choice and options, policy and legislation, social justice, and the interplay between food and gender, social class, race and ethnicity.

Meets MnTC Goal Area 5. The central theme of this course is to understand the institutions and processes critical to farm success. Students will utilize sociological perspectives to study the many aspects of a local food system.

This course meets MnTC Goal Areas 5 and 8.This course is intended to be a history of epidemics and their effects on western societies. It is a general education course for students interested in the history of epidemic diseases and concern for our preparedness as a society to meet new threats. The course begins with a brief history of medicine and the various interpretations of disease. It then focuses on plague pandemics and concludes with current epidemics and newly emerging and reemerging diseases. Epidemics and pandemics of focus include: Plague, Smallpox, Yellow Fever, Typhus, Cholera, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Polio, HIV/AIDS and hemorrhagic fevers.

Meets MnTC Goals 2 and 5. This course introduces methods and concepts used in the research process in the social sciences and related fields. Topics covered include the application of the scientific method to social and behavioral research, definitions and measurements of variables, research design, experiential methods and survey techniques. The use of literature reviews and the importance of critically evaluating research will be emphasized. Common descriptive and inferential statistics used in social science disciplines will also be introduced. This course is identical to POLS 2950 and PSYC 2950 and is cross-listed with both of those courses. Students may choose to enroll in the course with the prefix most appropriate to their transfer and career goals.