Sociology Courses

Sociology is the scientific study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts. Since all human behavior is social, sociology can be seen as the "umbrella" of the social sciences. It is everywhere and applies directly to your own life and social world, to many of the courses you will take, and will virtually provide you with a new set of eyes.

The subject matter of sociology encompasses the divisions of race, gender and social class, the shared beliefs of a common culture, the family, religion, work, sport, deviance, and community (to name just a few!). Few fields have such broad scope and relevance for research, theory, and application of knowledge. Because sociology addresses the most challenging issues of our time, it is a rapidly expanding field with a potential increasingly tapped by those who craft policies and create programs.

The Bellevue College Sociology Department offers introductory and more specialized, advanced courses. All courses provide credits to fulfill the social science distribution requirement for BCC's degree programs and transfer to Washington state four-year colleges as social science (or elective) credit. At the 100 level, the department offers introductory courses, special topics, and independent study. At the 200 level, we offer more advanced, yet basic and transferable, courses which pursue some of the specialties. For more information about our courses, distribution requirements, special offerings, and links to some of the faculty who teach the courses, see our course catalog.

Please note, however, that our course catalog will expand significantly beginning academic year 2008-2009, as we are adding several new courses to our curriculum. Some of our new courses will include: Popular Culture, TV Culture and Society, Sex and Gender, Technology in Society, The Body, Sociology of Work, and Children and Youth, among several others. We are excited about these additional courses, as we believe they will improve the breadth and quality of the education we provide to students.

Your sociology classes will help you to develop the general education abilities of the college: communication skills, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, and multiculturalism. Our instructors work to not only advance your knowledge of the discipline, but to help you gain broader skills and abilities that will improve your performance in the roles that you carry out during your life time: at work, at home, and in social and civic capacities. In addition, our instructors aim to develop creative and alternative assessments of how and whether you are improving your learning in these ability areas.