College of
Arts and Letters

Social Sciences Courses

COGN 603 Practicum A seminar devoted to student projects that integrate knowledge from previous courses and work experience to analyze a problem based on an understanding of the complex role of cognition in modeling processes and producing innovations.	HSS 121 Introduction to Urban Studies I: Early Cities and Civilizations An examination of the origins, nature and progress of urban society. Selected readings focus on recurrent and persistent urban problems: overcrowding, traffic congestion, political corruption, faulty sanitation systems, etc.; a student may also engage in field analysis projects which relate either to home town areas or to the North Jersey region.
HSS 122 Introduction to Urban Studies II: Modern Cities and Local Politics Major emphasis is on current economic, environmental and social problems.	HSS 127 Introduction to Political Science I: National Government An introduction to the evolution and operation of the U.S. federal government. This course focuses on problems in energy policy, foreign policy, elections, and civil rights.
HSS 128 Introduction to Political Science II: Judicial Process A survey of the evolution of juries and recent legal and social scientific analysis of jury rules. Case studies are used to explain the scope of issues decided by juries and conceptions of justice used to evaluate their performance.	HSS 141 Introduction to Sociology The objective of this course is to provide students with a general survey of the field of sociology. This course aims at providing students with a way to think about and understand the social world and one’s place in it. Therefore, the lectures, readings and assignments will focus on understanding the basic social processes and how they can be applied to everyday events, both small and large, both personal and political.
HSS 142 Introduction to Sociology II This course is the second part of Introduction to Sociology. This part can be taken alone or in conjunction with the first part (HSS 141). While the first part emphasizes the relationships between individual lives and larger social forces, this part discusses social issues from a global perspective. After taking this course, students will be able to analyze and evaluate globalization and its consequences as well as the positions of different groups of people in the increasingly global social world.	HSS 175 Fundamentals of Psychology I: Brain, Mind and Behavior This course emphasizes the biological underpinnings of behavior and of mental processes. What do we know? How do we come to know? What do we want? Why do we act the way we do? In this course these fundamental questions of psychology are mainly looked at from a biological perspective that emphasizes the study of the brain and nervous systems. Historical, philosophical, and evolutionary perspectives on mental processes are considered, as well.
HSS 176 Fundamentals of Psychology II: Development, Personality, and Pathology An introduction to issues and theories in Life Span Development, Personality Theory, and psychological disorders. Topics include cognitive and social development, attachment, moral thinking, and psychoanalytical theory. Focus is placed on those seminal theories that have had lasting import for psychology as well as other disciplines. These theories include, but are not limited to, those of Piaget, Erikson, and Freud.	HSS 321 Modern Urban Culture This course examines aspects of modern subcultural American life including deviancy and delinquency, crime, drug abuse, and ethnicity.
HSS 322 Cultural Studies Drawing on theory and practice from such diverse disciplines as history, media studies, literary criticism, psychology, and sociology, Cultural Studies investigates the production, distribution, and consumption of cultural artifacts. Issues concerning race, class, gender, and sexual orientation are explored with attention to the analysis of social phenomenon.	HSS 324 Comparative Ethnic Culture This course is a survey of various cultural traditions. Typical study units include Afro-American, Asian, Hispanic, and American ethnic cultures in historical perspective.
HSS 330 Developmental Psychology This course presents an overview of the theoretical backgrounds as well as the historical and very current research in the field of life span developmental psychology. Special emphasis will be placed on infancy and childhood, adolescent and young adult development. All aspects of development, i.e. physical, cognitive, emotional and social will be addressed. Ongoing issues such as: critical vs. sensitive periods, brain plasticity and malleability, the nature/nurture controversy will be addressed throughout the semester.	HSS 331 Biological Psychology Biological Psychology explores the physiological underpinnings of mental processes and behavior by covering the basic anatomy and physiology of the nervous system. The study of topics such as visual perception, language, depression, schizophrenia and their relation to neurological structure and deficit as well as their ultimate relationship to human consciousness will constitute the essential components of the class.
HSS 360 Public Policy Analysis This course offers perspectives utilized in the analysis and evaluation of public policymaking and policy results. Policy approaches include cost-benefit allocations, budgetary procedures and feasibility impact studies. Normative constraints and political implications of systematic policy analysis are also examined, particularly in relation to public infrastructure projects.	HSS 371 Computers and Society An introduction to arguments about the relationship between computing and society, the impact of computing activities on social relationships, and the evolution of institutions to regulate computer-mediated activities.
HSS 373 Social Choice Theory An introduction to the history of and theoretical principles associated with using voting techniques to resolve conflicts. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of operational rules. Student projects constitute a major part of the course.	HSS 375 History of Psychology An analysis of the historical development of psychology. Issues such as perception, learning, cognition, and memory are explored within the context of various schools of thought.
HSS 376 Theories of Personality What is theory? What is personality? A review of Freud, Adler, Sullivan, Jung, Rogers, etc., on the nature of personality.	HSS 377 Sociology of Globalization This course provides an introduction to the concept of globalization, including its history, foundations, and implications from the end of World War II to the present day. Topics covered include the nature of globalism, economic and social trends, the roles of government in embracing globalization, global inequality, the rise of cities in the global economy, and the sociological implications of globalization. Particular emphasis will be placed on global/local tensions, especially as they relate to the response of local societies to global influences in both developed and developing countries. Students will perform analyses of globalization through discussions of current events relating to global society.
HSS 379 International Politics An analysis of the contemporary international political framework. The course explores the character of the state system, the nation-state, the role of leadership personality, transnational actors, the balance-of-power, security and economic issues, the nature and limitations of power, the uses of terrorism, and Third World issues.	HSS 380 Energy, Politics and Administration Please contact the Registrar for more information. Phone: (201)216-5555 Fax: (201)216-8030 E-mail: registrar@stevens.edu
HSS 401 Seminar in Leadership Studies This course will study the human phenomenon of leadership, focusing on the two main (and oft-times competing) analyses of leadership: the Humanistic approach and the Behaviorist approach.	HSS 410 Arab Nationalism and the Formation of the Middle East This course will explore the birth, triumph, and fall of Arab nationalism, focusing not only on intellectual and political leaders of the movement, but also incidents in history which in one way or another shaped political and/or social traits of the movement. The factors that contributed to the development and/or decline of the movement that will be examined are: the rise of colonialism, the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, World War I and World War II, the Cold War, emergence of the state of Israel, and the recent incidents in the region and the world. The ideological links between Arab nationalism and modern radical movements will also be examined.
HSS 415 Islamic Political Thought This course surveys the philosophical foundations and developmental stages of Islamic political thought from the Prophet to the modern ages. In the first part of this course, the theories of early �Muslim� philosophers, i.e. Avicenna, Al-Farabi, Al-Ghazali, Averreos, and Ibn Khaldun, on the state, government, and politics will be examined. The second part will concentrate on pre-modern (Al-Mawardi) and modern Muslim intellectuals who contributed to the genre of Islamic political philosophy, including liberal and radical trends.	HSS 441 Gender and Race in Science and Engineering This course discusses important issues related to gender and race in science and engineering (S&E). The issues include S&E as professions and social institutions as well as the experiences of women and minorities as S&E students, professionals, and the users of current science and technologies. In addition, this course explores the current social issues and policy concerns regarding gender and race in science and technology.
HSS 454 The Geography of Science Please contact the Registrar for more information. Phone: (201)216-5555 Fax: (201)216-8030 E-mail: registrar@stevens.edu	HSS 458 Sociology of Science and Technology This course addresses various theories, approaches, and methodologies used in the sociology of scientific knowledge, including the strong programme, relativism, actor-network theory, gendered accounts of science, and laboratory studies. In addition, it discusses the relationships between science, technology, and society, such as how science and technology influence society and how society influences science and technology. Furthermore, the course explores the issues related to science and technology workforces and policies. The issues discussed in the course occur in both the U.S. and other countries, and the readings discussed in the course crosscut sociology and other disciplines.
HSS 477 Psychology of Religion A survey of different approaches to the psychological interpretations of religious phenomena such as the image of God, rituals, myths, faith healing, meditation, mysticism, and conversion.	HSS 478 Psychology of Gender An analysis of gender differences and perceptions in contemporary society.
HSS 479 Sociology of Gender This course introduces students to the study of gender from a sociological perspective. It focuses on gender as a social construction that occurs during interaction and influences our social relationships as well as personal experiences. We examine how gender and power are interrelated. To address these questions, we will, first of all, investigate theories and studies that explain gender differences from biological and cultural perspectives. then, we will analyze how gender shapes and is shaped by large social institutions such as education, the workplace, the family, politics, and media. In this course, we will also explore the intersections of gender, race, class and sexual orientation. The readings, class discussions, and assignments are designed to help students improve their critical thinking skills, understand the social construction of gender, learn about sociological research, and develop their communication skills.	HSS 480 Introduction to Anthropology Please contact the Registrar for more information. Phone: (201)216-5555 Fax: (201)216-8030 E-mail: registrar@stevens.edu
HSS 481 Cultural Anthropology An examination of the varieties of organization of human societies in a comparative ethnographic context.	HSS 488 Science and Human Nature An introduction to recent Darwinian and sociobiological theories of human nature.
HSS 489 Freud and Jung An in-depth and extensive study and discussion of the theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Each theory is examined individually; the nature of the unconscious, dream interpretations, religious symbolism, and the aim of psychotherapy are critically examined. Students read from primary sources including Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, Totem and Taboo, Jung’s Man and His Symbols and Modern Man in Search of a Soul, as well as from biographical material, and other secondary sources. Emphasis on points of confluence and of departure between the two. The course is limited to 15 students.	HSS 495 Seminar in Social Science This course will provide more advanced students with an opportunity to pursue in-depth study of a particular problem and/or topic within the field of Social Science (Political Science, Psychology, Sociology) that has either not been covered in other courses or has only been superficially "touched upon."