IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION FOR SUMMER TERM

IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION FOR SUMMER TERM

Attention Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice Students:

We have been recently made aware that if you tried to sign up for more than one of the very exciting SOC 395 Special Topics courses this summer, the system will not allow you to do so. This is an error we are trying to correct. IN THE MEANWHILE, if you would like to take more than one of the following SOC 395 classes this summer term, and need an override, you can email Kathy Barrett (barrett@oakland.edu) with your name and G number so she can process the override for you. Please note that these classes can count as sociology major credit, or for credit in the new criminal justice major, criminal justice minor or criminal justice concentration. Social Work students can use these as one of their sociology elective courses. ALSO, please note that these courses will NOT be offered during Fall 2012/Winter 2013 academic year. So if you want to take them, now is the time to do so! Here are some descriptions of these classes for your consideration. SIGN UP ASAP!

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SOC 395 Special Topics: The Surveillance Society CRN 32203 TR 8:30AM-11:50AM Professor Meehan
On a given day, the average person may have their picture taken and stored somewhere by someone close to 200 times. From your home, to the workplace to the roads you travel and the many public and private places you visit, every day you leave digital footprints (cellphone, credit cards, internet use) that form a part of your digital dossier. This course explores the development and significance of surveillance as a feature of modern society. We will explore how surveillance has changed over time with the development of new technologies, its presence in everyday life and in different social institutions and contexts and the degree which surveillance enhances social participation or social control in society. The interrelationship of surveillance, privacy and security is examined utilizing an interdisciplinary perspective. Among the topics we will examine: a) Consumer surveillance (loyalty cards, product purchases). Check out this link to NY Times article on how Target corporation profiles customers to predict among other things---whether or not you are pregnant, before YOU may even know. b) Medical surveillance (from tracking diseases in the population to the surveillance of your medical history from credit card purchases). Check out this link to a NY Times article on the use of social media by epidemiologists to track diseases c) Law enforcement and surveillance (from tracking criminals and terrorists to the use of closed circuit television in major cities and on college campuses to track anyone). Check out this piece from the NY Times about cellphone tracking.

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SOC 395 Profiling and Threat Assessment CRN 32932 TR 1-4:20pm Professor Kennedy
An examination of criminal profiling including crime scene profiling (inductive and deductive), psychological profiling, and offender profiling. Discussion of ethnic, racial, and behavioral profiling as well as equivocal death analysis (psychological autopsy). Geographical profiling of serial killers and rapists. Meloy’s 18 Factor Biopsychosocial Model of Threat Assessment, including applications to school shooters. Management of stalking behavior. Empirical validity versus media sensationalism of profiling and threat assessment. Considerations pertinent to national security profiling of terrorist leaders and terrorist groups. Uses of profiling in intelligence analysis.

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SOC 395 Law and the Changing Family CRN32204 MW 5:30-8:50pm Professor Gould
This course will offer students the opportunity to examine laws that affect families in today’s ever-changing society, including laws that define and are related to the family unit, the legal status and rights of family members, marriage, divorce, custody and the abuse and neglect of children and the elderly. A focus will also be placed on the social and political context in which these issues/laws operate. An international and state comparative approach will be adopted where appropriate. This course could be offered to sociology, social work and criminology/criminal justice students as it is consistent with the objectives of each discipline. Specifically, this course will address important social problems related to family, law and society. It will help provide students with a foundation for careers associated with helping and empowering individuals and families and it will educate students about laws and procedures affecting modern day families. Professor Gould is an attorney who received her law degree from the CUNY (City University of New York) Law School and a Masters in Law from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.