Three summer sociology courses highlight contemporary legal issues

Oakland University's 2012 summer semester will feature several sociology courses highlighting unique perspectives on contemporary legal issues. 

The first course –The Surveillance Society – explores the development and significance of surveillance as a feature of modern society. Through the class, students will look at a wide range of topics, including how surveillance has evolved with the advent of new technologies and the degree to which surveillance enhances social participation or social control. 

The interrelationship of surveillance, privacy and security will be examined using an interdisciplinary perspective. Additionally, the class will spotlight different areas of surveillance, such as consumer surveillance, medical surveillance and law enforcement surveillance. The course is open to all sociology and social work majors, as well as students pursuing a concentration in criminal justice. Students can register with instructor permission. For additional information, contact Dr. Albert Meehan at (248) 370-2428 or meehan@oakland.edu.

The second course – Profiling and Threat Assessment – will examine various facets of criminal profiling, including crime scene profiling, psychological profiling and offender profiling. OU is the only school in Michigan to offer this unique course that touches on a range of relevant issues. 

The class will feature a discussion of ethnic, racial and behavioral profiling, as well as equivocal death analysis. Among other topics to be covered are profiling of terrorists, serial killers and school shooters. The course is open to all sociology majors and students pursuing a concentration in criminal justice. Students can register with instructor permission. For additional information, contact Daniel Kennedy at dbkenned@oakland.edu.

A third course – Law and the Changing Family – will offer students the opportunity to examine laws that affect families in today’s society, including laws related to the family unit, the legal status and rights of family members, marriage, divorce, custody issues, and the abuse and neglect of children and the elderly. The course is open to all sociology majors and social work majors, as well as students pursuing a concentration in criminal justice. Students can register with instructor permission. For additional information, contact Melissa Gould at magould@oakland.edu.

All three courses are listed under SOC 395 (Special Topics) and all can be used to satisfy the distribution requirement in social science. For more information about summer programs, courses and camps available through Oakland, view the website at oakland.edu/summer.