SOC 255 - Dating, Relationships, and Families

5 CR

How have courtship and dating changed? What does it mean to be a “family?” Is “the family” falling apart? Explore changes in the culture and structure of families, and analyze how families play a central role in American life. Themes include single parenting, new family structures, cohabitation, marriage and divorce, and/or courtship and dating.

Course Outcomes

Describe the complexity of “family” as an idea, using a sociological perspective.
Explain how families are connected to and shaped by culture and all the major social institutions, especially political and economic processes.
Illustrate how gender, class, sexuality, and race structure intimate relationships.
Debunk common myths about the family and relationships.

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