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Goals and Objectives

The department has developed a detailed list of goals and objectives for all of our courses.   Here are the overall goals for the courses taught in our department.

I.          I. GOALS

A. Substantive/Cognitive -Students will have the knowledge about:

the social nature of humans, and society and culture, as important contexts for human social life;

how society and culture are socially constructed realities;

global and domestic diversity in cultures and social systems; and,

the distinctiveness of the contributions of sociology and anthropology to understand the human condition.

B. Skills--Students will develop the capacity to:

apply learning from one context to another, using critical thinking and multiple theoretical perspectives; and

use logical and methodological skills for empirical observation of the human social and cultural world.

C.     C. Attitudes/Values-- Students will develop:

a high tolerance for complexity and ambiguity in the world, and the capacity for making choices in the context of uncertainty;

a commitment to social justice concerns, and to social policies that encourage fairness and equitable opportunity for all persons, irrespective of race, class, gender, or other salient social characteristics; and,

an awareness of the negative implications of structured social inequality for the opportunities and material security of many individuals and, therefore, for the general desirability of reducing structured social inequality.

We have also developed learning objectives… more detailed substantive/cognitive, skills, and attitudes/values. Here are examples of these.

  II. Objectives

A.    A. Substantive/Cognitive-- Students will:

understand the extent to which humans are dependent on their social and cultural contexts;

understand that humans are active agents in the continuing construction and reconstruction of their social and cultural context;

recognize the implications of social and cultural diversity for the human experience; and,

identify the connections, as well as the differences, between the perspectives of sociology and anthropology, and those of other scholarly disciplines.

B.     B. Skills--Students will be able to:

demonstrate how key concepts of sociology and anthropology apply to interpersonal, intergroup, and societal behavior;

identify basic theoretical perspectives and describe the general role of theory in building sociological and anthropological knowledge;

critically evaluate arguments for their theoretical, social, and cultural assumptions;

analyze current social and cultural realities from several theoretical perspectives;

present opposing viewpoints and alternative hypotheses on various social and cultural issues;

identify the intended as well as the unintended outcomes of the operation of social and cultural systems;

identify basic methodological approaches and describe the general role of methods in building sociological/anthropological knowledge;

compare and contrast the basic methodological approaches for gathering data;

apply acquired theoretical knowledge and research skills to design a research study in an area of choice and explain why various choices were made;

interpret social data and models as presented in various forms;

translate a public issue into a sociological and/or anthropological framework and communicate the resulting analysis back into public language.

C.      Attitudes/Values-- Students will:

be expected to understand and appreciate the complexity and ambiguity of various socio-cultural and co-cultural behaviors and orientations;

demonstrate understanding of different theoretical interpretations of societal behaviors and structures;

articulate the value base upon which judgments could be made about social justice concerns; and,

be encouraged to participate in experiential campus and community programs which foster social justice concerns.

Creighton Home Page                                 Department Home Page

			Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Faculty Directory		Our Department		Current Events

Goals and Objectives

	The department has developed a detailed list of goals and objectives for all of our courses. Here are the overall goals for the courses taught in our department. I. I. GOALS A. Substantive/Cognitive -Students will have the knowledge about: the social nature of humans, and society and culture, as important contexts for human social life; how society and culture are socially constructed realities; global and domestic diversity in cultures and social systems; and, the distinctiveness of the contributions of sociology and anthropology to understand the human condition. B. Skills--Students will develop the capacity to: apply learning from one context to another, using critical thinking and multiple theoretical perspectives; and use logical and methodological skills for empirical observation of the human social and cultural world. C. C. Attitudes/Values-- Students will develop: a high tolerance for complexity and ambiguity in the world, and the capacity for making choices in the context of uncertainty; a commitment to social justice concerns, and to social policies that encourage fairness and equitable opportunity for all persons, irrespective of race, class, gender, or other salient social characteristics; and, an awareness of the negative implications of structured social inequality for the opportunities and material security of many individuals and, therefore, for the general desirability of reducing structured social inequality. We have also developed learning objectives… more detailed substantive/cognitive, skills, and attitudes/values. Here are examples of these. II. Objectives A. A. Substantive/Cognitive-- Students will: understand the extent to which humans are dependent on their social and cultural contexts; understand that humans are active agents in the continuing construction and reconstruction of their social and cultural context; recognize the implications of social and cultural diversity for the human experience; and, identify the connections, as well as the differences, between the perspectives of sociology and anthropology, and those of other scholarly disciplines. B. B. Skills--Students will be able to: demonstrate how key concepts of sociology and anthropology apply to interpersonal, intergroup, and societal behavior; identify basic theoretical perspectives and describe the general role of theory in building sociological and anthropological knowledge; critically evaluate arguments for their theoretical, social, and cultural assumptions; analyze current social and cultural realities from several theoretical perspectives; present opposing viewpoints and alternative hypotheses on various social and cultural issues; identify the intended as well as the unintended outcomes of the operation of social and cultural systems; identify basic methodological approaches and describe the general role of methods in building sociological/anthropological knowledge; compare and contrast the basic methodological approaches for gathering data; apply acquired theoretical knowledge and research skills to design a research study in an area of choice and explain why various choices were made; interpret social data and models as presented in various forms; translate a public issue into a sociological and/or anthropological framework and communicate the resulting analysis back into public language. C. Attitudes/Values-- Students will: be expected to understand and appreciate the complexity and ambiguity of various socio-cultural and co-cultural behaviors and orientations; demonstrate understanding of different theoretical interpretations of societal behaviors and structures; articulate the value base upon which judgments could be made about social justice concerns; and, be encouraged to participate in experiential campus and community programs which foster social justice concerns.
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