SOC438Demographic Analysis
3 credits | Pre-requisite: SOC318
This course presents an overview of the techniques of demography, focuses on specific current issues of the demographic phenomena and analyzes their interdependence within social, economic and cultural characteristics of the observed society. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to collect the necessary demographic data to establish the main parameters (rates, ratios, tables, sex ratio, etc.), to build and analyze age pyramid, to know the different sources of demographic data, to perform a population census, and to analyze the causes and consequences (social, economic, political) of demographic development.
SOC411financial Economics
3 credits | Pre-requisite: SOC 402
This course introduces students in social sciences to the world of business and management. The main themes are: forms of enterprise, business management, general and analytical accounting financial profitability, the choice of investments, financial ratios and the banking sector. The course also aims to acquaint the student with the economic, financial, legal and social world and address business valuation, financial distress, the company's management and private accounting. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to implement the choices of financing.
SOC210Introduction to Anthropology
3 credits
This course focuses on the complex question of man and the place of anthropology within the Science of Man. It addresses the key conceptual notions of anthropological reflection (society, myth, ritual, tradition, symbol, etc.). Similarly, the course presents the components of the research framework, both practical and theoretical, of the anthropological study. It develops the basic the foundation of the entire social system and, proposes the discovery of trends of current anthropological topicality and openness to contemporary anthropology. Upon completion of this course students will be able to understand the concepts of anthropology and its fundamental concern that allows it to guard against social, cultural, sexist and racial prejudice.
SOC201Introduction to Sociology
3 credits
This course provides a basic knowledge of general sociology: a) It presents an overview of the context of the eventemergence of sociology on the basis of the main founders and focuses on methodological perspectives and applied sociological methods and techniques. b) It focuses on the key principles of social themes, which description and definition have fueled and fed the many debates that are changing the discipline in the vast corpus of scientific knowledge. This course provides students with general sociology elements, sensitizes their "sociological perspective" and develops their critical reflection on various social issues.
SOC423Organizational sociology and labor
3 credits | Pre-requisite: SOC201
This course provides a synthesis of different theories that explain structure, functioning and organizational transformation. In the first part, the course defines the field of analysis of the sociology of organizations as well as its main theoretical currents. In the second phase, it apprehends the sociology of work in its various aspects and according to new trends (technology acceleration, globalization, current management of human resources, modern social stratification, activities of women, rising unemployment), i.e. according the professional development of trades. In a third part, students are required to perform an observation of a specific field, through the appropriation of certain analytical models and key concepts, allowing them to sociologically analyze concrete organization and institutional environments.
SOC422Political Sociology
3 credits
The course focuses on a central theme: power. This topic is treated in two parts with subthemes which graft onto the central issue of the course. Indeed, the notion of power is undeniably linked to politics in its relation to the State and the social actor, as explained in the first part of this course. It is also an object of reflection and questioning, as shown by the study of different thinkers and sociologists of the twentieth century, in the second part of the course. Students learn not only to handle the theoretical concepts but also to build their own reflection in a methodical way. Permanent reciprocation is operated between sociological conceptualization and political reality.
SOC435Social Protection Policy
3 credits
This course focuses on the various socioeconomic issues of the policy of social protection. It processes the elements of information (actors, concepts, devices, tools) and susceptible analysis of students to make them participate effectively in the development of proposals for change in strategies and public policy environment, housing, and unemployment. Furthermore, it allows students to understand the components of community life and its challenges in the development of awareness necessary for civil society. It thus explains the theoretical and practical elements necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the social security system, in order to locate public intervention in social protection. Upon completion of this course, the student will have acquired a capacity to analyze the existing associative dynamics in Lebanon.
SOC432Sociology of conflicts
3 credits | Pre-requisite: SOC201
The overall objective of the course is to enable students to acquire the skills needed to analyze the many inter and intra societal conflicts. The course offers the challenge of a multidimensional approach: philosophical, sociological, psychological, political and otherwise. As a result, the four parts of the course present the root of conflict phenomenon, the reasons of conflict, the conduct of conflict and conflict resolution. At the end of this course, students will be able to differentiate between the profound and circumstantial factors of conflict, to conceptualize the main theories of conflict, to identify elements of permanence and change in conflicts and carry out a critical analysis of this phenomenon and its future prospects.
SOC430Sociology of Religion
3 credits
The course aims to provide the student with an understanding of the social components of religion through the currents of thought and appropriate sociological concepts. It also includes: a) An analysis of contemporary social phenomena related to religion; b) An analytical positioning of the socio cultural influences of religion in Lebanon.
SOC431Sociology of the Family
3 credits | Pre-requisite: SOC201
This course deals with the family in its various forms, which, while being universal, presents spatiotemporal peculiarities that the sociological analysis reveal, both structurally and functionally. The course offers a reflection on the circumstances and the contemporary transformations of the family institution (diversity of models, fragility of the marital bond, family recomposition), and draws a picture of sociological theories of the family, focusing on contemporary sociology specific to this area. Thus, the family, in new forms, appears as an element of sustainability among social turbulence, and as one of the pillars of postmodernism to study. It is therefore necessary to highlight the multi varied relationships that link the family to the whole of society, with particular emphasis on the current situation of the family in Lebanon.
SOC310Sociology; Fundamental Concepts
3 credits | Pre-requisite: SOC201
This course is based on an analysis of the basic notions and concepts necessary for any approach or field of study and sociological research. It notes, therefore, differences between concepts "encompassed" and concepts of "inclusivity", in order to cover external phenomena/internal to corporations. It addresses notions and concepts such as: culture, civilization, collective belief, modernity, habitus, norm, compliance, status and role, value, socialization, classes and social elite, etc. It develops in students a critical perspective in its apprehension of all social reality. After the course, the student is brought to an inductive construction of the concepts discussed and a mode of sociological thinking.
SOC460Survey Techniques
3 credits
This course provides students with the basic knowledge essential to perform a survey in the service of a search. For this purpose, a knowledge of all stages of an investigation, of the preparation (setting objectives, questionnaire design, and choice of sampling method) is required to collect data and prepare students for the analysis and presentation of results. Students will also learn to use SPSS for compiling the data and the analysis of results.
SOC421The sociology of deviance
3 credits | Pre-requisite: SOC201
The course focuses on causal theories and comprehensive theories of deviance. It includes, firstly, a sociological analysis of deviance and social control to capture the relationship between individual freedoms and collective constraints, and also,a sociological analysis of integration and social exclusion,in order to explore the question of social ties within contemporary societies.
SOC426Theories and practices of development
3 credits
In the first part, the course deals with the development that emphasizes man's central place as a social being, as well as the state and political structures in the organization of collective action for development. It also addresses the development of the entire population, its human potential, and both physical and intellectual progress through education. In the second part, the course introduces the unidimensional theories, evolutionists and structuralists of development, as well as planning techniques and development of agrarian and industrial policies. In the third part, the theoretical, methodological and strategic foundations of community development will be addressed.