Academics

College of Social Science

Introduction

Sociology is a discipline for understanding how people live in a community and it tries to explain the social phenomena to create a better society.

Sociology is a comprehensive science that pursues various approaches to modern society, and therefore, sociology majors have a wide variety of choices in careers that they can choose from.

Educational Objectives
  1. To inspire students to have an intellectual insight into the human society in order for them to objectively and comprehensively understand social phenomena.
  2. To teach students the methods and skills that they need to scientifically examine and analyze social phenomena.
  3. To encourage students to have a wide range of knowledge in sociology and in the fields of humanities and social sciences and to acquire the qualities as a global leader.
  4. To let students gain the ability to apply sociological theories and methodologies.
  5. To enhance students' interest in and understanding of the local society in order to increase their capacities to contribute to the development of local societies.

History

Yeungnam University Department of Sociology received governmental approval to establish a 40-student department from the Ministry of Education in September 1979 and began recruiting students in 1980. Since its establishment the department has produced approximately 1,114 graduates (as of February 2012). Currently it has an enrollment of 160 undergraduate students.
A teachers' certificate program (socal studies education in secondary schools) has also been offered in the department from the beginning. Part of the students (30% at the beginning, 20% from 1997 to the present) are allowed to enroll in this program. The department has been able to produce several secondary school teachers every year.

The Department of Sociology, together with various departments in the College of Liberal Arts, were integrated into the School of Social Sciences in 1999. In 2005, the School of Social Sciences was dissolved and it once again became independent as the Department of Sociology.

In 1990 approval was given to establish a master's degree program in the department and a Ph.D. program began to be offered in 2000. For the last two decades of graduate education, seventeen students received their master's degrees and four their doctorates from the department. As of March 2010, the department has a graduate enrollment of thirteen.

Job Fields

There are many different career paths for students to follow after graduation.
Students can become public employees or find work in the media, advertising companies, marketing companies, financial institutions, research centers, middle schools and high schools, or become lawyers by enrolling in law schools.

Certifications that may be acquired are:
  • Middle and high school teacher certification (General social studies education, Integrated social studies education)
  • Social investigation analyzer (Must pass a qualification test)
  • Certified Public Labor Attorney (Must pass the national bar examination)
  • Social worker
  • Life-long educator

Faculty

  • Park Seung Woo,Professor

    • The University of Georgia Development Sociology, Political Sociology
    swpark@yu.ac.kr
  • Chung YongKyo,Professor

    • Kyungpook National Univ. sociology
    ykyochung@yumail.ac.kr
  • Huh Changdeog,Professor

    • Southern Illinois University sociology
    cdpoet@ynu.ac.kr

sorted by the position and Korean name

Curriculum

Department Of Sociology
  • 1-1,2
    CurriculumThis table demonstrates the curriculum accroding to academic year.
    1- 1
    PRACTICAL ENGLISH
    The aim of the course is to help students develop basic English verbal skills in real life situations. The course will be co-taught by Korean and Native English instructors. Korean instructors will provide students with basic English structure, vocabulary, and expressions, and students will be encouraged to practice speaking English utilizing basic English structures. Students will further practice expressing themselves in English with native English instructors.
    1- 1
    SEMINAR FOR ACADEMIC LIFE
    1. Summary of the course This course is to assist university freshmen in CRM designing to adapt university life well through the instruction and counselling of supervising professor. (This course is composed of self analysis, personality type test, career research, instruction for the success of university life, career plan and direction setting, CRM designing method and CRM designing. The course should be teaching in classes of the students by supervising professor.) 2. Course objectives This course is to motivate the students before the mid term exam and provide students with self analysis, personality type test (MBTI or TCI) and career research (YAT test). Also, this course shall has a plan to instruct the students to enhance the efficiency of university life through career and time management. In addition, this course is to make a chance for the students to have practical assistance to university life by providing study method, report designing strategy and the information on academic system and various kinds of internal programs of the university. After the mid term exam, the students will be instructed to set the direction of career designing through continuous counselling of supervising professor and the students will be able to establish CRM designing and execution plan.
    1- 1
    AN INVITATION TO SOCIOLOGY
    This course aims to help students understand society’s social phenomena systematically and logically. It deals with the definition of sociology, its disciplinary goal, its object and its point of view. This course also focuses on the basic concepts and knowledge of social institutions and social relationships.
    1- 2
    CONVERGENCE- AND INTEGRATION-BASED THINKING AND WRITING
    The ability of analyzing and solving problems is emphasized as one of the conditions for survival in the 21st century and one of the core elements of creative capabilities. This course was designed to cultivate convergence- and integration-based creative capabilities, which are integrated problem-solving capabilities to collect, analyze and process knowledge and information by reinforcing the ability of analyzing and solving problems, recreate it in a synthetic fashion, and express it effectively through speech and writing. The course will help the students cultivate their synesthesia thinking and communication skills based on sympathy with other human beings, understanding of the community, and positivity or Gongseong that is sought after by Yeungnam University. Its ultimate goals are to promote the students' creative knowledge development and reinforce their writing capabilities consistently through "convergence- and integration-based thinking and writing as a problem-solving approach."
    1- 2
    SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION AND SERVICE
    This course is to cultivate community sense as members of society and the global village for students in order to develop the basic knowledge required as global citizens. Especially, this course is to foster the spirit of cooperation, sharing, service, and creativity and study the social contribution and leadership to solving the challenges the global community faces. As a liberal arts course, it is centered to nurture a leader having the global capability to contribute to community development through learning the knowledge and the case on the value & logic of social responsibility focused on environmental preservation, social contribution, and good governance(ESG). This course aims to foster a generous mind, learn knowledge and technology and build the capacity to contribute to building a society towards a safer and happier world through the study of theory and practice.
    1- 2
    SOFTWARE AND AI
    Software and AI (Artificial Intelligence) course aims to educate the basic concepts of software and computational thinking to use them in various applications. It allows students of various majors to experience the core technologies of the 4th industrial revolution, such as big data, machine learning, and AI. It also introduces various applications of AI so that students can easily apply these technologies to their field of study. This course classifies the lecture types into three categories, and adjust the lecture difficulty according to the student's academic ability.
    1- 2
    SOCIOLOGY OF HUMAN RELATIONS
    In order to understand yourself and others, you can explore the patterns of influencing each other and learn about the interaction between individuals and social cultures.
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    CurriculumThis table demonstrates the curriculum accroding to academic year.
    2- 1
    CULTURAL SOCIOLOGY
    This course analyzes major cultural issues in contemporary Korean society from the sociological perspective. Through this analysis, we can understand the structure, process, and phenomenon of the cultural formation comprehensively and also expand the realm of our cultural awareness.
    2- 1
    GLOBAL CIVIC SOCIETY
    This lecture examines what is the obstacle for construction of global civic society in current Korean society, and reveals the contradictory structure that inherent in Korean society. Based on these facts, this lecture examines the alternatives of global civic society that Korean society should pursue. Through these trials, we aim to promote a global citizenship suitable for globalization trend.
    2- 1
    INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY
    This course reviews the nature and historical development of industrial sociology. It deals with social phenomena on the industrial scene. It covers the nature of work in the contemporary capitalist society; the characteristics of labor process; the structure of the labor market; the social relationships in the workplace; the organization of work; industrial relationships; industrial democracy.
    2- 1
    CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
    This course covers the historical development of sociology from the late 19th century to the 1930s. It deals with important sociologists and the major sociological theories which were advanced from the 19th century to the 1930’s. It also emphasizes the significance of classical sociological theories form the perspective of sociology’s historical development.
    2- 1
    FAMILY SOCIOLOGY
    To understand the knowledge of family history, the institution of marriage, internal structure, functions and cycle of family, family problems, and to systematize the theory and practice through analysis of family status quo and change of family consciousness in modern society.
    2- 1
    HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
    This course attempts to analyze human experiences and behaviors withiin the context of social group and culture and to examine the basic concepts, perspectives and theories in the sociological social-psychology. It also deals with such sub-disciciplinary issues as the socialization processes of the human individuals, their interpersonal interactions and human relationship, collective behavior and actions, and the problems of mass society.
    2- 1
    RESEARCH & METHODS
    The objective of this course is to obtain knowledge and skills relative to conducting research. The class emphasis is towards theoretical framework of research, understanding basic sociological concepts, and survey/research methods. This class will provide the students with ability to carry out research by themselves.
    2- 2
    CHATGPT AND PROMPTS
    To actively utilize generated AI, understand the principle of prompt and learn the prompt engineering process through the process of composition and data collection.
    2- 2
    GERONTOLOGY
    This course deals with the basic concepts and theoretical models in Gerontology and attempts to discuss the reality and issues related to the elderly. In this context, causes and consequences of problems related to the elderly will be discussed. Furthermore, policy implications will be introduced and discussed.
    2- 2
    SOCIAL PROBLEMS
    This course examines and studies the nature, theories and basic methodological orientation in the study of social problems. Firstly, we will deal with the theoretical contributions of some major schools of thought in this field. Then we will discuss each theoretical perspective in detail in the context of the historical development of sociological thoughts in general.
    2- 2
    SOCIOLOGY OF HUMAN LIFE
    It is a subject that combines sociology major knowledge about the characteristics of each life cycle from infancy to old age.
    2- 2
    SOCIAL STATISTICS
    This class will emphasize the use of statistics to better understand social phenomena. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics will be employed and explored in the class. Social statistics will be used to examine the causes of social phenomena using quantitative statistical approach.
    2- 2
    SOCIOLOGY OF OCCUPATION
    This course provides students with a forum for the analysis and discussion of the social aspects of occupations. One of its hidden objectives is to help them prepare for the planning of their future occupational careers. The course examines the historical processes of occupations, particularly in the context of the changes in the industrial structure, and social determinants of occupational choices. It also deals with such issues as occupational prestige and social status, social mobility in the occupational hierarchy, and occupational career. Finally, the relations between occupational and other social activities such as domestic life, political activity, leisure, and local community activities will also be discussed.
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    CurriculumThis table demonstrates the curriculum accroding to academic year.
    3- 1
    COMMUNITY INNOVATION CAPSTONE DESIGN(Ⅰ)
    This course fosters the employment and entrepreneurship skills of humanities and social sciences students through the connection activities between the university and the local community, and prepares them to participate in community activities. In particular, they are encouraged to become interested in university-community activities through regional activities such as urban regeneration, social economy, and community building.
    3- 1
    SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN KOREA
    This course introduces students to the understanding of the specific social problems in contemporary Korea. We will attempt to analyze the causes and trends of a variety of structural, disintegrational, and deviant social problems of today's Korean society. Students in this course are strongly encouraged to participate in the presentation of papers and in-class discussions in selected issues.
    3- 1
    SOCIOLOGY OF EMOTION
    It deals with the content of a sociological understanding of emotions and interprets various emotions such as emotional norms, emotional exchange, emotional labor, contempt, dignity, sadness, and fun in a sociological way.
    3- 1
    SOCIOLOGY OF POPULATION
    The main purpose of this course is to scientifically understand the three major components of population growth, i.e. fertility, mortality, and migration. Both causes and consequences of population growth will be analyzed and discussed. The basic concepts and theoretical perspectives of population will also be examined.
    3- 1
    TEACHING IN SOCIAL STUDIES
    This course aims to help develop basic understanding of the overall objectives of social studies education in secondary schools and the nature and composition of its curricula. It also intends to provide students with teaching and evaluation methods, and other educational methodologies for every disciplines or teaching areas in this field.
    3- 1
    CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
    This course covers the socio-historical background, historical development, sociological structure, core issues and limitations of current and major theoretical perspectives of sociology. It also discusses their significance in better understanding contemporary Korean society. Students in this course will give a special emphasis to today’s new theoretical movements in sociology.
    3- 1
    POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY
    This course examines the nature, structure, distribution, and practice of political power and authority; origins and expansion of modern states; linkages between state and society; impact of the modern world system on national politics; and the structure of political group formation and individual participation in modern states. It emphasizes a new and critical perspective on themes of political sociology.
    3- 2
    COMMUNITY INNOVATION CAPSTONE DESIGN(Ⅱ)
    This course provides opportunities for field practice to revitalize local communities and local economies based on the content learned in sociology. In particular, this course aims to empower students to become local experts based on these activities.
    3- 2
    COMPUTER AND SOCIAL SURVEY
    The goal of this course is to provide the students abilities to conduct social survey by themselves using computer technology. In this context, research design, sampling methods, data collection, and statistical analysis using the computer technology will be discussed.
    3- 2
    CREATIVE THINKING AND BIG DATA ANALYSIS
    By acquiring a design thinking process that can derive new problem-solving methods through big data, it is possible to cultivate solution-oriented thinking, integrated thinking, comprehensive thinking of reason and emotion, and future-oriented thinking necessary for the 4th industrial society.
    3- 2
    FIELD WORK I
    The objective of this course is designed for the students in the major of sociology to achieve both the practical knowledge and the experience in the related job fields.
    3- 2
    INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WELFARE
    This course covers fundamental concepts and theoretical orientations in the study of social welfare, and the social and historical background in which the ideology and theories of social welfare had emerged. It also introduces students to various major social welfare policies in contemporary society.
    3- 2
    QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
    Paying attention to how social entities and phenomena are interpreted, understood, experienced, or created, we learn to explain the social context by observing events, actions, and values.
    3- 2
    SOCIAL STUDIES-TEACHING MATERIALS RESEARCH AND METHOD
    This course aims to help examine the curriculum of social studies that are taught in the secondary schools?for the students in the middle school and the first graders in the high school. Those who take this course are also expected to get accustomed to the composition and contents of the secondary school social studies textbooks and to study diverse teaching and evaluation methods.
    3- 2
    SOCIOLOGY OF MASS MEDIA
    The students in this course will be encouraged to understand the functions and impacts of mass communication in current society, to look at the past, present, and the future of the major mass media, and to compare and examine the different natures of various mass media. They will also be introduced to the study of the interconnections between mass society, mass culture, and mass media.
    3- 2
    POVERTY AND INEQUALITY
    This course introduces central concepts, methods, and theoretical orientations in the area of social hierarchy and social stratification. The topics include the nature and various forms of poverty and social inequalities, the origins and transformations of social class differentiation in modern capitalist societies, production and reproduction of social cleavages, and the consequences of class and status as related to political behavior and lifestyles. It emphasizes the understanding of class dynamics in modern capitalistic society.
  • 4-1,2
    CurriculumThis table demonstrates the curriculum accroding to academic year.
    4- 1
    COMMUNITY STUDIES
    A preliminaryunderstandingof Daegu-Gyeungbukcommunityinwhichweliveisaprerequisiteforthe studentsofsociologywhomakeascientificexplorationofallkindsofsocialphenomena.Thiscourseexamine the various socio-economic traits around Daegu-Gyeungbuk local community, also aim to promote a understanding of Daegu-Gyeungbukcommunity. in particular, thiscourse aim to increase a understanding of the industry and enterprise in Daegu-Gyeungbukcommunity focusing on the economicandindustrialstructure, and company environment, employment realities in this area.Studentsareexpectedtocollectandanalyzevariousdataontheseissues,andthese efforts will also contribute to the improvement of student employment rate.
    4- 1
    CRIMINOLOGY
    A field of study that studies criminal acts or phenomena based on sociological perspectives and methods, such as crime. In terms of the social environment or context in which the criminal belongs, the cause of the act is determined. Understand the crime phenomenon by lighting it up.
    4- 1
    FIELD WORK Ⅱ
    The objective of this course is designed for the students in the major of sociology to achieve both the practical knowledge and the experience in the related job fields.
    4- 1
    FIELDWORK ON MIGRATION AND MULTICULTURE
    This course examines the conditions of immigration and multicultural field facilities, the practical programmes of immigration and multicultrual agency in contemporary Korean society. Students will have opportunity of examining how to understand the field situation of immigration and multicultrual society by participating in these field agency.
    4- 1
    SOCIAL STUDIES-LOGICS AND DISCOURSES
    Students in this course will examine diverse perspectives and theories in the various academic disciplines that are related to the social studies such as political science, economics, sociology, law, anthropolgy, geography and history. They will also study the unique characteristics and logics of the social studies subjects that are taught in the secondary school. This course thus aims to help students develop abilities to hold discourses with others in one's own logic.
    4- 1
    CONTEMPORARY MASS CULTURE
    This course aims to theoretically examine the characteristics and trends of mass society and the masses, and they will be critically appraised with reference to contemporary developments in mass culture. It also prompts students to have a sociological understanding of various aspects of contemporary mass culture, popular music and literature, the movies, drama, cartoons, and advertising.
    4- 2
    ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY
    By studying the interactions between socialized natural environments, we explore social factors that cause environmental problems, processes in which environmental problems are socially constructed and defined as social problems, and social responses to them.
    4- 2
    ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIOLOGY
    To understand organizational phenomena in modern society, organizational sociologists' organizational performance, management techniques, organizational theory. We deal specifically with the organizational analysis framework.
    4- 2
    SOCIAL SECURITY
    This course aims to introduce students to various issues and aspects of social security systems that have been designed to guarantee the members of the nation minimum standard of living and to provide them with means of social-economic security. This course will examine these issues in basically two different categories : public assistance and social insurance. It will also discuss some problems of social security system that are in practice.
    4- 2
    THE THEORY INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION SOCIETY
    This course aims to show students how to understand the emergence of an information society. It discusses the contemporary development of science and technology that brought about the coming of an information society and theoretically compares and analyzes the nature of the information society with other historical forms of society including the industrial society. It also deals with the meaning and consequences of the emergence of an information society in the various sectors of society including political, economic, legal, cultural, educational, and religious sectors.

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