Accessibility Statement

This book was created in good faith to ensure that it will meet accessibility standards wherever possible, and to highlight areas where we know there is work to do. It is our hope that by being transparent in this way, we can begin the process of making sure accessibility is top of mind for all authors, adopters, students and contributors of all kinds on open textbook projects.

If you encounter an accessibility issue, please let your instructor know right away.

Equity Lens

The Open Oregon Educational Resources Targeted Pathways Project seeks to dismantle structures of power and oppression entrenched in barriers to course material access. We provide tools and resources to make diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) primary considerations when faculty choose, adapt, and create course materials. In promoting DEI, our project is committed to:

1. Ensuring diversity of representation within our team and the materials we distribute
2. Publishing materials that use accessible, clear language for our target audience
3. Sharing course materials that directly address and interrogate systems of oppression, equipping students and educators with the knowledge to do the same

Designing and piloting openly licensed, intersectional, and antiracist course materials is one starting point among many when addressing inequities in higher education. Our project invites students and educators to engage with us in this work, and we value spaces where learning communities can grow and engage together.

We welcome being held accountable to this statement and will respond to feedback submitted via our contact page.

Course Learning Outcomes

Educators, students, and future employers all benefit when course-level learning outcomes guide our shared work. When course-level learning outcomes are public, institutions demonstrate a commitment to equitable student success through the potential for increased collaboration and inclusive course design. This project analyzed learning outcomes across the state of Oregon to identify themes and commonalities. Authors used this analysis as a basis for developing course outcomes that could match the curriculum of multiple institutions in Oregon while still considering their local needs and context.

This book addresses the following course-level learning outcomes:

1. Compare and contrast social change across cultures to discuss the significance of social change to you and your community.
2. Describe patterned ways that social institutions shape behavior and opportunity for groups and individuals, inhibiting or contributing to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
3. Apply social imagination and a critical sociological lens to examine how systems create and sustain social, environmental, and cultural injustice across social locations.
4. Compare and contrast theoretical approaches to social change, applying them to social, cultural, political, and economic issues.
5. Identify how civil society and professionals apply research, observation, worldview, imagination, and action to understand and engage with systems and institutions contributing to social change.
6. Discuss how global social movements respond to and create power dynamics, globalization, and crises, revealing possibilities for positive social change.

Oregon adopted a statewide course name, number, description, and learning outcomes in 2024 (below). The learning outcomes developed in this textbook align with the new statewide learning outcomes, with a focus on change across cultures and diversity within group memberships. For more information please visit the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission​’s Educator Resources – Common Course Numbering [Website].

SOC/SOAN 205: Social Change and Institutions

Course Description:

Sociological analysis of social institutions, such as family, education, health care, the economy, and the state. Includes an examination of connections among institutions and their impact on patterns of inequality and individual outcomes. Examines the forces and dynamics behind social change, such as social movements, culture, economic forces, technologies, and the environment.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Discuss the history of key social institutions.
2. Analyze major social institutions and change using sociological concepts, theory, and research.
3. Describe how the structure of institutions shapes patterns of social inequality.
4. Discuss the diversity of experiences that individuals have with institutions based on group membership, such as race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and social class.
5. Describe how and why societies change over time.

Teaching and Learning Approach

The authors of this book embraced an equity-minded design for structure, scope, and sequence of chapters and chapter content. They sought to honor the needs and experiences of students who are often underserved in higher education in Oregon. Authors considered Transparency in Teaching and Learning (TILT), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and culturally responsive teaching to design meaningful learning pathways for you. You will find rich images and multimedia in addition to written content. You will also find provocative discussion questions that align with learning outcomes and objectives.

Instructors, please see the Instructor Resources section in the Back Matter for an overview of curriculum design as well as openly licensed course packs and teaching tools.

Licenses and Attributions

About this Book by Open Oregon Educational Resources is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Accessibility Statement was adapted from Accessibility Features by Dave Dillon, Blueprint for Success in College and Career: Oregon Edition, licensed under CC BY 4.0.