Organizational Leadership (ORG)

ORG 153. Introduction to Organizational Leadership. (3)

This course is an introduction to various theories of organizations, with an emphasis on leadership skills, styles, and dynamics that are important within them. It provides a basic understanding of challenges and opportunities that leaders in organizations face, methods and processes for addressing them, and an overview of both group dynamics and organizational theory. SI-02.

ORG 177. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

ORG 254. Career Readiness. (3)

In this class, students explore the process of moving from college to career. Students focus on developing their professional voice as emerging leaders in organizations while preparing to find their first job after college. Topics include converting internships to employment, networking, building a professional identity, job searching, and pitching oneself to employers and influencers.
Prerequisite: ORG 153.

ORG 277. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

ORG 325. Sociology of Advertising. (3)

This course examines advertising as a social and organizational institution that shapes culture, identity, and economic life. Rather than focusing on marketing techniques or campaign execution, the course emphasizes sociological perspectives on persuasion, branding, and consumer culture. Topics include advertising as meaning-making, the relationship between organizations and audiences, symbolic power, inequality and representation, and ethical controversies in contemporary media environments. Students analyze advertisements, brands, and industries using sociological theory and empirical research, with attention to how advertising reflects and reinforces social values while advancing organizational goals. The course provides students with critical tools for understanding advertising’s role in modern organizations and society.

ORG 340. Internship. (0-20)

ORG 354. The Social Dynamics of Strategy and Leadership. (3)

Reviews classical and current sociological theories of organizational strategy and leadership, with an emphasis on practical application. The course focuses on four major areas: (a) relative firm performance; (b) the nature of competition and market interaction; (c) the beginnings of industries and firms; and (d) the diffusion or transfer of ideas and practices across firms.
Prerequisite: ORG 153 or SOC 153.

ORG 355. Algorithms at Work: AI, Surveillance, and Organizational Control. (3)

This course examines how artificial intelligence and algorithmic systems are reshaping work, decision-making, and authority within organizations. Rather than focusing on technical design or programming, the course analyzes AI as a social and organizational phenomenon. Topics include algorithmic management, workplace surveillance, data-driven evaluation, bias and inequality in automated systems, and the changing nature of expertise and professional authority. Students explore how organizations adopt and govern AI technologies, how workers respond to algorithmic oversight, and how legal and institutional frameworks regulate emerging systems. Through case studies and empirical research, the course provides sociological tools for understanding the organizational consequences of AI and digital technologies.

ORG 360. Current Issues in Organizational Leadership. (3; maximum 6)

Covers special topics of importance to leaders in a variety of organizational types.

ORG 361. Innovation in Organizations. (3)

Organizations play an important role in introducing novelty and innovation in society. Through readings, case studies, and experiential activities, this course examines how organizations can effectively foster innovation, and the processes that lead to new products, services, and solutions to social problems. In addition, the course focuses on the importance of organizational adaptation and innovation in an increasingly dynamic global economy, and the ways the most effective organizations adapt and innovate. CAS-W.
Prerequisite: ORG 153 or SOC 153.

ORG 367. White-Collar Crime. (3)

This course examines white-collar crime and organizational misconduct as social and organizational phenomena rather than individual moral failures. Students analyze how organizational structures, professional norms, incentive systems, and institutional environments shape unethical and illegal behavior in corporations, nonprofits, and public agencies. Topics include fraud, regulatory violations, corruption, whistleblowing, and the normalization of deviance, with attention to power, inequality, and organizational culture. Through case studies of major corporate and institutional scandals, students learn how misconduct emerges, how it is justified or concealed, and how organizations respond to legal and public scrutiny.

ORG 377. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

ORG 454. Organizations and Society. (3)

Sociological analysis of complex organizations. Topics include theories, types of organizations, basic characteristics of organizations, organizational change and conflict, interactions with environments, and research in organizations.
Prerequisite: SOC 151 or SOC 153; ORG 153; or SOC/SJS 165.
Cross-listed with SOC 454.

ORG 471. Organizational Leadership Capstone. (3)

Integrates concepts from the Organizational Leadership major and applies them to real world issues. SC.
Prerequisite: Senior standing.

ORG 477. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)