|
91807 |
SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology |
Allison McKim |
M . W . . |
11:50 am -1:10 pm |
OLIN 205 |
SSCI/DIFF |
Cross-listed: American Studies; Environmental & Urban
Studies Sociology is the systematic study of social
life, social groups, and social relations. It is a perspective on human beings
that places people in both their immediate and their historical context. This
course will provide students with an introduction to the wide array of problems
and research methods found in sociology. Sociology looks at many levels of
social life, from everyday interactions to social inequality to massive
historical processes. Sociologists study things as varied as race, the birth of
capitalism, the social control of sexuality, urban legends, suicide, and
prisons. The course aims to teach you to think sociologically about the world
around you and to develop your ability to critically read and write about
social research. One main goal is to become familiar with how sociologists ask
and answer questions and to practice doing this yourself. Another goal is to
develop basic familiarity with sociological concepts and research methods. A
third goal is to learn how to read social science texts and to evaluate their
arguments. Class size: 22
|
91803 |
SOC 120 Inequality in America |
Yuval Elmelech |
. T . Th . |
1:30 pm -2:50 pm |
OLIN 204 |
SSCI/DIFF |
Cross-listed:
American Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Human Rights Why do some people have
more wealth, more power, and receive greater respect than others? What are the
sources of this inequality? Is social inequality inevitable? Is it undesirable?
Through lectures, documentary films and discussions, this course examines the
ways by which socially-defined categories of persons (e.g., women and men,
Blacks and Whites, rich and poor, native- and foreign-born) are unevenly
rewarded for their social contributions. Sociological theories are used to
explain how and why social inequality is produced and maintained, and how it
affects the well being of individuals and social
groups. The course will focus on two general themes. The first deals with the
structure of inequality while studying the unequal distribution of material and
social resources (e.g., prestige, income, occupation). The second examines the
processes that determine the allocation of people to positions in the
stratification system (e.g. education, intelligence, parental wealth, gender, race). Class
size: 22
|
91806 |
SOC 135 Sociology of Gender |
Allison McKim |
M . W . . |
3:10 pm -4:30 pm |
RKC 101 |
SSCI/DIFF |
Cross-listed: American
Studies; Anthropology; Gender & Sexuality Studies The primary goal of this
course is to develop a sociological perspective on gender. We will examine
how gender becomes an organizing principle of social life as well as consider
how social structures and practices construct gender identities. We will
investigate how gender is built into social structures, institutions, and
cultures, and how different groups experience this gendered order. The course
is organized according to different institutional and interactional contexts,
including families, workplaces, schools, the state & politics, sexuality,
culture, and identity. Our discussions will be guided by both theoretical
approaches to gender and a variety of empirical research. A second goal of this
course is to become familiar with various sociological theories of gender
difference and inequality. A third goal is to learn how gender inequality is
intertwined with other axes of power such as race/ethnicity, class, and
sexuality and how to conduct such “intersectional” analysis of social life. In
addition, students will learn to identify and evaluate various forms of
sociological evidence and arguments. Class size: 22
|
91809 |
SOC 138 Introduction to Urban Sociology |
Peter Klein |
. T . Th . |
11:50 am -1:10 pm |
OLIN 205 |
SSCI |
Cross-listed: American
Studies; Environmental
& Urban
Studies; Human Rights More than half the world’s population now lives
in urban areas. Thus, the study of social and political dynamics in urban
centers is crucial if we are to understand and address the pressing issues of
the contemporary world. This course will allow students to explore these
dynamics through an introduction to urban sociology: the study of social
relations, processes, and changes in the urban context. We will begin by
reading perspectives on the development of cities, followed by an examination
of how the city and its socio-spatial configuration affect and are affected by
social interactions, particularly across gender, race, and class lines. The
course will then consider the relationship between globalization and the modern
city before concluding with a few examples of how citizens address the
challenges in their communities. Throughout, we will explore the diverse
methods that social scientists use to understand these dynamics, and students
will have the opportunity to utilize some of these methods in an investigation
of a local “urban community.” Class size: 22
|
91802 |
SOC 205 Introduction to Research Methods |
Yuval Elmelech |
. T . Th . |
10:10 am- 11:30 am |
HDRANX 106 |
MATC |
Cross-listed:
American Studies; Environmental & Urban Studies; Global & Int’l
Studies; Human Rights The aim of this course
is to enable students to understand and use the various research methods
developed in the social sciences, with an emphasis on quantitative methods. The
course will be concerned with the theory and rationale upon which social
research is based, as well as the practical aspects of research and the
problems the researcher is likely to encounter. The course is divided into two
parts. In the first, we will learn how to formulate research questions and
hypotheses, how to choose the appropriate research method for the problem, and
how to maximize chances for valid and reliable findings. In the second part, we
will learn how to perform simple data analysis and how to interpret and present
findings in a written report. For a final paper, students use data from the
U.S. General Social Survey (GSS) to study public attitudes toward issues such as abortion,
immigration, inequality and welfare, affirmative action, gender roles,
religion, the media, and gun laws. By
the end of the semester, students will have the necessary skills for designing
and conducting independent research for term papers and senior projects, as
well as for non-academic enterprises. Admission by permission of the instructor. Class
size: 18
|
91964 |
SOC 237 Sport, Culture & Society |
Sarah Egan |
M . W . . |
3:10 pm -4:30 pm |
OLIN 201 |
SSCI |
Cross-listed: American Studies Related
interest: Anthropology This course focuses on sociological
approaches to the study of sport in society. The first part of the class
introduces the concepts used by classical sociological theories to help us
understand society and consider how sports function in society. We will also
study some mainstream sociological theorists that have studied sports in
detail. We will then move on to consider inequalities portrayed and reproduced
in sport, related to gender, race and class. Other substantive research areas
in the sociology of sport include roles of fans and athletes, politics of
sport, nationalism and competition, globalization, media, and sport and the
body. Class size: 22
|
91819 |
SOC 246 A CHANGING AMERICAN RACIAL ORDER? Race, Ethnicity &
Assimilation |
Joel Perlmann |
. T . Th . |
3:10 pm -4:30 pm |
OLIN 101 |
SSCI/DIFF |
Cross
list: American Studies, Human Rights; The changes in the racial
order during the past half century have been staggering. What will they be like in
the next half century? As to the recent
past, consider: first blacks gains since the Civil Rights era
(political, economic, social – however incomplete); second, Hispanics and
Asians transforming what it means to be non-white; and third, the virtual
disappearance of earlier rigid divisions among Euro-American ethnics such as
Irish, Italians, Jews and Slavs. We
will explore the meaning of contemporary race, ethnicity and assimilation with
these recent American patterns in mind.
We will also spend a substantial part of the course on the growing
efforts by thoughtful Americans, mostly social scientists, to think about the
directions that these patterns of group life may take in the coming few
decades. Topics
include: social mobility and economic wellbeing, interracial marriage,
political power, discrimination, the impact of immigration, group identity and
culture, the expected racial transformation to a non-white American majority. Class size: 22
|
91801 |
SOC 267 Media, Power & Social Change |
Sarah Egan |
M . W . . |
11:50 am -1:10 pm |
HEG 102 |
SSCI |
Cross-listed:
Anthropology; Experimental Humanities; Human Rights; Science, Technology & Society Is Google making us
smarter? Is Twitter enabling revolutions? What role does technology play in our
lives? Technology changes what we do - does it change who we are? We are living
at a time of rapid technological innovation and diffusion and the above
questions indicate that these new technologies are the cause of both much
excitement and much concern. In this class students will learn to understand a
variety of media technologies in their historical context and they will explore
the impact that these technologies have had on social and political life. To
this end, we need to think about technologies in a couple of different ways:
(1) What does technology (print, radio, Twitter…)
enable us to do? (2) How does technology affect the way people think about
themselves, their political situation and the social world? And what are the
consequences of these changes? Students will become familiar with relevant
concepts from political sociology including nationalism, the public sphere,
social capital and social movements. We will also consider the downside of
media technologies, and inequalities in terms of access and participation. Class
size: 22
|
91810 |
SOC 269 Globalization, Social Conflict, and Citizenship |
Peter Klein |
. T . Th . |
4:40 pm -6:00 pm |
OLIN 203 |
SSCI |
Cross-listed: Environmental & Urban Studies; Global
& Int’l Studies; Human Rights Globalization processes touch on so many aspects of so many lives
that we cannot ignore their importance, nor can we ignore debates over the
impacts of these processes on local cultures, biological diversity, national
security, and economic prosperity. Yet often lost in these debates—in which
positions are typically polarized between those who view globalization as a
positive, inevitable force, and others who view it as destructive—are a number
of important intellectual and practical issues around which this course is
organized. We will examine what is and is not unique about the contemporary era, and address how new forms of production and
networking are transforming the role of the nation-state, affecting wealth
distribution, and impacting the natural environment. This course will also look
closely at how modern-day globalization has given rise to new forms of social
conflict, political contestation, and struggles for change. Through projects
conducted in the Hudson Valley and interdisciplinary academic study, this
course will challenge students to think holistically about transnational
processes and consider the fundamental question of what it means to be a
citizen in this globalized world. Class
size: 22
|
91805 |
SOC 339 Seminar in Social Performance |
Sarah Egan |
. . . Th . |
3:10 pm -5:30 pm |
OLINLC 210 |
SSCI |
Cross-listed: Anthropology, LAIS This class will
demonstrate how the study of performance can be used as a model for the study
of social life more broadly. Students will be introduced to the emerging
discipline of Performance Studies which combines insights from the study of the
theater and performing arts with sociological and anthropological work on
ritual and community. We will examine how sociologists have used performance as
an analytical model, from the work of Erving Goffman on the presentation of
self in everyday life to Alexander’s model of social performance. The seminar
will be discussion and exercise based, with some films and lectures.
Substantive topics that we will study using a performance lens include the
performance of reconciliation in post-Apartheid South Africa, the mobilization
of mothers in Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’, gender as a socially constructed
performance, the use of performance in social movements, and the performance of
political campaigns. No prerequisites; open to moderated majors and
non-majors.
Class size: 16
|
91808 |
SOC 346 Governing the Self |
Allison
McKim |
. . . Th . |
1:30 pm -3:50 pm |
OLIN 303 |
SSCI |
Cross-listed: Human Rights This advanced seminar
traces sociological approaches to the self and examines institutional and
political attempts to govern social life by shaping the self. It engages
questions about power relations; the construction of knowledge; subjectivity;
and debates over agency and individualism. The class straddles political and
cultural sociology and links the micro-level of everyday experience with
macro-level questions of power and politics. It covers the symbolic
interactionist tradition, including Mead and Goffman, and how sociology broke
with Enlightenment ideas about the individual. We delve into qualitative and
historical research on many contexts, including paid labor, the field of
psychology, prisons, self-help groups, and reproductive policy. We also
consider how social relations become embodied in us as ways of being in the
world. The course looks closely at the “governmentality”
scholarship associated with Foucault that examines how authorities think about
and enact forms of regulation and control. The course will enable students to
examine questions of identity and individuality, recent shifts toward
“neoliberal” governance, and the politics of empowerment. Class
size: 15