The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to the sociological perspective. Its goal is to illuminate the way in which social forces impinge on our individual lives and affect human society. The course is organized into four main parts. In the first, key sociological concepts and methods will be introduced via the study of the fathers of sociology: Durkheim, Weber, and Marx. In the second part, we will examine the significance of various forms of social inequality, particularly those based on class, race, and gender. We will then survey several important social institutions: the family, the economic order, the political order, education, and religion. The fourth and final part of the course will focus on the inter-related issues of ideology, social movements, and social change.

From the Middle East to the world wide web, many pressing issues and controversies around the world today hinge on the question of identity. In this course, we examine the question of identity from various theoretical and analytical perspectives, and through different substantive cases and settings. We begin by comparing existing conceptions of identity and of the "collective" aspects of group and individual identities. From there, we explore why and how identities form, how they both affect and are affected by our actions, and the relationship between collective identities and the social and political contexts in which they exist. Throughout the course, we focus on the role of identity in shaping social divisions and conflicts, political movements, and contemporary organizations. In addition to examining the dynamics of racial, class and gender identities, we also look at national, religious, political, colonial and professional identities in different settings. Readings range from the classics of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and G. H. Mead, to more contemporary works by Judith Butler, Benedict Anderson, Gerard Noiriel, and Mahmood Mamdani. Some of the substantive topics we cover include racial hierarchies in the US and Africa, gender and sexuality, citizenship and immigration in France, religious nationalism, global workplaces, and community and the internet.

Beginning with the end of the Cold War and climaxing during the Republican landslide of the 1994 midterm elections, domestic battles to control American culture--the so-called Culture Wars--have moved to the forefront of public attention. Referred to by one author as "a struggle to define America," the Culture Wars have been waged most fervently by contemporary conservative forces aiming to win control of American culture from their progressive counterparts. This course will examine the historical sources of the moral and cultural conflicts at issue and contextualize them as part of an ongoing contest in American society to define the "we" to whom specific moral obligations apply and the "they" to whom nothing is owed. Course readings will be organized to survey a variety of cultural conflicts and policy arenas targeted by cultural warriors, including matters of sexuality, family, education, and art.

For centuries, the Mediterranean sea has both linked together and divided the peoples and territories of Europe and Africa. In this course, we begin where Braudel left off and study the making of European and African societies in the western Mediterranean from the 18th century to the present. We examine the creation of "Barbary", and the character and impact of Ottoman and European imperial rule in the 18th and 19th centuries. We trace the patterns of trade and commerce in the region, and compare the great cities of the Mediterranean, like Marseilles, Barcelona and Algiers. We investigate the role of religious diversity (Islam, Christianity and Judaism), the military and decolonization wars, and immigration on the region. We look at how popular culture has helped fashion various European and African identities, through artistic movements and Worlds Fairs in earlier periods and through contemporary media like music and film. Finally, we use this knowledge to discuss some of the current political conflicts of the region. We use a variety of sources, including historical accounts, novels, and film, to expand our knowledge of this modern Mediterranean world.

A critical investigation into the development of modern sociological theories in the United States and Europe. The course will examine, among other schools and traditions, functionalism, conflict theory, exchange and rational choice theory, symbolic interactionism, feminist theory, and critical theory. Readings include works by Talcott Parsons, Ralf Dahrendorf, Jon Elster, George Herbert Mead, Erving Goffman, Harold Garfinkel, Dorothy Smith, Michel Foucault, and Jurgen Habermas. Prerequisite: Sociology 203 or permission of the instructor.

The course is organized around an interdisciplinary set of readings considered significant because of their sociological insights or the way they have marshaled new evidence, reinterpreted old data, or highlighted methodological issues. The seminar engages in a critical analysis of these works and assesses their impact. Readings are selected along the lines of students' interests. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

That the streets of America are paved with gold, and that any pauper can become a prince here is a myth -- and probably no one ever believed it literally anyhow. But we cannot dismiss so easily the statement that America was and is a land of opportunity -- at least relative to most other lands, and at least for most of the ethnic/racial groups entering at the bottom of the social class structure, at least for the children of immigrants (rather than for the immigrants themselves). Just how many exceptions do we need to list? Just how much opportunity for increased well-being, for social class mobility in particular, is common in America today, and how much has there been in the past? This course considers the reality behind a central feature of the image of American society; about half the readings will be from social history and social science, the other half from novels and memoirs. The major focus will be on social class and mobility for ethnic and racial minorities - for immigrants (and their children), blacks and native Americans (in the sense of American Indians). Since a key feature in the process of upward mobility is the role of education in preparing (or failing to prepare) the children of the poor to 'get ahead,' the role of schooling will also receive attention. Thus the course lies at the intersection of three fields of sociology and social history: ethnicity and race, stratification, and the sociology of education. Consistent weekly reading and class participation, as well as a term paper are the major course requirements. Consent of instructor required.