12373

SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology

Allison McKim

M . W . .

10:10 - 11:30 am

OLIN 205

SSCI

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 you 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 widely 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 sociological texts and to evaluate their arguments. Class size: 18

12374

SOC 120 Inequality in America

Yuval Elmelech

. T . Th .

10:10 - 11:30 am

OLIN 304

SSCI/DIFF

Cross-listed: American Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Human Rights, Social Policy 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: 18

12337

SOC 214 Immigration in Contemporary American Society

Joel Perlmann

. T . Th .

4:40 -6:00 pm

OLIN 205

SSCI/DIFF

Cross-listed: American Studies, Human Rights, Social Policy Why do immigrants come to the U.S? Where do the immigrants come from, geographically and socially? How do immigrants handle cultural differences? How do they affect class and racial relations and to what extent do immigrants and their children assimilate into mainstream society? This course examines the huge immigration to the United States during recent decades (since the 1960s) – and its effect on both the immigrants and the society they have entered.   Throughout, we will ask how the answers to such questions distinguish the present era from the American historical experience as "a country of immigrants."  Specific topics include 1) immigrant origins and the reasons they come, both the great numbers who enter the upper-middle class and the millions more who enter at the bottom of the economic ladder;  2) immigrants’ efforts to preserve or shed cultural distinctiveness and ethnic unity;  3) how the children of the immigrants – by now tens of millions in number -- are faring; 3) the economic and cultural impact of the immigrants on American society; 4) how the ‘Great Recession’ is affecting immigrants and their children; 5) how a largely-non-white immigrant population is influencing the political culture of American racial divisions and the economic position of the native-born poor; 6) the subject of immigration restriction in politics; 7) the issue of illegal immigrants, and in particular what it means for them and for the rest of us that well over ten million ‘illegals’ live in the U.S. but cannot appeal to the law for protection; and 8) the balance of civil liberties and national security as America accommodates Muslim immigrants while defining itself as at war with extreme Islamists around the world since 9/11. Class size: 22

12340

SOC 242 Historical Sociology of Punishment

Michael Donnelly

M . W . .

11:50 -1:10 pm

HEG 308

SSCI/DIFF

Cross-listed: Human Rights, Social Policy An analysis of punishment, and the rationales for punishing, in a variety of historical circumstances. Cases are drawn from primitive societies, Puritan New England, 18^th and 19^th century western Europe, the American South, and the recent period in the United States and Great Britain. Comparisons among such disparate cases will suggest broad developmental patterns in punishment, and more specific queries about the connections between culture, social structure, and penal strategies. The case materials also offer a historical perspective on such contemporary issues and controversies as the scope of criminal responsibility, the appropriateness of retribution, the declining concern for rehabilitating offenders, and the rationales for, and uses of, the death penalty. Class size: 22

12375

SOC 247 The American Family

Yuval Elmelech

. T . Th .

1:30 -2:50 pm

ALBEE 106

SSCI

Cross-listed: American Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Social Policy Why do people date and marry? How do we choose our partners? What explains the rise in childlessness? Do parents love their children equally? What causes the feminization of poverty? What effect does divorce have upon the success of children later in life? This course uses sociological literature to study these questions. Focusing primarily on family patterns in the United States, the course examines the processes of partner selection, the configuration of gender and family roles, and the interrelationships among family and household members. Topics include explanations of religious and racial/ethnic inter-marriage; household and work roles; divorce and remarriage; parenthood and single parenthood; aging and family transfers. Class size: 22

12339

SOC 262 Sexualities

Allison McKim

. T . Th .

3:10 -4:30 pm

OLIN 205

SSCI/DIFF

Cross-listed: Gender & Sexuality Studies; Human Rights; Related interest: Science, Technology & Society Although sexuality is often considered to be inherently private and individual, this course examines sexuality as a social phenomenon. It asks how sexual identities and social categories of sexuality come to be and how they are maintained or changed over time. It examines how historically specific social contexts shape the meaning of sexual experiences and how we use sexuality to define ourselves, produce social hierarchies, and mark moral boundaries. We will begin with an introduction to theories of sexuality and consider the essentialist / constructionist debate. Then we use a historical perspective to look at the social institutions that help to produce, construct, and control sexual practice and identities, paying special attention to the role of gender, race, and class inequality. This will provide a basis for looking at the development of modern sexual communities, identities, and politics, including controversies over commodified sexuality and feminist debates about prostitution and pornography. Throughout the course will consider the important role of gender in the social organization of sexuality. We will also address how these social processes shape notions of personal identity and the self. Class size: 22

12338

SOC 304 Modern Sociological Theory

Michael Donnelly

M . W . .

3:10 -4:30 pm

OLIN 308

SSCI

Cross-listed: Human Rights 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. Class size: 15

12095

SOC 322 A Sociologic Classic: Middletown and America

Joel Perlmann

. . W . .

6:20 -8:40 pm

OLIN 201

SSCI/DIFF

Cross-listed: American Studies; History A close reading of Robert and Helen Lynd's Middletown and Middletown in Transition. The first volume was based on the work of a research team that lived for months in the "typical" American community of Middletown in the 1920s; the second volume was based on a similar, second study during the crisis of the Great Depression. The volumes try to understand all that is interesting in the social life of the community -- notably class structure and class relations; politics; courtship, family, childraising and schooling; entertainment, religion and other aspects of cultural life. These volumes have proven very durable, both in serving as a model that other community studies must confront and in providing an understanding of American society and culture in the twenties and thirties. Students will write a term paper based on this and other American community studies or on some aspect of America in the twenties and thirties highlighted by the Lynds' work. Class size: 15

12341

SOC 332 Seminar on Social Problems

Yuval Elmelech

. . W . .

10:10 - 12:30 pm

ALBEE 106

SSCI/DIFF

Cross listed: American Studies, Human Rights, Social Policy We often read alarming stories about segregated and failing schools, the proliferation of poor immigrant children, the weakening of the American family, and numerous other problems in contemporary American society. While these accounts provide a sensational and superficial treatment of various social problems, what do researchers really know about the causes of and solutions for these problems? This course provides a critical survey and analysis of the varied social and structural factors that facilitate and help perpetuate social problems in the U.S. Topics include: schools and education; wealth and poverty; lifestyle preferences; violence and abuse; social mobility; teenage childbearing; racial segregation; immigration and assimilation; gender inequality; work and socioeconomic attainment. The course will also provide framework for developing the skill of academic writing, and the appropriate use of theories, research questions and hypotheses. In particular, this seminar will serve social science majors and other advanced students who are developing their research and writing skills for term papers and senior projects. Class size: 15