Introduction to Sociology

 

Professor:

Jussara dos Santos Raxlen

 

Course Number:

SOC 101

CRN Number:

10273

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

Mon  Wed     11:50 AM - 1:10 PM Olin 204

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis D+J Difference and Justice

 

Crosslists: American & Indigenous Studies

Sociology is the systematic study of social life, social groups, and social relations. The discipline views the individual in context of the larger society, and sheds light on how social structures constrain and enable our choices and actions. Sociologists study topics as varied as race, gender, class, religion, the birth of capitalism, democracy, education, crime and prisons, the environment, and inequality. At its most basic, the course will teach students how to read social science texts and evaluate their arguments. Conceptually, students will learn basic sociological themes and become familiar with how sociologists ask and answer questions. Most importantly, students will come away from the course with a new understanding of how to think sociologically about the world around them, their position in society, and how their actions both affect and are affected by the social structures in which we all live.

 

Wealth, Poverty, and Inequality

 

Professor:

Yuval Elmelech

 

Course Number:

SOC 120

CRN Number:

10274

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    3:30 PM - 4:50 PM Olin 201

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis D+J Difference and Justice

 

Crosslists: American & Indigenous Studies; Gender and Sexuality Studies; Human Rights

Why do some people face severe economic hardship and persistent poverty while others enjoy financial security and experience upward mobility? What are the patterns and sources of this inequality? Is inequality inevitable? Through lectures, scholarly works, selected video excerpts, and class discussions, this course examines the causes and consequences of socioeconomic inequality in the contemporary US. Sociological theories are used to explain how and why socioeconomic 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., social status, earnings, wealth, power). The second examines the processes that determine the allocation of people to positions in the stratification system (e.g. educational attainment, social capital, institutional discrimination, parental wealth).

 

Sociology of Race & Ethnicity

 

Professor:

Jussara dos Santos Raxlen

 

Course Number:

SOC 122

CRN Number:

10275

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    1:30 PM - 2:50 PM Olin 205

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis D+J Difference and Justice

 

Crosslists: Africana Studies; American & Indigenous Studies; Human Rights; Latin American/Iberian Studies

The Movement for Black Lives, the rise of white nationalist groups, and U.S. racial demographic changes have put issues of race and racism at the forefront of national conversations, but what is race and how did it become so important? This course introduces students to sociological approaches to race and ethnicity. We will examine race as a socially constructed category by engaging with multiple sociological theories and accounts of contemporary racial problems. We will answer questions such as, what is meant when we say race is socially constructed and not biological? What are the sociohistorical processes that have cemented racial stratification? And how does the lived experience of being racialized intersect with other social categories such as gender, immigration status, and socioeconomic class? Together, we will also tackle the task of defining, deconstructing, and connecting concepts such as racism, discrimination, anti-Blackness, and intersectionality. At the end of the course, students will discuss the consequences of race and ethnicity and consider alternatives for social change.

 

Introduction to Research Methods

 

Professor:

Yuval Elmelech

 

Course Number:

SOC 205

CRN Number:

10276

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    11:50 AM - 1:10 PM Henderson Comp. Center 106

 

Distributional Area:

MC Mathematics and Computing  

 

Crosslists: American & Indigenous Studies; Environmental & Urban Studies; Global & International 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.

 

Sociological Theory

 

Professor:

Jussara dos Santos Raxlen

 

Course Number:

SOC 213

CRN Number:

10277

Class cap:

20

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

Mon  Wed     10:10 AM - 11:30 AM Reem Kayden Center 102

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis  

 

Crosslists: Human Rights

What is “theory”? And what makes a theory “sociological”? As we shall see, we often theorize and apply existing social theories in our everyday lives. Simply put, a theory is a way of understanding: making sense of all kinds of social phenomena, from globalization to intimate interpersonal relationships. In this course, we survey a range of social theories: those which are foundational to the creation of sociology and all social sciences; those which focus on the rise and transformations of modern society in the 19th and 20th centuries; and those which are responses, critiques, or further developments of these other theories. Our exploration will follow a chronological order of western thought. But analytically, we will straddle between historical periods (and the equivalent classifications of “classical” and “contemporary” sociological theory) to emphasize the ongoing dialogue among different theoretical traditions and attempts to provide alternative and more nuanced explanations of an increasingly more diverse social world beyond a Eurocentric perspective. First, briefly, we trace the ideas that paved the way to the emergence of the social sciences from the European Enlightenment, which grappled with notions about the nature of political authority vis ŕ vis the nature of humanity. Second, we delve into the theoretical accounts of a period often referred to as Modernity. We engage with the ideas of sociology’s “founding fathers” (Durkheim, Marx, Weber, and Simmel) and America’s “first” sociologists (e.g., Jane Adams, Du Bois, and Perkins Gilman). Once in the 20th century, we explore the theoretical conversations among sociologists and other social scientists to understand the realities of our recent past up until the present, considering various sociological traditions (e.g., functionalism, symbolic interactionism, critical theory, ethnomethodology, poststructuralism, postcolonial and feminist theory), and read their contemporary interlocutors.

 

The Environment and Society

 

Professor:

Peter Klein

 

Course Number:

SOC 231

CRN Number:

10278

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

Mon  Wed     11:50 AM - 1:10 PM Olin Languages Center 115

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis D+J Difference and Justice

 

Crosslists: American & Indigenous Studies; Environmental & Urban Studies; Human Rights; Science, Technology, Society

The world’s environmental problems and their solutions are not merely technical. They are profoundly social issues as well. This course explores topics such as climate change, food systems, health disparities, and natural disasters to critically assess the relationship between society and the environment at local and global scales. We explore how people collectively understand environmental issues and how social structures shape the natural environment. Most of the course is devoted to analyzing the social consequences of a changing natural world, focusing on how and why the benefits and burdens of environmental change are unequally distributed across lines of race, class, gender, and other social categories. With particular attention on environmental justice, the course also explores the ways in which scholars, citizens, and policymakers respond to these inequities and other contemporary environmental challenges.

 

Children, Youth, & Society

 

Professor:

Jomaira Salas Pujols

 

Course Number:

SOC 281

CRN Number:

10279

Class cap:

20

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    5:10 PM - 6:30 PM Olin 201

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis D+J Difference and Justice

 

Crosslists: Africana Studies; American & Indigenous Studies; Gender and Sexuality Studies

While we tend to think of childhood and adulthood as distinct social categories, the idea of childhood has not always existed. This course uses sociological insights to examine the emergence of childhood as a social category and its contemporary manifestations. It asks, what does it mean to be a child or youth? Who has access to childhood? And how do social contexts shape the childhood experience? We will use an interdisciplinary lens to examine how the idea of childhood has changed over time and across different cultural contexts. We will also pay special attention to how inequality shapes children and youths' lives, analyzing its intersections with race, gender, citizenship, and socioeconomic class. At the end of the course, we will consider how children shape their own worlds, positioning them as active agents who do not just learn to understand their environments but also shape them.

 

Religious Pluralism, Religious Freedom and Dialogue

 

Professor:

Karen Barkey

 

Course Number:

SOC 289

CRN Number:

10280

Class cap:

20

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

Mon  Wed     11:50 AM - 1:10 PM Reem Kayden Center 115

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis D+J Difference and Justice

 

Crosslists: Asian Studies; Middle Eastern Studies; Study of Religions

As religion persists despite secular predictions of its downturn or demise, the modern world’s various inheritances (of colonialism and empire), the centrality of the nation-state, the paradoxes of legal dispensations, etc., make religion come alive through state and society in conflicting rather than cohesive ways. This course allows the student to understand religion and its collisions as they are filtered through the history and politics of nations and their various priorities. This course examines the solutions the modern world has devised to arrest and minimize religious conflict by exploring the ideas around secularism/secularization, tolerance, pluralism, and religious freedom. Through unpacking these concepts, their aspirations, and shortcomings, the course allows students to work through some recent controversies of religious conflict and cases where conflicts are managed better. The course ends by looking at dialogue to ask if, indeed, the modern world allows for inter and intra-religious dialogue, who initiates and engages in it, and how to assess the ethical framework within which this task is undertaken towards goals of building understanding and mutuality through religion for the self and community.

 

Social Problems

 

Professor:

Yuval Elmelech

 

Course Number:

SOC 332

CRN Number:

10281

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

  Wed     3:30 PM - 5:50 PM Olin 101

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis D+J Difference and Justice

 

Crosslists: American & Indigenous Studies; Human Rights

This course explores the causes, development, and consequences of various social problems in the U.S. Particular emphasis will be placed on the examination of disparities in socioeconomic status (e.g. education, poverty, employment, and wealth). We will begin with an introduction to social problems as a field of sociological inquiry and discuss the merits of problem-centered approaches to social research. Drawing on various sociological perspectives we will then identify the varied social structures that facilitate and help perpetuate social problems. In the remainder of the semester we will investigate specific social problems. Topics will include: wealth and economic security; schools and education; racial and ethnic inequality; work and employment; immigration and mobility; gender inequality; and social problems related to the family. The course will also provide a framework for developing the skill of academic writing, and the appropriate use of theories and empirical evidence. In particular, this seminar will serve upper-level students who are developing their research and analytical skills for term papers and senior projects. Fulfills American and Indigenous Studies Junior Seminar requirement.

 

Tricks of the Trade: Qualitative Research Practicum

 

Professor:

Peter Klein

 

Course Number:

SOC 333

CRN Number:

10282

Class cap:

12

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

 Tue      9:10 AM - 11:30 AM Albee 106

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis  

 

Crosslists: American & Indigenous Studies; Environmental & Urban Studies; Global & International Studies; Human Rights

To study social life, researchers often turn to methods of inquiry based on interviewing people, observation, or examining the meanings of texts like ads and news coverage. This course gives students instruction in how to conduct this kind of qualitative research, focusing on ethnography (participant observation), in-depth interviewing, and discourse/content analysis. The course is ideal for moderated students from various majors who plan to use these research methods for their senior project or those who are interested in pursuing social research in the future. The class offers both conceptual grounding and practical training. Students will develop and conduct a qualitative research study. To do this, students will engage epistemological questions about how we create knowledge and learn the nitty-gritty aspects of how to design and carry out research. These include techniques for taking field notes, conducting interviews, picking case studies, and interpreting and analyzing qualitative data. In the process, students will learn about debates over objectivity, power, inequality, and perspective in social research. The course offers training in research ethics and human subjects (IRB) review. Note: this course does not fulfill the sociology program 300-level seminar requirement. It does count as an elective. Note: this course does not fulfill the sociology program 300-level seminar requirement. It does count as an elective.

 

Sociology's Historical Imagination

 

Professor:

Karen Barkey

 

Course Number:

SOC 358

CRN Number:

10283

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

Mon       3:10 PM - 5:30 PM Olin 107

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis  

 

Crosslists: Historical Studies

Historians and historical sociologists have long attempted to reconstruct the past. In this endeavor, they use a variety of evidence that is left behind from previous times.  They use and shape this evidence to make convincing arguments about how processes, events and practices unfolded over time. The processes and events they attempt to explain can be as varied as the construction of race and racism, the rise of capitalism, the French Revolution or social practices of medieval society. This course will focus on the reconstruction of the past, the manner in which history and sociology approach the past, the problems encountered with evidence and the different ways of reconstructing the past. We will survey different approaches to using the past as well as tackle substantive issues of interest to politics and society in contemporary society.

 

Cross-listed Courses:

 

Law of Police

 

Professor:

Peter Rosenblum

 

Course Number:

HR 264

CRN Number:

10218

Class cap:

20

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

Mon  Wed     3:30 PM - 4:50 PM Olin 201

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis D+J Difference and Justice

 

Crosslists: Politics; Sociology

 

Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks: Ideology, Organizing, and Self-Emancipation

 

Professor:

Mie Inouye

 

Course Number:

PS 369

CRN Number:

10271

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

 

Schedule/Location:

  Wed     3:30 PM - 5:50 PM Olin 107

 

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis  

 

Crosslists: Human Rights; Philosophy; Sociology