Sociology Course Descriptions
Sociology 211
- Introduction to Sociology
Full course for one semester. An introduction to sociological
perspectives on patterns of human conduct ranging from fleeting
encounters in informal gatherings to historical processes of
institutional persistence and change. Topics of discussion and
research include the stratification of life chances, social honor
and power in human populations, and the differentiation of these
populations by gender, race, age, ethnicity, and other
characteristics both achieved and ascribed; the integration of
differentiated roles and statuses into systems capable of
maintaining their structure beyond the lifespan of living
individuals, and capable as well of revolutionary and evolutionary
social change; and the interrelationships of familial, economic,
political, educational, and religious institutions in the emerging
world system of late modernity. Prerequisite: sophomore standing or
consent of the instructor. Lecture-conference and computer lab.
Sociology 222
- Personality and Social Systems
Full course for one semester. An examination of theoretical
conceptualizations of human thought and behavior in terms of the
interaction of personality and social system variables. The course
considers personality development and symbolic interaction, as
these occur within the context of social institutions, role
relationships, reference groups, and cultural systems.
Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or consent of the instructor.
Conference. Not offered 2005-06.
Sociology 242
- Organizations, Stratification, and Race
Full course for one semester. Economic sociologists view economic
activity as socially structured via networks, corporate
hierarchies, associations, and state bureaucracies, as well as by
systems of impersonal exchange. This course examines the social and
institutional structures of economic life, and their effects on
stratification, race, and the African American community. Topics
include the rise of the corporation and "internal labor markets";
the role of unions, ethnic enclaves, and employment networks in
allocating economic resources; the effects of civil rights law on
corporate practice; the creation and transformation of welfare
states; and how markets, public bureaucracies, and community
organizations shape economic and political opportunities for
African Americans. Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or consent of the
instructor. Conference. Not offered 2005-06.
Sociology 244
- Race and Ethnicity
Full course for one semester. This course is an introduction to the
sociology of race and ethnic relations, with particular emphasis on
the socially structured situations of African Americans. The course
surveys general theoretical approaches to race and ethnicity, and
applies them to specific historical developments in American race
relations and the African American community. A central objective
is to understand the conditions under which segregation, racial
hierarchies, and racial conflict emerge. Topics include identity
formation and assimilation; ethnic competition, internal
colonialism, and split labor markets; the development of the racial
state; residential segregation and the "underclass;" the role of
schools and prisons in regulating labor markets; and the civil
rights movement and the welfare state. Prerequisite: Sociology 211
or consent of the instructor. Conference.
Sociology 280
- Social Movements
Full course for one semester. Why do some social movements fail,
while others succeed? The goal of this course is to introduce
students to sociological theories of social movement success and
failure. Through a review of classical and contemporary theories
and case studies of women’s liberation, gay liberation, abortion,
civil rights, environmentalism, and the peace and disarmament
movements, we will identify key analytical questions and research
strategies for studying contemporary social movements in depth.
Among the perspectives reviewed will be classical approaches (de
Tocqueville, "mass society," and "relative deprivation"), as well
as more recent perspectives that focus on rational choice, resource
mobilization, political process, and new social movements.
Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or consent of the instructor.
Conference.
Sociology 283
- Sociology of Religion
Full course for one semester. An examination of sociological
theories of religious phenomena, with particular focus on the
classic problems delineated by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber:
charisma and sanctity, ultimate values and ideas of the
supernatural, prophecy, salvation, social functions of religious
symbolism, and institutionalization of religious belief, ritual,
ethics, and their relations to social order and social change.
Empirical referents for theoretic issues include the religions of
India, traditional China, ancient Judea, aboriginal Australia, and
early modern Europe. Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or consent of the
instructor. Conference. Not offered 2005-06.
Sociology 311
- Research Methods
Full course for one semester. The primary objective is to provide
background for empirical research in the social sciences. Specific
objectives include deepening understanding of the logic of
inference by exploring the relationship between empirical
observations and causal models and introducing basic research
techniques. Topics include the logic of inference, the nature of
evidence, and a nonmathematical introduction to quantitative social
analysis, emphasizing regression. Prerequisite: Sociology 211.
Conference.
Sociology 325
- Technology and Society
Full course for one semester. This course explores the question of
whether or not technology fundamentally influences the kind of
society we live in. It divides the exploration into five areas: the
idea that major social institutions might be greatly determined by
military, industrial, medical, and communication technologies;
arguments about how technology may be involved in class, racial,
gender, and environmental domination; the effects that internet and
biomedical technologies might have on how people interact with each
other and conceive of their personal identity; the idea that
technology actually develops in response to or along with
particular forms of social organization rather than determining
them; and the causes, nature, and consequences of different
cultural discourses concerning technology, from utopian dreams to
dystopian nightmares. Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or consent of
instructor. Conference.
Sociology 333
- Sociology of Indigenous Peoples
Full course for one semester. This course will examine sociological
dynamics involving indigenous peoples in the context of their
interactions with European societies. While the predominant focus
will be on indigenous people within the United States, the course
will also include empirical studies analyzing developments
elsewhere in North, Central, and South America. The course will
apply theories of social change, group formation, and collective
action to the specific historical contexts of indigenous peoples.
Topics include processes of economic, political and cultural
incorporation; internal colonialism and underdevelopment; the
generation and transformation of ethnic, racial, and national
boundaries; evolving and contested indigenous identities;
indigenous self-organization; contemporary collective action by
indigenous peoples; the impact of domestic and international law;
de-colonization, and indigenous sovereignty. Particular attention
will be focused on the conditions generating the diversity of
indigenous responses to European societies, as well as to
commonalities of their responses. Prerequisite: Sociology 211
or consent of instructor. Conference.
Sociology 340
- American Capitalism
Full course for one semester. This is a comparative historical
course on the development of American capitalism, focusing on the
rise of mass markets and giant corporations as its dominant
organizing principles. We survey theoretical approaches used to
explain American capitalism and engage historical analyses of the
key turning points in the development of our economy. A central
objective is to document the existence of more efficient,
democratic, and decentralized alternatives to the type of
capitalism that came to prevail in the United States. Topics
include the role of culture, politics, and finance capital in the
development of the corporation; the rise and fall of cooperative,
regionally based systems; mass production; populist responses to
economic centralization; American labor; and state regulation.
Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or consent of the instructor.
Conference. Not offered 2005-06.
Sociology 350
- Sociology of Science
Full course for one semester. This course presents the wide range
of work done by sociologists on how science is embedded in
cultural, institutional, and personal contexts. It examines the
major institutions and values that make science possible, the
reward and communication systems involved, the daily activities of
working scientists, and the possible barriers making it harder for
women to take part in science. It then looks at how science is
connected to the larger social world, government funding of "big
science," the use of science in the popular media, and the general
ways in which scientific ideas can come to have authority and
influence. The course finishes by applying these ideas to three
topics: the paradox of claiming to scientifically explain science,
what it means to be a scientific genius, and the significance of
the "science wars" between radical science studies and scientists
themselves. Topics to be covered include the rise of science, norms
and reward systems, doing experiments and identifying facts,
gaining social authority, big science and science policy, and the
problem of reflexivity. Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or consent of
the instructor. Conference.
Sociology 353
- Social Stratification and Class
Full course for one semester. Stratification is the study of the
structure and dynamics of the unequal distribution of resources
that are socioculturally defined as scarce: who gets what, when,
how, and why in the form of income, power, prestige, and knowledge,
and with what consequences. This course presents sociological work
debating the existence of an "underclass" in inner city
communities. Studies are examined with a view to understanding how
stratification in the inner city works and to identifying the
circumstances under which the bases of inequalities differ,
persist, and change over time. Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or
consent of the instructor. Conference. Not offered 2005-06.
Sociology 355
- Economic Sociology
Full course for one semester. This is a course on the sociology of
markets and economic activity in capitalist societies. Its core
problem is to understand how rational, economic activities are
facilitated, modified, or impeded by collective commitments and
social institutions. We address how variation and change in the
social structures of economic life are produced, and the
consequences for cooperation, rationality, justice, and economic
development. Topics include contracts, networks, associations, and
hierarchies as core structures of economic life; the construction
of markets and industries; cooperative alternatives to the
corporation; the role of culture, power, and identity in private
enterprise; cross-national differences in capitalism; innovation;
and globalization. Prerequisite: Sociology 211 and one
upper-division course in sociology or consent of the instructor.
Conference.
Sociology 357
- Political Sociology
Full course for one semester. This course provides a general
overview of sociological theories of political transformation. Its
focus will be on strategies used in modern society to justify,
contest, or remedy persistent inequality. The first part of the
course examines attempts to theorize the relationship between
social change and the state. The second part of the course examines
sociological theories of political activism and public opinion
formation. Students will prepare a research paper examining the
role social movements or the media play in shaping politics.
Conference. Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or consent of the
instructor. Not offered 2005-06.
Sociology 363
- Sociology of Culture
Full course for one semester. The course surveys recent
sociological studies of cultural production. It surveys how
cultural materials are used to establish and maintain boundaries
that differentiate among middle class status groups in contemporary
America; how diverse organizations such as museums, art galleries,
and record companies manage the production and distribution of
cultural symbols for a diversified market. Prerequisite: Sociology
211 or consent of the instructor. Conference. Not offered 2005-06.
Sociology 371
- Deviant Behavior
Full course for one semester. The first half of this course looks
at a wide range of explanations of crime in the United States. It
goes from individual-centered approaches (biopsychology, rational
decisions, low self-control), through more macro-level models
(family and neighborhood disorganization, physical arrangement of
communities, labeling processes, socialization over the
life-course), to theories focusing on society-wide collective
factors (class inequality, racism, impossible cultural
expectations). The second half of the course looks more generally
at why certain activities are defined as criminal, deviant, or
undesirable in the first place. It covers theories of the social
construction of "normal" versus "deviant," stigmatization, visible
versus hidden deviance, symbolic rituals surrounding "liminal"
behavior, and the dynamic interaction between alternative-value
subcultures and a mainstream society dominated by commercial
interests. Examples are drawn from punk, hip-hop, rave, and queer
subcultures. The course is not a practicum, but students are
encouraged to view a variety of relevant documentaries.
Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or consent of the instructor.
Conference.
Sociology 401
- Institutional Analysis
Full course for one semester. This is an advanced treatment of the
theory and empirical practice of institutional analysis in
sociology and related fields. Part one of the course focuses
on structure, treating institutions as contextual determinants of
action, and identifying different mechanisms by which institutions
promote order, stability and distinctive patterns of organization,
behavior and public policy. Topics covered included path
dependence, isomorphism, "lock in," structure-induced equilibria,
institutional contingency, diffusion, and
institutionalization. Part two of the course focuses on
agency and action--how to explain institutional change without
abandoning the contextual insights of institutional analysis.
Topics covered include deinstitutionalization, punctuated
equilibria versus evolutionary theories of change, institutional
entrepreneurship, endogenous change dynamics, processes of
transposition, theorization and translation, and the relationship
between social movements and institutional fields. Prerequisite:
Sociology 211 and one upper division course in sociology, or
consent of the instructor. Conference.
Sociology 470
- Thesis
One-half or full course for one year.
Sociology 481
- Special Topics
One-half or full course for one semester. Work is restricted to
special fields in sociology--demography, communication analysis,
and community surveys. Prerequisites: junior or senior standing and
approval of instructor and division.
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