SOCIOLOGY

Courses

The Social World

Identification of the distinctive elements of sociological perspectives on society. Readings confront classical and contemporary approaches with key social issues that include power and authority, culture and communication, poverty and discrimination, social change, and popular uses of sociological concepts.

Evaluation of Evidence

Discussion of the logic and procedures of social science research and standards for the critical evaluation of that research based on a careful reading and analysis of significant studies exemplifying the use of different kinds of social science data and methods (field observations, historical archives, surveys, and experiments). No mathematical or statistical background is required.

Social Theory

This course is required for all sociology majors, but open to all students. Theoretical accounts of the rise and transformations of modern society in the19th and 20th centuries. Theories studied include those of Adam Smith, Tocqueville, Marx, Durkheim, Max Weber, Roberto Michels. Selected topics: individual, society, and polity; economy, class, and status: organization and ideology; religion and society; moral and instrumental action.

Sociology of Immigration

This course examines the evolution of immigration policy, the migration process, and the assimilation of immigrants and their children into American society. Key topics include theories of assimilation, second-generation social mobility, new immigrant destinations, undocumented immigrants and the changing American color line

Race, Crime, and Law

This course critically examines the interplay between crime, law, and the administration of justice in the United States and how these issues are shaped by larger societal factors. Students will receive a theoretical and empirical overview of the American legal and criminal justice system, emphasizing such issues as: the function and purpose of crime control; the roles of the actors/subjects of the criminal justice system; crime and violence as cultural and political issues in America; racial disparities in offending and criminal justice processing; and juvenile justice.

Sociology of Education

All of us have spent many years in school and understand that schools impact our lives in important ways. But how exactly does formal schooling shape young people? And how do students make sense of their lives in the context of schools and educational systems more broadly? In this class we will examine education as a central institution in modern society, and we will grapple with an important question: What role does education play in reinforcing or challenging broader patterns of social inequality and mobility? Particular emphasis will be placed on higher education as a critical site in which these processes take shape.