Sociology Course Offerings

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
SPRING 2005 COURSE OFFERINGS

Undergraduate Courses | Graduate Courses | CGS Courses

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

SOC 001-001 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
Gen Req I: Society

Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and the world. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we examine and analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and most importantly, how they affect behavior. The course deconstructs our taken for granted world of social interactions and behaviors and examines what theory and research can tell about human social behavior.

MW 11 - 12 GELLES

201 - REC F 12 - 1 STAFF
202 - REC F 11 - 12 STAFF
203 - REC W 10 - 11 STAFF
204 - REC M 10 - 11 STAFF
Please Note: Registration required for both the lecture and a recitation section.

SOC 003-001 DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL
Gen Req I: Society

The first half of the class is devoted to examining several sociological theories of deviance, including: functionalism; opportunity theory; control theory; social constructionism; and Marxist theories. Topics include crime, sexual deviance, drug use, and cheating. In the second half of this class we will examine social control in greater depth by looking at formal and informal means of social control, including policing, schooling, medicalization, and stigmatization. Contemporary issues in which deviance and social control play a central role, such as the “War on Drugs”, terrorism, and gay and lesbian marriage, are explored as cases.

TR 10:30-12 BOSK

SOC 004-401 THE FAMILY
Gen Req I: Society
Fulfills College Quant Data Analysis Req

This course provides an introduction to sociological perspectives on families and public policies aimed at families. The course begins with a brief overview of theoretical perspectives on families and family patterns and change over the last century. The second part of the course focuses on the private family–the one in which we live most of our personal lives. Focusing on the contemporary United States, we will explore variation in families by gender, race and ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation. We will consider: who marries and who doesn’t; who cohabits and who doesn’t; who divorces and who doesn’t; who does the housework and who doesn’t. In the last section of the course, we will consider issues involving the public family, in which adults perform tasks that are important to society (i.e. rearing children, caring for the elderly). We will examine how society (i.e. taxpayers) provides for families that cannot provide for themselves (welfare), and how society regulates family behavior (sexuality and teen childbearing). Throughout the course, we will critically examine the data and research on families and the interpretation and presentation of research on families by the media.

MW 11-12 NOAKES

402 – REC F 11-12
403 – REC F 12- 1
404 – REC F 1- 2
405 – REC W 4- 5
Please Note: Registration required for both the lecture and a recitation section.

SOC 005-001 AMERICAN SOCIETY
Gen Req I: Society

America is a land of paradox. We have the highest rate of educational attainment in the world, yet we are also far more religious than any European nation. Our standard of living is greater than nearly any other society, but our family structure is also the most fragile and our suicide rate is among the highest. Material wealth and leisure time have expanded greatly over the last several generations, but participation in voluntary groups has constricted to worrying levels. Minorities have made significant gains in the past several decades, yet the country remains deeply polarized on issues of race. This course addresses these and other issues by examining the structures of race, gender, social class, religion, the family, and the educational and occupational systems, and how these forces shape the unique society in which we live. There will be two exams (midterm and non-cumulative final) and several short (2-3 page) research and reflection papers.

MWF 1-2 NELSON

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SOC 006-401 RACE & ETHNIC RELATIONS
Gen Req I: Society

For years we have understood that race is, biologically speaking, an exceedingly complex matter and that preconceived biases much more than biology govern the way people think about it. We discuss race as a social construct. We focus on the social significance of race by examining the reality of racial stratification, the reality of the experience of race, and the rationality of those who study racial dynamics and processes.

TR 12-1:30 LUNDY

SOC 011-401 URBAN SOCIOLOGY
Distribution I: Society

A comprehensive introduction to the sociological study of cities. Topics will include theories of urbanism, methods of research, migration, history of cities, gentrification, poverty, urban politics, surburanization and globalization. Philadelphia will be used as a recurring example, though the course will devote attention to cities around the U.S. and the world.

W 2-5 ANDERSON

SOC 100-001 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Fulfills College Quant Data Analysis Req
Distribution I: Society

This course examines several different sociological methods, including: survey development and administration, content analysis, historical-comparative, participant observation and ethnographic perspectives. It reviews research design, experimental design, evaluation methods, research ethics and the uses of research. Students explore these methods and perspectives in class assignments and exercises. A brief introduction to SPSS (statistical package for the social sciences) is also provided.

TR 10:30-12 KOPPEL

SOC 100-401 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Fulfills College Quant Data Analysis Req

MW 3-4:30 HARKNETT

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SOC 100-402 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Distribution I: Society

TR 3-4:30 LUNDY
(time change)

SOC 118-401 SOCIOLOGY OF BIOETHICS
Distribution I: Society

The Sociology of Bioethics explores the sociological approach to bioethics. The Sociology of Bioethics is not a course in bioethics itself; rather than discussing the merits of a position (Is assisted suicide ethical?), we will ask how the debate has been framed, who is promoting which arguments, why the debate has arisen now, and how the issue is reflected in policy. In order to do so we will make use of social science research, along with philosophical treaties, legislation, and the popular media. The course is also not designed as a comprehensive treatment of the field; it will focus instead on choice topics that we will explore in depth. Our goal is to understand the nature of the bioethics profession and its modes of argumentation, and to explore the cultural, social, political, and professional underpinnings of bioethical debates.

W 2-5 WOLPE

SOC 120-401 SOCIAL STATISTICS
Fulfills College Quant Data Analysis Req
Gen Req IV: Formal Reasoning & Analysis

This course offers a basic introduction to the application/interpretation of statistical analysis in sociology. Upon completion, you should be familiar with a variety of basic statistical techniques that allow examination of interesting social questions. We begin by learning to describe the characteristics of groups, followed by a discussion of how to examine and generalize about relationships between the characteristics of groups. Emphasis is placed on the understanding/interpretation of statistics used to describe and make generalizations about group characteristics. In addition to hand calculations, you will also become familiar with using PCs to run statistical tests.

MW 10-11 CHARLES

402 – REC F 10-11
403 – REC F 12- 1
404 - REC F 11-12
Please Note: Registration required for both the lecture and a recitation section.

SOC 122-401 SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER
Gen Req I: Society

In this course, gender is studied in a comparative perspective using examples from Germany. Current gender theory emphasizes the division of labor, power, social control, violence, and ideology as structural and interactional bases of inequalities among men and women of different social classes and racial ethnic groups instead as an individual trait or outcome of childhood socialization. Gender is an organizing principle of society and its institutions like culture, economy, politics, and the family. How gender is constructed varies across time and space. What is considered “natural” for a woman (or a man) to do in one society is conceived as inappropriate in another. But there are not only differences between societies but also within societies – race and class interact with gender resulting in different norms.

TR 10:30-12 ROTH

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SOC 126-001 CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

An outline of theoretical positions developed after and sometimes from the classical theoretical traditions. Includes: from the Marxian revival to postmodernism; globalization and world-system theory; neo-Weberian state-centered theory of social change and revolution; conflict theory and social movement theory. Rise of exchange theory and rational choice; network theory and economic sociology. Sociology of culture, French structuralism, and the social construction of reality. Development of micro-sociological theories: followers of symbolic interaction; Goffman and interaction ritual theory; ethnomethodology; sociology of emotion.

TR 3-4:20 COLLINS

SOC 221-001 SAMPLE SURVEY METHODS

This course provides a hands-on introduction to survey data collection through lectures, discussions, in-class exercises, and a class survey project. We examine the major planning tasks and considerations necessary for conducting surveys, including substantive issues (problem formulation, study design, questionnaire and interview design, pretesting, sampling), practical issues (proposal-writing and fundraising, interviewer training and field management, coding, and data cleaning and management), and ethical concerns (basic ethical principles in social research, responsibilities to subjects, colleagues, and funders, common ethical dilemmas in survey research, and institutional oversight of research ethics).

TR 3-4:30 HANNUM

SOC 230-301 MAKING CULTURE WORK IN THE GLOBAL MARKET
Distribution I: Society

How do people in developing countries make their culture work to their economic advantage in global markets? What are the consequences for their communities, their cultural traditions and the global markets in which they are enmeshed? In handicraft producing communities, for example, do people use their culture as a tool for navigating the opportunities and threats of global markets, or does market participation cause the cultural objects to degenerate into cheap and meaningless commodities? These are the questions the seminar shall address. Participants in the seminar will study how globalization has affected communities culturally, organizationally, and economically.

Proponents of globalization interpret these trends as indications of how globalization increases the choices available to individuals, but critics warn that this expanded menu of options comes at a cost to local autonomy and to cultural authenticity. In this latter view, these new participants in the global markets may find themselves exploited by powerful capitalists, may change their local traditions to make crafts that please the general consumer tastes, and thereby they may compromise the cultural vitality that makes their lives meaningful to them. By examining ethnographic field studies from around the globe and reviewing the social theories on production, exchange, and consumption, the seminar participants will begin to answer a crucial question: What are the price and the payoff of participating in the global market for local cultures and economies?

W 2-5 WHERRY

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SOC 230-401 RACE & OPPORTUNITY IN THE AMERICAN CORPORATION
Distribution I: Society

This course examines the issues African-Americans face in accessing opportunities in large American corporations, and specifically focuses on their ability to obtain high-level leadership positions - positions that can control jobs and capital, create significant wealth, and afford the holders social influence beyond the corporation. To develop a framework for considering these issues, we combine several areas of sociological thought, including theories of organizational behavior in the face of social constraints, theories of racism and discrimination, and the unique challenges created for the “Other” in the business environment. We will combine the theory with an examination of “real world” situations, and expect to have guest speakers. The instructor spent many years as a senior executive and investment banker, and is now pursuing his doctorate in sociology at Penn.

In the first part of the course we review the functions and goals of the corporation and the role of the leaders. We examine how business organizations operate and manage their behavior when faced with social constraints, such as affirmative action rules. The second part focuses on racism and discrimination. We consider several theories of racism, differentiate between racism and discrimination, and examine the legal regime in place aimed at reducing or eliminating discrimination. In the third part, we consider the nature of operating as the “Other” in a white dominated business organization. We examine what it means to be one of a small number (a “token”), and how this affects access to power, influence and opportunity. We see what “the numbers tell us” – the differing outcomes for whites and African-Americans. We also consider the prerequisites for successful career development and the unique challenges facing those not considered “white”, the notion of “meritocracy”, and the argument that affirmative action is a stigma. We also examine the effectiveness of diverse work groups. In the fourth part we examine the situation of African-Americans on Wall Street, as a “case” to understand the concepts we have developed. We are planning to have two executives from Wall Street as guest speakers – one white and one black. Finally, we examine these ideas from a broader social perspective – what is the role and responsibility of the corporation and its leadership with regard to racism and discrimination. While our focus is primarily on the challenges for African-Americans, we may also examine those faced by other groups that are not considered “white.”

M 2-5 ROSE

SOC 233-001 CRIMINOLOGY
Gen Req I: Society

This introductory course examines the multi-disciplinary science of law-making, law-breaking, and law-enforcing. It reviews theories and data predicting where, when, by whom and against whom crimes happen. It also addresses the prevention of different offense types by different kinds of offenders against different kinds of people. Police, courts, prisons, and other institutions are critically examined as both preventing and causing crime. This course meets the general distribution requirement.

R 3-6 SHERMAN

SOC 235-001 LAW & SOCIAL CHANGE

Beginning with discussion of various perspectives on social change and law, this course then examines in detail the interdependent relationship between changes in legal and societal institutions. Emphasis will be placed on (1) how and when law can be an instrument for social change, and (2) how and when social change can cause legal change. In the assessment of this relationship, the laws of the United States and other countries as well as international law, will be studied. Throughout the course, discussions will include legal controversies relevant to social change such as civil liberties, gender and the law, and issues of nation-building. A comparative framework will be used in the analysis of this interdependent relationship between law and social change.

MW 4:30-6 FETNI

SOC 239-401 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
Distribution I: Society

This course offers a general survey of the sociological approach to religion. As such, it will introduce students to the role of religion in social life, its place in contemporary society, and general theoretical understandings of religious belief and practice. The course is organized into three broad sections: 1) basic components of religion, including religious belief, experience, ritual, and organization; 2) religion and the major social distinctions of gender, race/ethnicity and social class; 3) religion in contemporary society, including the process of secularization and the growth of alternative religions, the role of religion in politics and the media, social movements, and in delivering social services.

Thus, students will first be grounded in what religion IS and then explore what religion DOES, particularly as it relates to contemporary American society and urban life and how these activities are shaped by the major social divisions of race, class and gender. There will be a midterm and a final exam, as well as shorter reflection papers due every two weeks. In addition, students will select from a menu of religious groups (congregations or campus groups), religiously-based social movement organizations, or religiously-based social service organizations, in which to conduct participant observation and interviews with leaders and members. These data, informed by theoretical concepts from lectures and readings, will form the basis for a 10-12 page research paper due at the end of the semester.

M 3-6 NELSON

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SOC 275-401 MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY
Distribution I: Society

This course will give the student an introduction to the sociological study of medicine. Medical sociology is a broad field, covering topics as diverse as the institution and profession of medicine, the practice of medical care, and the social factors that contribute to sickness and well-being. While we will not cover everything, we will attempt to cover as much of the field as possible through four central thematic units: (1) the organization and development of the profession of medicine, (2) the delivery of health-care, (3) social and cultural factors in defining illness, and (4) the social causes of illness. Throughout the course, our discussions will explore the sociological perspective and encourage the application of such a perspective to a variety of contemporary medical concerns.

TR 10:30-12 SCHNITTKER

SOC 277-401 MENTAL ILLNESS

This course reviews how sociologists study mental health and illness. We will be concerned with describing the contributions of sociologists and exploring how these contributions differ from those of other disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry, and social work. The course is arranged in three parts: we will discuss (1) what "mental illness" is, (2) how social factors shape mental illness, and (3) how we as a society respond to and treat the mentally ill.

TR 3-4:30 SCHNITTKER

SOC 300-301 AIDS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

This section of Sociology 300 provides an unusual opportunity for students to participate in research on the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The seminar will take advantage of an exceptionally rich set of data collected by the course instructor in rural Malawi, a country with the 8th highest HIV prevalence in the world. The data consist of surveys, qualitative interviews, ethnographic journals, newspaper accounts and transcripts of radio shows, all documenting reactions and responses to the AIDS epidemic. The aim of the course is to analyze these data in a rigorous and enlightening manner through collaborative work, such that by the end of the course we will have a series of papers that can be posted on the project website, www.pop.upenn.edu/Social_Networks. There are a variety of topics that students may study using these data: health and medicine, sex and gender, family, personal and political power, patterns of work and patterns of infection, social policy, etc. As is common in sociological research, small groups (e.g. 3-5 students) who share an interest in a topic will work together, intensively, on the analyses. The class meetings will provide the foundation for this research by exposing students to research methodologies and specific problems that arise in the course of social science research.

W 2-5 WATKINS

GRADUATE LEVEL COURSES

SOC 536-001 QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN SOCIOLOGY II
Distribution I: Society

A course on statistical methods for social scientists, applying the general linear model (GLM). Students learn the logic and assumptions underlying the GLM and complete exercises that apply linear modeling techniques using the SAS statistical package to “real-world” data. Issues covered include the logic of statistical modeling, efficient estimation (i.e., statistical precision), specification errors (i.e., what happens when you make incorrect assumptions about how the world works), analyzing group differences with discrete (qualitative) variables (e.g., looking at differences in social processes by gender, or race), representing social processes with multiple equations (“path analysis”), and nonlinear relationships in linear models.

TR 12-1:30 BIELBY

201 - REC R 2 - 3 STAFF
202 - REC R 5 - 6 STAFF
Please Note: Registration REQUIRED for both the Lecture and a Recitation section.

SOC 542-401 WORK AND GENDER

This seminar examines the relevance of gender to the organization and experience of paid and unpaid work. Combining materialist and social constructionist approaches, we will consider occupational segregation, the relation of work and family, gender and class solidarity, the construction of gender through work, race and class variation in work experiences, and related topics.

R 2-5 LEIDNER

SOC 553-401 FIELD METHODS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH
Distribution I: Society
Undergraduates Need Permission

All social research is an organized, systematic process of seeking answers to a research question. Different research questions require different data gathering and analysis techniques. Different ways of gathering and analyzing data produce different perspectives of the phenomenon in question. What we learn about a given question depends, in large part on how we learn about it. In this seminar, class participants will become familiar with the issues involved in the collection and analysis of data using qualitative techniques. The course presupposes familiarity with the basics of qualitative research, such as getting in to a research setting, learning the ropes, the importance of key informants, how to insert one’s self into the research setting, and so on. Ideally, students will have covered some of this ground in a basic research methods course. These are crucial issues that the student must not neglect to seek training in, and this course is not a substitute for such training.

The ethnographic technique of in-depth semi-structured interviewing will receive special attention, and I recommend additional training in participant observation if students decide to gather data in that way. We will also discuss issues of designing sampling strategies, writing semi-structured interview schedules, using theory, surmounting ethical difficulties, data coding and analysis, and writing up the results of qualitative data. To that end, each class period will have a practical “how to” component where students can practice dealing with these issues. This component involves class interaction and collaborative learning. Thus, each student must attend the class each week to fulfill the obligations of the course.

The grade for the course will be divided into thirds. The first third will be earned by class participation. At the end of the semester, students will be asked to rank their peers’ participation, and the collective judgment of the group will determine that portion of the grade. The second third will rest on the timely completion of the class assignments. These are; Assignments I, II, and III, four book reports, and the facilitation of a class discussion. I will assign each student a letter grade for each of these assignments, and will average them to determine this portion of the grade. The final third rests on the timely completion of the final project. I require a research proposal based on a pilot study that could potentially be submitted to a finding agency or thesis committee. The proposal will incorporate Assignments II and III, and the findings from each student’s pilot research project. Beginning in week three, students will be required to begin handing in weekly field notes and interview transcripts. These will not be graded, but the quality of these notes will be reflected in the research proposal where the student discusses the pilot project.

M 9-12 EDIN

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SOC 556-301 PROSEMINAR SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS II
Open to Sociology/Demography (Graduate) Majors Only

This graduate seminar for first-year graduate students will be a two-semester course covering the major subfields of sociology – their classical and contemporary theories, current methods and substance.

W 3-6 COLLINS/SCHNITTKER

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SOC 601-301 CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Of the many kinds of theoretical work in contemporary sociology, four have been selected for study: interpretive, structuralist,
phenomenological/ethnomethodological and neo-Marxist. Each has antecedents and also a large, current literature of empirical and critical studies. Some attention will be given to antecedents, but the emphasis will be on clarifying the aims and methods of each theoretical approach as it has developed in the past few decades.

There will be two bulk packs, a primary bulk pack and a supplementary bulk pack. Students are expected to study the material in each.

T 2-5 BERSHADY

SOC 604-401 METHODOLOGY OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

This is a class on methodology used in social research. We shall study the history, logic and design of social research. Several classes will include presentations by other members of the standing faculty. Discussions will be based in part on student responses to weekly assignments and critiques of published research. Students will discuss their assignments in class. Attendance is mandatory. There will be no grades of Incomplete.

TR 4:30-6 BOSK

SOC 620-301 SEMINAR IN SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ll

This course is intended to aid in the selection, framing, writing and revising of sociological dissertation proposals. It is also intended to provide a forum for the presentation of dissertation research in progress. The goal is to provide a forum for the acquisition of professional socialization in sociology. We will discuss the framing of research questions, the design of research strategies, and the writing of dissertation proposals. We will discuss the process of submitting manuscripts for conferences and journals, preparing a curriculum vitae, job search strategies, and preparing for effective colloquium presentations. We will also review articles currently under review at the American Sociological Review. It is expected that third year graduate students in Sociology will enroll in this class.

W 2-5 JACOBS

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SOC 623-401 WORKSHOP IN URBAN ETHNOGRAPHY

The ethnographic and sociological interpretation of urban life. Conceptual and methodological issues will be thoroughly discussed. Ongoing projects of participants will be presented in a "workshop" format, thus providing participants the opportunity of learning from and contributing ethnographic work in progress. Selected ethnographic works will be read and assessed.

M 2-5 ANDERSON

SOC 634-401 POPULATION PROCESSES II

Population Processes I and II make up a two-course sequence designed to introduce students to the core areas of demography (fertility, mortality, population aging, and/or migration) and recent developments in the field. The course format consists of lectures and class discussions. The two course sequence is required of Ph.D. students in Demography. Others interested in enrolling in only one of the courses may do so with the permission of the Chair of the Graduate Group in Demography.

T 2-5 WATKINS

SOC 681- 401 PRO-SEMINAR CRIMINAL JUSTICE

A wide-ranging introduction to theory and research on responses to crime under the rubric of criminal law. Theories of deterrence, procedural justice, reintegrative shaming, defiance and other interactions between legal sanctions and legal conduct will be examined in light of the most recent research. Issues of discrimination, disparity, and fairness in the operation of criminal law will be considered with evidence from around the world.

Patterns, causes, and consequences of legal sanctioning patterns will be systematically documented, and major gaps in knowledge will be identified.

F 10-1 SHERMAN

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SOC 708-401 SEMINAR IN DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH ll

A second semester of an intensive course in preparing a major independent research paper. This is a required course for second year demography students.

MW 12–1:30 SMITH

SOCI 796-401 DEMOGRAPHIC, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INTERRELATIONS

The course investigates economic and social determinants of fertility, mortality, and migration, and it discusses the effects of population variables on economic and social conditions, including economic and social development. Topics discussed in the course include: How do economic changes affect marriage, divorce, and child bearing decisions? How do households make decisions about transfers and bequests? How can economic and sociological approaches be combined in explanatory models of demography change? What causes the aging of populations, and how will population aging affect the economies of industrial nations, including pension programs like Social Security? What accounts for the rise in women's participation in the wage labor force over the past century? How are family composition and poverty interrelated? Does rapid population growth slow economic development in Third World countries? In addition to these topics, the course also covers selected methods not included in Dem/Soc 535/536 and 609.

W 9-12 KOHLER

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C G S COURSES

Note on registering for CGS courses:

Courses offered through the College of General Studies are open to students in the College of Arts and Sciences, but CGS imposes some restrictions on registration. During the pre-registration period, about half of the places in CGS classes are reserved for CGS students. Once all of the non-reserved places are filled, College students will find that they cannot register without permission. Please be aware that the Sociology Department cannot grant permission and override the restrictions CGS has imposed. These registration restrictions will be lifted on the second day of classes. At that time, College students will be able to register for any CGS courses that still have openings.

SOC 001-601 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

This course will survey fundamental concepts, theories and current research in sociology by examining topics such as social order, culture, power, and inequality. The course will focus on the range of different perspectives sociologists use for understanding social behavior. As it introduces students to the discipline of sociology, it will also help them begin to make sense of large scale patterns of thought and behavior, social systems, and even global social problems. Finally, as students develop their sociological eyes, they will develop the critical thinking and analysis skills that are important for life outside the classroom as well.

W 6:30-9:30 LANDRISCINA

SOC 004-601 THE FAMILY

This course provides an introduction to sociological perspectives on families, focusing largely on contemporary American families. The course begins with a brief overview of theoretical perspectives on families and family patterns and changes over the past several decades. We will then turn our attention to family formation and dissolution, considering cohabitation, marriage, divorce, remarriage, and fertility. In the final section of the course, we will examine how the worlds of work and family intersect and conflict, considering both paid and unpaid labor (housework, childcare, etc.). Throughout the course, we will pay special attention to how gender structures and is constructed in family life and consider how race and class shape family experiences. Students will be taught to critically evaluate the research of others, while also conducting their own data analyses on a family-related topic of their choice.

W 6-9 WINSLOW

SOC 135-601 LAW & SOCIETY

After introducing students to the major theoretical concepts concerning law and society, significant controversial societal issues that deal with law and the legal systems both domestically and internationally will be examined. Class discussions will focus on issues involving civil liberties, the organization of courts, legislatures, the legal profession and administrative agencies. Although the focus will be on law in the United States, law and society in other countries of Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America will be covered in a comparative context. Readings included research reports, statutes and cases.

M 6:30-9:30 FETNI

SOC 137-601 MASS MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE

We have two main goals for this class: to introduce us to the theories that guide the research in the field and to foster media literacy. We will begin by taking a creative and critical look at the theoretical texts that gave sociology and other social sciences the conceptual tools to study mass media and popular culture. We will relate these texts to the contemporary examples from popular culture and discuss how they can help us understand the world we live in. These discussions are intended to foster an awareness of the need for media literacy. Since media and other forms of popular culture provide explanations of how the world works and teach us how we should live our lives, we will be asking ourselves the following questions: How does this knowledge come about? What do advertisements, news, shopping, rap music, fashion, Internet chat rooms, or cartoons teach us about ourselves, others and the world? We will look at political and social implications of this knowledge production and discuss the responsibilities with which our global citizenship entrusts us. You are expected to activate you intellectual energies through creative thinking, critical analysis, and constructive discussion about new ways of looking at things we see and hear around us in our every day life.

W 6-9 BAJC

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SOC 230-601 SOCIOLOGY AND EDUCATION

In American society inequality in educational outcomes tends to break out along ethnic, gender, racial, and class lines. Despite numerous attempts at major educational reform, including compulsory schooling laws of the late 1800’s. Brown v. Board of Education, in 1954 and the more recent passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, the intense debate surrounding unequal school outcomes persists. Has any of this reform made any difference?

This course will consider the contributions that sociology has made to the study of education particularly focusing on studies addressing the interrelationships between education, culture and forms of social inequality. The objectives of the course are: 1.) Provide students with preliminary background in major theoretical debates in sociology, 2.) Introduce the main areas of research within sociology and the sociology of education subfield witch have been concerned with educative processes in schools and other sites of social learning and 3.) To give students experience in reading sociological research on education, to assess the quality of an argument, the way the evidence is used to support the claims that are made, and the relevance of the research for addressing social problems and effecting change.

M 5:30-8:30 SMARDON

SOC 231-601 CULTURE AND GLOBALIZATION

Two opposing forces dominate the 21st Century: on the one hand, an intense commitment to the cultural values of ethno-religious communities, tribes and nation-states; and on the other hand, globalization, which involves a process of increasing economic, technological, financial and social interdependencies among the societies of the world.

W 5:30-8:30 EVAN

PSCI-298-601 MODERNITY AND ITS DISCONTENTS

This course examines the nature, historical emergence, and current prospects of modern society in the west, seeking to build up an integrated analysis of the processes by which this kind of society developed in the course of the 19th and 20th centuries and continues to transform itself. Its larger aim is to help students develop a coherent framework with which to understand what kind of society they live in, what makes it the way it is, and how it shapes their lives.

Central themes (and controversies) include the growth and transformations of capitalism; the significance of the democratic and industrial revolutions; the social impact of a market economy; the culture of individualism and its dilemmas; the transformations of intimacy and the family; mass politics and mass society; the different kinds of interplay between social structure and personal experience. No specific prerequisites, but some previous familiarity with modern European and American history and/or with social and political theory is highly recommended, though not required.

MW 6:00-7:30 WEINTRAUB

SOC 435-601 GLOBALIZATION & COMPARATIVE URBAN DEVELOPMENT

This seminar will explore the impact of economic globalization on welfare states in North American and Europe. Specifically, this course will provide a systematized account of how different welfare regimes respond to global economic restructuring processes and thereby produce different outcomes in the protection of their citizens against social risks.

This course has four major objectives: 1) to critically examine the concept of "globalization" 2) to show how global economics restructuring processes affect urban areas in different countries in similar ways, 3) to introduce the differences between various welfare regimes in Europe and North America as well as the nature and extent of social service provision, and 4) to examine the outcomes of different welfare policies for residents in different nation-states focusing on urban problems such as unemployment or underemployment, poverty, racial/ethnic inequalities, immigration, housing shortages and homelessness. This comparative analysis of social policy in the context of economic globalization will enable students to reassess the function, opportunities, and limitations of different types of welfare policies in order to find ways to rethink current social policy approaches in the United States and to envision more productive alternatives.

TR 5-6:30 VONMAHS

SOC 530-640 THE SOCIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY OF OPPRESSION

What is hate, and why do people hate? More broadly, why is it that in the previous, supposedly rational 20th century and in this presumably enlightened early 21st Century large groups of people hate other groups of people and murder them wholesale? What do social scientists tell us about the presumed causes of these behaviors, both at the individual and at the group, and even national, level? Social movements rooted in prejudice, bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia have been a constant in Western (as well as other) civilizations for a long time. Only in the 20th Century have they resulted in organized, “industrialized” genocide. What sorts of social movements, and under what historical circumstances, have been able to carry out such projects?

Since all such movements target minority groups of one kind or another, how have different nations’ attempts to “deal” with minorities either fostered, or avoided such projects? Finally, how have minorities themselves come to cope with their one-down status? How have they fought back against their enemies so as to survive in the face of hatred, bigotry, segregation, and murderous attempts to destroy them? In our attempt to engage these issues we will draw on both psychological (focusing on the individual) and sociological (focusing on group) materials. We will utilize historical materials from particular countries and periods to try to shed light on these questions. We will look at movements that were, or are, dedicated to the oppression of minority groups (e.g. the Klan, the Nazis, Aryan Nations, skinheads), but also at movements organized to defend themselves against such attacks and move towards liberating themselves from discrimination in one way or another (e.g. the civil rights movement, Black and other nationalisms, women’s liberation).

Members of the class will be expected to develop a written project, which might focus on a theoretical issue, an important process of dynamic relating to these issues, or a case study of a country, event, movement, or a particular conflict. They will be expected to share their proposals, make short progress reports, and in a few cases present their final projects to the class. The essential first common reading in this course is Gordon Allport, The Nature of Prejudice.

R 6-8:40 OPPENHEIMER

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Note on registering for CGS courses:

Courses offered through the College of General Studies are open to students in the College of Arts and Sciences, but CGS imposes some restrictions on registration. During the pre-registration period, about half of the places in CGS classes are reserved for CGS students. Once all of the non-reserved places are filled, College students will find that they cannot register without permission. Please be aware that the Sociology Department cannot grant permission and override the restrictions CGS has imposed. These registration restrictions will be lifted on the second day of classes. At that time, College students will be able to register for any CGS courses that still have openings.

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Last Modified: 07-Jan-2005
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