Schedule of Classes

Sociological insight into study of humans, society, and culture.

Social research methods: research design and models of observation, including single subject and program evaluation, quantitative and qualitative methods, sampling techniques, questionnaire construction, types of surveys, measurement problems, and data analysis.

Examines the construction of gender in societies around the world, concentrating on the way gender shapes and is shaped by power relations in these societies.

This course introduces students to the social causes and consequences of environmental problems and the conflicting interests and power dynamics that make sustainable solutions difficult to find and implement. The course begins by examining a range of philosophical perspectives on the relationship between Humans and Nature, followed by a brief survey of the range and extent of current environmental crises. We will then focus on four macro-sociological causes of environmental harm worldwide: international development, modern agriculture, armed violence, and energy production. Special attention will be paid to the linkages between environmental harm and political and economic inequality.

Analysis of the process of global integration and its impact on communities, social institutions, and culture. Emphasis on theories of social change and social conflict over the nature and pace of globalization and its impact on non-Western societies. Focus on social class, ethnicity, gender, media, religion, the environment, and social problems confronting non-Western Societies.

Analysis of theoretical and practical aspects of corrections, concepts of punishment and treatment, and their variations in practice. Includes analysis and evaluation of specific alternatives: prisons, probation, treatment centers, and sentencing.

Emphasis on social, cultural, and political factors involved in the definition and control of mental illness. Topics include labeling theory, the impact of status characteristics and social relationships on levels of stress, and legal and ethical issues associated with current modes of treatment.

In some contexts, social movements have been considered legitimate political actors; in others, treacherous and subversive. Always they constitute a potential threat to those in power. When do movements emerge and how are they organized? How and when can they successfully bring about social change? We will examine key aspects of social movement theory and practice against the backdrop of a number of important American and international movements that have emerged in the last half century, such as the American civil rights, women's, environmental, and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 70s, the current "Fight for 15" and Black Lives Matter movements, and the global justice, autonomist, and Occupy movements internationally.

This course will introduce students to major themes, concepts, and debates in political sociology. Focus is on the relations of power between the State and other collective actors in society (e.g. interest groups, political parties, social classes, and social movements), with an emphasis on key axes of contention in US politics today, such as: the political power of corporations; the separation of church and state; political parties, polarization, and congressional gridlock; the trade-off between liberty and equality in free market, socialist, and social democratic systems; taxation and the role of the State in addressing social inequality; and the tension between national security and civil/human rights.

Topics of special interest which may vary each time course is offered. Topic stated in current Schedule of Classes. May be repeated under a different topic for maximum of 9 hrs. credit.