Fall and Spring 2009-2010
SOCI W2240y Economy and Society 3 pts. J. Whitford
An introduction to economic sociology. Economic sociology is built around the claim that something fundamental is lost when markets are analyzed separately from other social processes. We will look especially at how an analysis of the interplay of economy and society can help us to understand questions of efficiency, questions of fairness, and questions of democracy.
SOCI W3912x Global Urbanism 4 pts. S. Sassen
Using classical texts about cities (do they still work for us?) and on the diverse new literatures on cities and larger subjects with direct urban implications, we will use a variety of data sets to get at detailed empirical information, and draw on two large ongoing research projects involving major and minor global cities around the world (a total of over 60 cities are covered in detail as of 2008).
SOCI W3290x Environmental Sociology 3 pts. D.
Fisher
This course is an introduction to the sociology of the environment and
technology: a broad overview of the field and six key areas of study,
including environmental attitudes, post-materialism, environmental movements,
environmental justice, globalization, and resource dependency.
SOCI W3923y Adolescent Society 3 pts. C. Shedd
This seminar will explore the social and cultural construction of adolescence
in contemporary American society. Adolescence is an important life-stage
where experiences and decision-making have both individual and group
consequences. Major themes will include: cultural and legal socialization of
youth, crime and deviance, health and sexuality, employment and educational
outcomes, and political behavior/civic engagement.
SOCI W3933y Art & Social Movement 4 pts. D. Milstein
The interaction
of culture and politics: the relations between artistic and social movements, political
engagement among artists, the dynamics of the public sphere and civic
participation, and the communicative potential of artists and their work within
social movements. The use of art as propaganda, counter-cultural expression as
resistance, art as a utopian model, and art as a path to participation and
collaboration.
SOCI W3975y American Education 4 pts. T. DiPrete
Over the course of the semester, we will cover a set of topics that address the performance of American schools and of students in these schools. We will explore the sources of inequality in school performance by class, race, and gender, the impact of schools on learning, and the ways that schools both succeed and fail to fulfill the mission that Americans want from them.
Fall 2008
SOCI V3212x and y Statistics for Social Research 3 pts. Y. Lu. Prerequisites: SOCI V1205 SOCI V1205 or the equivalent. This course will teach the fundamentals of analyzing numerical data in a social science context. Students will learn effective ways of presenting informational summaries, the use of statistical inference from samples to populations, and the linear model which forms the basis of much social science research. Emphasis will be on an intuitive understanding of statistical formulae and models, and on their practical application.
SOCI V3213x and y Methods for Social Research 3 pts. D. Fisher. Introductory course in social scientific research methods. Provides a general overview of the ways sociologists collect information about social phenomena, focusing on how to collect data that are reliable and applicable to our research questions.
SOCI W3970x Race and Place in Urban America 3 pts. C. Shedd. Analyzing the relationship between race/ethnicity and spatial inequality, emphasizing the institutions, processes, and mechanisms that shape the lives of urban dwellers. Surveying major theoretical approaches and empirical investigations of racial and ethnic stratification in several urban cities, and their concomitant policy considerations.
Spring 2008
SOCI V3281y American Society 3 pts. T. DiPrete.
This course addresses the character of inequality, religion, family, and immigration in contemporary America from a comparative perspective. Our goal is to better understand the nature of American distinctiveness within the broader industrialized world. Through such comparisons, the course will also clarify the potential role that social science evidence can play in policy debates around these issues.
SOCI W3322y Sociology of Emotions 3 pts. N. Yanay.
During the past decades, sociologists have been studying, theoretically and empirically, emotions and their social, cultural, and political significance. This course introduces students to the major sociological and anthropological theories of emotions (evolutionary, phenomenological, interactionist, constructionist and discursive). It will focus on different social spheres of emotions, such as fear, anger, hate, love, shame and loneliness, as well as on the relations between emotions - conciliatory and antagonistic. We will also explore the role that emotions play in constructing collective identities and identifications.
SOCI W3900y Societal Adaptations to Terrorism 3 pts. S. Spilerman.
Examines how countries have adjusted to the threat of terrorism. How the adaptation reflects the pattern of terrorist attacks, as well as structural and cultural features of the society. Adaptations by individuals, families, and organizational actors. Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing.
Fall 2007
SOCI V2225x Globalization: Empirical & Theoretical Elements 3 pts. S. Sassen.
The course will examine how different processes of globalization a) are actually constituted at different scales and in a range of institutional settings; b) transform key aspects of major institutions, such as sovereignty and citizenship, and major processes, such as urbanization, immigration, and digitization; and c) are in turn shaped by these institutions and processes. Particular attention will go to analyzing the challenges for theorization and empirical specification.
SOCI V2300x The City 3 pts. S. Venkatesh.
Students will use the city as a laboratory to understand aspects of modern society. This course explores the writings on the city in order to introduce students to fundamental concepts ion social science; the majority of writings in this course will be based on American cities, rooted in the study of the contemporary city.
SOCI V2310x Israeli Society 3 pts. Y. Cohen.
The purpose of the course is to acquaint students with Israeli society. The first part of the course will set the historical, social, political and demographic background which is essential for understanding current processes in Israel. The second part of the course will focus on the main social conflicts and cleavages in contemporary Israel: between the rich and the poor, between Jewish ethnic groups, between Jews and Arabs, and between religious and non-religious groups. In each, patterns of continuity and change in the past sixty years will be analyzed.
SOCI W3218x Crime, Law and Society 3 pts. C. Shedd.
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.
SOCI W3315x Religion and Social Organization 3 pts. E. Johnson.
Has the nature of social organization changed in ways that limit the utility of examining religion? How should we consider religion in the study of social organization? In this course, we will read current and foundational works in the sociology of religion in order to address these questions
Spring 2007
SOCI V2230y - Food and the Social Order
Priscilla Ferguson
3 pts. Instrumental in the formation and transformation of the social order, food is an indicator of collective as well as individual aspirations and assumptions. We shall look at the production and consumption of food, both material and symbolic, from the eating in the Bible to globalization in the 21st century.
Fall 2006
SOCI V2212x - Statistics In the Social Sciences
Michael Sobel
3 pts. Probability followed by some ways of summarizing data (means, variances, graphs); a discussion of the normal distribution and its usage for calculating probabilities. Z tests and t tests are discussed for the one group case and for the case of comparing two groups. F tests and chi-square tests are introduced later. The course ends with a discussion of descriptive regression. This course will provide a useful introduction to statistics and will also help students who subsequently take research methods courses.
SOCI V2218x - Global Populations
Aaron Gullickson
3 pts. Changes in population structure and the components that make population - fertility, mortality, and migration - play a key role in understanding and addressing many of the most pressing social issues in the world today such as environmental sustainability, economic growth, and immigration policy. This class is a survey of the field of population studies and will introduce students to these major issues, the demographic history behind them, and the analytic tools to help address them.
SOCI V2270x or y - Sociology of Health and Illness
Jack Levinson
3 pts. The objective of this course is to use the concepts and methods of sociology to understand health, illness, and medicine. The course highlights, at the same time, how these major life areas and experiences raise questions about power, authority, and knowledge that are central to sociology.
