Sociology

This is an archived copy of the 2012-13 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalogs.uchicago.edu.

Catalog Home › The College › Programs of Study › Sociology

Contacts

Undergraduate Primary Contact

Undergraduate Program Chairman Ryon Lancaster
SS 317
702.6515
Email

Administrative Contact

Departmental Contact Pat Princell
SS 307
702.8677
Email

Website

http://sociology.uchicago.edu

Program of Study

The discipline of sociology encompasses a diversity of substantive interests, theoretical orientations, and methodological approaches. The phenomena studied by sociologists range from face-to-face interaction in small groups to the structure of the modern world system. They include the historical emergence, stabilization and disintegration of institutions, practices and symbolic forms, stratification and mobility, demographic change, processes of gendering, urban/rural/suburban communities, race and ethnic relations, mass media, and the social dimensions of such areas as education, family life, law, the military, political behavior, science, and religion. The methodologies of the field range from experimentation, survey research, and ethnography to archival research and mathematical model building.

The knowledge sociology provides for the understanding of human relations and social organization has made it attractive for students considering careers in such professions as business, education, law, marketing, medicine, journalism, social work, politics, public administration, and urban planning. As a basis for more specialized graduate work, it affords entry to careers in social research in federal, state, and local agencies, as well as into business enterprises, private foundations, and research institutes. Sociology also provides an excellent foundation for students who are planning academic careers in any of the social sciences. The program is designed, therefore, to meet the needs of a very diverse group of students.

Program Requirements

Although no special application is required for admission to the sociology program, students are required to (1) inform the sociology department and their College adviser when they decide to enter the program and (2) complete an enrollment form that is available in the department office. Students may enter the sociology program at any time during their second year but no later than the beginning of Spring Quarter of their third year. Students must complete any one of the general education social science sequences before declaring a sociology major.

Students are strongly encouraged to complete the required introductory sociology courses as early as possible.

Students are encouraged to select a faculty member to serve as an adviser. In addition, each student is assigned to a preceptor. Students should address technical questions regarding the program (e.g., required courses, petitions) with the preceptor or the program chair. Students may wish to contact their faculty adviser to address general questions regarding the discipline of sociology or to design an individualized program of study.

Course Requirements

Students pursuing a BA degree in sociology are expected to complete the following requirements.

The Introductory Courses

a. Social Theory

SOCI 20002 Social Structure and Change and SOCI 20005 Sociological Theory. These required courses acquaint students with some of the fundamental problems and analytic perspectives of the field of sociology.

SOCI 20002 Social Structure and Change. The central objective of this course is to introduce students to the sociological study of individuals in the society, or how individual actions are shaped by their relation to and position in the social structure while contributing to this structure and its change. A central preoccupation is to articulate the linkage between the individual/micro level and the social/macro level. We focus on sociological approaches to the American society, its position in the international structure and its principal dimensions: race and ethnicity; age, gender, and social class.

SOCI 20005 Sociological Theory. Drawing on the classics as well as on contemporary works in sociological theory, this course raises questions about the nature of "theory work" and its relation both to philosophic analysis and empirical research. Authors include Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, Dewey, Parsons, and Merton.

b. Methodology

Students are required to take at least one of the following methodology courses.

SOCI 20001 Sociological Methods. This course introduces the philosophy and practice of social research. Working from the idea that the research process is fundamentally a critical dialogue, we first explore questions of causality and the epistemology of social research. We then study the basic practices that are a component of all methods of social research through an in-depth examination of interviews, ethnography, surveys, and archival research. Students spend the quarter working on a series of assignments that culminates in a research proposal for the BA thesis.

SOCI 20111 Survey Analysis I. This course teaches students how to analyze and write up previously collected survey data: basic logic of multivariate causal reasoning and its application to OLS regression, percentage tables, and log odds. We emphasize practice in writing. This is not a course in sampling methods.

SOCI 20140 Qualitative Field Methods. This course introduces techniques of, and approaches to, ethnographic field research. Emphasis is placed on quality of attention and awareness of perspective as foundational aspects of the craft. Students conduct research at a site, compose and share field notes, and produce a final paper distilling sociological insight from the fieldwork.

c. Statistics

SOCI 20004 Statistical Methods of Research. This course provides a comprehensive introduction to widely used quantitative methods in sociology and related social sciences. Topics include analysis of variance and multiple regression, considered as they are used by practicing social scientists. Substitutes for this course are STAT 20000 Elementary Statistics or higher.

d. Additional Courses

Students must take seven additional courses in sociology or related fields, and at least four of these must be in sociology. These courses must be selected in consultation with the program chair. They may be drawn from any of the 20000-level courses in sociology and, after completing SOCI 20002 Social Structure and Change, from any 30000-level courses in sociology that have not been cross listed with undergraduate numbers.

e. Senior Seminar

SOCI 29998 Senior Seminar

f. BA Honors Paper

SOCI 29999 BA Honors Paper. This course is open only to students who are applying for honors.

Summary of Requirements

Two of the following:		200
SOCI 20002	Social Structure and Change
SOCI 20005	Sociological Theory
or approved substitute
One of the following:		100
SOCI 20001	Sociological Methods
SOCI 20111	Survey Analysis I
SOCI 20140	Qualitative Field Methods
SOCI 20004	Statistical Methods of Research	100
Four sociology courses (one may be a reading and research course)		400
Three approved courses in sociology or related fields (one may be a reading and research course) ^*		300
SOCI 29998	Senior Seminar	100
**
Total Units		1200

*	Students must submit a general petition form to the program chair for approval. With a few exceptions, courses offered in the Division of the Social Sciences are accepted. Other courses with significant social science content may also be accepted.
**	Students who are applying for honors must also register for SOCI 29999 BA Honors Paper for a total of thirteen courses.

BA Paper

During their fourth year, students majoring in sociology are expected to complete an original project of sociological inquiry on a topic of their choice, culminating in a final paper from twenty to forty pages in length. The project is an independent research project in which questions are formulated and data are collected and analyzed by the student. Recent projects have included studies of comparative order and disorder in urban neighborhoods in Chicago, immigration and national identity in Germany and Guatemala, processes of gendering in various workplaces, the role of emotions in social theory, the decisions that boys and girls make about what math courses to take in high school, homosexuality and AIDS in South Africa, hegemonic discourses of whiteness in women's magazines, emerging forms of social interaction on the Internet, church leadership transition among Korean immigrants, the power of public rhetoric in public housing, role models among Mexican-American youth, gender roles in families of graduate students, peer pressure and teenage pregnancy, and attitudes toward immigration.

The senior project is researched, discussed, and written in the context of the senior seminar (SOCI 29998 Senior Seminar), which is a required yearlong course. While students are required to attend the senior seminar in Spring Quarter of their third year and in the Autumn and Winter Quarters of their fourth year, they may register for the seminar in any one of the three terms. (Students who plan to study abroad during Spring Quarter of their third year should consult with the Undergraduate Program Chair well in advance of the trip.) The completed thesis is submitted during Spring Quarter of their fourth year.

In general, the senior project is written under the guidance of the preceptors of the department. Students who wish to be considered for honors must consult the program chair at the beginning of Spring Quarter of their third year. They will then choose an individual faculty member under whose supervision they will write their thesis. These students may register for additional reading courses (SOCI 29997 Readings in Sociology); however, only two sociology reading/research courses can be counted toward the courses required for the sociology major. Students must obtain consent of the program chair if they wish to register for more than one reading and research course to complete the BA paper.

Grading

All courses required for completion of the sociology program must be taken for quality grades. This includes Reading and Research courses with the exception of SOCI 29999 BA Honors Paper, which may be taken for P/F grading with consent of instructor.

Honors

If their cumulative GPA is at or above 3.25 and their GPA in the major is at or above 3.5, students may be nominated for graduation with honors on the basis of the excellence of their thesis. The thesis must be based on substantial individual research conducted under the guidance of a faculty member, and it must be evaluated both by the student's adviser and by the program chair at A- or A. Students who are applying for honors must also register for SOCI 29999 BA Honors Paper for a total of thirteen courses.

Declaring a Sociology Major

Before declaring a sociology major, students should discuss their plans with their College adviser. They must then complete the enrollment form, which includes a short entry survey and is available in the Office of the Department of Sociology (SS 307). Students may enter the program at any time during their second year, but no later than the beginning of Spring Quarter in their third year.

Handbook

Students interested in pursuing the BA degree in sociology are encouraged to read the brochure Undergraduate Program in Sociology, which is available in the Office of the Department of Sociology (SS 307).

Sociology Courses

SOCI 20001. Sociological Methods. 100 Units.

This course introduces the philosophy and practice of social research. Working from the idea that the research process is fundamentally a critical dialogue, we begin by exploring questions of causality and the epistemology of social research. Then we turn to examine the basic practices that are a component of all methods of social research through an in-depth examination of interviews, ethnography, surveys, and archival research. Assignments culminate in a research proposal for the BA thesis.

Instructor(s): R. Lancaster Terms Offered: Spring

SOCI 20002. Social Structure and Change. 100 Units.

This course introduces the sociological study of individuals in the society. We study how individual actions are shaped by their relation to and position in the social structure, while contributing to this structure and its change. A central preoccupation is to articulate the linkage between the individual/micro level and the social/macro level. We also discuss the properties of a stratified social fabric. We focus on sociological approaches to the American society, its position in the international structure, and its principal dimensions (i.e., race and ethnicity, age, gender, social class).

Instructor(s): Staff Terms Offered: Winter

SOCI 20004. Statistical Methods of Research. 100 Units.

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to widely used quantitative methods in sociology and related social sciences. Topics include analysis of variance and multiple regression, considered as they are used by practicing social scientists.

Instructor(s): S. Raudenbush Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Students are expected to attend two lectures and one lab per week. UG Sociology majors and Sociology PhD students only. Others by consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30004

SOCI 20005. Sociological Theory. 100 Units.

Building on the works of Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, and other classical theorists, this course addresses the role of theory in sociology. In addition to classic texts, readings explore both contemporary theoretical projects and the implications of theory for empirical research.

Instructor(s): A. Glaeser Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Required of students who are majoring in Sociology.

SOCI 20101. Organizational Analysis. 100 Units.

This course is a systematic introduction to theoretical and empirical work on organizations broadly conceived (e.g., public and private economic organizations, governmental organizations, prisons, professional and voluntary associations, health-care organizations). Topics include intraorganizational questions about organizational goals and effectiveness, communication, authority, and decision making. Using recent developments in market, political economy, and neoinstitutional theories, we explore organizational change and interorganizational relationships for their implications in understanding social change in modern societies.

Instructor(s): E. Laumann Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PBPL 23000,SOCI 30101

SOCI 20102. Social Change. 100 Units.

This course presents a general overview of causal processes of macro-institutional level social changes. It considers a variety of types of cross-national, over-time changes such as economic growth, bureaucratization, revolutions, democratization, spread of cultural and institutional norms, deindustrialization, globalization and development of welfare states. It also covers various forms of planned changes in oppositional social movements (civil rights, environmental, women’s, and labor movements).

Instructor(s): C. Lee, D. Zhao Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30102

SOCI 20103. Social Stratification. 100 Units.

Social stratification is the unequal distribution of the goods that members of a society value (e.g., earnings, income, authority, political power, status, prestige). This course introduces various sociological perspectives about stratification. We look at major patterns of inequality throughout human history, how they vary across countries, how they are formed and maintained, how they come to be seen as legitimate and desirable, and how they affect the lives of individuals within a society. The readings incorporate classical theoretical statements, contemporary debates, and recent empirical evidence.

Instructor(s): R. Stolzenberg Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30103

SOCI 20104. Urban Structure and Process. 100 Units.

This course reviews competing theories of urban development, especially their ability to explain the changing nature of cities under the impact of advanced industrialism. Analysis includes a consideration of emerging metropolitan regions, the microstructure of local neighborhoods, and the limitations of the past U.S. experience as a way of developing worldwide urban policy.

Instructor(s): O. McRoberts Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CRES 20104,GEOG 22700,GEOG 32700,SOCI 30104,SOSC 25100

SOCI 20105. Educational Organization and Social Inequality. 100 Units.

This course reviews the major theoretical approaches to the organizational analysis of school districts, schools, and classrooms and to the relationship between education and social stratification. It gives particular attention to ways in which the organization of education affects students' life chances.

Instructor(s): C. Bidwell Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30105

SOCI 20106. Political Sociology. 100 Units.

This course provides analytical perspectives on citizen preference theory, public choice, group theory, bureaucrats and state-centered theory, coalition theory, elite theories, and political culture. These competing analytical perspectives are assessed in considering middle-range theories and empirical studies on central themes of political sociology. Local, national, and cross-national analyses are explored.

Instructor(s): T. Clark Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Completion of the general education requirement in social sciences
Equivalent Course(s): ENST 23500,PBPL 23600,SOCI 30106

SOCI 20107. Sociology of Human Sexuality. 100 Units.

After briefly reviewing several biological and psychological approaches to human sexuality as points of comparison, this course explores the sociological perspective on sexual conduct and its associated beliefs and consequences for individuals and society. Substantive topics include gender relations; life-course perspectives on sexual conduct in youth, adolescence, and adulthood; social epidemiology of sexually transmitted infections (e.g., AIDS); sexual partner choice and turnover; and the incidence/prevalence of selected sexual practices.

Instructor(s): E. Laumann Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Introductory social sciences course
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 27100,SOCI 30107

SOCI 20111. Survey Analysis I. 100 Units.

This course covers how to analyze and write up previously collected survey data: the basic logic of multivariate causal reasoning and its application to OLS regression. We emphasize practice in writing. This is not a course in sampling methods.

Instructor(s): J. Davis Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30111

SOCI 20112. Applications of Hierarchical Linear Models. 100 Units.

A number of diverse methodological problems such as correlates of change, analysis of multi-level data, and certain aspects of meta-analysis share a common feature--a hierarchical structure. The hierarchical linear model offers a promising approach to analyzing data in these situations. This course will survey the methodological literature in this area, and demonstrate how the hierarchical linear model can be applied to a range of problems.

Instructor(s): S. Raudenbush Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Applied statistics at a level of multiple regression
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30112

SOCI 20116. Global-Local Politics. 100 Units.

Globalizing and local forces are generating a new politics in the United States and around the world. This course explores this new politics by mapping its emerging elements: the rise of social issues, ethno-religious and regional attachments, environmentalism, gender and life-style identity issues, new social movements, transformed political parties and organized groups, and new efforts to mobilize individual citizens.

Instructor(s): T. Clark Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HMRT 20116,HMRT 30116,PBPL 27900,SOCI 30116

SOCI 20118. Survey Research Overview. 100 Units.

The course provides an overview of interview-based data collection methods. Each student must develop a research question to guide their research design. Students get an overview of different interview-based data collection methods (focus groups, key-informant interviews, large-N sample surveys), how to sample and design a questionnaire or interview guide for their project, and the nuts and bolts of actual recruitment, receipt control and survey administration. The instructor provides feedback for proposed elements of each student's research plan through weekly assignments. The final paper is a research proposal that outlines a plan for research to address the student's research question.

Instructor(s): M. Van Haitsma Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter
Equivalent Course(s): MAPS 30900,SOCI 30118,SOSC 20200,SOSC 30900,SSAD 53200

SOCI 20120. Urban Policy Analysis. 100 Units.

This course addresses the explanations available for varying patterns of policies that cities provide in terms of expenditures and service delivery. Topics include theoretical approaches and policy options, migration as a policy option, group theory, citizen preference theory, incrementalism, economic base influences, and an integrated model. Also examined are the New York fiscal crisis and taxpayer revolts, measuring citizen preferences, service delivery, and productivity.

Instructor(s): T. Clark Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PBPL 24800,SOCI 30120

SOCI 20123. The Family. 100 Units.

Everyone is a member of a family. The family has been one of the most important social institutions in every society throughout history. But the shape that families take, the functions they fill, and the problems they face vary historically and cross-culturally. So families in Sweden look different from and act differently than families in Saudi Arabia or Brazil. And American families today differ dramatically from a century ago. This course looks at families from a sociological perspective, focusing on the family as a social group, the institution of the family, and differences in families within and across societies. We consider how public policies—such as those aiding needy families (TANF) and recognizing same-sex marriage—affect families and how family members work to influence public policies. We draw on contemporary media representations of families and their challenges in order to evaluate sociological theories. The course follows lecture/discussion format. Students are responsible for three one-page papers on topics drawn from the course, a mid-term, and a final. Prerequisites include one or more general introductory courses in sociology or a related social science or consent of the instructor.

Instructor(s): L. Waite Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): At least one prior basic course in sociology or related social science, or consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 20100

SOCI 20126. Japanese Society: Functional/Cultural Explanations. 100 Units.

The objective of this course is to provide an overview of social structural characteristics, and the functioning of contemporary Japanese society by a juxtaposition of universalistic functional (or rational) explanations and particularistic cultural (and historical) explanations. As will become clear as complementary to each other. Substantively, the course primarily focuses on 1) the forms of social interaction and structure, 2) work organization and family, and 3) education, social inequality and opportunity. The course also presents discussions of the extent to which Japan is "unique" among industrial societies. In covering a broad range of English-language literature on Japanese Society, the course not only presents reviews and discussions of various alternative theoretical explanations of the characteristics of Japanese society, but also a profound opportunity to critically review and study selected sociological theories.

Instructor(s): K. Yamaguchi Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30126

SOCI 20140. Qualitative Field Methods. 100 Units.

This course introduces techniques of, and approaches to, ethnographic field research. We emphasize quality of attention and awareness of perspective as foundational aspects of the craft. Students conduct research at a site, compose and share field notes, and produce a final paper distilling sociological insight from the fieldwork.

Instructor(s): O. McRoberts Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CRES 20140

SOCI 20156. Sociology of Law. 100 Units.

This course is an introduction to the sociology of law and broader issues of law and society. After reviewing the major classical perspectives in the sociology of law, we examine the sociological perspective on the relationship between social structure and legal systems and action. Substantive topics include the structure of the legal profession, law and organizations, inequality and the law, law and social reform, and the structure of disputes. This is not a course on criminology.

Instructor(s): R. Lancaster Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30156

SOCI 20157. Mathematical Models. 100 Units.

This course examines mathematical models and related analyses of social action, emphasizing a rational-choice perspective. About half the lectures focus on models of collective action, power, and exchange as developed by Coleman, Bonacich, Marsden, and Yamaguchi. Then the course examines models of choice over the life course, including rational and social choice models of marriage, births, friendship networks, occupations, and divorce. Both behavioral and analytical models are surveyed.

Instructor(s): K. Yamaguchi Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30157

SOCI 20175. The Sociology of Deviant Behavior. 100 Units.

This course examines how distinctions between "normal" and "deviant" are created, and how these labels shift historically, culturally, and politically. We analyze the construction of social problems and moral panics (e.g., smoking, "satanic" daycares, obesity) to explore how various moral entrepreneurs shape what some sociologists call a "culture of fear." Additionally, we investigate the impact on individuals of being labeled "deviant" either voluntarily or involuntarily, as a way of illustrating how both social control and social change operate in society.

Instructor(s): K. Schilt Terms Offered: Not offered in 2012-13
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 20170

SOCI 20178. Management and Organizations. 100 Units.

This course provides an introduction to social science approaches to life within organizations, with a focus on the singular role of the manager. We explore various issues relating to management and organizational problems, including competitive decision-making, social networks and careers, corporate culture, negotiations, organizational design, and leadership. We also explore the rise of the large corporation and the central role managers play in contemporary capitalism.

Instructor(s): R. Lancaster Terms Offered: Winter

SOCI 20179. Labor Force and Employment. 100 Units.

This course introduces key concepts, methods, and sources of information for understanding the structure of work and the organization of workers in the United States and other industrialized nations. We survey social science approaches to answering key questions about work and employment, including: What is the labor force? What determines the supply of workers? How is work organized into jobs, occupations, careers, and industries? What, if anything, happened to unions? How much money do workers earn and why? What is the effect of work on health? How do workers and employers find each other? Who is unemployed? What are the employment effects of race, gender, ethnicity, and religion?

Instructor(s): R. Stolzenberg Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30179

SOCI 20184. Political Culture, Social Capital, and the Arts. 100 Units.

New work finds that certain arts and cultural activities are rising, especially among the young, in many countries. This course reviews core related concepts (e.g., political culture, social capital, legitimacy) and how they change with these new developments. Scenes, nightlife, design, the Internet, and entertainment emerge as critical drivers of the post-industrial/knowledge society. Older primordial conflicts over class, race, and gender are transformed with these new issues, which spark new social movements and political tensions. After a focus on the discussion of readings, the second part of the course is conducted as a seminar.

Instructor(s): T. Clark Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30184

SOCI 20191. Social Change in the United States. 100 Units.

This course provides students with concepts, facts, and methods for understanding the social structure of the contemporary United States, recent changes in the U.S. social structure, survey data for measuring social structure and social change in contemporary industrial societies, and data analysis methods for distinguishing different types of change. This course is taught by traditional and nontraditional methods: traditional by a combination of readings, lectures, and discussions; and nontraditional by in-class, "live" statistical analysis of the cumulative file (1972–2004) of the NORC General Social Surveys (GSS).

Instructor(s): R. Stolzenberg Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Two prior sociology courses or consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30191

SOCI 20192. The Effects of Schooling. 100 Units.

From at least the Renaissance until some time around the middle of the twentieth century, social class was the pre-eminent, generalized determinant of life chances in European and, eventually, American societies. Social class had great effect on one's social standing; economic well-being; political power; access to knowledge; and even longevity, health, and height. In that time, there was hardly an aspect of life that was not profoundly influenced by social class. In the ensuing period, the effects of social class have receded greatly, and perhaps have even vanished. In their place formal schooling has become the great generalized influence over who gets access to the desiderata of social life, including food, shelter, political power, and medical care. So it is that schooling is sociologically interesting for reasons that go well beyond education. The purpose of this course is to review what is known about the long-term effects of schooling.

Instructor(s): R. Stolzenberg Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30192

SOCI 20204. Sociology of Civil Society. 100 Units.

This course examines how civil society interacts with the state and market. After a theoretical overview of classical theories of civil society and more modern theoretical variations, it explores the various topics of civil society from institutional, organizational, and cultural perspectives. Topics include: civil society and social movements, civil society and welfare states, civil society and identity politics, civil society and market, and transformation of civil society and public sphere.

Instructor(s): C.S. Lee Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30204

SOCI 20206. Demographic Methods: Measurement and Analysis. 100 Units.

This course introduces students to the analysis of population processes using demographic methods. It emphasizes formal theory and modeling assumptions as well as the practical estimation and interpretation of demographic measures. The course covers the construction of cohort and period life tables (including single, multiple-decrement, and multi-state examples) and analyses of changes in population size and composition. Students are introduced to demographic databases and develop skills in the manipulation of data using the statistical computing language R. Applications include international mortality and health trends, as well as fertility and population change.

Instructor(s): M. Engelman Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30206

SOCI 20207. Social and Cultural Organization of Non-Human Animals. 100 Units.

In the past few decades, there has been an explosion of rigorous work in ethology regarding social organization, cultural patterns, and cognition in non-human animals. The results have fundamentally overturned previous assumptions about animals; they also challenge and inspire sociological theory to encompass formations observed in non-humans. This course builds on classic theoretical approaches (of Chicago sociology and philosophy, of evolutionary theorists) and the examines the current state of knowledge about animal social organization, communication, and culture. Although there is a fair amount on primates, we will be examining work on a number of social species from ants to whales. Students will write a paper pursuing one theme of the course (e.g., social organization, learning) in one species (e.g., Ethiopian wolf, Octopus vulgaris).

Instructor(s): J. Martin Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30207

SOCI 20217. Introduction to Science and Technology Studies. 100 Units.

Science, technology and information are the ‘racing heart’ of contemporary cognitive capitalism and the engine of change of our technological culture. They are deeply relevant to the understanding of contemporary societies. But how are we to understand the highly esoteric cultures and practices of science, technology and information? During the twentieth century, sociologists, historians, philosophers, and anthropologists raised original, interesting, and consequential questions about the sciences and technology. Often their work drew on and responded to each other, and, taken together, their various approaches came to constitute a field, "science and technology studies." The course furnishes an initial guide to this field. Students will not only encounter some of its principal concepts, approaches, and findings, but will also get a chance to apply science-studies perspectives themselves by performing a fieldwork project. Among the topics we examine are the sociology of scientific knowledge and its applications, constructivism and actor network theory, the study of technology and information, as well as recent work on knowledge and technology in the economy and finance. Beginning with the second week of classes, we will devote the second half of the class to presentations and discussion.

Instructor(s): K. Knorr Cetina Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30217,ANTH 32410,CHSS 30217,ANTH 22410

SOCI 20218. The Future of Knowledge. 100 Units.

This course will investigate various aspects of knowledge and its future. Topics to be considered will include amateur knowledge, economics of knowledge, changes in knowledge production and control practices, trends in education, and changes in habits of knowledge. Course format will be a seminar organized around individual research projects in the course area.

Instructor(s): A. Abbott Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): One course in sociological theory
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30218

SOCI 20219. Urban Ethnography. 100 Units.

The everyday experiences and cultural contours of urban life have long been a focal point for sociological study. Through weekly readings and discussion of influential texts, this course surveys the development of urban ethnography from the First Chicago School of the early twentieth century through current-day research. We will explore the substantive issues that have historically shaped urban life—from community dynamics to poverty to social control—as well as the epistemological and methodological concerns faced by those who study urban populations. The aim is to ground students in the foundational literature while preparing them to conduct their own urban ethnographies in the future.

Instructor(s): F. Stuart Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Third- and fourth-year undergraduates only
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30219

SOCI 20220. Theorizing Social Support. 100 Units.

This course examines how social scientists have conceptualized and investigated social support. A great deal of social behavior—from moving up the income ladder to learning a trade to graduating from college to surviving tough streets to dealing with depression—depends on some form of social support. Support can be offered and received directly or indirectly, though transactions or through rituals, routinely or sporadically, interpersonally or institutionally, and in many other forms. What many call “social support” has been theorized in literatures as diverse as those on help-seeking behavior, trust, social capital, social networks, exchange, social isolation, group membership, and discussion partners. Likely topics include rationality, pragmatism, creativity, choice, reciprocity, compartmentalization, and others. This course is focused on developing sophisticated theory-building skills—students will produce a theoretical paper with clear implications and some assessment of its place vis-à-vis the vast literature on the topic. Likely readings include works by Pierre Bourdieu, James Coleman, Randal Collins, Jon Elster, Richard Emerson, Claude Fischer, Carol Stack, Barry Wellman, and many others. The course is limited to third- and fourth-year students. Second-year students may enroll with prior permission from the instructor.

Instructor(s): M. Small Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): 3rd- and 4th-year undergraduates only

SOCI 20222. Philanthropy: Private Acts and Public Goods. 100 Units.

Under what conditions do philanthropy and other forms of private action come to be significant elements of the provision of public goods? What are the consequences of organizing society in this way? In this course, we will address the social role of philanthropy, its historical development as a significant economic and political institution, and the place of philanthropy in contemporary public policy and civic projects.

Instructor(s): E. Clemens Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Completion of at least 2 quarters of SOSC
Equivalent Course(s): PBPL 27070

SOCI 28055. Critical Theory: The Frankfurt School and Beyond. 100 Units.

Critical Theory is one of the most prominent intellectual movements of the twentieth century, yet the extend to which it represents a coherent philosophical tradition and the assumptions and ideas that reside at its core remain open to debate. The course addresses this question through the in-depth study of Critical Theory's most renowned works. The reading list commences with Frankfurt School "classics" by Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert Marcuse, and continues with work by Critical Theory's intellectual heirs such as Jurgen Habermas and Axel Honneth.

Instructor(s): M. Lee Terms Offered: Winter

SOCI 28056. Collective Violence and Social Orders. 100 Units.

This course analyzes collective violence in historical and contemporary contexts. We examine how violence becomes socially constituted and the processes of mobilizing groups of individuals to violent acts. It illuminates the complex emotional, social, and cultural factors in the rise and fall of bloody social scenes. The courses provides opportunities for students to conduct research on the sociology of violence.

Instructor(s): G. Tian Terms Offered: Spring

SOCI 28057. Reproduction and Reproductive Rights. 100 Units.

This course uses sociological theories and methods to examine a range of reproductive issues such as assisted reproductive technologies, surrogacy, birth, and abortion. By looking at how societal factors influence individuals' reproductive values and experiences, the course explores the politics, practice, and policies of reproduction, with a focus on the United States. In addition, the course highlights how social categories of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation influence reproductive opportunities, attitudes, and outcomes.

Instructor(s): A. VandeVusse Terms Offered: Spring

SOCI 29997. Readings in Sociology. 100 Units.

Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. With consent of instructor, students may take this course for P/F grading if it is not being used to meet program requirements.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and program chair.

SOCI 29998. Senior Seminar. 100 Units.

This required yearlong course is a forum for students who are majoring in sociology to present their BA papers. Students attend the seminar in Spring Quarter of their third year and in Autumn and Winter Quarters of their fourth year. They may enroll during any one of these quarters, but must attend all three. They submit a completed thesis during Spring Quarter of their fourth year. Students who are not graduating in June should participate in three quarters of the senior seminar in the twelve months before graduation. Students who plan to study abroad during Spring Quarter of their third year should consult with the Undergraduate Program Chair well in advance of their trip. For a general statement about the BA paper, students should obtain the brochure Undergraduate Program in Sociology in the departmental office.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Open only to students who are majoring in sociology.
Note(s): Must be taken for a quality grade.

SOCI 29999. BA Honors Paper. 100 Units.

Open only to students who wish to be considered for honors. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Must be taken for a quality grade.

Terms Offered: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and program chair.

SOCI 30001. Sociological Inquiry-1. 100 Units.

Introduces students to an active and critical engagement with research traditions in sociology. The course will address the structure of major debates, the characteristics of fruitful lines of research, and the qualities of questions that are worth asking. This course is required for all first-year students.

Instructor(s): E. Laumann, L. Waite Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Open to only 1st-year Sociology PhD students

SOCI 30002. Sociological Inquiry-2. 100 Units.

Gives an overview of the major methodological approaches in sociology, focusing on how theoretical questions and different types of evidence inform research design. This course is required for all second-year students.

Instructor(s): K. Cagney, E. Clemens Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Open only to 2nd-year Sociology PhD students

SOCI 30003. History of Social Theory. 100 Units.

This course is a basic introduction to classical social theory. It considers Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel. Other authors are read as well.

Instructor(s): A. Glaeser Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Open only to 1st-year Sociology PhD students

SOCI 30004. Statistical Methods of Research. 100 Units.

SOCI 30005. Statistical Methods of Research-2. 100 Units.

The course covers generalized linear models, particularly logistic and Cox regressions, as well as ways of addressing confounding and identifying possible effect modification and mediation.

Instructor(s): M. Engelman Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): SOCI 30004

SOCI 30101. Organizational Analysis. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): E. Laumann Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20101,PBPL 23000

SOCI 30102. Social Change. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): C. Lee, D. Zhao Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20102

SOCI 30103. Social Stratification. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): R. Stolzenberg Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20103

SOCI 30104. Urban Structure and Process. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): O. McRoberts Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20104,CRES 20104,GEOG 22700,GEOG 32700,SOSC 25100

SOCI 30105. Educational Organization and Social Inequality. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): C. Bidwell Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20105

SOCI 30106. Political Sociology. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): T. Clark Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Completion of the general education requirement in social sciences
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20106,ENST 23500,PBPL 23600

SOCI 30107. Sociology of Human Sexuality. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): E. Laumann Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Introductory social sciences course
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20107,GNSE 27100

SOCI 30111. Survey Analysis I. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): J. Davis Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20111

SOCI 30112. Applications of Hierarchical Linear Models. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): S. Raudenbush Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Applied statistics at a level of multiple regression
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20112

SOCI 30116. Global-Local Politics. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): T. Clark Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20116,HMRT 20116,HMRT 30116,PBPL 27900

SOCI 30118. Survey Research Overview. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): M. Van Haitsma Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20118,MAPS 30900,SOSC 20200,SOSC 30900,SSAD 53200

SOCI 30120. Urban Policy Analysis. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): T. Clark Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20120,PBPL 24800

SOCI 30126. Japanese Society: Functional/Cultural Explanations. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): K. Yamaguchi Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20126

SOCI 30156. Sociology of Law. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): R. Lancaster Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20156

SOCI 30157. Mathematical Models. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): K. Yamaguchi Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20157

SOCI 30179. Labor Force and Employment. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): R. Stolzenberg Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20179

SOCI 30184. Political Culture, Social Capital, and the Arts. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): T. Clark Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20184

SOCI 30191. Social Change in the United States. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): R. Stolzenberg Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Two prior sociology courses or consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20191

SOCI 30192. The Effects of Schooling. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): R. Stolzenberg Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20192

SOCI 30204. Sociology of Civil Society. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): C.S. Lee Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20204

SOCI 30206. Demographic Methods: Measurement and Analysis. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): M. Engelman Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20206

SOCI 30207. Social and Cultural Organization of Non-Human Animals. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): J. Martin Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20207

SOCI 30217. Introduction to Science and Technology Studies. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): K. Knorr Cetina Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ANTH 32410,CHSS 30217,ANTH 22410,SOCI 20217

SOCI 30218. The Future of Knowledge. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): A. Abbott Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): One course in sociological theory
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20218

SOCI 30219. Urban Ethnography. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): F. Stuart Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Third- and fourth-year undergraduates only
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20219

SOCI 30302. Problems of Public Policy Implementation. 100 Units.

Once a governmental policy or program is established, there is the challenge of getting it carried out in ways intended by the policy makers. We explore how obstacles emerge because of problems of hierarchy, competing goals, and cultures of different groups. We then discuss how they may be overcome by groups, as well as by creators and by those responsible for implementing programs. We also look at varying responses of target populations.

Instructor(s): R. Taub Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): One prior 20000-level social sciences course
Note(s): PBPL 22100-22200-22300 may be taken in or out of sequence.
Equivalent Course(s): PBPL 22300,CHDV 30302

SOCI 30303. Urban Landscapes as Social Text. 100 Units.

This seminar explores the meanings found in varieties of urban landscapes, both in the context of individual elements and composite structures. These meanings are examined in relation to three fundamental approaches that can be identified in the analytical literature on landscapes: normative, historical, and communicative modes of conceptualization. Emphasis is placed on analyzing the explicitly visual features of the urban landscape. Students pursue research topics of their own choosing within the general framework.

Instructor(s): M. Conzen Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Advanced standing and consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): GEOG 42400

SOCI 30306. HUMAN CAPITAL. 100 Units.

This course covers both micro and macro aspects of human capital: investments by parents in the education and other human capital of their children, intergenerational transmission of inequality, links between specializations in particular types of human capital and coordination costs, general knowledge, and the extent of the market. The relation between human capital, population change, and economic growth is also emphasized.

Instructor(s): Gary Becker Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ECON 34300

SOCI 40103. Event History Analysis. 100 Units.

An introduction to the methods of event history analysis will be given. The methods allow for the analysis of duration data. Non-parametric methods and parametric regression models are available to investigate the influence of covariates on the duration until a certain even occurs. Applications of these methods will be discussed i.e., duration until marriage, social mobility processes organizational mortality, firm tenure, etc.

Instructor(s): K. Yamaguchi Terms Offered: Autumn

SOCI 40112. Ethnographic Methods. 100 Units.

This course explores the epistemological and practical questions raised by ethnography as a method -- focusing on the relationships between theory and data, and between researcher and researched. Discussions are based on close readings of ethnographic texts, supplemented by occasional theoretical essays on ethnographic practices. Students also conduct original field research., share and critique each other's field notes on a weekly basis, and produce analytical papers based on their ethnographies.

Instructor(s): O. McRoberts Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Graduate students only

SOCI 40142. Library Methods for Social Sciences. 100 Units.

This course is a graduate introduction to the methods involved with "research with records" -- that is, material like manuscripts, books, journals, newspapers, ephemera, and government and institutional documents. (Such material has been typically printed but may now be stored electronically as well as physically.) The course covers the essentials of project design, bibliography, location, access, critical reading, source evaluation and provenance, knowledge categorization and assembly, and records maintenance. The course is a methodological practicum and will involve both small-scale exercises and a larger project. Major texts include Thomas Mann's Oxford Guide to Library Research and Booth, Colomb, and Williams, The Craft of Research.

Instructor(s): A. Abbott Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Advanced undergrads by consent

SOCI 40152. Survey Practicum: Qualitative Research for Questionnaire Design. 100 Units.

The survey practicum provides an opportunity for students to learn interviewing and questionnaire design methods with a real, hands-on project. The class is limited to 10 students to keep the team to a manageable size.

Instructor(s): M. van Haitsma Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Graduate students only

SOCI 40164. Involved Interviewing: Strategies for Interviewing Hard to Penetrate Communities and Populations. 100 Units.

Imagine that you must interview someone who hails from a background unlike your own; perhaps you need to interview an incarcerated youth, or gather a life history from an ill person. Maybe your task is to conduct fieldwork inside a community that challenges your comfort level. How do we get others to talk to us? How do we get out of our own way and limited training to become fully and comfortably engaged in people and the communities in which they reside? This in-depth investigation into interviewing begins with an assumption that the researcher as interviewer is an integral part of the research process. We turn a critical eye on the interviewer’s role in getting others to talk and learn strategies that encourage fertile interviews regardless of the situational context. Weekly reading assignments facilitate students’ exploration of what the interview literature can teach us about involved interviewing. Additionally, we critically assess our role as interviewer and what that requires from us. Students participate in evaluating interview scenarios that are designed to explore our assumptions, sharpen our interviewing skills and troubleshoot sticky situations. We investigate a diversity of settings and populations as training ground for leading effective interviews. The final project includes: 1) a plan that demonstrates knowledge of how to design an effective interviewing strategy for unique field settings; 2) instructor’s feedback on students’ personal journals on the role of the interviewer.

Instructor(s): S. Hicks-Bartlett Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter
Prerequisite(s): Graduate students only

SOCI 40168. Welfare States, Poverty, and Inequality. 100 Units.

This course gives an overview of the political economy of social policy in advanced industrial democracies. The course explores how organized social forces, partisan politics, business interests, international pressures, and demographic changes have shaped and transformed the welfare state regimes and how such processes have affected distributional outcomes in rich democracies and developing countries. Topics include: Theories of the Welfare State, Welfare State Regime Typology, Bargaining Regimes and Welfare Regimes, Development of American Welfare State, Post-industrial Economy and Welfare States, Globalization/Financial Crisis and Welfare States, Social Movements and Welfare States, Welfare States and Poverty, Welfare States and Income Inequality, Welfare States and Gender Inequality.

Instructor(s): C.S. Lee Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Graduate students only

SOCI 40172. Maverick Markets: Cultural Economy and Cultural Finance. 100 Units.

What are the cultural dimensions of economic and financial institutions and financial action? What social variables influence and shape 'real' markets and market activities? 'If you are so smart, why aren't you rich?' is a question economists have been asked in the past. Why isn’t it easy to make money in financial areas even if one knows what economists know about markets, finance and the economy? And why, on the other hand, is it so easy to get rich for some participants? Perhaps the answer is that real markets are complex social and cultural institutions which are quite different from organizations, administrations and the production side of the economy. The course addresses these differences and core dimensions of economic sociology. This course provides an overview over social and cultural variables and patterns that play a role in economic behaviour and specifically in financial markets. We draw on the ‘New Economic Sociology’ which emerged in the late 70's and early 80's from the work of Harrison White, Marc Granovetter, Viviana Zelizer, Wayne Baker and others. We also draw on recent analysis of the relationship between knowledge, technology and economic and financial institutions and behaviour, and include an emerging body of literature on the financial crisis of 2008-09. The readings examine the historical and structural embeddedness of economic action and institutions, the different constructions and interpretations of money, prices and other dimensions of a market economy, and how a financial economy affects organizations, the art world and other areas.

Instructor(s): K. Knorr Cetina Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): Open to advanced undergraduates
Equivalent Course(s): ANTH 45405

SOCI 40177. Coding and Analyzing Qualitative Data: Using Open-Source Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) 100 Units.

This is a graduate level course in coding and analyzing qualitative data (e.g., interview transcripts, oral histories, focus groups, letters, and diaries, etc). In this hands-on-course students learn how to organize and manage text-based data in preparation for analysis and final report writing of small scale research projects. Students use their own laptop computers to access one of two free, open-source software programs available for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. While students with extant interview data can use it for this course, those without existing data will be provided text to code and analyze. This course does not cover commercial CAQDAS, such as AtlasTi, NVivo, The Ethnograph or Hypertext.

Instructor(s): S. Hicks-Bartlett Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Graduate students only

SOCI 40182. Causal Analysis. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): K. Yamaguchi Terms Offered: Spring

SOCI 40183. Do Ideas Evolve? 100 Units.

In the decades after Darwin, scholars from James to Simmel suggested that knowledge might evolve. The past 30 years have witnessed an explosion of related research, providing rigorous and empirically grounded theories of cultural and linguistic evolution. In this course, we will ask whether these insights extend to the world of ideas and knowledge. We begin by surveying key aspects of biological evolution. We then turn to cultural evolution, exploring issues like the units of selection and the mechanisms of cultural reproduction. We will spend the bulk of the course applying these insights to knowledge evolution. We will explore theories of innovation to assess where new ideas come from. We will investigate cognitive biases and heuristics to uncover regularities in the generation and selection of ideas. We will see how social context and economic incentives affect the “fitness” and fecundity of facts and theories. And we will develop an understanding of the interdependent “ecology” of ideas as constitutive of disciplinary formations. Where appropriate, we will introduce relevant empirical techniques. The course will be organized as a highly participatory seminar, focused on readings from diverse literatures. Students will also pursue projects of their own choosing in small groups.

Instructor(s): J. Evans and J. Foster Terms Offered: Spring 2013
Equivalent Course(s): CHSS 43500,CDIN 43500

SOCI 40185. Teaching Practicum. 100 Units.

This course is a teaching practicum designed for Sociology PhD students in their third year and beyond. Students will design their own syllabi over the quarter. Each student will gain experience in teaching sociological concepts and providing feedback to their peers. This class is most useful to students with minimal teaching experience.

Instructor(s): K. Schilt Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Sociology PhD students only

SOCI 50003. Sociology of the State. 100 Units.

Many modern nation states tax nearly half of the people's income. A nation state develops relationships with other states and takes charge of territorial defense. It monopolizes the use of violence within a territory. It also regulates many aspects of our lives from education, working, marriage, retirement, redistribution of wealth to daily activities such as parking, driving and garbage disposal. State power is, therefore, the principal dimension of political power. This course introduces theories of states with a comparative-historical perspective. It is organized around several empirical issues, including the origin and development of pre-modern state forms, the rise of nation states, state and economic development, state and social change, state-society relations and states in the post-industrial world. The course provides an overview on the cutting-edge research in the field. It is also intended to guide those who are interested in political sociology or macro-comparative sociology to develop empirical projects with the state as an important dimension.

Instructor(s): D. Zhao Terms Offered: Spring

SOCI 50017. Urban Field Research. 100 Units.

This course focuses on methods for collecting qualitative field data in urban settings from the ground up, so to speak, and to discuss some related methodological issues. In addition to readings, there are field assignments and students discuss each other's notes. (M)

Instructor(s): R. Taub Terms Offered: Spring 2013
Prerequisite(s): Graduate students in Social Sciences only.
Note(s): Offered every other year.
Equivalent Course(s): CHDV 45700

SOCI 50022. Seminar: George Herbert Mead. 100 Units.

While George Herbert Mead's work has been a continual inspiration for sociology and social psychology in the last decades, it has not been appreciated in its full extension. The sociological reception has ignored large parts of Mead's philosophical writings; in philosophy Mead is counted among the most important pragmatists, but the revival of interest in pragmatist philosophy has hardly led to new interpretations of his work. This is particularly regrettable since there is considerable potential in his writings for contemporary questions in moral philosophy, the study of temporality, etc. The seminar starts with a close reading of Mead's best-known book Mind, Self, and Society. Since this book is based on notes taken in his classes, we will then continue with some of Mead's essays and selections from his other books. We should reserve some time for discussion about the relationship between Mead and contemporary social thought. Required reading: G. H. Mead, Mind, Self, and Society. University of Chicago Press 1934 (and many later editions); Hans Joas, G. H. Mead. A Contemporary Re-examination of his Thought. MIT Press 1985 and 1997 (second edition).

Instructor(s): H. Joas Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SCTH 50200

SOCI 50087. Max Weber's Sociology of Religion. 100 Units.

Max Weber is perhaps the one undisputed classical figure in the discipline of sociology today. His reputation is to a large extent based on his historical and comparative studies of the "economic ethics" of the world religions and on the formulation of a systematic approach for the historical-sociological study of religion (in the relevant chapter of his "Economy and Society"). The seminar will start with a close reading of the religion chapter in "Economy and Society" and then continue with selections from his comparative studies. The focus of interest will not only be on Weber's theory, but also on the present state of research on the questions Weber was dealing with.

Instructor(s): H. Joas Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): AASR 50087,SCTH 50087

SOCI 50088. Axiality, Evolution, and Modernity. 100 Units.

This seminar will consider the current state of theoretical debate regarding two classic problematic notions in social theory–Evolution, and Modernity; how they relate to one another; and how both relate to the notion of Axiality as treated seminally in the latter writings of the late S. N. Eistenstald and in The Axial Age and its Consequences (2012) edited by Robert Bellah and Hans Joas. Highly recommended prerequisite: Familiarity with Max Weber's Sociology of Religion and/or participation in the course on that subject offered concurrently by Hans Joas. The seminar will meet once a week for 2 1/2 hours.

Instructor(s): D. Levine Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Familiarity with Weber's Sociology of Religion and/or participation in SOCI 50087
Equivalent Course(s): AASR 50088