Sociology

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 stratification and mobility, demographic change, 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 field observation to historical comparison 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 concentration program in the College is accordingly designed to meet the needs of a very diverse group of students.

Students may enter the sociology program at any time during their second year or at the beginning of their third year by informing the faculty program chairman of their decision. For students with adequate course background, it may be possible to enter as late as the end of the third year. The only prerequisite is completion of the general education requirement in social sciences.

Course Requirements. Students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology are expected to complete the following requirements. However, students with adequate background in sociology from general education courses or other sociology courses may petition the program chairman to substitute other 200-level courses for one or more of the introductory sequence courses.

1. A three-quarter introductory sequence consisting of:

a. Social Structure and Change (Sociology 200). This course is an introduction to the basic theories and concepts of macrosociology. The first half explores the theories of Marx, Weber, and Bourdieu, and their general explanations of social change and social stratification. The second half deals with sociological approaches to ethnicity, race, class, gender, and nationalism.

b. Interaction, Community, and Culture (Sociology 201). This class deals with the social construction of the individual; the study of face-to-face interaction; community and urban studies; and the study of cultural institutions, symbols, and beliefs.

c. Sociological Methods (Sociology 202). This course is applications oriented and stresses both professional and academic use of current research methods in the collection and analysis of data. An opportunity to apply many of these methods and analyze the resulting data is an integral part of the course. A review of contemporary philosophies of social research, theory construction, statistical techniques, and computerized data processing supplements the major emphasis.

2. Statistical Methods of Research I (Sociology 203/304) or Statistics 200. These courses provide a comprehensive introduction to widely used quantitative methods in sociology and related social sciences. Topics covered include analysis of variance and multiple regression, which are considered as they are used by practicing social scientists.

3. Six additional courses in sociology or related fields, at least three of which must be in sociology. These courses may be drawn from any of the 200-level courses in sociology and, after completing Sociology 200-201, from any 300-level courses in sociology that have not been cross listed with undergraduate numbers. Courses may usefully be thought of as falling into six topical clusters: macrosociology and intergroup relations; sociology of institutions; urban sociology; comparative, historical, and cultural sociology; microsociology; and theory and methodology.

4. Senior Seminar (Sociology 298).

5. B.A. Paper (Sociology 299).

Senior Project. During the senior year, all students concentrating in sociology are expected to work on 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 may take the form of either (1) a critical review of a body of literature on a problem developed in conjunction with the work of one or more courses, or (2) an independent research project in which questions are formulated and data are collected and analyzed by the student. In the spring quarter of the junior year, students meet with the program chairman to discuss possible projects. A faculty sponsor is selected for the project during the autumn quarter of the senior year. A form briefly describing the project and signed by the faculty sponsor is submitted to the concentration program chairman before the middle of the winter quarter. The chosen topic is developed during the autumn and winter quarters and the paper is completed in the spring quarter. Students must register for one reading/research (Sociology 299) course with their faculty sponsor. Students may register for additional research and reading courses (Sociology 297); however, only two sociology reading/research courses can be counted toward the completion of the courses in sociology or related fields required for a concentration. More than one reading or research course to complete the B.A. paper requires the consent of the program chairman.

Senior Seminar. All projects are reported on and discussed in an undergraduate seminar (Sociology 298). The senior seminar is a yearlong course. Students participate all three quarters, although they register only once. Registration takes place in the spring quarter of the senior year unless the student plans to graduate out of sequence in some quarter other than spring. A first draft of the paper is to be submitted in the first week of the student's final quarter. All projects are due in final written form no later than the end of the eighth week of that quarter. Those being submitted for evaluation for honors are due by the first day of the seventh week.

Honors. Concentrators with a grade point average of 3.0 or better overall and 3.25 or better in the concentration who have written substantial B.A. papers may be considered for graduation with honors in sociology.

Grading. All courses required for completion of the sociology program must be taken for quality grades.

Handbook. Students interested in pursuing the Bachelor of Arts 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).

Information about many course offerings was not available at the time this publication went to press. Please consult the quarterly Time Schedules for final information.

200. 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 also concentrate on the latter and 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: race and ethnicity, age and gender, and social class. P. Heuveline. Winter.

201. Interaction, Community, and Culture. This course draws upon classic sociological theory and contemporary research to examine key social issues and problems. These include how both individuals and the world they live in are constructed through social interaction; the organization of communities, with a particular emphasis on urban social life as studied by the "Chicago school"; and cultural influences on thinking and behavior. Readings include social theorists such as Weber, Durkheim, Marx, Mead, Cooley, and Thomas, as well as recent empirical studies, for example, Hochschild on gender and emotion work, Anderson on the social hierarchy of a working-class African-American bar, Hunter on contemporary cultural conflict, and Bellah on American individualism and the loss of community. Staff. Spring.

202. Sociological Methods. This course is an introduction to the basic strategies and methods of social research. The course covers the ways that we think about questions about the social world and what evidence we use to answer them. We review a number of approaches to gathering evidence, including situational analysis, ethnography, intensive personal interviews, focus groups, and survey data, using recent books as case studies. Students are divided into small working groups. Each working group, supervised by a T.A., selects a research topic. We develop hypotheses about social processes and test them using data collected by the students. Students, in their working groups, conduct intensive interviews and focus group and survey interviews, and analyze the data. They prepare three short research papers, each using one of these types of data. L. Waite. Autumn.

203/304. 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. D. Zhao. Winter.

209/331. Organizational Analysis (=PubPol 230, Sociol 209/331). This course is a systematic introduction to theoretical and empirical work on organizations broadly conceived, such as public and private economic organizations, governmental organizations, prisons, health-care organizations, and professional and voluntary associations. 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. E. Laumann. Autumn.

213/320. Social Stratification. Social stratification is patterned inequality of access to things which members of a society find desirable. Every society has a stratification system. Every serious theory of society attempts to explain the causes and consequences of social stratification. Stratification is fundamental to society and to sociology. This course is a survey of sociological perspectives on stratification that covers how sociologists conceptualize inequality and how the types of data are used in sociological analysis of inequality. This knowledge is essential for students planning further study in sociology and useful for students who are concerned with contemporary social, economic, and political issues. Staff. Winter.

214/514. Community Development: Comparative Perspective (=SSA 457/557, Sociol 214/514). Basic structures of community organization and differential approaches to community change are compared in American and non-American contexts. The role of the worker at the local level is emphasized. Social development or social policy, and administration and planning frameworks are also examined. I. Spergel. Spring.

217/327. Social Distribution of Talent. L. Hedges. Winter.

218. Social and Political Movements. This course provides a general overview and a synthesis on theories of social and political movements. Emphasis is on the importance of state and state society relations to the rise and outcomes of a social or political movement. D. Zhao. Spring.

220/309. Social Change. This course focuses on economic development, political development, social movements, and opinion change. Case materials are drawn from currently developing countries, European historical patterns, and the contemporary United States. W. Parish. Autumn.

223. Nation Building and State Formation. This course examines the formation and reproduction of nation-states. Are there other ways of organizing or imagining people and societies? If so, what is their status in the modern world? What is the future of the nation-state? To what extent are processes such as globalization or ethnic and religious conflict undermining it? The course covers such issues as the "imagining" of nations, the making of the modern state, formations such as ethnic diaspora and religious communities, various intranational or intraregional social conflicts, and the supposed decline of the nation-state in the current age of globalization. J. Go. Winter.

225. The Diverse Society: Race and Ethnicity in the Political Process (=PubPol 465, SSA 469, Sociol 225). This course addresses issues of race, ethnicity, and gender in the context of diversity of American society through readings in sociology of individual and group identity, as well as history and autobiography. Questions raised by a multicultural society for social policy and practice are explored. P. Cafferty. Spring.

226. Inequality and Education. What is meant by "Equality of Educational Opportunity?" How can it be understood in the context of broader sociological perspectives on inequality? Why has educational inequality continued to be such an important concern of researchers and policy makers in the last half of this century? This course explores these questions by examining the concept of equality of educational opportunity and its emergence as a central theme of research in the sociology of education. L. Hill. Winter.

227/361. Urban Structure and Process (=Geog 227/327, SocSci 251, Sociol 227/361). 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 American experience as a way of developing urban policy both in this country and elsewhere. A. Abbott. Winter.

228/328. Educational Assessment (=Educ 327, Psych 353, Sociol 228/328). Educational assessment is the process of determining what a group of individuals know or are able to do. Assessment is an important policy tool that is increasingly used to help monitor accountability in educational systems. Assessment differs from traditional educational and psychological measurement in that its goal is not to determine the achievement of individuals, but the distribution of achievement within groups. This course is an introduction to the practice of assessment, including the development of content frameworks, item development, sampling and data collection, analysis and interpretation. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is used as the primary example to illustrate principles. L. Hedges. Autumn.

229. Problems in Gender Studies (=GendSt 101, SocSci 282, Sociol 229). This course discusses the ways in which feminists have conceptualized and explained gender. It looks at gender as a structure of power, a lived experience, and a contested field of cultural meanings. It also explores the way in which an individual comes to gendered subjectivity from varied locations, marked by differences in race, class, and desire. L. Salzinger. Winter.

230/338. Educational Organization and Social Inequality (=Educ 218/318, PubPol 393, Sociol 230/338). This course presents a review of formulations of education's place in the system of social stratification and focuses on the organization of school systems, schools, and classrooms. Attention is given to the ways in which conceptions of educational organization and of stratification can be related to each other. C. Bidwell. Spring.

232/336. Sociology of Emotion. This course considers the social structuring of emotional life. After short examination of the general social scientific and biological literatures on emotions, it focuses on the ways emotions are produced and controlled by social experience. Areas to be examined include the microstructure of emotion in interaction, emotion work in service industries, the role of emotion in social movements and collective behavior, and cross-cultural varieties in the social structuring of emotional experience. A. Abbott. Autumn.

235/335. Political Sociology (=PolSci 232, PubPol 236/336, Sociol 235/335). PQ: Prior general social sciences course. 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. T. Clark. Spring.

237/370. Japanese Society: Functional and Cultural Explanations. 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. 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 various alternatives and theoretical explanations of the characteristics of Japanese society, but also provides an opportunity to critically review and study selected sociological theories. K. Yamaguchi. Autumn.

238/372. Sociology of China. PQ: Prior Chinese history course. This course teaches China's macrohistory with a sociological perspective. It examines patterns of the Chinese past through the interplay between China's early geopolitical and linguistic development, and their impact on the formation of shared identities of intellectuals, the development of political thought, and institutional arrangement of the state. We consider how the Chinese political system developed into a bureaucratic agrarian empire, why China had a unique development pattern, why the Chinese empire sustained and expanded itself through "dynastic circles," and how the patterns of the Chinese past hindered the indigenous rise of market economy and democracy in China. D. Zhao. Winter.

239/339. Aspects of Israeli Political Culture (=JewStd 288/390, Sociol 239/339). The course focuses upon Israeli political culture. For purposes of the course, political culture is defined as the norms, values, assumptions, and expectations harbored by Israelis in general, and by subsectors of Israeli society toward the political process and public policy. Our concern is with the origins of Israel's political culture, how it has changed in the last fifty years, major issues around which Israeli political culture focuses, and its present state. C. Liebman. Spring.

240. Institutions and Cultures. This course explores the role of culture in understanding and explaining institutional practices and forms. The assigned material includes theoretical works and case studies that draw from cultural sociology, organizational analysis, the classic Chicago school, institutionalism and neoinstitutionalism, and studies of the workplace, the nation-state and the nonprofit sector. From this literature, we examine two different views of the relationship between institutions and cultures: as mutually generative and as analytically distinct. We identify and distinguish among three conceptions of culture: cognitive, expressive, and valuative. Finally, we ask if a "cultural effect" exists, that is, do institutions result from culture, or, instead, do institutions create culture. E. Barman. Autumn.

241/353. Economic Development in the Inner City (=PubPol 246, Sociol 241/353). This course explores conceptually what the issues are around the economic position of cities in the late twentieth century, and how to think creatively about strategies to generate economic growth that would have positive consequences for low income residents. We consider Community Development Corporations, empowerment zones, housing projects, and business development plans through credit and technical assistance. R. Taub. Autumn.

243. Inequality. Inequality pervades most social groupings, where it acts as a force that is both creative and constraining. This course considers different types and forms of inequality as both consequences and causes, with an aim to exploring different ways of understanding systems of inequality. We focus mainly on socioeconomic inequality, but other kinds are considered. We investigate theories about the genesis and maintenance of inequality (for example, human capital theory, Marxist class analysis, gender reproduction theory, and theories of racial stratification), and consider the evidence for these theories provided by empirical studies of specific topics. R. Sandefur. Autumn.

246/346. Philosophical Anthropology. This little-known tradition of Western thought addresses the fundamental question of what it means to be a human being. We consider some of its central texts, including Aristotle, Ethics; Kant, Anthropology in Pragmatic Perspective; Simmel, Lebensanschauung; Scheler, Man's Position in the Universe; Buber, What Is Man?; and Parsons, The Human Condition. D. Levine. Spring.

247. Metropolitan Development and Planning (=Geog 267/367, PubPol 267, Sociol 247). PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. This course focuses on metropolitan development patterns and on the interplay of geopolitical, economic, and social changes in U.S. cities after 1950. Intergovernmental relations and urban planning concepts and institutions are also explored. Selected policies for economic development, land-use management, housing, education, transportation, energy, or the environment are analyzed by region. D. Holleb. Spring.

248/348. Populations, Education, and Social Change in Modern Europe (=Educ 372, Hist 252/352, Sociol 248/348). This lecture course examines the social history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Europe, with particular emphasis on the causes and consequences of demographic and educational patterns and changes. The focus is on individual and familial strategies concerning nuptiality, fertility, migration, schooling, and, by extension, social mobility; and on the ways these strategies interact with economic and social changes and the related public policies. The course is informed by the relevant social and demographic theories, including those grounded in the experiences of the Third World. J. Craig. Winter.

256/329. Urban Policy Analysis (=PolSci 256, PubPol 248/348, Sociol 256/329). 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. T. Clark. Autumn.

257. Violence. Rather than eliminate collective violence, modernity has allowed it to develop new forms and provided new bases for justifying it. We explore the varieties of violent conflict that have characterized modern and pre-modern human societies, with particular attention to feuding, gangsterism, racial and ethnic conflict, and civil war. Much of the discussion aims at identifying the common factors underlying these diverse forms of violent behavior. R. Gould. Spring.

258/368. Conflict Theory and Aikido. The practice of aikido offers a contemporary exemplar for dealing with conflict that has creative applications in many spheres. This course introduces the theory and practice of aikido together with literature on conflict by economists, sociologists, psychologists, and philosophers. We ask: What is conflict? What forms does it take? Is conflict good or bad? What are the sources, dynamics, and consequences of social conflict? How can conflict be controlled? Physical training on the mat complements readings and discussion. D. Levine. Autumn.

261. Sociology of Religion in Film. Discussion of sociology of the religious imagery depicted in certain classic films in which God either appears personally or lurks just off the page: films such as Green Pastures, All That Jazz, Flatliners, Mr. Destiny, Babette's Feast, and Always. We analyze these films using the theoretical social tools of the concepts of Weber, Durkheim, and so forth, as well as Greeley's own theory of religion as poetry. The course begins with an elaboration of sociological theory and religious imagery, and then classes alternate between viewing films and discussing films. A. Greeley, D. Tracy. Spring.

262/362. Survey Analysis I. 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, percentage tables, and log odds. We emphasize practice in writing. This is not a course in sampling methods. J. Davis. Spring.

267/367. Population and Development (=EnvStd 206, Sociol 267/367). PQ: Sociol 205/360. This course is a broad overview of demographic issues in the less developed regions of the world. Demographic patterns and change are discussed with an emphasis on the relationship between socioeconomic development and demographic factors. How do social and economic changes affect population dynamics? Is there an optimal rate of population change? In the light of empirical evidence, we discuss how demographic thought and policies have evolved on these issues. P. Heuveline. Autumn.

269/369. Globalization: Empirical/Theoretical Elements. The course examines how different processes of globalization transform key aspects of, and are in turn shaped by, major institutions (e.g., sovereignty and citizenship), and major processes (e.g., urbanization, immigration, and digitalization). Particular attention goes to analyzing the challenges for theorization and empirical specification. S. Sassen. Winter.

271/371. Sociology of Human Sexuality (=GendSt 271, Sociol 271/371). PQ: Prior introductory course in the social sciences. After briefly reviewing several biological and psychological approaches to human sexuality as points of comparison, we explore the sociological perspective on sexual conduct and its associated beliefs and consequences for individuals and society. Topics are addressed through a critical examination of the recent national survey of sexual practices and beliefs and related empirical studies. Substantive topics covered include gender relations; lifecourse perspectives on sexual conduct in youth, adolescence, and adulthood; social epidemiology of sexually-transmitted infections (including AIDS); sexual partner choice and turnover; and the incidence/prevalence of selected sexual practices. E. Laumann. Spring.

272/373. Applications of Hierarchical Linear Models to Psychological and Social Research (=Educ 253/337, Sociol 272/373). PQ: Basic knowledge of matrix algebra and multivariate statistics. A number of diverse methodological problems (i.e., correlates of change, analysis of multilevel data, and certain aspects of metaanalysis) share a common feature: a hierarchical structure. The hierarchical linear model offers a promising approach to analyzing data in these situations. This course surveys the methodological literature in this area, and demonstrates how the hierarchical linear model can be applied to a range of problems. A. Bryk. Spring.

273. Theories of Crime and Social Control. This course provides an examination of sociological approaches to the study of crime and social control. After reviewing the definition and nature of crime, we study both classic and contemporary theories. At the micro (e.g., individual and familial) and macro (e.g., neighborhood and societal) levels, we highlight the question: how is order maintained without law? R. Sampson. Winter.

275/337. The Institution of Education (=Educ 217/317, PubPol 397, Sociol 275/337). This course is a general survey of the properties of education considered as an institution of historical and contemporary societies. Particular attention is given to institutional formation and change in education, and to education's role in processes of social control and social stratification. C. Bidwell. Winter.

281/381. Classical Theories of Culture. The course surveys classical theories of culture before the linguistic turn, ranging from the very invention of the notion of culture to the sociology of knowledge and early linguistically-oriented theories of culture. Authors we read include Vico, Herder, Burckhardt, Dilthey, Sapir, Vygotsky, Freud, Cassirer, Malinowski, Merton, Elias, Mannheim, and Gramsci. Marx, Weber, and Durkheim are assumed to have been covered in other courses. A. Glaeser. Autumn.

282/382. Mathematical Models. This course reviews and discusses mathematical models, and related theories and analyses of social action, especially emphasizing the rational-choice perspective. Two main areas are covered. (1) About one-half of the lectures focus on the models developed by Coleman, Bonacich, Marsden, and Yamaguchi. We discuss models of choice in the life course, especially focusing on rational and social choice models of birth occurrence and timing, marital partners, and friends and network. We also cover occupations and models of action to reduce risks or costs of certain undesirable life events such as divorce. (2) We also survey both behavioral models and analytical models, and related theories. K. Yamaguchi. Winter.

297. Readings in Sociology. PQ: Consent of instructor and program chairman. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. May be taken P/N with consent of instructor. Staff. Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring.

298. Senior Seminar. PQ: Open to sociology concentrators with fourth-year standing. Must be taken for a letter grade. This course is a forum for students to present their B.A. papers. It is offered as a three-quarter sequence in the autumn, winter, and spring of the senior year. Each quarter counts as one-third course credit; however, students formally register for only one quarter, usually spring. Students graduating at a time other than June should participate in three quarters of the senior seminar in the twelve months before graduation. See the more general statement about the B.A. paper in the brochure Undergraduate Program in Sociology, which is available in the office of the Department of Sociology. R. Stolzenberg. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

299. B.A. Paper. PQ: Consent of instructor and program chairman. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. May be taken P/N with consent of instructor. Staff. Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring.

332. Urban Landscapes as Social Text (=Geog 424, Sociol 332). PQ: Consent of instructor. 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. Students pursue research topics of their own choosing within the general framework. M. Conzen. Autumn.

340. Problems of Public Policy Implementation (=PolSci 249, PubPol 223, Sociol 340). This course is a systematic examination of the interplay among the executive, the administrator, the legislator, and the public as these relationships affect policy and its undertaking. We emphasize the politics of administrator, as well as those political forces that organize around the implementer of public policies. R. Taub. Spring.

350. Organizational Decision Making (=PolSci 275/375, PubPol 335, Sociol 350). This course examines the process of decision making in modern complex organizations, such as universities, schools, hospitals, business firms, and public bureaucracies. The course also considers the impact of information, power, resources, organizational structure, and the environment, as well as alternative models of choice and other implications. J. Padgett. Autumn.

357. Urban Field Research. This course focuses on methods for collecting qualitative field data in urban settings from the ground up. In addition to readings, there are field assignments and students discuss each other's notes. R. Taub. Spring.