This course examines sociological theories of power and their intersections with culture. It focuses on oppression and social change in the 20th and 21st century U.S. through the lens of cultural expression, beliefs and meaning. It includes close reading of social theories of power and empirical studies of social institutions and social identities. Prerequisite: Six credits in Sociology or permission of instructor

Studies elementary statistical methods for social science applications. Topics include summarizing data with graphs and descriptive measures, generalizing from a sample to a population as in opinion polls, and determining the relationship between two variables. No special mathematical background is required, and students will be taught basic computer techniques. Three hours of lecture, two hours of laboratory work. Majors are expected to take this course in their third year. Prerequisites: SOC 3120

The class introduces the 'new social studies of childhood' and the idea that the experience of childhood is a social construction, not a string of biological facts. Topics include: how caring for children varies across time & space, and considering childhood in the context of Western cultural trends - increasing inequality, unequal distribution of overwork, poverty, war, liberty, decreasing privacy, consumerism, sexualization, networked society.

This course will provide an understanding of how sociologists interpret the body in modernity. Topics will include the body in consumer culture, the gendered body, body modification, identity and the body, technology and the body, the regulation of bodies, and vulnerable bodies. Students will be able to understand the central issues and concepts used by sociologists who study embodiment and the relationship between the body and society.

Introduces the study of race and ethnic relations, including the social and economic conditions promoting prejudice, racism, discrimination, and segregation.  Examines contemporary American conditions, and historical and international materials.

Explores the ways in which physical environments shape and are shaped by social life.  Examines the relationship between urban space and culture in different historical and social settings, though there is a particular focus on the rise and development of modernity as expressed through the experience of particular cities.

Social movements are an historical and global phenomenon of great complexity and variety. Because the topic can be so broad, the course is organized around case studies of civil rights, the industrial workers' movement, environmentalism, religious fundamentalism, and the counter movements to globalization. These cases will be used to illustrate variety of themes and principles, and you'll learn about specific events, personalities, organizations, and dynamics that shaped these movements. By this method, you will gain specific knowledge about important social movements, as well as an overview and general orientation to the sociology of this dynamic area of social life. Prerequisite: SOC 1010 or instructor permission.

Study of a comprehensive contemporary understanding of the history, struggle and diversity of the African-American community.

Empires -- large, multinational, territorially-dispersed political entities - have been pervasive in human history. This course will examine a number of them, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, land and overseas empires. It will seek to find out what principles and practices might be common to all of them, and what, on the contrary, might distinguish them from each other. Six credits of Sociology or instructor permission.

This course focuses on various aspects of religion and society such as American culture, gender and the family, politics, science, religious diversity and pluralism, violence, and other emerging issues.