This course examines how the medical system is shaped by cultural and societal forces, analyzing unique dimensions of medicine from varying perspectives prominent in the discipline of Sociology. Topics will focus upon the interaction of social categories (e.g., socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, gender/sexuality) upon the distribution of diseases, experiences of illness, and relationships between patients and medical professionals.

This course explores the social dimensions of health and illness, focusing especially on the social experience of illness, the social determinants of disease, and the role and meaning of medicine and public health in modern U.S. society. The class examines how we define health problems and their solutions, and it considers the ways in which race, gender, class, age, and sexuality matter for understanding health-related experiences and discourses.

This course conceives alternative possibilities for our cities. It will include such lines of inquiry as the challenges of equality and justice; sustainability and environmental change; the potential and limits of technology; and the impact of the changing global context. We will examine currently emerging urban forms as well as attempts to imagine new forms of urban life.

Many goals require the combined efforts of multiple individuals, from developing a new product to providing health care to the poor. Yet individuals have their own interests, so how do organizations keep them coordinated? And what are the impacts of organizations on social inequality and social institutions such as democracy? This course introduces the study of organizations in their cultural, economic and political environments.

This course considers the nature and effects of consumer society; it explores the theories, practices, and politics of modern consumption. Topics include the historical development of consumer society; the role of consumption in creating personal and political identities; the cultural and social meanings of seemingly impersonal objects like money; the commodification of social life; and the politics of consumption.

Studies the relationship between family and society as expressed in policy and law. Emphasizes the effects of formal policy on the structure of families and the interactions within families. The American family system is examined as it has responded to laws and policies of government and private industry and to changes in society. Prerequisite: Six credits of sociology or instructor permission.

This course will consider the social-science perspective on law and legal institutions; theories of laws and legal institutions that trace their origin to social consensus or social inequality; how social inequality influences how people think about law, why they obey it, and whether they mobilize it to resolve disputes; and whether law is an effective tool for social change.

This course explores mental health and illness in social context, focusing especially on the history, definitions, social and cultural determinants, and consequences of conceptualizations and treatment of mental illness. It includes an examination of perceptions of mental illness in popular culture, and the spread of psychiatric ideas in more global context. Pre-requisite: six credits of Sociology

Focusing on the fundamental concepts of sociology with special attention to sociological theory and research methods, this course is a more advanced version of introductory sociology. The course is designed to enable students to learn more deeply about the various ideas and concepts of the sociological tradition and to develop their capacity to use them. This course counts in place of SOC 1010 for sociology major and minor requirements.

Focuses on the construction of gender and sexuality, and of the many ways human groups regulate and attach meanings to these categories. Some general themes addressed will be: contemporary and historical definitions of gender, sex, and sexuality; gender socialization; the varieties of sexual identities and relationships; embodiment, childbearing, and families in the contemporary United States. Prerequisite: At least 3 credits in Sociology or permission of instructor.