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

Studies the division of labor, occupational classification, labor force trends, career patterns and mobility, occupational cultures and life-styles, and the sociology of the labor market. Prerequisite: Six credits of sociology or instructor permission.

This course delves into sociological approaches to health, including the social construction of health and wellness, medicalization, the intersections of culture, power and inequality with systems of diagnosis and treatment, the social determinants of health, and the subjective experiences of health and disability/illness. Prerequisite: Six credits of Sociology or instructor permission.

This course explores the relationship between politics and society via a focus on historical and/or contemporary issues. Themes may include political power, the role of the state, collective behavior and social change, and civic culture and citizenship.

Our current notions of race, ethnicity and nation were developed in conjunction with nation-states. As such, people use them as a basis through which to define territorial, social, ethical and emotional boundaries. In this course, we will leverage a global comparative perspective to better understand the organizing principles of modern nations and nation-states and how they affect the ways we act, classify, think and feel.

An independent study project conducted by students under the supervision of an instructor of their choice. Prerequisite: Fourth-year students with a minimum GPA of 3.2 in sociology (or overall GPA of 3.2 for non-majors) and instructor permission.

Analyzes issues in sociological research and supports the writing of a Distinguished Majors thesis under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Prerequisites: SOC 3120 and Admission to the Distinguished Majors Program in Sociology.

A seminar focusing on the writings of Marx, Weber, Durkheim and other social theorists. Open to students in related disciplines. Prerequisite: Six credits of sociology or instructor permission; open to advanced undergraduates.

This course will focus not so much on methodological as on substantive issues of macro sociological inquiry. Among the topics covered will be: the state, power, revolution, nationalism and class formation. Prerequisite: Six credits of sociology or instructor permission.

Studies the steps necessary to design a research project including searching the literature, formulating the problem, deriving propositions, operationalizing concepts, constructing explanations, and testing hypotheses. Prerequisite: SOC 3120, or graduate standing, six credits of sociology; or instructor permission.