Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores how sociologists study, describe, and explain social life. Introduces the sociological perspective and applies it to fundamental social process and everyday issues. As we consider phenomena ranging from interactions among individuals to societal and global inequalities, students critically examine social issues to build their understanding of the world. Breadth-Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

We are living in some times that are making sociology’s relevance clear in a new way! The sociological term “structural racism” is becoming part of mainstream discussions. People are seeing how income inequality affects not just what people can buy, but also how at risk people are to be infected by illness, or to lose their jobs, or be able to find new ones. The pandemic’s effects have been shining a light on aspects of society, and ways social life works, that people often either don’t see or take for granted. Many of us are experiencing social life from a different personal point of view than we had in the past — or we are becoming more aware of how differently other people experience it, or more aware of problems that we and others experience.

This all means that right now is a particularly interesting and useful time to take Introduction to Sociology. In this course, you will learn how sociology’s research findings and theoretical perspectives help explain social life. You will, for instance, gain a deep understanding of structural racism and what’s behind it: not just its definition, but what its components are, what other phenomena support it, what it looks like at its most obvious and its most subtle, and what can mitigate its effects or decrease its presence.

Sociologists focus on how dynamics among groups and societies affect individual lives, and vice versa. This dual focus means we look at humans in a different way than people do in many other fields. You will learn to see life through the sociological lens, and use it to explore both big phenomena that shape societies and individual-level experiences that shape everyday life. We will also explore how the big processes and the everyday experiences are related. You will use course material to develop your own perspective on social issues, and your own understanding of social life.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

This class is designed from the ground up to be online. Course material will be a mix of assigned texts, plus written material, and short video lectures that I post online. You will also be in a small discussion group, with a TA, where you will have asynchronous written discussions of questions I have posed. I will visit discussions during the term, and add regular course-wide updates and responses.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: