Sociology 216SP - Status/Pwr in Soc. Interaction

This course will use theories and research from sociological social psychology to examine status and power dynamics within social interaction as both symptoms and sources of social inequality. We will learn how status beliefs emerge from social differences in material resources and power, and how they serve to perpetuate social inequalities over time by shaping our interpretations of social events and our behavior and emotions when we interact with others. We will explore why broad social inequalities are often durable, and how the dynamics of social interaction serve to sustain them. We will also examine the means by which these inequalities can be overcome.