Sociology 301 - Writing in Sociology

What should sociologists write and how? This course looks at writing in sociology, and investigates how writers move from an interest or a hunch to a finished piece of research-based writing. We'll practice various writing skills such as posing questions, crafting thesis statements, and organizing paragraphs into effective arguments. As we do, you will see how our choices as writers can shift the tone and impact of a sociological argument to say more meaningful and specific things about an urgent issue.

Open to Junior & Senior Sociology primary majors only. CW Gen Ed Writing on the Sociology of the Self

This is a course on analytical writing in which you will learn how to write clearly and analytically about ideas, texts and data related to selfhood. All writing in this social-psychological course will pertain to the question of what it means to be a self. Are you your biographical story your traits, the sum of your social identities, how you present or see yourself, how others see you?or something else entirely? In U.S. individualistic culture, very often we view the self as something separate from other people and inherent to the person, and we attribute a person's life trajectory and outcomes to who they are?: good, bad, driven, caring. We assume that the self is a continuous thing with a life of its own independent of situations. In this writing-intensive course, we will question these views and ask: what is a self really? We will delve into this big philosophical question through texts, discussion, your own interview research findings, oral presentations, and various forms of writing to investigate (and question) just who you really are.

Fulfills the junior year writing requirement