This course uses a sociological framework to examine the nature and structure of modern industrial societies. To identify central trends in society and culture, this course covers several basic themes, such as social inequality and social interaction, that have appeared repeatedly in the works of major social thinkers.

This course uses a sociological framework to examine the nature and structure of modern industrial societies. To identify central trends in society and culture, this course covers several basic themes, such as social inequality and social interaction, that have appeared repeatedly in the works of major social thinkers.

This course introduces students to qualitative research methods. The course is designed for students to receive basic training in the collection and analysis of qualitative research data, gain experience writing and presenting qualitative data, get exposure to the theoretical assumptions underlying qualitative inquiry, and to gain insight about the ethical responsibilities surrounding qualitative social analysis. We will focus on methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and archival analysis.

This course provides an overview of sociological research on mass media. Students will explore the social impact of mass media from several different scholarly perspectives, including the early Chicago School, the Columbia School tradition, the Frankfurt School tradition, field theory, and more recent work from cultural sociology. The relationship between democracy and the media will be a central theme throughout the semester. The course concludes with an investigation into the possible strengths and limitations of new media formats, including blogs and social media.

This is a course on the social construction of social problems. It devotes almost exclusive attention to how a 'problem' becomes a social problem; examining how atypical cases become regarded as typical; how definitions are expanded to inflate statistics; and how claim makers and advocacy groups manipulate the media to market social problems and solutions to the public.

This course examines the urban world through a sociological lens. The course begins with a discussion of the history of urban America and then moves into an exploration of many of the key aspects defining contemporary life in metropolitan areas today, including immigration, poverty, segregation, crime, suburbanization and urban culture. By reading and discussing sophisticated demographic research as well as rich ethnographies, this course demonstrates the strong contributions sociology makes to our understanding of these important topics.

This course explores class in the black community from a sociological perspective. It focuses on how race fosters commonalities and how class fuels differences among blacks. We will examine the nature of these commonalities and differences within several contexts, such as neighborhoods, politics, work, and culture.

In this critical survey of the main theoretical perspectives in contemporary sociology, we focus specifically on structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, critical theory, feminism, and postmodernism. Besides gaining familiarity with these alternative perspectives, we try to identify the main axes of theoretical dispute in sociology and discuss the problems of evaluating and resolving conflict between theories.

This course provides a philosophical and sociological interpretation of various aspects of the field of medicine. Topics include measurement of variations in rates of disease and their relationship to social characteristics and social structure, systems of care and hospitalization, and ethical concerns. Topics include death, abortion, human genome sequencing, and assisted suicide.

A dynamic and interactive introduction to Spanish and Spanish American cultures. Covers the basic grammar structures of the Spanish language through extensive use of video, classroom practice, and weekly conversation sessions with a native language assistant. Assumes no previous study of Spanish.