“The function of the university is not simply to teach breadwinning, or to furnish teachers for the public schools, or to be a centre of polite society; it is, above all, to be the organ of that fine adjustment between real life and the growing knowledge of life, an adjustment which forms the secret of civilization.”
– W.E.B. Du Bois
“The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.” – James Baldwin
SOCIOLOGY 320: Multiplicity of Identities and University Life Research Practicum (FA 2016)
About the Course:
Sociology 320 is a research practicum course that involves the supervised practical application of previously studied theories of research method. It is offered as a way to assist students who are interested in learning about the research process through practical application. As a student enrolled in this course, you will undertake a research project in which you will work with data provided by the instructor. This research practicum especially deals with qualitative data and methods. Students should expect to receive basic training in how to work with qualitative data. This training includes transcribing, coding, basics of building literature reviews, research ethics (CITI Program certification), and some analysis work.
View Syllabus Here: SOC 320_FA 2016
SOCIOLOGY 170: Population Problems (FA 2016, SPR 2017, FA 2017)
About the Course:
Population Problems draws on materials and perspectives from the related fields of demography (the statistical study of populations) and epidemiology (the study of the distribution and determinants of health and disease states in populations). We will examine how certain social phenomena—particularly structural inequality—influence and are reproduced by population change both globally and in the contemporary United States. Throughout the course, we will focus on issues that feature in current social science and public policy debates, including population aging, fertility and reproduction, immigration, and social inequalities. We’ll pay special attention to health disparities by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
The goals of the course are (1) to provide students with methodological tools to understand population change in a systematic way, (2) to introduce the core concepts and debates in social demography and social epidemiology, and (3) to use these tools and concepts to (a) understand how population processes contribute to the production of inequality within and across generations and (b) examine racial and ethnic inequality in the United States and its implications for population health.
View Discussion Syllabus Here: SOC170_FALL17
SOCIOLOGY/ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES 220: Ethnic Movements in the U.S. (FA 2014, SPR 2015, FA 2015, SPR 2016)
About the Course:
This course uses a social movements perspective to discuss ethnic movements and conflict in the United States. Questions we will discuss include: (1) When do groups adopt collective rather than individual strategies for improving their status? (2) When and how are ethnic identities constructed? How and when do people come to see a common identity despite differences within the group? (3) How do economic and political conditions affect life conditions and shape the possibilities for collective action? (4) What are the interests and issues involved in inter-group conflict? (5) How does the history of inter-group relations affect the present? Substantively, most of our emphasis will be on African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. Lectures and supplementary articles will give information about other Hispanic groups, Jews, European immigrant groups, and nativist/racist movements among European Americans. We seek to understand current issues and conflicts by locating them in their historical and political/economic context. We will pay close attention to the resource mobilization and political opportunity questions: who controls the situation, what resources and capacities do aggrieved groups have to affect the situation? We will also give explicit attention to the ways in which different groups have different perspectives and interests. Some of the time we will be focusing on giving the facts about a particular group, and other times we will be discussing topics that cut across groups. There will be at least four films shown and at least two guest speakers, possibly more.
View Discussion Syllabus Here: SOC220_SPR2016
SOCIOLOGY 120: Marriage and Family (SPR 2014)
About the Course:
The family is a fundamental building block of social life in at least two senses. First, families provide the context in which individual lives unfold: they set the stage for birth, life, love, and death. In this sense, families are “private institutions.” Second, families have consequences for the greater good: they educate children and care for the elderly, but they also play a major role in generating and perpetuating social inequalities. In this sense, families are “public institutions” that matter for society as a whole. This course will examine families as private and as public institutions from the perspectives of family sociology and social demography. As such, it will focus primarily on aggregate patterns and historical trends within and between groups as defined by race, gender, and socioeconomic status, and less on individual experiences.
A major goal of this course is to learn about differences in family patterns in the contemporary United States and throughout history. While it may be tempting to assume that there can only be one “best” or “natural” way to organize family life, research indicates that a fundamental constant in family life is change. Consequently, it is a major goal of the course to evaluate critically our own assumptions about family structures and processes.
View Syllabi Here: SOC120_Syllabus_SPR2014, SOC120_LECTURE_SPR2014
SOCIOLOGY 160: Understanding Human Sexuality (FA 2013)
About the Course:
The subject matter of this course is human sexual expression. While we will cover most aspects of sexuality, the emphasis will be on the contributions of social scientists to our understanding of this topic. Objectives of this course are to: 1) To provide practical information needed for everyday living (information about sexual anatomy, contraception, and sexual transmitted infections, for example) and to deal with problems in sexual functioning (such as early ejaculation or inability to have an orgasm), 2) To help students appreciate the fabulous diversity of human sexuality along many dimensions including age, sexual orientation and identity, ethnicity within the United States (a multiethnic perspective), and culture around the world (a multicultural perspective), 3) To help students feel more at ease with thinking and talking about sex, both to minimize their own personal discomfort with a tension-causing topic and to help them become responsible decision-makers in an important aspect of their personal lives and in their roles as citizens and voters, 4) To familiarize students with methods used in research on sexuality, and particularly with problems inherent in some of these methods, so that they can read research reports critically and intelligently.
View Syllabi Here: Soc160_Discussion_FA2013, Soc160_Lecturesyllabus