Course information contained within the Bulletin is accurate at the time of publication in July 2024 but is subject to change. For the most up-to-date course information, please refer to the Course Catalog.
SOC 8011. Logic of Inquiry. 3 Credit Hours.
This course is an introduction to the logic and methods of social research. We will examine the issues that arise in doing and evaluating both quantitative and qualitative research by reading the sociological literature. We will spend some time on the simple tools, e.g. tables and graphs, needed to summarize research results. However the focus will be on larger issues, namely, how researchers draw conclusions from empirical data, and how we can assess the validity of the conclusions they reach.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8111. Classical Social Theory. 3 Credit Hours.
This course reviews the main lines of sociological and other "social" thought of the modern times (roughly from the 1660s to our time), paying attention to four basic directions in theorizing: (1) The liberal and "classical economic" theories of John Locke and Adam Smith and the rise of neo-classical (neo-liberal) thinking [rational choice theory and its variations]. (2) The liberal-idealist theory of German philosophy (since Kant) and the "interpretative" and "subjectivist" paradigm of Wax Weber [and various neo- and nearly-Weberians. (3) The "social-structural" ("dialectical" in the old language) theory of Karl Marx and its many offshoots [neo-Marxisms, half-Marxisms (such as "Critical Theory," etc.), post-Marxisms]. (4) The "collectivist" (sociologistic) theory of Emile Durkheim and its contemporary versions ["structuralist" (Blau), "culturalist" and "functionalist" (Parsons), "systems" (Luhmann), or "neo-functionalist" (Faia, Alexander)].
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8211. Inferential and Multivariate Statistics. 4 Credit Hours.
This course starts with a review of bivariate statistics and moves quickly into multivariate statistics focusing on multiple regression. The emphasis of this course is on conceptual understanding, interpretation, and application. All major computations are performed using the SPSS computing program. Students are also expected to learn the basic skills for working with large social science data sets, such as the GSS. This course serves as a prerequisite for
SOC 9211, which involves the application of the statistical procedures taught in this class to the study of real social issues through secondary data analysis.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8221. Qualitative Methods. 3 Credit Hours.
This course introduces the assumptions, theories and practices of qualitative research methods. The course is designed to provide opportunities for developing specific qualitative research skills while gaining familiarity with theories, issues, and problems in qualitative research.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8231. Demography & Immigration. 3 Credit Hours.
This course surveys the social demographic research on immigration, broadly conceived, and the numerous social, economic, and political processes with which it intersects. The course has two main goals: (1) to introduce students to the sources of data most commonly used by social demographers to study immigration and to social demographic methods; and (2) to critically review the leading social demographic research literature on the dynamics of immigration and social change. The data and research covered during the semester will focus primarily on the United States, but a non-negligible share of the course will be devoted to cross-national comparisons, the global migration system, and transnationalism and development.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8241. The Ethics of Social Research. 3 Credit Hours.
This course examines many of the ethical dimensions of conducting social research. Social researchers are accountable to: a) their own consciences and their own ethics, b) the actual people they are studying, c) international and federal laws, d) institutional policies and practices, e) their disciplines and sub-fields, f) their peers and colleagues, and g) any other communities to which they belong or in which they participate. This course examines a series of readings organized around key themes in research ethics. In addition, students are asked to investigate particular cases of alleged research misconduct and to take a position on the controversy. By the end of this class, students should: 1) Know the key laws and statues governing social research; 2) Be familiar with the ethical resources available to social researchers; 3) Be able to evaluate the ethics of particular research cases; and 4) Be able to weigh ethical dilemmas in their own research practice and make responsible decisions about those dilemmas.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8311. Sociology of Education. 3 Credit Hours.
The main focus is on the ways educational systems both maintain and challenge social inequality. Students discuss the ways education differentially allocates resources based on race, class, and gender. The class explores this issue in both "classical readings" in the Sociology of Education, and also in recent books by those working in the field. Books chosen for the course are intended to begin discussion on contemporary debates. The class pays special attention to whether the policies discussed by them ameliorate or exacerbate existing inequalities by race, class, and/or gender. This course has three main objectives: (1) prepare students for the preliminary examination in the Sociology of Education through discussions of main theories, ideas, and classical works in the field; (2) promote critical debate about contemporary issues in education by reading and discussing "hot topics" in education like debates over curricula, "marketing" universities, racial inequality in school achievement, and school choice; and (3) advance students' own research projects through frequent discussions and evaluations of students' work by the instructor and their peers.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8331. Race and Ethnicity. 3 Credit Hours.
This course focuses on the nature of racism, discrimination, prejudice, racial conflict, and racial oppression in American society. Special emphasis will be given to the relationship between race, gender, nationality, immigration status and social class.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8341. Sociology of Kinship. 3 Credit Hours.
This course will survey a range of topics from the field of sociology of kinship: historical changes in kinship as well as global changes in the family over the twentieth century; inequalities in families related to social class, social capital and family life; inequalities related to race and ethnicity; comparative adolescence and transitions to adulthood; sexuality and love in transnational contexts; perspectives on psychic and intimate relations in families; gender and power relations within the family; the state, public policy and the politics of kinship relations and more. We will also examine how the family came to be a centrally contested sphere in contemporary American political debates. Finally, you will have hands-on experience formulating a research proposal that investigates a research question related to this literature as well as assessing and responding to the proposals of your classmates. The purpose of the seminar is to review some of the major debates in this rapidly evolving field and to gain experience in formulating viable research questions about contemporary kinship issues.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8361. Urban Sociology. 3 Credit Hours.
This course is about the space and urban sociology. The goal of this course is twofold: 1) to review, assess and analyze important theoretical perspectives on space in urban sociology, and 2) to determine the utility of applying these perspectives to contemporary urban issues. Urban problems will be examined largely from the perspective of how space and location are linked to these problems and they will not be investigated in their own right. The underlying theme of this course relates to theoretical propositions around space. This course will also focus on research from the vantage point of how theory can and should be used as a foundation for conceptualizing research problems.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8371. Sociology of Culture. 3 Credit Hours.
The goal of this class is to survey the breadth of work that has been conducted under the sociology of culture, to identify the many ways that culture has been shown to be powerful, to examine competing theories about how culture works, to identify the types of research methods that can be used in cultural analysis, and to pinpoint the ways that each of us can embrace a cultural perspective in our own research.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8381. Social Inequality. 3 Credit Hours.
This course reviews theories and research regarding the dimensions of inequality and the processes which create, increase, and decrease inequality. It also examines the issues of the relationships between the dimensions of inequality and the processes of cumulative advantage and disadvantage. Individuals, groups, areas, and other social contexts are typically organized hierarchically, and the course explores the ways in which these different social levels shape and are shaped by social inequality over the life course. Examples of these processes include social multiplier effects, "winner take all" theories, the "Matthew Effect" in science, and the "Peter Principle."
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8391. Medical Sociology. 3 Credit Hours.
This course examines the historical changes in the ideas of health and disease and in society's response to illness. An important component of the course will be to examine the influences of social/political environment on morbidity and mortality in the United States and how population sub-groups experience illness in the medical system.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8401. Sexuality and Gender. 3 Credit Hours.
This is a research intensive course in which we will examine the historical and sociological structures underlying relationships of sexuality and gender. The perspective of the course is that sexuality is a social creation with meaning to be found in culture. Sexuality is learned through socialization and resocialization. This learning takes place within a gendered social system and so sexuality itself is gendered in our culture. We will examine a number of theoretical perspectives and read the major sociological work in the field. The course will be divided into a reading seminar during the first half of each class and research presentations by students in the second half. During the course of the semester each student will each work on a topic of her choosing and will present her progress to class periodically.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8411. Gender and Body. 3 Credit Hours.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8421. Urban Health. 3 Credit Hours.
Globally, the majority of humans now live in cities. Yet questions about what makes for healthy cities—and how we can measure and assess the complex relationship between health and place—continue to pose theoretical and methodological challenges for planners, social scientists, and biomedical researchers. Recent scholarship in the sociology of health and illness has focused on how the social determinants of health—sometimes called the non-medical determinants of health—powerfully shape health and mortality outcomes. Poverty, social isolation, political ideologies and economic policies, neighborhood contexts and effects of social networks have all been shown to be influential in determining the health and well-being both of entire groups and the individuals in them, acting as a serious constraint on (or enabler of) basic life chances. This course focuses on the empirical evidence for these health disparities and the theories about how and why they manifest as they do in urban settings. This seminar is designed to appeal to students interested in urban health, population health, the sociology of health and illness, and place and health.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8431. Globalization and Development. 3 Credit Hours.
This graduate course is designed to critically examine the competing perspectives, historical processes, and key issues and debates in the study of globalization and development. Our emphasis is on the relationships between local and global social, economic, political, and cultural processes. In particular, we will focus on the late 20th century and early 21st century "globalization," known as the "neo-liberal globalization," and how the forces of globalization interact with the development trajectories of nation-states, societies, and communities.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8510. Special Departmental Seminar. 3 Credit Hours.
The topics will vary and cover areas not covered by the current roster of classes. Please consult with the instructor for details.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.
SOC 8620. Departmental Seminar. 3 Credit Hours.
The topics will vary and cover areas not covered by the current roster of classes. Please consult with the instructor for details.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.
SOC 8873. Writing for the Social Sciences. 3 Credit Hours.
This seminar will help any social scientist become a better writer and thinker. We'll achieve this be creating a collaborative space where a community of readers help each other draft and revise our writing and thereby refine our thinking. The course begins with what makes for good writing in general, starting with sentences then moving onto paragraphs and outlines, and then onto the two types of editing: copy-editing and developmental editing. Then we move to the basics of good arguments, a key skill for social scientists. The course requires you to develop and submit a semester-long work plan that specifies dates for key writing deliverables. You will choose or be assigned a writing partner, who in addition to your instructor will serve as a primary reader and editor of your work.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 8883. Second-Year Research. 0 Credit Hours.
This course is for students preparing their Second Year Research Paper. Students will need to assemble a committee of two sociology professors who will grade their second-year paper. Students will work with their committee throughout the semester to make sure their work is aligned with committee expectations. Committees will evaluate papers based on the demonstrated abilities to synthesize the relevant literatures, to conceptualize a researchable problem, and/or carrying out a feasible research design.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
Pre-requisites: Minimum grade of C- in SOC 8011.
SOC 9111. Contemporary Sociological Theory. 3 Credit Hours.
This course surveys a broad range of theoretical perspectives from the 20th and 21st centuries. The course compares these theories in terms of how they contribute to on-going sociological research around a number of social problems.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 9131. Theories of Identity. 3 Credit Hours.
A seminar that offers the students the opportunity for specialized study of one of the most debated issues in sociology nowadays: social and cultural identities. The course will deal with the last developments in identity theory, emphasizing the work of Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, Slavoj Zizek, Stuart Hall, Craig Calhoun, R.S. Perinbanayagam, James Holstein, Jaber Gubrium, Judith Butler, Lawrence Grossberg, Charles Taylor and Paul Ricouer, among others.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 9141. Theories of Globalization. 3 Credit Hours.
This course provides a broad introduction to the major theories, approaches, issues and debates in the studies of globalization. Globalization has redefined not only the way we understand society at the very basic level but also our own sense of place and identity in a world where we are connected to and influenced by events and people in far off places. Substantively, this course will focus on the relationships between local and global social, economic, political, and cultural processes across time and space. Our scope will be global and historical-comparative, and our approach will be sociological and interdisciplinary.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 9211. Graduate Data Analysis. 3 Credit Hours.
In this course, you will do original sociological research using secondary data analysis. In this course, in addition to looking for meaningful relationships between variables in the data, we apply quantitative research methods to examine explanations for why relationships between variables may exist. To do this, we explore whether and how a relationship between two variables changes when we add a third (or fourth or fifth…) variable. The research process consists of several steps: (1) construct a research question, (2) formulate one or more theories related to your research question based on a literature review, (3) turn those theories into testable hypotheses, and (4) test those hypotheses using secondary data. Your research will be presented in a final paper organized according to the standards of the discipline and then summarized in an oral presentation.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
Pre-requisites: Minimum grade of B- in SOC 8211.
SOC 9241. Qualitative Data Analysis. 3 Credit Hours.
The central goal of this course is to have students complete a qualitative research project. It focuses on how to collect data, how to organize data for analysis, and how to use the data to answer a research question and/or develop concepts that might inform future research. Toward this end, the course begins with readings about the qualitative research process. The readings detail the agenda(s), logic, and epistemological foundation of qualitative research.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 9291. Departmental Seminar in Research Methods. 3 Credit Hours.
The topics in research methods will vary and cover areas not covered by the current roster of classes. Please consult with the instructor for details.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 9311. Immigration and Inequality. 3 Credit Hours.
The causes, consequences, and repercussions of immigration constitute one of the most important topics of the 21st century. This course surveys key current theoretical debates in the study of international migration with an emphasis on related literature dealing with gender, kinship, and ethnicity. Considered are theoretical approaches to international migration; controversies regarding assimilation; the framing of migration through gender and kinship relations, social networks, and social capital; family ideologies and achievement; and the social context of immigration, ethnic niches and enclaves, transnationalism, empirical trends in post-WWII United States immigration and settlement, second-generation immigrant patterns, and immigration policies and politics. The long-term goal is to encourage students to undertake research in the field of migration research. This field is unique in its interdisciplinary and methodologically pluralist nature: stretching from the demography and economics of migration, through political science, sociological and geographical approaches, to the ethnography and oral history of migrants.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 9321. Theories of Race and Racism. 3 Credit Hours.
This course focuses on theories and analyses that seek to explain the social salience of race. The selected readings explore various concepts that surround the study of race, such as racism, white supremacy, oppression and subordination, nationalism, sexism and inequality. Many scholars believe that modernity, capitalism, and race are coterminous. We will explore in this seminar those connections. Some of the questions that we will explore are: How did the racial dimension of world society come to be, and how did it gain such weight in the organization of social/economic/political processes? How are the racial dimensions of society constituted and changed? How are they related to other central aspects of society, such as class, gender, ethnicity, age, nationality, citizenship, etc.? What is the relation between race, racism and whiteness? Is it a colorblind society possible? What is a "race narrative" and how it affects people's identities and social structures?
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 9382. Independent Study Progm. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.
With the consent of the graduate chairperson and the instructor concerned, students may select an intensive program of study and/or research within a specific area of sociology.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.
SOC 9385. Internship in Social Research. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.
The internship in social research provides a learning experience that unites the core concepts of sociology with professional organizational settings and the community as a whole, while also guiding students as they transition into their own professional lives.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
SOC 9386. Internship in Social Research - Part II. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.
The internship in social research provides a learning experience that unites the core concepts of sociology with professional organizational settings and the community as a whole, while also guiding students as they transition into their own professional lives.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
Pre-requisites: Minimum grade of B- in SOC 9385.
SOC 9994. Preliminary Examination Preparation. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.
This is an advanced reading course for students preparing for the preliminary examination.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.
SOC 9998. Pre-Dissertation Research. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.
This course is for advanced graduate students who are developing a dissertation.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.
SOC 9999. Dissertation Research. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.
This course is for advanced graduate students, post-candidacy, working on their dissertations.
Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Student Attribute Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Student Attributes: Dissertation Writing Student.
Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.
