SOCI W 1000xy The Social World

Identification of the distinctive elements of sociological perspectives on society. Readings confront classical and contemporary approaches with key social issues that include power and authority, culture and communication, poverty and discrimination, social change, and popular uses of sociological concepts.
Discussion Section Required.
3 points

SOCI BC 1003x Introductory Sociology

Introduction to the sociological imagination which focuses on group influences on the individual (conformity, social structure and personality, community and deviance); the institutional arrangements of class, gender, ethnicity, and bureaucracy; the role of social movements and technology in social change.

SOCI BC 2208x Culture in America
The values and meanings that form American pluralism. The three sections explore taste, consumption, and art; moral conflict, religion and secularism; identity, community and ideology. Examples range widely: Individualism, liberalism and conservatism; Obama's "transracial" endeavor; the food revolution; struggles over family and sexuality; multiculturalism; assimilation and immigration. - J. Rieder
3 points

SOCI V 2230y Food & The Social Order

Instrumental in the formation and transformation of the social order, food is an indicator of collective as well as individual aspirations and assumptions. We shall look at the production and consumption of food, both material and symbolic, from the eating in the Bible to globalization in the 21st century.
3 points

SOCI W 2240y Economy and Society

Introduction to economic sociology. Economic sociology is built around the claim that something fundamental is lost when markets are analyzed separately from other social processes. We will look especially at how an analysis of the interplay of economy and society can help us to understand questions of efficiency, questions of fairness, and questions of democracy.
3 points

SOCI W 3000x and y Social Theory

Overview of classical and contemporary social theories and examination of their relationship to social practices and social institutions. Topics include: "first generation" sociological theorists (Marx, Weber, and Durkheim); psychoanalysis and social theory; symbolic interactionism; social exchange theory; structural-functionalism; sociobiology; and varieties of "post modern" approaches to understanding the social world.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC). General Education Requirement: Reason and Value (REA).
3 points

SOCI W 3010x Methods for Social Research

Introductory course in social scientific research methods. Provides a general overview of the ways sociologists collect information about social phenomena, focusing on how to collect data that are reliable and applicable to our research questions.
Prerequisites: SOCI W1000 The Social World or Instructor Permission
3 points

SOCI W 3020x and y Social Statistics

Teaches the fundamentals of analyzing numerical data in a social science context. Students will learn effective ways of presenting informational summaries, the use of statistical inference from samples to populations, and the linear model which forms the basis of much social science research. Emphasis will be on an intuitive understanding of statistical formulae and models, and on their practical application.
3 points

SOCI BC 3087x-BC3088y (Section 01) Individual Projects for Seniors

The instructor will supervise the writing of long papers involving some form of sociological research and analysis.

SOCI BC 3087x-BC3088y (Section 02) Individual Projects for Seniors

The instructor will supervise the writing of long papers involving some form of sociological research and analysis.

SOCI BC 3087x-BC3088y (Section 03) Individual Projects for Seniors

The instructor will supervise the writing of long papers involving some form of sociological research and analysis.

SOCI V 3115x Feminist Theory

Analysis of the theoretical assumptions and political implications of liberal, radical, Marxist, and socialist variants of first- and second-wave feminist theory, including recent works in psychoanalytic and postmodern feminism. Also considers the implications of such feminist arguments for debates within contemporary and classical sociological theory.
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited. Introductory course in Sociology. Not offered in 2009-2010.
4 points

SOCI W 3190y Introduction To Historical Sociology

How can we understand such major social forces as nationalism, Islam, and class conflict by combining historical analysis and sociological theory? Can these two disciplines take us further than either one alone?
3 points

SOCI V 3200x Social Inequalities: Gender, Class and Race

Critical role of gender, class, and race in social life, and their relationship to inequality, community, and culture. Focuses on reactions to and perceptions of difference in the spheres of family, work, sexuality, and politics.
General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC). Not offered in 2009-2010.
3 points

SOCI V 3208y Unity and Division in the Contemporary United States: A Sociological View

Conflict and unity in the U.S: the tensions of individualism and communalism; the schism between blue and red states; culture war; the careers of racism and anti-Semitism; identity politics and fragmentation; immigration and second eneration identities; the changing status of whiteness and blackness; cultural borrowing and crossover culture.
General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC).
4 points

SOCI BC 3211y (Section 001) Quantitative Methods

Introduction to statistical methods emphasizing their application to practical research problems. Topics include frequency distributions, cross-tabulations and correlation, basic concepts of probability, hypothesis testing, and the analysis of variance. Students will learn to execute basic statistical analyses on a personal computer.
Prerequisites: One introductory course in Sociology suggested. Recitation Section Required. General Education Requirement: Quantitative and Deductive Reasoning (QUA). Not offered in 2009-2010.
4 points

SOCI W 3218y Crime, Law and Society

Critically examines the interplay between crime, law, and the administration of justice in the United States and how these issues are shaped by larger societal factors. Students will receive a theoretical and empirical overview of the American legal and criminal justice system, emphasizing such issues as: the function and purpose of crime control; the roles of the actors/subjects of the criminal justice system; crime and violence as cultural and political issues in America; racial disparities in offending and criminal justice processing; and juvenile justice.
3 points

SOCI V 3220y Masculinity: A Sociological View

Examines the cultural, political, and institutional forces that govern masculinity. Focuses on various meanings of "being a man" and the effects these different types of masculinity have on both men and women. Explores some of the variation among men and relationships between men and women.
Prerequisites: One introductory course in Sociology is suggested. General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC).
3 points

SOCI V 3227x The Sociology of U.S. Economic Life

Examines the social forces that shape market behavior: ideologies of liberalism and conservatism; the culture of commodities and consumption; income, class, and quality of life; the immigrant economy; life in financial institutions; the impact of the global economy.

SOCI V 3235x or y Social Movements

Introduction to theory and research on national social movements, with emphasis on how political, organizational, and cultural factors shape when and how people collectively mobilize for social change. Focus is on contemporary American activism, including the civil rights movement, the new Left student movement, the feminist movement, gay/lesbian activism, and more recent transnational social movements.

SOCI BC 3237y Sociology of Consumers and Markets

This course surveys the ways in which credit has been provided to consumers throughout the 20th century. Topics include loan sharking, credit cards, microcredit, and subprime mortgages. We will examine the link between personal indebtedness and economic growth as a key dimension of the current economic crisis.
3 points

SOCI V 3247y The Immigrant Experience, Old and New

The immigrant experience in the United States. Topics include ideologies of the melting pot; social, cultural, and economic life of earlier immigrants; the distinctiveness of the African-American experience; recent surge of "new" immigrants (Asians, Latinos, West Indians); and changing American views of immigration.

SOCI W 3264x The Changing American Family

Examines social forces contributing to changes in U.S. family formation including declines in marriage, increases in nonmarital childbearing, and women's labor force participation. Analyzes forces affecting growth of "non-traditional" families including lesbian/gay, multigenerational families. Particular attention given to urban, suburban, rural contexts of poverty.
3 points

SOCI W 3302y Sociology of Gender

Examination of factors in gender identity that are both universal (across time, culture, setting) and specific to a social context. Social construction of gender roles in different settings, including family, work, and politics. Attention to the role of social policies in reinforcing norms or facilitating change.
Prerequisites: One introductory course in Sociology suggested. General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC).
3 points

SOCI V 3318x or y The Sociology of Sexuality

Social, cultural and organizational aspects of sex in the contemporary United States, stressing the plural in sexualities: sexual revolution and post-Victorian ideologies; the context of gender and inequality; social movements and sexual identity; the variety of sexual meanings and communities; the impact of AIDS.

SOCI V 3324x or y Poverty, Inequality, and Policy: A Sociological Perspective

Examination of poverty, the "underclass," and inequality in the United States. Part 1: The moral premises, social theories, and political interests shaping current debates about the poor. Part 2: A more concrete analysis of the lives of the poor and the causes of family breakdown, the drug economy, welfare, employment, and homelessness.

SOCI W 3324x Global Urbanism
3 points

SOCI W 3331x Sociology of the Arts

The arts and the social forces through which they are made. Explores how patrons and artistic organizations combine with audiences and informal networks of artists to provide resources (emotional, intellectual, and material support) necessary to artistic careers. Examines how social relations and cultural canons around artists affect the form and content of their art.
3 points

SOCI W 3675y Organizing Innovation

Examines major innovations in organizations and asks whether innovation itself can be organized. We study a range of forms of organizing (e.g., bureaucratic, post-bureaucratic, and open architecture network forms) in a broad variety of settings: from fast food franchises to the military-entertainment complex, from airline cockpits to Wall Street trading rooms, from engineering firms to mega-churches, from scientific management at the turn of the twentieth century to collaborative filtering and open source programming at the beginning of the twenty-first. Special attention will be paid to the relationship between organizational forms and new digital technologies.
3 points

SOCI W 3900y Societal Adaptations to Terrorism

Examines how countries have adjusted to the threat of terrorism. How the adaptation reflects the pattern of terrorist attacks, as well as structural and cultural features of the society. Adaptations by individuals, families, and organizational actors.
Prerequisites: Junior or Senior standing
4 points

SOCI V 3901y The Sociology of Culture

Drawing examples from popular music, religion, politics, race, and gender, explores the interpretation, production, and reception of cultural texts and meanings. Topics include aesthetic distinction and taste communities, ideology, power, and resistance; the structure and functions of subcultures; popular culture and high culture; and ethnography and interpretation.

SOCI V 3902x or y Institutional Analysis in Organizations

Introduction to an institutional perspective on organizations, moving between theoretical discussion of institutions and organizations and empirical research. Coverage of the rise of quantification; how comparative political cultures implement industrial policy; how institutional knowledge affects the environment; and how the Civil Rights movement contended with the American political environment.
Prerequisites: Junior or Senior standing; preference to majors. Not offered in 2009-2010.
4 points

SOCI BC 3903y Work and Culture

Sociological approaches to understanding work and culture. Theoretical underpinnings of workplace interactions, with attention to ethnographies of work across a range of organizations. Examines changes in work due to technological advances and globalization. Special emphasis on gender.
Prerequisites: Preference for Barnard Leadership Initiative participants, Juniors and Seniors. Permission of the instructor.
4 points

SOCI BC 3905x Funding Social Change: A Research Practicum

Examination of debates on social movement and philanthropy combined with independent data collection on foundations and grant recipients. Topics include: the role of foundations in the US; resource mobilization and social movements; consequences of public interest, and new conservative movements.
Prerequisites: SOCI BC1003/SOCI V1202. Not offered in 2009-2010.
4 points

SOCI BC 3907y Communities and Social Change

Examines how social transformations have altered the ways in which people go about creating, losing, and recreating community. The primary focus is on how changes in the economy, the state, immigration, racial dynamics, and class inequality inhibit and promote the maintenance of communities in contemporary American society.

SOCI BC 3909y Ethnic Conflict and Unrest

Post-1965 immigration in the U.S. has prompted conflicts between new immigrant groups and established racial and ethnic groups. This seminar explores ethnic conflict and unrest that takes place in the streets, workplace, and everyday social life. Focus is on sociological theories that explain the tensions associated with the arrival of new immigrants.

SOCI BC 3910y Research Seminar in Sociology

Substantial participation in an ongoing faculty-led Sociological research project. Movement between substantive discussion of theory and methodological study of a specifc topic. Coverage of how to frame a research project, using qualitative and quantitative tools to carry out analysis, and how to write up research in conjunction with a substantive literature and topic. Spring 2010: Where do art prices come from?
Prerequisites: SOCI BC1003 or equivalent; permission of the instructor.
4 points

SOCI W 3917y Collective Identites

Explores the social, political, and cultural processes that influence the construction of collective identities in contemporary American society. Topics include the content and meaning of race and ethnicity; the construction of whiteness; the politics of gender and sexuality; citizenship and national identities; and the limits of identity politics
4 points

SOCI W 3923y Adolescent Society

Explores the social and cultural construction of adolescence in contemporary American society. Adolescence is an important life-stage where experiences and decision-making have both individual and group consequences. Major themes will include: cultural and legal socialization of youth, crime and deviance, health and sexuality, employment and educational outcomes, and political behavior/civic engagement.
4 points

SOCI W 3936x Sociology and the Public

Explores how sociologists address pressing public concerns. With a focus on contemporary American issues, we will discuss: (1) how particular problems are identified; (2) what resolutions are put forth, who is likely to achieve them, and how; (3) what the audience is (and should be) for such work.
Prerequisites: V1202 recommended (not required)
4 points

SOCI W 3945x Seminar: Inequality and Public Policy

Economic inequality in the United States; the roles of labor market processes and inheritance with respect to wealth assimilation; assets and the poor; public policies in regard to income redistribution; taxation of income, wealth, and bequests; issues in poverty policy.
4 points

SOCI W 3960y Law, Science, and Society

Addresses basic contemporary social issues from several angles of vision: from the perspective of scientists, social scientists, legal scholars, and judges. Through the use of case studies, students will examine the nature of theories, evidence, "facts," proof, and argument as found in the work of scientists and scholars who have engaged the substantive issues presented in the course.
4 points