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Sociology Courses @ Barnard 2007-2008
Courses of Interest @ Columbia 2007-2008
Directory of Classes
Recently Offered Sociology Courses @ Barnard
The following courses are offered at Columbia
Instructor's name and times of class
The Sociological Imagination
SOCI V1202x or y 3 pts.
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.
Evaluation of Evidence
SOCI V1205 3 pts.
Discussion of the logic and procedures of social science research and standards
for the critical evaluation of that research based on a careful reading and
analysis of significant studies exemplifying the use of different kinds of
social science data and methods (field observations, historical archives,
surveys, and experiments). No mathematical or statistical background is
required.
Statistics in the Social Sciences
SOCI V2212x 3 pts.
Probability followed by some ways of summarizing data (means, variances,
graphs); a discussion of the normal distribution and its usage for calculating
probabilities. Z tests and t tests are discussed for the one group case and for
the case of comparing two groups. F tests and chi-square tests are introduced
later. The course ends with a discussion of descriptive regression. This course
will provide a useful introduction to statistics and will also help students who
subsequently take research methods courses.
Globalization: Empirical & Theoretical Elements
SOCI V2225x (Section 001) 3 pts.
The
course will examine how different processes of globalization a) are actually
constituted at different scales and in a range of institutional settings; b)
transform key aspects of major institutions, such as sovereignty and
citizenship, and major processes, such as urbanization, immigration, and
digitization; and c) are in turn shaped by these institutions and processes.
Particular attention will go to analyzing the challenges for theorization and
empirical specification.
Sociology of Health
and Illness
SOCI V2270 3 pts.
The objective of this
course is to use the concepts and methods of sociology to understand health,
illness, and medicine. The course highlights, at the same time, how these
major life areas and experiences raise questions about power, authority, and
knowledge that are central to sociology.
The City
SOCI V2300x 3
pts.
Students will use the city as a laboratory
to understand aspects of modern society. This course explores the writings on
the city in order to introduce students to fundamental concepts ion social
science; the majority of writings in this course will be based on American
cities, rooted in the study of the contemporary city.
Israeli Society
SOCI V2310x 3
pts.
The purpose of the course is to acquaint
students with Israeli society. The first part of the course will set the
historical, social, political and demographic background which is essential for
understanding current processes in Israel. The second part of the course will
focus on the main social conflicts and cleavages in contemporary Israel: between
the rich and the poor, between Jewish ethnic groups, between Jews and Arabs, and
between religious and non-religious groups. In each, patterns of continuity and
change in the past sixty years will be analyzed.
Classical Social Theory
SOCI V3100 3 pts.
Theoretical accounts of the rise and transformations of modern society in the
19th and 20th centuries. Theories studied include those of Adam Smith,
Tocqueville, Marx, Durkheim, Max Weber, Roberto Michels. Selected topics:
individual, society, and polity; economy, class, and status; organization and
ideology; religion and society; moral and instrumental action.
Introduction To Historical
Sociology
SOCI W3190x 3 pts.
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?
Statistics/Methods
SOCI V3212 3 pts.
Introduction to elementary data analysis. Definition and measurement of
variables; testing hypotheses; interpretation of findings. Students use the
computer to
perform a simple analysis of a data set.
Crime, Law and Society
SOCI W3218x 3
pts.
This course 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.
Social Disorganization: Deviance
and Social Control
SOCI W3221y 3
pts.
Enrollment limited to 100. Consult
department for registration procedures. A study of different theoretical
approaches to deviance and an analysis of important empirical research on
various forms of deviant behavior. Crime is considered within the broader
context of social deviance.
Sociology of Education
SOCI V3225y 3
pts.
The social organization of education in the
United States and its effects. Examination of schools as agents of
socialization, the contribution of education to social equality and inequality,
schools as formal and informal organizations, teachers and students, and the
politics of education, including case studies of desegregation,
decentralization, and public versus private schooling.
The Changing American
Family
SOCI W3264
Examines social forces
contributing to changes in U.S. family formation including declines in marriage,
increases in no marital 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.
Religion and Social Organization
SOCI W3315x 3 pts.
Has the nature of social organization truly
changed in ways that limit the utility of examining religion? How should we
consider religion in the study of social organization? In this course, we will
read current and foundational works in the sociology of religion in order to
address these questions. We will start with current work, which has a narrower
and more empirical focus, and then use this work as a basis to assess the
continued utility of more theoretically ambitious, seminal works within the
sociology of religion.
Revolutions, Social Movements, and
Contentious Politics
SOCI W3480y 3
pts.
Surveys the main sociological approaches to
the study of collective action and revolutions. Discusses models of collective
action, applying them to Western and non-Western cases. Explores different
explanations of revolutions in the context of the French, Russian, and Chinese
revolutions or more modern ones such as the Iranian and Nicaraguan.
Political Sociology
SOCI W3660y 3 pts.
Prerequisites: Contemporary Civilization or one course in sociology, or
political science, or European or American history.
The course studies seminal interpretations
of democratic politics from the perspectives of sociology, comparative politics
and political theory. Theoretical analyses are discussed in the context of
illustrative historical documents and accounts, and extended to contemporary
concerns involving citizenship, culture, identity, representation and war.
Creation and Career In Art Worlds
SOCI W3331 3 pts.
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.
SOCI W3945x Seminar On Inequality
and Public Policy 4 pts.
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.
SOCI W3960y Law, Science, and
Society 3 pts.
This course 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.
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