Sociology
S = Objectives
Undergraduate Concentration
Sociology reveals a world about which individuals are often unaware: the social relationships, interactions, norms, values, and roles that shape who we are and how we think and act. The objective of a sociology concentration is to give students an understanding of how society is organized, how it affects human interaction, and how it might be changed.
Graduate Program in Sociology
The general objective of the graduate program is to educate students in the major areas of sociology while promoting specialization in several. The program presents students with three options. The first option is a doctoral program designed for students who intend to devote themselves to teaching and research in sociology. Students pursuing the Ph.D. may, by satisfying certain requirements, also receive the M.A. degree, or may earn a joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. The second option is a terminal M.A. degree in sociology; the third option is a terminal joint M.A. degree in women's studies and sociology.
S = How to Become an Undergraduate Concentrator
Students can declare their concentration at any time. A sociology concentration is especially appealing to students interested in understanding the working of society or human interaction. Students are encouraged to take Sociology 1a or 2a early in their concentration.
G = How to Be Admitted to the Graduate Program
The general requirements for admission to the Graduate School, as specified in an earlier section of this Bulletin, apply to candidates for admission to the sociology program.
In addition, all prospective students are required to submit written material (papers, etc.) representative of their best work, which need not be, however, of a sociological nature.
S = Faculty
Peter Conrad, Chair
Sociology of health and illness. Deviance. Field methods.
Gordon Fellman
Marx and Freud. Social class. Peace and conflict studies. Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Empowerment.
Charles Fisher
Environmental sociology. Social psychology of consciousness. Field methods.
Janet Zollinger Giele
Women's changing roles. Sociology of the life course. Family policy. Social movements.
Karen Hansen, Graduate Chair (fall)
Feminist theory. Sociology of the family. Historical sociology. Sociology of gender.
Gila Hayim
Sociological theory and cultural studies. Critical theory. Social psychological and existential theory. Legal studies.
Michael Macy
Collective action. Social psychology. Social theory. Class and stratification. Quantitative methods.
Jo Anne Preston
Education. Social gerontology. Gender. Work and occupations.
Shulamit Reinharz
Qualitative research methods. Social gerontology. Feminist research. Social psychology. Group dynamics. History of women's contributions to sociology.
George Ross
Political sociology. Social theory. Economy and society. Comparative social structures.
Eli Sagan
Social psychology. Feminist psychoanalytical theory. Social evolutionary theory. Paradoxes and contradictions of Modernity. History of childrearing.
Carmen Sirianni, Graduate Advising Head
Community organizing. Civic renewal. Work. Organizations. Theory. Time. Comparative sociology. Political sociology.
Maurice Stein
Communities. Culture. Consciousness. Theory. Education.
Stefan Timmermans
Medical sociology. Science and technology. Interpretative theories. Qualitative research methods. Death and dying.
Dessima Williams, Undergraduate Advising Head (fall)
International relations. Global apartheid. Development. Women/feminism in developing countries. Caribbean.
S = Requirements for the Undergraduate Concentration
A. Eight semester courses in sociology, which must include:
1. SOC 1a or SOC 2a. This course should be taken early in the curriculum.
2. At least one course in each of three subareas from among those listed.
Theory
SOC 108b, 110b, 114b, 141a, 164a.
Methods and Fieldwork
NEJS 170b, SOC 101a, 136b, 151b, 153a, 181a.
Political and Legal Sociology
AAAS 121b, 122a, 122b, PAX 104a, SOC 105a, 106a, 107a, 108b, 111a, 112b, 115a, 119a, 120a, 122a, 122b, 123b, 155b, 161a, 171a, 188b, 195b.
Sociology of Institutions and Cultures
AAAS 116b, HIP 20a, 20b, NEJS 161a, 164b, SOC 6b, 104a, 105a, 108b, 112a, 114b, SOC 117a, 117b, 121b, 125b, 130a, 131b, 134a, 157a, 165a, 165b, 169b, 172a, 173b, 174b, 175b, 178a, 190b, 193b, 194b.
Social Psychology and Social Psychiatry
SOC 3a, 103a, 135a, 144b, 147a, 148a, 148b, 164b, 166a, 176a, 177b, 189a, 191a, 192b.
B. Two semester courses above the introductory level in other departments in the School of Social Science. This requires that either a prerequisite course be taken, 100 level or above, or crosslisted with course number over 100. Students enrolled in the Education Program may meet this requirement by taking HIST 51a and 51b. The average grade of a student's concentration requirement courses must be at least a C (2.00).
C. Honors candidates are required to take SOC 99d (Senior Research) in addition to the eight sociology courses and two upper-level courses in the School of Social Science.
S = Special Notes Relating to Undergraduates
The following courses are Graduate-senior seminars: SOC 101a, 112a, 114a, 117a, 117b, 122a, 122b, 127a, 128a, 136b.
Graduate-senior seminars are courses on advanced topics in sociology limited to 12 students. They are meant to provide sociology majors in their last year at Brandeis with the experience of graduate level education and discussion of frontier issues in sociological inquiry. In ordinary circumstances they will be accessible only to fourth year undergraduates with adequate preparatory work in other sociology courses. Permission of instructor is necessary for undergraduates.
G = Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts
Program of Study
The M.A. degree in sociology is designed for completion in one calendar year, with the degree awarded at the next official University degree conferral after completion of residence and requirements. Each Master of Arts degree candidate will devise a specialized program with a faculty advisor who will be assigned upon the student's acceptance to the department and with whom the student will meet in biweekly tutorials throughout the residence period. The student's program must be approved by the Graduate Committee at the beginning of each semester of residence. Master of Arts degrees are usually offered in social theory and cultural studies; the sociology of health and health care; comparative social structures; sociology of gender; and social psychology. Each specialized program will include the completion of six semester courses, ordinarily in sociology at Brandeis--one in theory, one in methods, three in the substantive M.A. area--plus satisfaction of a final research requirement. For the final requirement the student, with permission of the advisor, may choose from three options--an M.A. thesis, two major seminar papers, or a qualifying examination.
Residence Requirement
The minimum residence requirement is one year.
Language Requirement
There is no foreign language requirement for the master's degree.
G = Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in Sociology and Women's Studies
Program of Study
The joint Master of Arts degree in sociology and women's studies is a one-year (12-month) program. Requirements include the completion of seven courses to be distributed as follows: a designated foundational course in women's studies; one graduate course outside sociology listed as an elective in women's studies; one graduate sociology course listed as an elective in women's studies; plus three other regular graduate sociology courses (one methods, one theory, and one outside the area of gender). Also required are a directed study focused on student research, year-long attendance in the eight-part Women's Studies Colloquium Series (noncredit), and submission of two substantial M.A. papers or a thesis. The sociology department offers advanced undergraduate/graduate seminars which can be taken to fulfill the graduate course requirements.
Residence Requirement
One year.
Language Requirement
There is no foreign language requirement for the joint master's degree.
G = Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Program of Study
Students entering the Ph.D. program in sociology are expected to undertake a three-year program of course work, as a part of which they are obliged to take the program's proseminar (SOC 290a) and, within the Brandeis sociology department, at least six (6) formal graduate seminars and four (4) additional courses as either independent readings, advanced undergraduate/graduate seminars, or upper division courses. The eight (8) remaining courses can be taken as the student chooses, in consultation with her or his advisor. The initial program of studies is arranged in consultation with the graduate student's advisor. Consideration will be given to graduate work done elsewhere but formal transfer credit is assigned only after the successful completion of the first year of study.
Residence Requirement
The minimum residence for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is three years.
Language Requirements
There is no foreign language requirement for the Ph.D. degree.
Qualifying Examinations
During a student's time in residence, the specific planning, evaluation, and accreditation of his or her entire course of study will be in the hands of each student's Guidance-Accreditation Committee, comprised of three faculty members. Along with the student, this committee will lay out a general course of study designed to meet the interests and needs of the student. Upon completion of this course of study, the student will take an oral qualifying examination covering general sociology and the areas of the student's special interests. The committee will report at least once a year to the Graduate Committee on the progress of the student, who is urged to fulfill accreditation by the end of his or her third year of residence.
Dissertation and the Final Oral Examination
The Ph.D. dissertation may be accepted by the program upon the recommendation of the Dissertation Committee. To be granted the degree, the student is required to defend the dissertation in a public Final Oral Examination.
S = Courses of Instruction
S = (1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students
SOC 1a Order and Change in Society
[ ss ]
An introduction to the sociological perspective, with an emphasis on an analysis of problems of social order and change. Topics include gender roles, socialization, social class and inequality, race and ethnicity, social movements, community, and deviance. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Conrad
SOC 2a Introduction to Sociological Theory
[ ss SA ]
Introduces the student to the foundations of sociological and social psychological explanatory systems. We analyze the major ideas of classical and modern authors and their competing approaches and methodologies--Durkheim, Marx, Weber, Mead, Freud, Foucault, and others. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hayim or Mr. Ross
SOC 3a Self and Society
[ ss SA ]
Uses social psychological theory and research to help explain basic human processes. Questions include: What is a theory of action? How do infants become socialized? How does the self relate to community? How are deviant identities created? How do people become "old"? Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 6b American Society: The Democratic Promise
[ ss SA ]
Introduction to a critical analysis of power and inequality in American society, with a focus on education, work, gender, poverty, race, media, and politics. How the democratic promise and participatory politics have shaped efforts at reform and renewal. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Sirianni
SOC 90a Independent Field Work
Signature of the instructor required.
Equivalent to four one-semester courses. Students taking it are expected to work out a plan of study for one semester with the help of two faculty members. This plan is to be submitted to the undergraduate committee of the department for approval. Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 90b Independent Field Work
See SOC 90a for special notes and course description. Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 92a Internship and Analysis in Sociology
Signature of the instructor required.
Combines unpaid off-campus experience and social scientific inquiry. Under the supervision of a faculty sponsor, students apply sociological methods of analysis to an internship experience. Students develop a specific plan of study with a faculty member in the relevant field prior to undertaking the internship. Open to sociology majors with adequate related prior coursework and with permission of the instructor. Counts only once toward fulfillment of the concentration requirements. Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 92b Internship and Analysis in Sociology
See SOC 92a for special notes and course description. Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 97a Group Readings and Research in Sociology
Signature of the instructor required.
Group readings and reports under the direction of a faculty supervisor. Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 97b Group Readings and Research in Sociology
See SOC 97a for special notes and course description. Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 98a Individual Readings and Research in Sociology
Signature of the instructor required.
Individual readings and reports under the direction of a faculty supervisor. Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 98b Individual Readings and Research in Sociology
See SOC 98a for special notes and course description. Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 99d Senior Research
Signature of the instructor required.
Seniors who are candidates for degrees with honors in sociology register for this course and, under the direction of a member of the faculty, prepare an honors thesis on a suitable topic. Usually offered every year.
Staff
G = (100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students
SOC 101a Quantitative Research Methods
(Formerly SOC 202a)
[ qr ss ]
Prerequisites: SOC 1a or 2a. Seniors and juniors have priority for undergraduate admission. Signature of the instructor required.
Designed to involve students in survey and archival data collection and analysis. Technical training is coupled with explorations of methodological issues centering on the integration of theory and empirical research. Through hands-on assignments, students learn to use a variety of modeling techniques and associated computer software. Although the methods are quantitative, the emphasis is not on their mathematical derivation but on conceptual understanding and hands-on (user friendly) application. No statistical background is presumed. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Macy
SOC 102a Social Psychiatry
[ ss ]
Signature of the instructor required.
Peer counseling. Drawing on elements of SOC 135a (Group Process), SOC 148a (Social Psychology of Consciousness), and SOC 165a (Sociology of Birth and Death), this course will use silence, awareness, and interpersonal observation to examine the nature of self in the context of relationship. The classroom itself will be a practical laboratory. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Fisher
SOC 103a The Sociology of Mental Illness and Health
[ ss ]
Concerns itself with various sociological and psychological perspectives on the causes, nature, and treatment of mental illness. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Conrad
SOC 104a Sociology of Education
[ ss ]
Enrollment limited to 40.
Examines the role of the institution of education as a force for social change versus the idea that education's function is to reinforce prevailing social conditions. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Stein or Ms. Preston
SOC 105a Feminist Critiques of American Society
[ cl12 cl46 ss ]
Critically evaluates the predominant theoretical approaches to understanding the oppression of women and the dynamics of sexism, racism, and classism within the sex/gender system. Uses these perspectives to explore issues in women's lives that often result in their subordination. This intermediate-level course counts toward the completion of the joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hansen
SOC 106a Issues in Law and Society
[ cl6 qr ss ]
Enrollment limited to 25.
An interdisciplinary approach to the study of crime and punishment. We analyze theories and empirical research around a number of problem areas in the criminal justice system, with special attention paid to street violence, domestic violence, the courts, the prison, and the different therapeutic systems. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hayim
SOC 107a Global Apartheid and Global Social Movements
[ cl12 cl29 nw wi ss NW ]
Using the skewed distribution of power and wealth as an organizing and conceptual framework, this course explores modern inequalities and the social movements worldwide that seek to redress these imbalances. Multimedia use of materials: documentaries, journal articles, newspapers, and popular literature. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Williams
SOC 108b Modern Society in Transition
[ cl34 ss ]
Studies the dynamics and impact on our lives of the theory and practice of new cultural models in communications and information systems, ecology, education, gender, and identity. Evaluates the contemporary debate around these issues. Weedon, Gergen, Luhmann, Melucci, and others will be considered. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1995.
Ms. Hayim
SOC 109a Art, Culture, and Politics
[ ss ]
Enrollment limited to 20.
Examines past and present debates about the functions of art by combining conceptual tools from sociology, art history, and fine arts. Drawing on a variety of case studies, we examine the relationships between aesthetics, democracy, social criticism, and arts funding.
Ms. Werner
SOC 110b Sociology of Knowledge
[ ss ]
History and historical interpretation of the sociology of knowledge, with particular emphasis on German and recent American literature. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1994.
Staff
SOC 111a Political Sociology and Democratic Empowerment
[ cl20 ss ]
Examines the relationship between society and politics, social processes, and political change. Theories of democracy and empowerment. Case studies on environmental movements and public interest regulation, urban and health policy, media, community organizing and development, civic journalism, and community service. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Sirianni
SOC 112a Topics on Women and Development
(Formerly SOC 212a)
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: SOC 1a or 2a. Seniors and juniors have priority for undergraduate admission. Signature of the instructor required.
We examine the evolution of the field and its usefulness for understanding the gender disparities in development. Paradigms in major international agencies are contrasted with ways in which women are actively structuring their lives. Case material from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Central America. This course counts toward the completion of the joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. Usually offered in odd years.
Ms. Williams
SOC 112b Social Class and Social Change
[ ss ]
Presents the role of social class in determining life chances, life-styles, income, occupation, and power; theories of class, inequality and imperialism; selected social psychological aspects of social class and inequality, and connections of class, race, and gender. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Fellman
SOC 114a Psychoanalytical Sociology
(Formerly SOC 214a)
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: SOC 1a or 2a, and 141a. Seniors and juniors have priority for undergraduate admission. Signature of the instructor required.
A study of Freud as a major social theorist. The role of motivation, body, sexuality, dreams, ambivalence, repression, transference, childhood, psychosexual development, and psychosocial development in understanding social organization and social dynamics and change. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Fellman
SOC 114b Modern Capitalism: Society and Economy
[ ss SA ]
A review of theories about the production and reproduction of capitalist societies such as ours, focusing on relationships between major social groups, productive organizations, the market in dynamic perspective, inequity, and social solidarity. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Ross
SOC 115a Class Structure and Consciousness
[ ss ]
Explores the role of property, authority, and knowledge in structuring class inequality and consciousness. Special emphasis placed on education, the expansion of intellectual labor, and the concentration of urban poverty. Has education supplanted property in status inheritance as well as attainment? Is meritocracy incompatible with class inequality, or would it further entrench it? Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Macy
SOC 117a Sociology of Work
[ cl15 ss ]
Prerequisites: SOC 1a or 2a. Seniors and juniors have priority for undergraduate admission. Signature of the instructor required.
How gender shapes inequality in the labor force, as well as idioms of skill, worth, care, and service. How women and men combine care for families with paid work. Strategies for empowerment, equity, and flexibility (comparable worth, family leave, flexible working time options, affirmative action, employee participation, new union strategies, grassroots organizing). This course counts toward the completion of the joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Sirianni
SOC 117b Sociology of Science and Technology
(Formerly SOC 217b)
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: SOC 1a or 2a. Seniors and juniors have priority for undergraduate admission. Signature of the instructor required.
Provides an in-depth exploration of sociological approaches to science and technology tailored to the interests of the enrolled students. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1996.
Mr. Timmermans
SOC 119a War and Possibilities of Peace
[ cl29 cl40 wi ss ]
Reviews consequences of militarism for American society and issues of global interdependence, focusing on political-economic, gender, and social psychological matters; national security, nonviolence, and international relations; and ecofeminist and environmental issues. Emphasizes the possibility of a major "paradigm shift." Usually offered every year.
Mr. Fellman
SOC 120a Sociology of Underdevelopment
[ ss ]
This course introduces students to the ways in which theorists and institutions have conceptualized various processes inherent in the advancement or development of societies. These processes include economic growth, meeting basic human needs, and holistic development. The approaches of OXFAM America, the United Nations, and micro-level projects will be compared. Usually offered in even years.
Ms. Williams
SOC 122a Advanced Topics in Political Sociology
(Formerly SOC 219a)
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: SOC 1a or 2a. Seniors and juniors have priority for undergraduate admission. Signature of the instructor required.
The transnationalization of a wide range of social relations challenges many of the assumptions of social analysis. This course, a research seminar, will explore these challenges in a series of different areas, including labor and other markets, political behavior and social movements, culture and the media, social geography, and social theory. Usually offered every third year.
Staff
SOC 122b Advanced Topics in Political Sociology: Social Movements
(Formerly SOC 219b)
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: SOC 1a or 2a. Seniors and juniors have priority for undergraduate admission. Signature of the instructor required.
Different contemporary approaches to the study of social movements are reviewed, including collective behavior, rational action, resource mobilization, and European "new social movements" theory. Empirical monographs about specific social movements are considered. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Ross
SOC 123b Crisis of the Welfare State
[ ss ]
Cross-national comparisons of the growth and impact of the welfare state are used to illuminate larger theoretical questions about the compatibility, complementarity, and tension between capitalism and democracy. Have democratic pressures gone "too far," paralyzing the "invisible hand"? Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Ross
SOC 125b U.S.-Caribbean Relations
[ cl3 cl24 nw ss NW ]
This course applies hegemony (as distinct from domination) as a framework of analysis. The course examines the asymmetrical relationship between the United States and several Caribbean countries, including Grenada and Haiti. The relationship with the wider region is explored through trade, finance and debt, military relations, cultural and educational ties, and immigration. Usually offered in even years.
Ms. Williams
SOC 126a Sociology of Deviance
[ ss ]
An investigation of the sociological perspectives of deviance, focusing particular attention on definitional, sociopolitical, and interactional aspects as well as society's response. Includes a review of theory and current research and discussions of various forms of noncriminological deviance and social control. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the summer of 1993.
Mr. Conrad
SOC 127a Theories in Social Psychology
(Formerly SOC 226a)
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: SOC 1a or 2a. Seniors and juniors have priority for undergraduate admission. Signature of the instructor required.
Does the development of the psyche have an impact on the nature of society? Do changes in society promote a transformation of the nature of the self? That hypothetical space where society and psyche/self meet is the subject of this course. The work of a dozen major theorists will be studied. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Sagan
SOC 128a Topics in the Sociology of Religion
(Formerly SOC 221b)
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: SOC 1a or 2a. Seniors and juniors have priority for undergraduate admission. Signature of the instructor required.
Examines the interpenetration of religion and society: how each transforms the other. Starting with the religious beliefs and rituals of the simplest societies and ending with 20th-century ìmodernî religious thought, we examine the works of 10 of the most important writers on social and religious life. Usually offered every third year. Will be offered in the fall of 1997.
Staff
SOC 130a Families
[ cl11 ss ]
Enrollment limited to 70.
Investigates changes in the character of American families over the last two centuries. A central concern will be the dynamic interactions between economic, cultural, political, and social forces and how they shape and are reshaped by families over time. Particular attention paid to how experiences of men and women vary by class, race, and ethnicity. This course counts towards the completion of the joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hansen
SOC 131b Women's Biography and Society
[ cl36 ss ]
Enrollment limited to 12.
Through the biographies and autobiographies of women intellectuals, political leaders, artists, and "ordinary" women, this seminar investigates the relationship between women's everyday lives, history, and the sex/gender system. This course counts towards the completion of the joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hansen
SOC 134a Women and Intellectual Work
[ cl15 ss ]
This research-oriented course investigates the history of selected U.S. and British female social scientists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We examine why their work has been ignored or labelled as "not sociology" and how sociology has been defined on the basis of work done by men only. We study women of color and white women, heterosexual and lesbian women, and the relation between their sociological work, their lives, and the times in which they lived. This course counts towards the completion of the joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. Usually offered every fourth year. Last offered in the fall of 1994.
Ms. Reinharz
SOC 135a Group Process
[ cl40 ss ]
Signature of the instructor required. Limited to juniors and seniors.
Interpretation of interpersonal behavior and group development, based primarily on observation of the group itself. Readings will include material from psychology and social anthropology as well as sociology. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the fall of 1993.
Ms. Reinharz
SOC 136b Historical and Comparative Sociology
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: SOC 1a or 2a. Seniors and juniors have priority for undergraduate admission. Signature of the instructor required.
Explores the relationship between sociology and history through examples of scholarship from both disciplines. The course will pay close attention to each author's research strategy by looking at basic research questions, theoretical underpinnings and assumptions, and uses of evidence. Usually offered in odd years.
Ms. Hansen
SOC 141a Marx and Freud
[ ss ]
Examines Marxian and Freudian analyses of human nature, human potential, social stability, conflict, consciousness, social class, and change. Includes attempts to combine the two approaches. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Fellman
SOC 147a Organizations and Social Change
[ ss ]
Critical analysis of bureaucratic organizations. Innovation and change in school systems, social services, corporations, nonprofits, federal and state bureaucracies, high-risk systems. Dynamics of democratic, feminist, multicultural, and community organizations. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Sirianni
SOC 148a Social Psychology of Consciousness I
[ cl5 ss ]
Signature of the instructor required. Admission by consent of the instructor on the basis of an interview.
An exploration into the social psychology of experiences that have been central to religious life. Compassion, prayer, contemplation, meditation, devotion, ecstacy, and service will be examined in traditional and nontraditional settings. Usually offered every year.
Messrs. Fisher and Stein
SOC 148b Social Psychology of Consciousness II
[ cl5 ss ]
Signature of the instructor required. Admission by consent of the instructor on the basis of an interview.
Explores various senses of the self and society as described in contemporary social psychology and in traditional Eastern culture. Focus will be on knowing the world in terms of the self's relation to it as exemplified in sociological fieldwork and meditation. Usually offered every year.
Messrs. Fisher and Stein
SOC 151b Fieldwork in Social Settings: Environmental Fieldwork
[ ss ]
Provides students with an opportunity to do firsthand research in a setting of their choice. This could be in terms of a specific research project. Qualitative research techniques will be presented along with appropriate methods for data analysis. Usually offered in even years.
Staff
SOC 153a The Sociology of Empowerment
[ ss ]
Signature of the instructor required. Students selected by essay, interview, and lottery. Enrollment limited to 12.
The course focuses on social structural and inner dimensions of feelings of helplessness, futility, hope, vision, and efficacy. Activities include readings, papers, journal keeping, discussion, and field trips. We will also choose an area of community life to examine, and will design a change project and enact it to the best of our understanding and ability. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Fellman
SOC 155b Protest, Politics, and Change: Social Movements
[ ss ]
Examines "new social movements" such as the civil rights movement, the Greens, the new feminism, and student movements. Social protest will be considered as one important form of change-oriented political behavior. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Ross
SOC 157a Sociology of the Israeli-Palestinian Confrontation
[ ss ]
An introduction to Jewish and Palestinian nationalisms; relevant sociological, political, religious, resource, and population issues; social psychological dimensions; and the conflict in world politics. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Fellman
SOC 161a Society, State, and Power: The Problem of Democracy
[ cl29 ss SA ]
Examines the ways in which power is exercised in different political regimes and social systems and considers the problem of democracy. The major focus of the course will be present-day advanced industrial societies, with particular consideration of the United States. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Ross
SOC 164a Existential Sociology
[ cl4 cl21 cl23 ss ]
Introduces existential thought in relation to the discipline of sociology and evaluates selected theories on human nature, identity and interaction, individual freedom and social ethics, and the existential theory of action. De Beauvoir, Mead, Sartre, Kierkegaard, and others will be considered. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hayim
SOC 165a Sociology of Birth and Death
[ cl1 cl48 ss ]
Explores the ways in which different societies shape the human experience of birth and death. Topics to be covered include Eastern attitudes towards birth and death, the Holocaust, the social implications of medical technologies, and the home birth and hospice movements. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Stein
SOC 166a Freud, Women, and Society
[ ss ]
Signature of the instructor required.
What can Freudian psychoanalysis teach us about the nature of society? Most particularly, can it help us to explain why, and if, as Nancy Chodorow has said, "Hitherto, all sex-gender systems have been male dominated"? Four crucially important areas of psychosocial action will be investigated: aggression, morality, symbolic transformation, and (with heavy emphasis) gender. This course counts toward the completion of the joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Sagan
SOC 169b Issues in Sexuality
[ cl46 ss ]
Enrollment limited to 20.
Explores dimensions of human sexuality. This course will take as its central tenet that humans are sexual beings and their sexuality is shaped by gender, class, race, culture, and history. It will explore the contradictory ways of understanding sexual behavior and relationships. The course intends to teach students about the social nature of sexual expression. This course counts toward the completion of the joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. Usually offered in odd years.
Staff
SOC 171a Women Leaders and Transformation in Developing Countries
[ cl12 cl37 nw wi ss NW ]
This course will bring together an analysis of the rise, tenure, and legacies of women as national leaders; socioeconomic poverty in developing countries; and national and international politics. Students select political leaders or a feminist organization (or both) for close scrutiny and engage in an interdisciplinary search to understand women's leadership in the South. This course counts toward the completion of the joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Williams
SOC 172a Science, Culture, and Society
[ ss ]
Enrollment limited to 20.
Explores the relationship between science and society, emphasizing the impact of scientific knowledge on everyday life. Particular attention will be paid to how social categories of gender, race, class, and sexuality influence and are explained by scientific research.
Mr. Martin
SOC 174b Nature and Technology
[ ss ]
With insights from natural history and a glance at the changing human use of tools, the course will examine how humans interact with selected aspects of the natural world. Topics such as changing land use, deforestation, diversity, extinction, and human contact with the wild may be examined. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Fisher
SOC 175b Environmental Sociology
[ cl14 ss ]
Uses concepts from natural history and the social sciences to examine the relationship human beings have with food. The history of access to food and changes in diet, from hunting and gathering to McDonald's fast food, will be used as a lens with which to examine how we fit into nature and affect it. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Fisher
SOC 176a Nature, Nurture, and Public Policy
[ cl28 ss ]
Enrollment limited to 30.
This course examines the impact of heredity or genetic theories of human problems on developing public policy, including the viability and validity of theories and evidence. Historical and contemporary cases such as gender, IQ, mental illness, and alcoholism are studied. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Conrad
SOC 177b Aging in Society
[ cl1 ss SA ]
Explores the social context of old age by using sociological theory, empirical research, and literature. We examine such topics as aging in residential settings, the aging experience of minority groups, health and illness, the economics of aging, gender, work, and retirement. We also examine the definition of old age in other societies in order to understand the contemporary Western response to aging. Contains a field research component. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Preston or Ms. Reinharz
SOC 178a Sociology of Professions
[ ss ]
This course examines how modern societies institutionalize expertise by constructing professions. The main goal is to gain an understanding of how and why professions emerge, monopolize a field, and consolidate power. Topics include the relationship of higher education to professions, the effect of bureaucratic control on professional autonomy, and current changes in the status of professions. Characteristics and trajectories of specific professions such as law, medicine, and teaching will be examined. Usually offered in odd years.
Ms. Preston
SOC 181a Quantitative Methods of Social Inquiry
[ qr ss ]
Introduces students to causal logic and quantitative reasoning and research. Emphasis is on conceptual understanding, not mathematical derivations, with hands-on applications using desktop computers. No statistical or mathematical background is necessary. Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 189a Sociology of Body and Health
[ cl22 ss ]
The purpose of this course is to explore theoretical considerations of the body as a cultural phenomenon intersecting with health, healing, illness, disease, and medicine. The course weaves back and forth between experiencing the body and acting upon the body. The theories are mainly interpretive and critical.
Mr. Timmermans
SOC 190b On the Caring of the Medical Care System
[ cl22 qr ss ]
An analysis of the structural arrangements of medical practice and medical settings, focusing on societal and professional responses to illness. Usually offered every year.
Messrs. Conrad or Timmermans
SOC 191a Health, Community, and Society
[ cl47 ss ]
An exploration into interrelationships among society, health, and disease, emphasizing the social causes and experience of illness. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Conrad
SOC 192b Sociology of Disability
[ cl1 ss ]
In the latter half of the 20th century, disability has emerged as an important social-political-economic-medical issue, with its own distinct history, characterized as a shift from "good will to civil rights." We will trace that history and the way people with disability are seen and unseen, and see themselves. Usually offered every year.
Staff
SOC 194b Technology and Society
[ cl34 ss ]
Explores the many ways in which technology enters into the structures of our lives. The course includes a historical overview of the industrial revolution in 19th- and 20th-century United States, an overview of the main theories in sociology of technology, and a discussion of some key topics in the area of technology.
Mr. Timmermans
SOC 195b Group Solidarity
[ cl40 ss ]
Why are some willing to make sacrifices for the "greater good" while others remain indifferent, pursuing mainly private concerns? Does human rationality promote or obstruct group solidarity? Alternative theories are applied to case studies including the Civil Rights Movement, reproductive rights, the New Right, religious cults, gangs, and utopian communities. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Macy
G = (200 and above) Primarily for Graduate Students
SOC 200b Topics in Social Theory
The class will use social theory to explore selected aspects and processes of postmodern society. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Stein
SOC 201a Classical and Critical Theory
Examines major contributions in the history of sociological thought and identifies critical connections between the classical statements and the modern arguments, with a focus on contemporary social movements; from Weber to Habermas, and from Durkheim to Melucci. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hayim
SOC 203b Field Methods
A library intensive course.
The methodology of sociological field research in the qualitative research tradition. Readings include theoretical statements, completed studies, and experiential accounts of researchers in the field. Includes exercises in specific methods and procedures of data collection (participant observation, interviewing, collaborative research, systematic observation, oral history) and data analysis. Focuses on the student's completion of his/her own research project and functions as a support group to aid in its completion. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Conrad or Ms. Reinharz
SOC 205b Qualitative Data Analysis
Employs a hands-on approach to learning how to analyze qualitative material in the inductive grounded theory tradition. Usually offered every four years.
Mr. Timmermans
SOC 206b Advanced Topics in Family Studies
Studies the evolution of the Western European and American families and the historical processes that have shaped them, especially industrial capitalism, slavery, and immigration. Explores various controversies regarding the family: the family as an economic unit vs. a group of individuals with varying experiences; the effects of the shift of activity from primarily production to consumption; increased privatization vs. increased public intervention; recent changes in family structure and fertility patterns; and resolution of the double burden associated with the second shift for women. The course will take a different topical focus each time it is taught. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Hansen
SOC 207a Feminist Theory
Reviews the primary schools of feminist theory, exploring how well each perspective explains the subordination of women. Examines key contemporary controversies that challenge the various perspectives: how to best integrate the study of race, class, and gender; the issue of difference; and the compatibility of postmodernism and feminist theory. Assesses the direction of feminist theory in the 1990s. This course counts towards the completion of the joint M.A. degree in sociology and women's studies. Usually offered in even years.
Ms. Hansen
SOC 211a Theory Workshop
Explores classical sociological theory from Hobbes to Simmel, with emphasis on Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. Taught as a theory practicum, not intellectual history, with emphasis on elucidating the logical structure of an argument and applications to research. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Macy
SOC 215b Citizenship, Social Theory, and Institutional Change
Participation in political and social theory: pluralist, feminist communitarian, postmodern, civic republican, radical, and critical theory. Theoretically informed case studies in journalism, health, law, environment, and other areas. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Sirianni
SOC 217a Problems and Issues in the Sociology of Health and Illness
Offers a sociocultural-historical-political perspective on the study of problems of health and illness. We accomplish this by examining some of the basic assumptions underlying the way we conceive of and study issues in health care. The written assignments include a health diary, a text analysis, and a book review. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Conrad
SOC 218b Advanced Topics in Social Theory and Methods
Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1995.
Staff
SOC 220b Seminar on the Sociology of Politics
A survey of the contemporary movements in the sociology of politics of advanced societies. Topics include pluralist and group theories, elite theory, behavioralism and voting studies, the theory of the state debate (neo-Marxist and neo-liberal variants), the "new institutionalism," theories of social movements, and rational choice modeling. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Ross
SOC 221a Advanced Topics in Sociological Theory: French Social Thought
Modern French social theory is reviewed in the context of French social history and the sociology of intellectuals. Readings include Existentialists-Marxists (Sartre, Merleau-Ponty), Structuralists (Levi-Strauss, Althusser, Poulantzas), Liberals (Aron, Crozier, Boudon and others), and post-1968 figures (Foucault, Touraine, Bourdieu, Derrida, Iragaray, and Lyotard). Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1995.
Mr. Ross
SOC 230a and b Readings in Sociological Literature
Usually offered every year. Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.
Staff
SOC 290a Proseminar
A seminar meeting once a week in which faculty members introduce their interests and research. Required of all first-year graduate students. Other graduate students are welcome to attend. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Conrad
SOC 401d Dissertation Research
Independent research for the Ph.D. degree. Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.
Staff
S = Cross-Listed Courses
AAAS 116b
Comparative Race and Ethnic Relations
AAAS 121b
Research on the Urban Underclass
HIP 20a
Imagining How We Are: East and West I
HIP 20b
Imagining How We Are: East and West II
NEJS 161a
American Jewish Life
NEJS 164b
The Sociology of the American Jewish Community
NEJS 170b
Analyzing the American Jewish Community
POL 159a
Seminar: The Politics of the Modern Welfare State: Women, Workers, and Social Citizenship