University Bulletin (2019-2020)

• Major (BA)
• Master of Arts
• Doctor of Philosophy

Undergraduate Major

The undergraduate curriculum provides students with the tools for understanding and critical analysis of a broad array of institutions and cultures, from the everyday level of interpersonal and community interaction to large-scale political and social systems and public policies. Students are engaged as active learners and encouraged to develop knowledge that can make a difference in the world, including the potential for leadership development and action for social justice.

Undergraduate study in sociology prepares students for a wide array of careers in human services, education, law, health, public service, communications, business, and social-change organizations.

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 PhD may, by satisfying certain requirements, also receive the MA, or may earn a joint MA in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The second option is a terminal joint MA in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; the third option is a joint PhD in Social Policy (Heller School for Social Policy and Management) and Sociology.

Undergraduate Major

Sociology focuses on core questions of group and societal organization to explore how order is maintained and how social change occurs. Our department seeks to develop what C. Wright Mills referred to as the “sociological imagination,” by investigating how broader social forces shape life trajectories, how social categories such as race, class, gender, and sexuality structure social experiences, and how individuals and groups confront, and sometimes alter, institutionalized systems of power.

Sociological inquiry is central to many of Brandeis’ interdisciplinary programs, including Health: Science, Society, and Policy; International and Global Studies; Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies; Religious Studies; Social Justice and Social Policy; and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The department focuses on five core areas: theory and methods; gender and feminist studies; institutions, culture and religion; sociology of health and illness; and politics and social change. In each of these areas, students integrate critical scholarly analysis, foundational research techniques, and “hands-on” experiential learning to hone their abilities to engage in the community and the world as active, self-reflective change agents.

Knowledge

Students completing the major in Sociology will understand how to:

1. Recognize the ways in which social contexts shape individual and group behavior.
2. Rigorously engage with core questions of inequity, identity, justice, and social meaning.
3. Relate sociological frameworks to pressing social, economic, and political issues and policies.
4. Locate the ways in which Sociology as a professional discipline develops and considers major questions, concepts, theories, and methodologies.

Core Skills

The Sociology major emphasizes core skills in critical thinking, theory development, research design, data collection and analysis, and writing. Sociology majors from Brandeis will be well prepared to:

1. Creatively identify, confront, and assess issues of sociological significance in a range of real-world settings.
2. Understand, develop, and extend theoretical frameworks for critically and systematically engaging with social phenomena.
3. Employ established principles of research design, data collection and analysis to rigorously address empirical research questions.
4. Clearly communicate theories, ideas, and analyses, both orally and in writing.

Social Justice

The Sociology curriculum provides graduates with knowledge and perspectives needed to participate as informed citizens in a global society. Conceptions of justice, in particular the relationship between theory and action, are at the heart of the Brandeis Sociology experience. Sociology majors will have ample opportunity to:

1. Recognize and understand how structural, cultural, and relational contexts shape systems of power, access, and inequity.
2. Develop a reflexive and ethical sense of how diversity operates in social settings
3. Respectfully engage with ethnic, religious, cultural, and political difference.
4. Collaborate with local agencies and communities to develop strategies to address pressing issues.

Graduate Program in Sociology

Master's in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Sociology focuses on core questions of group and societal organization to explore how order is maintained and how social change occurs. Our department seeks to develop what C. Wright Mills referred to as the "sociological imagination" by investigating how broader social forces shape life trajectories, how social categories such as race, class, gender, and sexuality structure social experiences, and how individuals and groups confront, and sometimes alter, institutionalized systems of power. Since its founding, the department has enjoyed a distinct intellectual culture that links the key normative questions of democracy, social justice and the good life to critical social thought and qualitative research methods.

Students completing the MA program in Sociology and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies will develop the following competencies:

Knowledge

1. Develop familiarity with key theories and debates in Sociology and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
2. Relate sociological perspectives to social, economic, and political issues and policies.

Core Skills

1. Understand and extend theoretical frameworks for critically and systematically producing knowledge about social phenomena.
2. Map links between Sociology and other disciplines relevant to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and think in a cross-disciplinary fashion.
3. Conceptualize and design research projects, conduct data collection according to established principles, and engage in rigorous analysis.
4. Critically evaluate research in the field.
5. Conduct scholarly and professional activities according to ethical standards.

Social Justice

1. Gain knowledge and perspectives needed to participate as informed citizens in a global society.
2. Recognize and understand how structural, cultural, and relational contexts shape systems of power, access, and inequity.
3. Develop a reflexive and ethical sense of how diversity operates in social settings.
4. Be an informed and critical consumer and producer of sociological knowledge.

Ph.D. in Sociology

Sociology focuses on core questions of group and societal organization to explore how order is maintained and how social change occurs. Our department seeks to develop what C. Wright Mills referred to as the "sociological imagination" by investigating how broader social forces shape life trajectories, how social categories such as race, class, gender, and sexuality structure social experiences, and how individuals and groups confront, and sometimes alter, institutionalized systems of power. Since its founding, the department has enjoyed a distinct intellectual culture that links the key normative questions of democracy, social justice and the good life to critical social thought and qualitative research methods.

Our program boasts three main areas of study and expertise: gender and feminist studies; medical sociology; and culture and social change. We oblige our students to formulate questions of social and analytical importance in "big picture" terms and submit these questions to the test of rigorous research. With considerable expertise in ethnographic, interview, comparative and historical methods, our center of gravity has remained the qualitative analysis of institutional change.

Students completing the PhD program in Sociology will develop the following competencies:

Knowledge

1. Develop familiarity with key theories and debates in Sociology.
2. Develop expertise in at least three established subfields in Sociology.

Core Skills

1. Understand, develop, and extend theoretical frameworks for critically and systematically producing knowledge about social phenomena.
2. Conceptualize and design research projects, conduct data collection according to established principles, and engage in rigorous analysis.
3. Ask clear research questions, situate them in appropriate literatures, and articulate their theoretical end empirical significance.
4. Master oral communication and writing skills that allow for the clear and compelling communication of knowledge to academic peers, students in the classroom, and/or other constituents outside the academy.
5. Conduct scholarly and professional activities according to ethical standards.

Social Justice

1. Gain knowledge and perspectives needed to participate as informed citizens in a global society.
2. Recognize and understand how structural, cultural, and relational contexts shape systems of power, access, and inequity.
3. Develop a reflexive and ethical sense of how diversity operates in social settings.
4. Be an informed and critical consumer and producer of sociological knowledge.

Students can declare their major at any time. A sociology major is especially appealing to students interested in understanding the workings of society and human interaction. Students are encouraged to take SOC 1a early in their major.

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, however, be of a sociological nature.

Laura J. Miller, Chair
Sociology of culture. Mass communication. Urban sociology. Consumers and consumption. Cultural movements.

Wendy Cadge
Sociology of religion. Sociology of culture. Health and medicine. Immigration. Sexuality. Gender. Organizations. Research methods.

Gordon Fellman
Marx and Freud. Social class. Peace, conflict, and coexistence studies. Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Empowerment. Psychoanalytic sociology. Masculinities.

Karen V. Hansen, Director of Graduate Studies
Sociology of family and kinship. Historical sociology. Sociology of gender class and race-ethnicity.

Chandler Rosenberger
Nationalism. Ethnicity. Sociology of culture. Sociology of religion. Political dissent and democratization.

Thomas Shapiro (Heller School)
Stratification. Race.

Sara Shostak
Sociology of health and illness. Science and technology studies. Body and society. Research methods.

Carmen Sirianni, Undergraduate Advising Head
Sustainable and resilient cities. Civic engagement and innovation. Environmental movements and climate action. Collaborative governance. Public policy for democracy. Political sociology. Work. Organizations. Theory.

Caitlin Slodden
Medical sociology.

Michael Strand
Social theory. Culture, morality, knowledge, and historical sociology. Economic sociology.

Siri Suh
Global maternal and reproductive health. Population and development studies.

Gowri Vijayakumar (on leave fall 2019)
Sociology of gender and sexuality. Social movements. Labor and labor movements.

Derron Wallace
Sociology of education. Race and ethnicity. Immigration. Social class. Masculinities. Inequality and identities.

Affiliated Faculty (contributing to the curriculum, advising and administration of the department or program)
Thomas Shapiro (Heller)

Students must fulfill the following requirements: completion of nine semester courses, which must include:

1. SOC 1a. This course should be taken early in the curriculum.
2. SOC 100b.
3. SOC 118a, SOC 136b, or SOC 182a.
4. At least one course in three of the following four sub-areas:
   1. Health, Illness, and Life Course: SOC 117b, 150a, 165a, 169b, 187a, 189a, 191a, 194a; ANTH 111a; HSSP 114b, 192b.
   2. Political and Social Change: SOC 112b, 113b, 119a, 123b, 141a 146b, 147a, 148b, 150a, 153a, 154b, 155b, 162a, 168a, 175b; AMST 55a; HIST 181b; HS 110a.
   3. Gender and Family: HIST/SOC 170b; SOC 115a, 117a, 124a, 130a, 131b, 133B, 137a, 138a, 169b; POL 125a.
   4. Institutions, Communities, and Culture: SOC 104a, 116a, 120a, 120b, 122a, 125b, 129a, 146a, 147a, 149b, 150b, 151b, 152a, 154a, 156b; AAAS 183b; IGS 130a; NEJS 164b.
5. Three additional sociology electives.
6. A minimum of six semester courses counted toward major credit must be taught by a member of the faculty from the Department of Sociology. (No more than two courses from study abroad may count toward the major requirements).
7. Foundational Literacies: As part of completing the Sociology major, students must:
   • Fulfill the writing intensive requirement by successfully completing one of the following: SOC 179a.
   • Fulfill the oral communication requirement by successfully completing one of the following: SOC 138a, SOC 147a, or SOC 169b. SOC 1a may satisfy the oral communication requirement in certain semesters as indicated in the schedule of classes.
   • Fulfill the digital literacy requirement by successfully completing one of the following: SOC 118a, SOC 136b, or SOC 182a.
8. No more than two courses cross-listed in sociology may count toward the major requirements.
9. No grade below a C- will be given credit toward the major.
10. No course taken pass/fail may count toward the major requirements.
11. Students may apply an internship course (either SOC 89a, SOC 92a, SJSP 89a, or WMGS 89a) only once toward the requirements for the major.
12. Honors candidates are required to take SOC 99a and b (Senior Research) in addition to the nine sociology courses. Enrollment in SOC 99a and b requires a minimum overall GPA of 3.20, or a 3.50 in sociology.

Sociology Research Track

Only students who entered Brandeis prior to the fall of 2017 are eligible for the Sociology Research Track.

For track requirements, see prior year's Bulletin.

Joint graduate/undergraduate senior seminars are courses on advanced topics in sociology that are limited to twelve students. These courses are an opportunity for more in-depth study and are especially valuable for anyone considering graduate school. In ordinary circumstances, they will be accessible only to advanced undergraduates with adequate preparatory work (SOC 1a and other sociology courses). Permission of instructor is necessary for undergraduates.

Program of Study

A Master's degree in Sociology can be earned in-passing as part of on-going work for the sociology PhD (at any point beyond the first year).

To fulfill program requirements, students must complete eight courses. At least five of these courses must be taken in the Sociology Department at Brandeis. One course must be one full year of SOC 300a. At least two other courses must be Sociology graduate seminars (courses numbered 200 or higher) or joint undergraduate/graduate seminars. One of the eight required courses must be in research methods and one must be in social theory.

All MA students will complete either a Master's project or the MA exam. Students completing the program in two semesters will take the exam.

The MA exam is a take-home (72-hour) examination given in the last week of classes of the spring semester. Two Sociology Department faculty members, either from the Graduate Committee or selected by the Graduate Committee, will draft the exam. These same faculty members will read the exam, which will be graded on a pass/fail basis. The exam will include two questions that draw on the coursework students have taken in theory and research methods as well as on their substantive interests. Students will be notified of their grade on the exam within two weeks of handing in the essays. Any student who fails the exam will be given the option to retake it once – the following spring.

The MA project may be a research paper of professional quality and length or a project a student develops in consultation with her or his adviser and the Graduate Committee. Students completing a Master's project will choose two faculty members of the Sociology department, one of whom is designated as chair, to guide and review the project. Both faculty members must communicate their approval of the project to the department Graduate Administrator before the University deadline for certifying degree requirements.

Language Requirement

There is no foreign language requirement for the Master's degree.

A Master's degree in Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies can be earned either as a "stand-alone" degree or in passing as part of on-going work for the sociology PhD (at any point beyond the first year).

Program of Study

A. WMGS 205a or another course designated as a graduate foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

B. One course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 208b, the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies, or an alternate).

C. Two elective graduate courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: one inside and one outside the sociology department. Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course.

D. Three graduate sociology courses: one theory, one outside the area of gender, and one elective, which could be a directed reading.

E. One additional elective graduate course.

F. Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the Sociology department, and one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty. In consultation with the primary advisor, a student may register for WMGS 299, "Master’s Project." However, this course may not count toward the eight required courses.

Language Requirement

There is no foreign language requirement for the joint Master's degree.

Residence Requirement

One year. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.

Program of Study

Students entering the PhD program in sociology are expected to complete six semesters of the program’s SOC 300a (Approaches to Sociological Research Proseminar). Credit for the sixth semester of SOC 300a is dependent on the student submitting a single-authored publishable research paper to a peer-reviewed academic journal. Students will additionally complete fourteen other courses. At least six of these courses must be formal graduate seminars offered by the Brandeis sociology department. One of those six seminars must be in social theory and one must be in research methods. Four additional courses must be completed within the Brandeis sociology department, either as graduate seminars, independent readings, advanced undergraduate/graduate seminars, or upper-division courses. The four remaining courses can be taken as the student chooses, including graduate courses at other Boston-area universities, in consultation with her or his adviser. The initial program of study is arranged in consultation with the graduate student’s adviser. 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. Each spring, students are required to complete self-evaluation forms that are reviewed by the department faculty to monitor progress.

Teaching Requirement

It is required that all PhD students participate in undergraduate teaching. This typically means leading discussion sections or otherwise working in collaboration with individual professors. PhD students receiving stipends are required to serve as teaching fellows or research fellows during their first eight semesters in residence. All students also have an opportunity to develop the craft of teaching through teaching workshops within the department and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Residence Requirement

The minimum residence for the PhD is three years.

Language Requirement

There is no foreign language requirement for the PhD.

Qualifying Examinations

The specific planning, evaluation, and accreditation of a student's course of study will be in the hands of each student's Qualifying Portfolio and Defense (QPD) Committee, comprising three Brandeis sociology 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 the plan, the student will take an oral qualifying examination covering general sociology and the areas of the student's special interests.

Dissertation and the Final Oral Examination

A dissertation proposal should be submitted soon after the QPD is completed. The dissertation committee should consist of three members from the sociology department faculty and an outside reader chosen with the advice of the committee members and approved by the graduate committee and the Dean of the Graduate School.

The PhD 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.

The PhD in social policy and sociology is a joint degree of the Department of Sociology and the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. This option is available to students only after completion of at least one year of PhD study at the Heller School or in the sociology department (admission is not guaranteed).

Program of Study

Students entering the joint PhD program in social policy and sociology are expected to complete at least eight courses offered by the Brandeis sociology department (comprising at least four graduate seminars) plus the Approaches to Sociological Research Proseminar, which is required during each semester of coursework following matriculation into the joint degree program). At least one of these sociology courses must be in theory. Additionally, a minimum of nine courses must be taken within the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. A list of required courses is available from the Heller PhD program. Students are also required to take a noncredit dissertation seminar at the Heller School for two semesters.

Students are assigned advisers from the sociology department and from the Heller School. Advisers in both departments work together with students to assure appropriate coherency in their program of courses. An interdepartmental meeting between advisers and students should take place at least once a year.

Residence Requirement

The minimum residence for the joint degree of Doctor of Philosophy in social policy and sociology is three years.

Teaching Requirement

All joint PhD students must participate in undergraduate teaching. This typically means leading discussion sections or otherwise working in collaboration with individual professors. PhD students also have an opportunity to develop the craft of teaching through teaching workshops within the department and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Language Requirement

There is no foreign language requirement for the joint PhD degree.

Qualifying Examinations

Each student must complete a "comprehensive paper" as required in the Heller School curriculum. Students must also show competence in two areas of sociology, as certified through the Qualifying Portfolio and Defense (QPD) process (the sociology department equivalent of comprehensive exams). Students elect two areas of interest and develop a contractual set of requirements with a faculty member for each area. When both portfolios are completed, there is a meeting (typically one to two hours) to discuss the student's interests, directions in the field, and the upcoming dissertation.

Dissertation and the Final Oral Examination

A dissertation proposal should be submitted soon after the comprehensive examination and QPDs are completed. The dissertation committee should consist of five members—two faculty members each from the sociology department and the Heller School, and one outside member. The joint PhD dissertation may be accepted by the sociology department and the Heller School 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.

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, work and family, poverty and inequality, race and ethnicity, democracy, social movements, community, and education. Usually offered every year.
Wendy Cadge, Karen Hansen, Carmen Sirianni, or Michael Strand

SOC 90a Independent Fieldwork
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 92a Internship and Analysis in Sociology
Combines 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 course work and with permission of the instructor. Usually offered every year.
Staff

SOC 97b Group Readings and Research
Staff

SOC 98a Individual Readings and Research in Sociology
Individual readings and reports under the direction of a faculty supervisor. Usually offered every year.
Staff

SOC 98b Individual Readings and Research in Sociology
Individual readings and reports under the direction of a faculty supervisor. Usually offered every year.
Staff

SOC 99a Senior Research
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

SOC 99b Senior Research
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

AAAS/SOC 177a The Other African Americans: Comparative Perspectives on Black Ethnic Diversity
[ ss ]
May not be taken for credit by students who took AAAS 177a in prior years.
Explores the identities, immigration and integration of Black Africans and Afro-Caribbeans in the United States and United Kingdom from interdisciplinary perspectives. It examines intra-racial and inter-ethnic similarities and differences, conflicts and collaborations that animate the lived experiences of native and new Blacks. Usually offered every second year.
Derron Wallace

HIST/SOC 170b Gender and Sexuality in South Asia
[ djw ss ]
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor.
Explores historical and contemporary debates about gender and sexuality in South Asia; revisits concepts of "woman," "sex," "femininity," "home," "family," "community," "nation," "reform," "protection," and "civilization" across the colonial and postcolonial periods. Usually offered every second year.
Hannah Muller and Gowri Vijayakumar

HS 143a Social Justice and Philanthropy
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Examines the role of philanthropy in American society including individual, institutional, and societal-level factors that affect philanthropic efforts to create social change and the relationship between social justice and philanthropy. Students explore philanthropy from both theoretical and practical perspectives using an academic framework grounded in sociological theory and a semester-long experiential learning exercise in real-dollar grantmaking. Usually offered every year.
Staff

SOC 100b Introduction to Sociological Theory
[ ss ]
Introduces the student to the foundations of sociological and social psychological explanatory systems. Analyzes the major ideas of classical and modern authors and their competing approaches and methodologies--Durkheim, Weber, Mead, Du Bois, Goffman, Marcuse, Haraway, Barrett, Foucault, and others. Usually offered every year.
Michael Strand

SOC 104a Sociology of Education
[ ss ]
Examines the role of education in society, including pedagogy, school systems, teacher organizations, parental involvement, community contexts, as well as issues of class, race, and gender. Usually offered every year.
Derron Wallace

SOC 112b Social Class and Social Change
[ ss ]
Presents the role of social class in determining life chances, lifestyles, income, occupation, and power; theories of class, inequality, and globalization; selected social psychological aspects of social class and inequality; and connections of class, race, and gender. Usually offered every second year.
Gordon Fellman

SOC 113b Sociology of Race and Racism
[ ss ]
Provides an introduction to the study of race and racism and focuses on specific socio-historical issues surrounding racial inequality in the United States. A variety of media to examine topics such as the institutionalization of white privilege, the social construction of "otherness", racial formation processes, and racial segregation are used" Usually offered every third year.
Derron Wallace

SOC 115a Masculinities
[ ss ]
Men's experiences of masculinity have only recently emerged as complex and problematic. This course inquires into concepts, literature, and phenomenology of many framings of masculinity. The analytic schemes are historical, sociological, and social-psychological. Usually offered every second year.
Gordon Fellman

SOC 117a Sociology of Work and Gender
[ ss ]
Many people think gender differences in work are disappearing. Yet gender segregation by job type is pervasive and women predominate in the lower paid, lower status jobs, particularly in the care sector. Women are also still doing disproportional amounts of domestic and parenting labor at home, which exacts a great cost from them in the paid workforce. This course examines gender disparities in both paid an unpaid work, and how that affects women’s and men’s lives, work/family conflicts, and society at large. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

SOC 117b Sociology of Science, Technology, and Medicine
[ ss ]
From the moment we are born, to when we die, our lives are shaped by science, technology, and medicine. This course draws on both historical and contemporary case studies to examine how science and medicine enter into our ideas about who we are as individuals and members of social groups (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity), understandings of health and illness, and ideals regarding what constitutes a good life, and a good death. Usually offered every second year.
Sara Shostak

SOC 118a Observing the Social World: Doing Qualitative Sociology
[ dl ss ]
Observation is the basis of social inquiry. What we see--and by extension, what we overlook or choose to ignore--guides our understanding of social life. We practice interviews, social observation and analysis of print and visual media. Usually offered every year.
Wendy Cadge or Sara Shostak

SOC 119a Deconstructing War, Building Peace
[ ss ]
Ponders the possibility of a major "paradigm shift" under way from adversarialism and war to mutuality and peace. Examines war culture and peace culture and points in between, with emphases on the role of imagination in social change, growing global interdependence, and political, economic, gender, social class, and social psychological aspects of war and peace. Usually offered every year.
Gordon Fellman

SOC 120a Technology and Society
[ ss ]
Technologies are neither good nor bad, but are shaped by human interests and values, and shape us in return. Why and how does this happen, and how can we create the future we want? Usually offered every second year.
Edward Hackett

SOC 120b Globalization and the Media
[ ss ]
Investigates the phenomenon of globalization as it relates to mass media. Topics addressed include the growth of transnational media organizations, the creation of audiences that transcend territorial groupings, the hybridization of cultural styles, and the consequences for local identities. Usually offered every third year.
Laura Miller

SOC 122a The Sociology of American Immigration
[ ss ]
Most of us descend from immigrants. Focusing on the United States but in a global perspective, we address the following questions: Why do people migrate? How does this affect immigrants' occupations, gendered households, rights, identities, youth, and race relations with other groups? Usually offered every second year.
Kristen Lucken

SOC 123b The Welfare State and Nonprofit America
[ ss ]
Studies major programs of the welfare state in social security, health, and welfare, as well as local nonprofits in youth development and other human services, national foundations, social entrepreneurism, AmeriCorps, and other forms of community service. Usually offered every second year.
Carmen Sirianni

SOC 124a Gender, Sexuality, and Globalization
[ djw ss ]
Introduces theories of gender, sexuality, and transnational feminism. Uses sociological research to examine labor, social movements, politics, and culture in global perspective, emphasizing Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Usually offered every second year.
Gowri Vijayakumar

SOC 125b Self and Society: Who Am I Really?
[ ss ]
What is a self? Are you your biographical story? The sum of your identities? How you present yourself? This social-psychological course delves into these questions experientially, using sociological, psychological, and religious conceptualizations of selfhood to investigate who you really are. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

SOC 129a Sociology of Religion
[ deis-us ss ]
An introduction to the sociological study of religion. Investigates what religion is, how it is influential in contemporary American life, and how the boundaries of public and private religion are constructed and contested. Usually offered every year.
Wendy Cadge

SOC 130a Families, Kinship and Sexuality
[ oc ss ]
Counts toward the completion of the joint MA degree in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Investigates changes in the character of American families over the last two centuries. A central concern will be the dynamic interactions among economic, cultural, political, and social forces, and how they shape and are reshaped by families over time. Particular attention is paid to how experiences of men and women vary by class, race, and ethnicity. Usually offered every year.
Karen Hansen

SOC 131b Narratives of the Self
[ ss ]
This course counts toward the completion of the joint MA degree in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Through reading biographies of intellectuals, political leaders, artists and "ordinary" people and exploring the biographical method, this seminar investigates the relationship between everyday life, history, social patterns of behavior, and the sex/gender system. Usually offered every third year.
Karen Hansen

SOC 133b Sociology of Reproduction
[ ss ]
Explores reproduction as a social and biological set of meanings and processes through which racial, national, gender, and socio-economic inequalities have been amplified, reconfigured and contested across time and place. It locates individual reproductive experiences and outcomes in regional, national and global contexts. Usually offered every year.
Siri Suh

SOC 136b Historical and Comparative Sociology
[ dl ss ]
Explores the relationship between sociology and history through examples of scholarship from both disciplines. Using historical studies, the course pays close attention to each author's research strategy. Examines basic research questions, theoretical underpinnings and assumptions, and uses of evidence. Usually offered every third year.
Chandler Rosenberger or Karen Hansen

SOC 138a Sociology of Race, Gender, and Class
[ oc ss ]
Examines race, class and gender as critical dimensions of social difference that organize social systems. Uses a variety of media to analyze how race, class and gender as axes of identity and inequality (re)create forms of domination and subordination in schools, labor markets, families, and the criminal justice system. Usually offered every third year. Usually offered every third year.
Derron Wallace

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 every second year.
Gordon Fellman

SOC 146a Mass Communication Theory
[ ss ]
An examination of key theories in mass communication, including mass culture, hegemony, the production of culture, and public sphere. Themes discussed include the nature of media effects, the role of the audience, and the extent of diversity in the mass media. Usually offered every year.
Laura Miller

SOC 146b Nationalism and Globalization
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: IGS 10a, SOC 1a, or SOC 3b.
In an age of globalization, why does nationalism thrive? Are globalization and nationalism rivals, strangers or possibly partners? Students will trace the emergence of nationalism while also examining globalization's impact on societies such as the United States, Russia, China, and India. Usually offered every second year.
Chandler Rosenberger

SOC 147a Sustainable and Resilient Cities
[ oc ss ]
Studies innovations in the U.S and around the world that enhance urban sustainability, healthy communities, environmental justice, climate resilience and adaptation. Grassroots sustainability and climate movements, as well as environmental, health, and urban planning practice are examined. May be combined with internships and action research. May be combined with internships and action research. Usually offered every year.
Carmen Sirianni

SOC 148b The Sociology of Information: Politics, Power, and Property
[ ss ]
Examines the claim that information is a key political and economic resource in contemporary society. Considers who has access to information, and how it is used for economic gain, interpersonal advantage, and social control. Usually offered every third year.
Laura Miller

SOC 149b Social Production of Food
[ ss ]
Examines the social context influencing the everyday and industrial production of food and its cultural meanings. Includes a consideration of debates related to food preferences, the work of food preparation and production, and efforts to commodify and regulate food. Usually offered every third year.
Laura Miller

SOC 150a HIV/AIDS, Society, and Politics
[ ss ]
Uses social science research and film in historical perspective to explore the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Topics include gender and sexuality, global inequalities, social movements, the "AIDS industry," and public policy related to HIV/AIDS. Usually offered every second year.
Gowri Vijayakumar

SOC 150b Culture of Consumption
[ ss ]
Examines the historical development and social significance of a culture of consumption. Considers the role of marketing in contemporary society and the expression of consumer culture in various realms of everyday life, including leisure, the family, and education. Usually offered every year.
Laura Miller

SOC 151b Morality and Market Society
[ ss ]
Is the economy moral? Is it just, fair, or equitable? Is it even vulnerable to moral judgements? Living in a capitalist society, these questions become very important. This course examines them by introducing students to sociological ways of understanding the economy and morality. Usually offered every second year.
Michael Strand

SOC 152a Urban Life and Culture
[ ss ]
An analysis of the social and cultural dimensions of life in urban environments. Examines how various processes, including immigration, deindustrialization, and suburbanization, affect neighborhoods, public spaces, work, shopping, and leisure in the city. Usually offered every second year.
Laura Miller

SOC 153a The Sociology of Empowerment
[ ss ]
Attendance at first class meeting mandatory. Students interested in the course should contact the instructor.
Combines reading, exercises, journal keeping, and retreats (including a pivotal weekend one on Cape Cod) to address activism and how sociological constructs affect feelings of helplessness, futility, hope, vision, efficacy, hurt, fear, and anger. The course focuses on both self and social activism/social change. Usually offered every year.
Gordon Fellman

SOC 154a Community Structure and Youth Subcultures
[ ss ]
Examines how the patterning of relations within communities generates predictable outcomes at the individual and small-group level. Deals with cities, suburbs, and small rural communities. Special focus is given to youth subcultures typically found in each community type. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

SOC 154b Anger and Hate
[ ss ]
Addresses both "personal anger" and "social anger." The course will address meanings of anger, anthropological and sociological considerations, and the topics of women and anger, race and anger, masculinity and anger, class and anger, and media and anger. We will also investigate the role of anger in social change movements. Special one-timer offering, spring 2020.
Gordon Fellman

SOC 155b Protest, Politics, and Change: Social Movements
[ deis-us ss ]
Introduces major sociological theories about leadership, political context, culture, and identities in social movements in transnational perspective. Examines historical and contemporary cases of social movements through the lenses of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Usually offered every second year.
Gowri Vijayakumar

SOC 156b Sociology of Celebrity
[ ss ]
Ahh celebrity. Fame, money and bling, right? But have you ever wondered how it actually works? What celebrity is, how celebrities are made and why we are so obsessed with them? In this course, we will answer these questions. In the process, you will learn the sociological concepts and theories related to popular culture, mass media, social psychology, social inequality, and power. Usually offered every second year.
Michael Strand

SOC 162a Intellectuals and Revolutionary Politics
[ ss ]
Examines the role of intellectuals in modern politics, especially their relationship to nationalism and revolutionary movements. In reading across a range of political revolutions (e.g. in Central Europe, colonial Africa and Iran), students will have the chance to compare the relative significance of appeals to solidarity based on class, religion, ethnicity, and national identity. Usually offered every second year.
Chandler Rosenberger

SOC 165a Living and Dying in America: The Sociology of Birth and Death
[ deis-us ss ]
Not open to first year students. Not open to students who had a death in their immediate family in the past year.
This course introduces the tools and concepts central to the sociological study of birth and death in the United States. It is discussion-based and includes guest speakers, field trips, and interactive assignments. Usually offered every year.
Wendy Cadge

SOC 168a Democracy and Inequality in Global Perspective
[ ss ]
Can democracy survive great inequalities of wealth and status? In authoritarian countries, does inequality inspire revolution or obedience? What role does culture play in determining which inequalities are tolerable and which are not? Cases include the United States, India, and China. Usually offered every second year.
Chandler Rosenberger

SOC 169b Issues in Sexuality
[ oc ss ]
Not open to first-year undergraduate students. This course counts toward the completion of the joint MA degree in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
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. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

SOC 175b Environmental Movements: Organizations, Networks, and Partnerships
[ ss ]
Studies environmental movement organizations and field strategies, national advocacy organizations, as well as community-based and civic approaches to environmental problem solving. Case studies draw from sustainable and climate resilient cities, watersheds, coastal adaptation, forests, ecosystem restoration, environmental justice, renewable energy, and the greening of business. May be combined with internships and action research. Usually offered every year.
Carmen Sirianni

SOC 179a Sociology of Drugs in America
[ ss wi ]
Explores the use, misuse, and control of drugs in the United States, both legal medications and illicit "street" drugs. Examines pressing contemporary debates and dilemmas surrounding drugs in contemporary America, including the opioid crisis. Usually offered every second year.
Caitlin Slodden

SOC 181a Methods of Social Inquiry
[ ss ]
Introduces students to qualitative and quantitative approaches to social research. Throughout the course emphasis is on conceptual understanding, with hands-on applications and exercises. No statistical or mathematical background is necessary. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

SOC 182a Applied Research Methods
[ dl qr ss ]
Provides an introduction to research methods and quantitative analysis commonly used in sociology. Using quantitative data, the class explores how higher education reflects the social stratification found in U.S. society. Participants will read peer-reviewed journal articles; design their own survey and analyze the results; and conduct analysis on a national data set focused on education. The course assumes no prior knowledge of research methods, but it does assume a curiosity about why we conduct research, how research studies are designed, and a willingness to analyze the results of different research studies. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

SOC 187a Race, Health and Medicine in the African Diaspora
[ ss ]
Offers critical perspectives on race, medicine, health, and illness in the African Diaspora. Specifically, we explore how intertwining ideologies of race and gender have contributed to the (mis)management of illness and health in populations of African descent from the periods of slavery and colonization until the present day. Usually offered ever year.
Siri Suh

SOC 189a Sociology of Body and Health
[ deis-us ss ]
Explores theoretical considerations of the body as a cultural phenomenon intersecting with health, healing, illness, disease, and medicine. Focuses on how gender, race, class, religion, and other dimensions of social organization shape individual experiences and opportunities for agency and resistance. Usually offered every year.
Sara Shostak

SOC 191a Health, Community, and Society
[ ss ]
An exploration into interrelationships among society, health, and disease, emphasizing the social causes and experience of illness. Usually offered every year.
Siri Suh

SOC 194a Sociology of Mental Health and Illness
[ ss ]
Examines sociological approaches to mental health and illness. The focus is on the history, definitions, social responses and consequences of conceptualizations and treatment of mental illness. This will include some discussion of social factors related to mental disorder and types of mental health treatment. Usually offered every second year.
Christopher Gillespie

HIST/SOC 216a Migration, Dislocation and Dispossession in North American History
Prerequisite for undergraduates: A course on immigration.
Explores migration, displacement of Native Americans and Civil War refugees within North America. It examines contests over land, movements of people, patterns of settlement, senses of home, the meanings of dispossession, and debates over empire and citizenship. Usually offered every third year.
Abigail Cooper and Karen Hansen

SOC 200a Contemporary Social Theory
Covers major paradigms in contemporary social analysis ranging from action theory, habitus and field,ritual theory, to recent models in cultural sociology, the network society and globalization in Europe and the United States. Works by, Bourdieu, Collins, Giddens, Touraine, Foucault, Castells, and others are covered. Usually offered every second year.
Michael Strand

SOC 203b Field Methods
Provides an introduction to the methodology of sociological field research in the Chicago School 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 and analysis. Each student will design and conduct his/her own independent research project. Usually offered every second year.
Wendy Cadge or Siri Suh

SOC 204a Foundations of Sociological Theory
Studies classic theoretical texts that have been foundational for sociology. Particular attention is paid to works of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. Identifies questions and perspectives from these theorists that continue to be relevant for sociological thinking and research. Usually offered every second year.
Laura Miller or Michael Strand

SOC 209b Social Movements
Provides a detailed examination of the literatures related to social movements and collective action. The focus is on reviewing past and current attempts to explain various aspects of contentious political activity, as well as introducing newly emerging explanatory models. Usually offered every third year.
Gowri Vijayakumar

SOC 210b Gender, Class, and Race
Examines primarily gender, class, and race, but also addresses inequality as structured by citizenship status and sexuality. Examines how U.S. and other societies distribute resources accordingly, shape discourse and ideology, and foster individual and group identities. Usually offered every third year.
Karen Hansen

SOC 218b Sustainable and Just Cities: Graduate Seminar
Analyzes the institutional field of sustainable cities, with an emphasis on civic participation, social movements, professional associations, urban planning and policy. Social and environmental justice are core concerns. Emphasis on U.S. cities, but also global case studies. Usually offered every third year.
Carmen Sirianni

SOC 221b Sociology of Culture
Surveys theoretical perspectives and substantive concerns in sociological studies of culture. Examines debates regarding how to define and study culture, and considers the ways in which culture is related to power, stratification, integration, identity, and social change. Usually offered every third year.
Laura Miller or Michael Strand

SOC 224a Urban Sociology
Investigates sociological approaches to studying urban life and city form. Considers characteristics that shape social interaction, inequality, and opportunities for work, residence, and leisure in cities. Topics include the nature of community, the persistence of segregation, and cultural expressions of urbanism. Usually offered every third year.
Laura Miller

SOC 228b Gender and Sexuality in Transnational Perspective
Examines the ways in which gendered and sexual dynamics can illuminate transnational processes, such as humanitarian projects, social movements, and financial globalization, and the ways in which comparative and transnational approaches can enhance the study of gender and sexuality, using recent, primarily ethnographic and qualitative research in sociology. Usually offered every third year.
Gowri Vijayakumar

SOC 229a Economic Sociology
Engages with economic sociology from a variety of standpoints, including how sociology provides alternatives to maintream economics. Potential topics include valuation, institutions, morality and markets, capitalism, neoliberalism, culture and economy, polity and economy, credit and debt, commodification, technology, and performativity, among others. Usually offered every third year.
Michael Strand

SOC 230a Readings in Sociological Literature
Usually offered every year. Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.
Staff

SOC 230b Readings in Sociological Literature
Usually offered every year. Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.
Staff

SOC 292a Master's Graduate Internship
Usually offered every year.
Staff

SOC 294a Exam Preparation
Exam preparation course for students preparing for the MA exam. Spring semester only. Usually offered every year.
Staff

SOC 294b Paper Preparation
Independent study for MA students working on a final paper or project. Usually offered every year.
Staff

SOC 300a Approaches to Sociological Research
Yields half-course credit. Required of graduate students for six semesters during the first three years of their course of study.
A seminar designed to guide graduate students through the process of producing sociological research. The course will be based on students' development of their own independent research and on considerations of larger professional issues related to research and publication. Usually offered every semester.
Karen Hansen, Michael Strand, or Gowri Vijayakumar

SOC 392a Graduate Internship
Graduate internship for PhD candidates. Usually offered every year.
Staff

SOC 401d Dissertation Research
Independent research for the PhD. Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.
Staff

AAAS/SOC 177a The Other African Americans: Comparative Perspectives on Black Ethnic Diversity
[ ss ]
May not be taken for credit by students who took AAAS 177a in prior years.
Explores the identities, immigration and integration of Black Africans and Afro-Caribbeans in the United States and United Kingdom from interdisciplinary perspectives. It examines intra-racial and inter-ethnic similarities and differences, conflicts and collaborations that animate the lived experiences of native and new Blacks. Usually offered every second year.
Derron Wallace

AMST 55a Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration in American Culture
[ ss ]
Provides an introductory overview of the study of race, ethnicity, and culture in the United States. Focuses on the historical, sociological, and political movements that affected the arrival and settlement of African, Asian, European, American Indian, and Latino populations in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Utilizing theoretical and discursive perspectives, compares and explores the experiences of these groups in the United States in relation to issues of immigration, population relocations, government and civil legislation, ethnic identity, gender and family relations, class, and community. Usually offered every year.
Staff

AMST 123b Interfaith, Interethnic, Interracial America
[ ss ]
Focuses on how religion, ethnicity, and race contributed to maintaining group separatism at some early points in American history and intersected to create a unified national identity at others. Usually offered every fourth year.
Keren McGinity

ANTH 111a Aging in Cross-Cultural Perspective
[ nw ss wi ]
This course offers a 2-credit optional Experiential Learning practicum.
Examines the meanings and social arrangements given to aging in a diversity of societies, including the U.S., India, Japan and China. Key themes include: the diverse ways people envision and organize the life course, scholarly and popular models of successful aging, the medicalization of aging in the U.S., cultural perspectives on dementia, and the ways national aging policies and laws are profoundly influenced by particular cultural models. Usually offered every second year.
Sarah Lamb

ED 170a Critical Perspectives in Urban Education
[ ss wi ]
Examines the nature of urban schools, their links to the social and political context, and the perspectives of the people who inhabit them. Explores the historical development of urban schools; the social, economic, and personal hardships facing urban students; and challenges of urban school reform. Usually offered every year.
Derron Wallace

HIST 181b Red Flags/Black Flags: Marxism vs. Anarchism, 1845-1968
[ ss ]
From Marx's first major book in 1845 to the French upheavals of 1968, the history of left-wing politics and ideas. The struggles between Marxist orthodoxy and anarchist-inspired, left Marxist alternatives. Usually offered every third year.
Mark Hulliung

HIST 183b Community and Alienation: Social Theory from Hegel to Freud
[ ss ]
The rise of social theory understood as a response to the trauma of industrialization. Topics include Marx's concept of "alienation," Tönnies's distinction between "community" and "society," Durkheim's notion of "anomie," Weber's account of "disenchantment," and Nietzsche's repudiation of modernity. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mark Hulliung

HOID 102b Knowledge and Power
[ hum ]
What is the relationship between knowledge and power? Using the work of Michel Foucault as a foundation, this course will explore the interweaving effects of power and knowledge in institutions and their systems of thought. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

HS 110a Wealth and Poverty
[ ss ]
Examines why the gap between richer and poorer citizens appears to be widening in the United States and elsewhere, what could be done to reverse this trend, and how the widening disparity affects major issues of public policy. Usually offered every year.
Tom Shapiro

HSSP 114b Racial/Ethnic and Gender Inequalities in Health and Health Care
[ ss ]
An examination of the epidemiological patterns of health status by race/ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic status. Addresses current theories and critiques explaining disparities in health status, access, quality, and conceptual models, frameworks, and interventions for eliminating inequalities. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HSSP 192b Sociology of Disability
[ ss ]
In the latter half of the twentieth 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." Traces that history and the way people with disabilities are seen and unseen, and see themselves. Usually offered every year.
Steve Gulley

IGS 110a Religion and Secularism in French & Francophone Culture
[ hum ss ]
Tackles the persistent power of religion in France and its former colonies despite common ideals of secular nationalism. Through literature and film we will study the historical and contemporary cultural wars waged around the French notion of “laïcité” -- its confrontation with Islam, but also the experiences of Jews, Catholics, and Protestants.
Clementine Fauré-Bellaïche

IGS 130a Global Migration
[ ss ]
Investigates the social, cultural, religious, political, and economic forces that shape global migration. More than 200 million people now live outside their countries of birth. Case studies include Europe, the U.S. and Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Africa, and China's internal migration. Usually offered every second year.
Kristen Lucken

NEJS 164b The Sociology of the American Jewish Community
[ hum ss ]
Open to all students.
A survey exploring transformations in modern American Jewish societies, including American Jewish families, organizations, and behavior patterns in the second half of the twentieth century. Draws on social science texts, statistical studies, and qualitative research; also makes use of a broad spectrum of source materials, examining evidence from journalism, fiction, film, and other cultural artifacts. Usually offered every year.
Staff

POL 52a Basic Statistics for Social and Political Analysis
[ qr ss ]
Provides a foundation in statistics focusing on descriptive statistics, inference, hypothesis testing and the basics of regression analysis. Becoming familiar with basic statistics will help you to prepare for a career as a social scientist. Usually offered every second year.
Alejandro Trelles

POL 125a Seminar: Women in American Politics
[ deis-us ss ]
Addresses three major dimensions of women's political participation: social reform and women-identified issues; women's organizations and institutions; and women politicians, electoral politics, and party identification. Covers historical context and contemporary developments in women's political activity. Usually offered every second year.
Jill Greenlee

SJSP 89a Social Justice, Social Policy Internship
To obtain an internship for the fall term, students should discuss their placements with the SJSP internship supervisor by April 1.
Supervised internship in a social justice, social service, social policy, or social research organization. Students will meet as a group and will complete research assignments. Usually offered every year in the fall semester.
Melissa Stimell

WMGS 89a When Violence Hits Home: Internship in Domestic Violence
Combines fieldwork in domestic and sexual violence prevention programs with a fortnightly seminar exploring cultural and interpersonal facets of violence from a feminist perspective. Topics include theories, causes and prevention of rape, battering, child abuse, and animal abuse. Internships provide practical experience in local organizations such as rape crisis, battered women's violence prevention, and child abuse prevention programs. Usually offered every fall.
Deirdre Hunter

WMGS 208b Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Research Seminar
Examines theories and practices of women's, gender, and sexuality studies as produced in various disciplines and in interdisciplinary ways, to offer students a historical and contemporary awareness, and to allow students to understand and critically analyze feminist scholarship across a range of disciplines. By the end of class, students will produce a set of research questions or proposal that will help them conceptualize their own independent research projects. Usually offered every year.
V Varun Chaudhry, Karen Hansen, Keridwen Luis, or Faith Smith