56 courses with the subject SOCI, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
SOCI 111Social Change in South Korea Through Film1
(Same as ASIA 111 ) This course explores cultural consequences of the dramatic transformation of South Korea, in four decades, from a war-torn agrarian society to a major industrial and post-industrial society with dynamic urban centers. Despite its small territory (equivalent to the size of the state of Indiana) and relatively small population (50 million people), South Korea became one of the major economic powerhouses in the world. Such rapid economic change has been followed by its rise to a major center of the global popular cultural production. Using the medium of film, this course examines multifaceted meanings of social change, generated by the Korean War, industrialization, urbanization, and the recent process of democratization, for lives of ordinary men and women. Seungsook Moon. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27.
SOCI 112The House is on Fire!: Climate Change, Society and Environment1
This course focuses on the challenges of global climate change in the 21st century. Our central aim is to examine the foundations of the discourse on society, and environment in order to explore two questions: how do social thinkers approach the construction of the future, and how has this construction informed the present debates on societal challenges and the environment in the age of climate change? Thus, we examine how social thought informs different articulations of policy, the limits of praxis, and its contemporary construction of alternative futures. Our focus is on the policy making process as influenced by the commodities, production and consumption, and risks related to the climate change. Pinar Batur. Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 113Feminism, Life Narratives, and the Sociological Imagination1
Auto/biographical writing is used to tell stories, make connections, build arguments, and stake political claims. But how and when do life narratives exceed the individual? In one of the most widely read sociological texts, C. Wright Mills argues that the “sociological imagination” helps us understand how the social world takes shape at the intersection of biography and history. And, feminists have long contended that the personal is not only social, “the personal is [also] political.” This first-year writing seminar examines published feminist life narratives and sociological studies—and the debates surrounding them—to illuminate how sociologists draw on life narratives as entry points into the social world. The key objectives are: 1) to develop our critical reading and listening skills 2) to gain an appreciation for the role of curiosity, question asking, and research in sociological thinking 3) to fine-tune our analytical writing and revision practice and 4) to build confidence as college writers. Light Carruyo. Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
An introduction to major concepts and various approaches necessary for cultivating sociological imagination. Although the content of each section varies; this course may not be repeated for credit.
(Same as URBS 204 ) What is the state of the rural — in contemporary society, and in urban imagination? How does modernization make rural livelihoods and settlements vulnerable? And why does it appear that many people are “going country”? This course examines the demographic, economic, cultural, and political conditions of rural society, with a focus on North America and an attention to global sources of change. Themes include rural inequalities and diversities; the transformation of agriculture, resource extraction, and industry in the countryside; hinterland out-migration, in-migration, and urbanization; and visibilities and invisibilities of “the rural” in popular culture, social problems, and politics. Leonard Nevarez. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ANST 207 ) This course examines features of childhoods in the U.S. at different times and across different social contexts. The primary aims of the course are 1) to examine how we’ve come to the contemporary understanding of American childhood as a distinctive life phase and cultural construct, by reference to historical and cross-cultural examples, and 2) to recognize the diversity of childhoods that exist and the economic, geographical, political, and cultural factors that shape those experiences. Specific themes in the course examine the challenges of studying children; the social construction of childhood (how childhoods are constructed by a number of social forces, economic interests, technological determinants, cultural phenomena, discourses, etc.); processes of contemporary globalization and commodification of childhoods (children’s roles as consumers, as producers, and debates about children’s rights); as well as the intersecting dynamics of age, social class, race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality in particular experiences of childhood. Eréndira Rueda. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 209Understanding the World through Korean Popular Culture1
(Same as ASIA 209 ) Since the dawn of the 21 st century, South Korean popular culture has garnered growing global attention especially among young people across various countries. Its examples range from K-dramas, K-pop music, K-beauty (cosmetics) and K-food to film and E-sports. Audiences and fans commonly consume these cultural products for leisure and entertainment. At the same time, the transnational production, circulation and consumption of the popular culture also reveal important features and underlying dynamic of the world in which we are living. By using selected examples of Korean popular culture, this course illuminates the following features and dynamic: 1) Societies dominated by celebrities, 2) Capitalist economies selling desires and fantasies, 3) Cultural identities, food, and tourism 4) Neoliberalism as a dominant mode of ruling. Seungsook Moon. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
This course provides a general overview of the prevalence and dynamics of domestic violence in the United States and its effects on battered women. We examine the role of the Battered Women’s Movement in both the development of societal awareness about domestic violence and in the initiation of legal sanctions against it. We also explore and discuss, both from a historical and present day perspective, ways in which our culture covertly and overtly condones the abuse of women by their intimate partners. Darlene DePorto. This class is not for first year students. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
In this course we sample books, including poetry, novels, and non-fiction literature that were banned in the US, beginning as far back as the 18th century to the present in the United States. We ask key questions: Why are some books banned as too controversial when they disrupt societal norms? How does book banning exist along side free speech in a democratic society? How did the authors and larger community respond to the book banning and what does that teach us about resistance and social justice? We examine the social forces that fuel book banning and how the tension between book banning and democracy has been managed. Please come to class prepared to read and discuss the work. Diane Harriford. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 214Transnational Perspectives on Women and Work1
(Same as LALS 214 and WFQS 214 ) This class is a theoretical and empirical exploration of women’s paid and unpaid labor. We examine how women’s experiences as workers — across space, place, and time — interact with larger economic structures, historical moments, and narratives about womanhood. We pay particular attention to the ways in which race, class, gender, sexuality and citizenship intersect and shape not only women’s relationships to work and family, but to other women workers (at times very differently geopolitically situated). We are attentive to the construction of women workers, the work itself, and the meanings women give to production, reproduction, and the global economy. Light Carruyo. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ASIA 216 ) This course focuses on the political economy and the cultural politics of transnational production, distribution, and consumption of food in the world to understand the complex nature of cultural globalization and its effects on the national, ethnic, and class identities of women and men. Approaching food as material cultural commodities moving across national boundaries, this course examines the following questions. How has food in routine diet been invested with a broad range of meanings and thereby served to define and maintain collective identities of people and social relationships linked to the consumption of food? In what ways and to what extent does eating food satisfy not only basic appetite and epicurean desire, but also social needs for status and belonging? How have powerful corporate interests shaped the health and well being of a large number of people across national boundaries? What roles do symbols and social values play in the public and corporate discourse of health, nutrition, and cultural identities. Seungsook Moon. Course Format: CLS
In recent decades the terms “post-human” and posthumanism” have circulated in many disciplines, connoting a range of different intellectual projects including: criticism of the nature/culture divide; response to technological developments in genetics, computing, robotics, and other fields; disentangling the presupposed superiority of “the human” from colonial, racist, and patriarchal systems. Far from rejecting the category of the human or advocating something “after” the human (as “post-” might suggest), posthumanism is rather a mode of inquiry that deepens our understanding of human communication, meaning-making, and society by decentering the human while expanding the scope of our analysis of human interaction to include non-human animals, networked technology and AI, the built environment, or even the Earth itself. In this course, we explore a range of case studies to ask questions such as: What might post-human sociology entail (in terms of content, theory, or method)? What are the strengths and limitations of such an approach in social science? How might decentering the human change the political stakes of sociology as well as movements for social justice, equality, and human dignity? Along the way we examine topics such as companion species and nuisance species; genetic engineering; robotics and artificial intelligence; algorithms and internet bots among others. In addition to classic texts by Donna Haraway and Bruno Latour, we also read works by Jane Bennett, Kate Crawford, Kathryn Harden, Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, Colin Jerolmack, Frank Pasquale, Kalinidi Vora and others. John Andrews. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as AFRS 229 ) This course provides an overview of black intellectual thought and an introduction to critical race theory. It offers approaches to the ways in which black thinkers from a variety of nations and periods from the nineteenth century up to black modernity engage their intellectual traditions. How have their perceptions been shaped by a variety of places? How have their traditions, histories and cultures theorized race? Critics may include Aimé Césaire, Anna Julia Cooper, W.E.B. DuBois, Frantz Fanon, Paul Gilroy, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Ida B. Wells, and Patricia Williams. Diane Harriford.
(Same as EDUC 232 ) Since 2000, there has been a 30% increase in the number of students enrolled in colleges and universities. Over 17 million undergraduates are enrolled in an array of degree-granting institutions across the U.S., with enrollments projected to increase another 14% by 2026. But who goes to college? Focusing on the experiences of historically underrepresented students, this course examines the history of higher education’s expansion and the lived experiences of students navigating higher education. Course content that examines the expansion of access to higher education focuses on important developments at the federal, state, and institutional levels. The course covers topics such as the GI Bill ® , the 1965 HEA, the formation of the community college system, key court cases that have increased access, state-level legislation (e.g., states that allow undocumented students to apply as residents of the state or make them eligible for state financial aid), and institutional policies concerning admission and financial aid. Course content that focuses on student experiences in higher education explores patterns of racial and socioeconomic stratification within higher education by accounting for students’ varying degrees of college preparedness, choice of college and course of study, campus experiences, persistence to a degree, and post-graduate trajectories. This course aims to uncover how various forms of stratification shape personal relationships with peers, faculty, and administration while in college (e.g., student-faculty relationships, peer interactions, dating, networking, satisfaction with their overall college experience, and the accessibility of higher ed administration). Eréndira Rueda. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
(Same as URBS 237 ) Since the late 19th century, sociology has contributed to the historic formation and evolving agenda of urban studies. This course introduces classical sociological studies of the urban, from German sociologists like Georg Simmel to the so-called Chicago school of sociology, and their elaboration and challenge by later generations of sociologists. In many ways, traditional sociological concepts of neighborhood, stratification, deviance, and urbanism inform contemporary research on unanticipated urban phenomena, like gentrification and megacities. Elsewhere, sociologists have shaped multidisciplinary inquiries into public space, political economy, and place. We survey these disciplinary developments with added focus on the global forces and urban change visible in Poughkeepsie and the larger New York metropolitan area. Leonard Nevarez. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as STS 238 ) Modern society is awash with data. Almost everything we do generates new qualitative and quantitative data, while the deployment of data, in turn, increasingly shapes society, transforming governance, industry practices, the distribution of opportunities to individuals, and even how we understand our own identities. To employ an overused adage, data has become the new oil—functioning as an essential input driving social change, an invaluable resource to those who lay claim to it, and a source of risk. This course introduces the critical study of data through theory, case studies, and application. Readings draw on the academic literature in science and technology studies, sociology, political science, and other fields across the curriculum to demonstrate the functions data play in research, politics, business, and beyond. In addition, students engage with the popular press to see how data interpretations occur outside of the academy. Students also use available data sets and analysis programs—including spreadsheet tools and visualization software—to conduct data manipulation exercises thematically tied to the topics under discussion. Students gain a multidisciplinary analytical understanding of how data are shaping—and are shaped by—the world around us and experience the challenges and possibilities of data analysis. Abigail Coplin.
Not open to first-year students. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Spring
SOCI 239Feeling the Present: Affect and Emotion in Contemporary Social Life1
(Same as ANST 239 ) Contrary to the Enlightenment vision of a society comprised of rational, self-contained individuals, feelings, moods, and affects in fact play a primary role in contemporary social life, affecting most everything from consumer behavior to political beliefs to the health of the economy. This course examines not only how feelings and moods are profoundly collective but also why and how these collective emotions have come to matter in contemporary culture, politics, and economy. In analysis of current and classic scholarship in the sociology of emotions, affect studies, and psychoanalysis - as well as film and popular culture - we attend to the ways in which anxiety, depression, hope, fear, rage, and other moods figure into everyday life, work, social movements, and other key sites. We consider topics including: mental health and the pharmaceutical industry; neoliberalism and financialization; the #metoo and Black Lives Matter movements; Trumpism and resurgent nationalisms globally; and emotion and social media among other topics addressed. Readings include work by Sara Ahmed, Zygmunt Bauman, Lauren Berlant, Ann Cvetkovitch, Jennifer Doyle, Sigmund Freud, Arlie Hochschild, Jack Katz, Pankaj Mishra, Fred Moten, José Munoz, Amber Musser, Sianne Ngai, and Kathleen Stewart. John Andrews. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 240The International Social Life of Science and Technology1
(Same as STS 240 ) Technological development is not “simply a matter of advances in science and technology, but a product of complex entanglements among knowledge, technical capability, politics, and culture” (Jasanoff 2005, 290). This class examines the co-production of science, politics, and society by analyzing controversies tied to science, technology, and medicine in different international contexts. Using these international cases, we examine how science and technology shape—and are shaped by—structures of inequality, social identities, state’s governance strategies, and society’s counter-movements against the state. We also use this diverse array of global examples to introduce the major theoretical frameworks used by science and technology studies scholars. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the socio-politics of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, genetic manipulation and testing, nuclear energy and meltdown, environmental disaster, reproductive technologies, the population policy construction, genetically modified crops, the globalized pharmaceutical industry, and information and communication technologies. Abby Coplin. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
In the United States, as well as throughout much of the world today, people designated as “white” are the socially dominant racialized group. The highly organized system of racial oppression which maintains their privileged position is systemic racism. This course explores systemic racism as a central and enduring social structure around which the United States and other modern societies are organized and evolve. It analyzes the origin, nature, and consequences of systemic racism. Topics explored include: the sociological perspective as a way of understanding how systemic racism is organized and maintained, the meaning of “race” and “whiteness” as social facts and ideological constructions, the foundation of systemic racism in key social institutions of society, police and vigilante violence as a mechanism of racial control, welfare racism, everyday white racism, white supremacist social thought and organizations, and anti-racist movements opposed to white racial hegemony. Ruth Thompson-Miller. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ANST 242 ) The ongoing care crisis in America reveals major gaps and obstacles between care needs and care provision. What care obligations does the state have to support the welfare of its citizens? How can we make care more affordable and accessible? Can the provision of care be socially organized in a different way—safely and with dignity to caregivers? This multidisciplinary course explores how the social value of care has changed over time in modern US history and society through theoretical debates in feminist care ethics, empirical studies of feminized work and social welfare history. Topics to be discussed include racialized domestic work, political economy of childcare, aging and eldercare, disability activism and veterans benefits. Theoretical concerns involve the commodification of intimate life, the relationship between state, family, and market in welfare provision and social citizenship. Often evoked but rarely defined, this course helps students better understand what is meant when we talk about care. Amy Chin. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
The sociology of music takes its cue from the distinction between musical texts and musical contexts: whereas the humanistic inquiry into texts highlights the study of musical forms, meanings, and performance, the sociological emphasis on contexts points to the social settings, audiences, and consequences of musical expression. From the commodification and marketing of music, to the collective effervescence and political contestations of music listeners, the sociology of music highlights the role of social forces, capitalist organization, and creative agency across many stages of cultural experience. In this way, the sociological inquiry into music provides an entry into larger debates in the sociology of culture, critical theory, cultural studies, social movements, and media studies. Topics for this semester include urban music scenes; the racialization of music genres and music marketing; dynamic changes in the composition, recording, and distribution of popular music; and new directions in music performance and fandom. Leonard Nevarez. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 247Modern Social Theory: Classical Traditions1
This course examines underlying assumptions and central concepts and arguments of European and American thinkers who contributed to the making of distinctly sociological perspectives. Readings include selections from Karl Marx, Emile Durheim, Max Weber, Georg Simmel, W.E.B. Du Bois and Erving Goffman. Thematic topics vary from year to year. Seungsook Moon.
SOCI 151 . Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Fall
SOCI 252Health Inequalities and Activism1
(Same as AFRS 252 and STS 252 ) When comparing the 36 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States spends twice the average on healthcare. However, the US ranks 28 in life expectancy, 33 in infant mortality, and last in obesity. In other words, Americans spend more on healthcare but live shorter and unhealthier lives. When examining US healthcare up close, there are significant disparities between sub-populations. For example, socioeconomic status (SES) is inversely associated with risk of disease, which means that having higher SES correlates with lower risk of disease. In the first half of this course, students investigate how race, gender, socio-economic status, and their intersections impact health disparities and inequalities. In the second half of this course, students examine collective responses to health inequalities and representation. Catherine Tan. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
(Same as LALS 253 ) Immigration to the U.S. since the 1970s has been characterized by a marked and unprecedented increase in the diversity of new immigrants. Unlike the great migrations from Europe in the late 1800s and early 1900s, most of the immigrants who have arrived in the U.S. in the last four decades have come from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean. New immigration patterns have had a significant impact on the racial and ethnic composition and stratification of the American population, as well as the meaning of American identity itself. Immigrants and their families are also being transformed in the process, as they come into contact with various institutional contexts that can facilitate, block, and challenge the process of incorporation into the U.S. This course examines the impact of these new immigration patterns by focusing on the 16.4 million children in the U.S. who have at least one immigrant parent. Since 1990, children of immigrants - those born in the U.S. as well as those who are immigrants themselves - have doubled and have come to represent 23% of the population of minors in the U.S. In this course we study how children of immigrants are reshaping America, and how America is reshaping them, by examining key topics such as the impact of immigration on family structures, gender roles, language maintenance, academic achievement, and identity, as well as the impact that immigration reforms have had on access to higher education, employment, and political participation. This course provides an overview of the experiences of a population that is now a significant proportion of the U.S. population, yet one that is filled with contradictions, tensions and fissures and defies simple generalizations. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
Examines dilemmas of social inquiry. On what basis are sociological generalizations drawn? What are the ethics of social research? Course includes a critical analysis of research studies as well as an introduction to and practical experience with participant observation, interviewing, questionnaire construction, sampling, experimentation, and available data. Abigail Coplin. Course Format: CLS
(Same as STS 255 ) The objective of this course is to introduce students to the central themes and topics of medical sociology, such as: the social model of illness, the profession of medicine, medicalization, clinical gaze, experiences of illness, contested illness, diagnosis, politics of prevention, cultural health capital, and social production of health disparities. How does something become “medical”? What does it mean to be ill? How does illness impact a person’s relationships and sense of self? How might a diagnosis work to stigmatize or validate? The significance of being ill (or of possessing a diagnosis) extends beyond the medical model of health—beyond clinical understandings of causation, treatment, and prevention. Disorders and diseases are socially and culturally dynamic. During this course, students investigate the broader social context in which issues of health and illness are embedded. They also address the social structures that shape the field of medicine and how different groups of people engage with and within this field. Finally, the course examines communities that have formed around illness (such as support groups) and considers how these groups shape identity, empower, and generate knowledge. Catherine Tan. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
In this course we examine how social prestige and power are unequally distributed in societies of the past and present. We discuss how control of property and the means of production contribute to a system of inequality. We also analyze the role of commodities in a consumerist society and the relationship of consumption to stratification. We also discuss the concepts of class formation, class consciousness, and class struggle. Additionally, we examine how race and gender serve to contribute to stratification. Diane Harriford. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 261“The Nuclear Cage”: Environmental Theory and Nuclear Power1
(Same as ENST 261 and INTL 261 ) The central aim of this course is to explore debates about the interaction between beings, including humans, animals, plants, and the earth within the context of advanced capitalism by concentrating on the production, distribution, consumption, and disposal of nuclear power. The first question concerning the class is how does Environmental Theory approach nuclear power and its impact on the environment. The second question deals with how this construction interacts with other forms of debate regarding nuclear power, especially concentrating on the relation between science, market and the state in dealing with nature, and how citizens formulate and articulate their understanding of nuclear power through social movements. Pinar Batur. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
The course consists of a consideration of the nature and scope of criminology as well as an historical treatment of the theories of crime causation and the relation of theory to research and the treatment of the criminal. Ruth Thompson-Miller. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
This course joins the ongoing debate about the meaning of press freedom and explores the relationship between news and democracy. It examines how the news media operate in American society and assesses how well the current media are serving the information needs of citizens. Topics may include: the meaning of “objectivity,” the relationship between journalists and sources, news and public opinion, ownership of news media, the relationship between news and advertising, propaganda and news management, and the role of alternative media. William Hoynes. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ENST 266 ) The 21st century will be defined in the dramatic consequences of the current events and movements regarding our waste: global climate change, pollution, resource depletion, contamination and extinction. One of the most striking and consistent observations is that racism plays a major role in placing waste in close proximity to those racially distinct, economically exploited and politically oppressed. This class examines the destructive global dynamics of environmental racism and resistance, as struggles against it. Pinar Batur. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 272Critical Approaches to Media and Popular Culture1
(Same as MEDS 272 ) From television and cinema to hip hop stars and YouTube stars to billboard ads and pop up ads, popular media is a ubiquitous facet of social and cultural life. It is also one that often seems so natural or trivial as not to warrant serious sociological analysis. The goal of this course is to introduce students to classic perspectives on popular culture and media, and to evaluate their relevance in both historical and contemporary contexts. We attend not only to the content of pop culture but also to the political economy of mass media and its relationship to other social institutions of the family, education, health care, and government. In doing so, we consider a broad range of genres including sitcoms, reality television, disaster films, professional sports, video games, podcasts, karaoke, mash-ups, and selfies as well as and the role of various axes of social difference such as race, class, gender, and sexuality. Through writing, discussion, podcasts, and presentations, students practice developing and supporting arguments regarding the role of popular culture in our lives. John Andrews. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as STS 273 ) The new economy is, in one sense, a very old concern of sociology. Since the discipline’s 19th-c. origins, sociologists have asked how changes in material production and economic relations alter the ways that people live, work, understand their lives, and relate to one another. However, current interests in the new economy center upon something new: a flexible, “just in time” mode of industry and consumerism made possible by information technologies and related organizational innovations. The logic of this new economy, as well as its consequences for society, are the subject of this course. Topics include the evolving role of technology in economic globalization; the precarity of today’s workplaces and labor markets; the question of the “creative class”; digital divides in technology access, education, and lifestyles; and the cutting edges of consumerism. Leonard Nevarez. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as LALS 275 ) This course explores children’s presence and participation in processes of international migration. A particular focus of the course is on the factors that shape chain and circulating migration and the complex decision-making processes within families when children are left behind, sent back to a home country, or take the lead in chain migration. We examine how factors such as globalization, displacement, family separation, and transnational care networks shape contemporary childhoods among immigrant families. Students analyze how children navigate complex identities, help sustain familial and cultural ties across distances, and respond to the challenges and opportunities of living in more than one cultural or national context. Eréndira Rueda. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
This course explores the dynamic realities and contested meanings of household, family, and kinship. We examine early western sociology’s interest in the rise of the “modern” family, as well as the subsequent societal anxiety and fascination with its purpose and borders. To study “the family” as a social institution, we seek to understand family structures and relationships within their historical, cultural, and political contexts. Case studies illuminate the interaction between global and local forces and the constellation of institutions surrounding families, including communities, schools, workplaces, and the state. Historical and contemporary topics include relations of care, connection, and conflict as families navigate state power, gender and sexuality, generational friction, chosen families, racialization and racism, migrations, class mobility, and economic strain. Light Carruyo. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
0.5 to 1 unit(s) Individual project of reading or research. May be elected during the college year or during the summer. The Department. Special permission. Course Format: INT
(Same as ASIA 295 ) Approaching film as a complex audiovisual text that represents social change in South Korea, this intensive course interprets a collection of films selected by participating students and the instructor throughout the semester. Seungsook Moon. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: INT
0.5 to 1 unit(s) Individual project of reading or research. May be elected during the college year or during the summer. The Department. Special permission. Unscheduled. Course Format: OTH
Students electing the Senior Thesis will complete a sociological study involving research, original analysis, and a final written product of 40 - 50 pages that develops a clear and sustained argument. The Senior Thesis is a year-long process that is worth half a unit in the fall (SOCI 300) and half a unit in the spring (SOCI 301). Senior Thesis students are expected to submit an initial one page statement of intent in the spring of the junior year, highlighting their academic preparation (such as prior coursework or research experience) for their specific thesis topic. The Department. Yearlong course 300- SOCI 301 . Course Format: INT
Students electing the Senior Thesis will complete a sociological study involving research, original analysis, and a final written product of 40 - 50 pages that develops a clear and sustained argument. The Senior Thesis is a year-long process that is worth half a unit in the fall (SOCI 300) and half a unit in the spring (SOCI 301). Senior Thesis students are expected to submit an initial one page statement of intent in the spring of the junior year, highlighting their academic preparation (such as prior coursework or research experience) for their specific thesis topic. The Department. Yearlong course SOCI 300 -301. Course Format: INT
This course uses an intersectional feminist lens to explore key analytical questions in visual sociology. We focus on the methods, theories, and pedagogies that inform feminist approaches to visual archives and visual literacy. How have people made and circulated visual materials historically to document, shape, and contest everyday life and social relationships? How has social life and the study of the social world been transformed by technological innovation over time, and what new ways of seeing, knowing, and not knowing have emerged, or are called for, in response? We consider material objects, including everyday snapshots, photojournalism, documentary film, signs, and museum and library collections. Together we interrogate questions of intent and perception, viewing, marketing, funding, circulation and sharing practices, and debates around these practices. Light Carruyo. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
This seminar investigates how corporations exert power over society outside of their place in the market. We review the evolution of the corporation, from the late nineteenth century concern over “big business” to the present day of global finance, and examine competing theories and methodologies with which social researchers have explained the power of business. Topics and literatures include corporate citizenship and philanthropy, capitalist networks and organizations, the cult of the “charismatic CEO,” and the faultlines of financial capitalism revealed by the Occupy movement. Leonard Nevarez. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as WFQS 321 ) How has feminist insight into issues of race, power/knowledge, intersecting inequalities, and human agency changed the way we understand the social world? What is the relationship between theory and practice? What counts as theory? How does theory inform research, pedagogy, and social relationships? Drawing on theoretical, empirical, and experimental texts we explore how feminist knowledge is created, circulated, and debated. Light Carruyo. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as STS 330 ) Births happen every day. And unless you’re a turritopsis doohmii jellyfish, death is inevitable. While we may personally care about certain births and deaths (our own and those of people we care about), they are not inherently significant events. So, what makes these events special? This seminar explores the social nature of birth and death, primarily in the context of the United States. How do we make sense of and attribute meaning to birth, death, and… the beyond? How do these things organize social roles and responsibilities? How do social inequalities shape birth and death? Whose births/deaths are made to matter? Throughout this seminar, students conduct their own research project and engage with sociological research, film, literature, and art to investigate the stuff between conception and the afterlife. Catherine Tan. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ENST 340 ) James Beard argued “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” Our understanding of the complexities regarding food systems is important because the fate of the 21 st century might be defined in the dramatic consequences of the current events and movements regarding food. One of the most striking and consistent observations from these movements is that the peoples’ voices are not silenced in the face of violence, oppression and tyranny, but by hunger. In this class, while we study food and food systems, environment and the food politics, economics of food and the food culture, we also engage with the debates regarding the future of food globally. Pinar Batur.
100-level course in Sociology, Environmental Studies, Urban Studies or International Studies. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Spring
SOCI 347Asian Sociotechnical Imaginaries1
(Same as ASIA 347 and STS 347 ) Technological development is not “simply a matter of advances in science and technology, but a product of complex entanglements among knowledge, technical capability, politics, and culture” (Jasanoff 2005, 290). Thinking of science and technology in Asia in particular brings to mind images of unparalleled development, the futuristic, the optimistic, the dystopian, and disaster simultaneously. This seminar examines key topics at the intersection of science, society, and the state in contemporary Asia. We will analyze questions like how are cutting edge technologies employed in governance in different Asian states? How has science been used to craft imaginaries of the self and the nation in Asia? Are the dynamics of technological development in Asia unique, and how do they shape Asian nation’s position on the global stage? By delving in-depth into different international cases from across the Asian continent, we examine how science and technology shape—and are shaped by—structures of inequality, social identities, states’ governance strategies, and society’s counter-movements against the state. Weekly topics include, but are not limited to, pandemic management and public health, genetic nationalism, biopolitics, coercive environmentalism, contending with nuclear disaster, models of technological innovation, surveillance capitalism, scientism in policy making, internet politics, and human-robot co-existence. National contexts include China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Singapore, India, and Indonesia. Abigail Coplin. One 3-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as MEDS 356 ) This course examines the culture and politics of the public sphere, with an emphasis on the changing status of public spaces in contemporary societies. Drawing upon historical and current analyses, we explore such issues as the relationship between public and commercial space and the role of public discourse in democratic theory. Case studies investigate such sites as media, online platforms, schools, shopping malls, libraries, and public parks in relation to questions of economic inequality, political participation, privatization, and consumer culture. William Hoynes. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
This course examines central debates in the sociology of culture, with a particular focus on the complex intersection between the domain of culture and questions of class and power. We explore the terrain between Marxist Sociology and Cultural Studies, examining culture as an arena where power relations are constructed, reproduced, and contested. Topics include: the meaning and significance of cultural capital, the power of ideology, expertise and the production of knowledge, education and class reproduction, gender and class relations, race and class, working class cultures, racism and populism, and debates about the forms and meanings of resistance. William Hoynes.
SOCI 151 or permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 368Toxic Futures: From Social Theory to Environmental Theory1
(Same as ENST 368 and INTL 368 ) The central aim of this class is to examine the foundations of the discourse on society and nature in social theory and environmental theory to explore two questions. The first question is how does social theory approach the construction of the future, and the second question is how has this construction informed the present debates on the impact of industrialization, urbanization, state-building and collective movements on the environment? In this context, the class focuses on how social theory informs different articulations of Environmental Thought and its political and epistemological fragmentation and the limits of praxis, as well as its contemporary construction of alternative futures. Pinar Batur. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ASIA 369 and WFQS 369 ) From a sociological perspective, gender is not only an individual identity, but also a social structure of inequality (or stratification) that shapes the workings of major institutions in society as well as personal experiences. This seminar examines meanings, rituals, and quotidian experiences of masculinities in various societies in order to illuminate their normative making and remaking as a binary and hierarchical category of gender and explore alternatives to this construction of gender. Drawing upon cross-cultural and comparative case studies, this course focuses on the following institutional sites critical to the politics of masculinities: marriage and the family, the military, business corporations, popular culture and sexuality, medicine and the body, and religion. Seungsook Moon.
Previous coursework in Sociology or permission of the instructor. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 371Fake News: Truth and Media in the Post-Fact Society1
(Same as MEDS 371 ) The post-fact society, according to journalist Farhad Manjoo, is one in which people increasingly live in “divergent, parallel realities.” It is in the context of the post-fact society that President Donald Trump and his followers are able to decry any news that challenges his actions or worldview as “fake” and to offer up ideologically bolstering “alternative facts” in its place. While sensationalized, exaggerated, or false news is not new (think yellow journalism or tabloids like The National Inquirer ), the advent of cable news, the 24-hour news cycle, and the Internet have led to the proliferation of multiple realities of fact, troubling public trust in news media and polarizing Americans politically. Drawing on media studies, the sociology of knowledge, and post-structuralist theory, this course examines the cultures of the new post-fact society including: fake news and alternative facts; news taste-makers such as Rachel Maddow and Tucker Carlson; algorithmic control of online media; conspiracy theories; and political satire. We consider questions such as: How does news media create and reinforce various political ideologies? Why do people look to news media to confirm or deny preexisting beliefs? Is journalism ever fully objective? If in fact there are multiple Truths, how do we as a society develop public trust and social solidarity? John Andrews. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as URBS 374 ) This advanced level seminar delves into the rich field of urban ethnography, examining classical and contemporary works that illuminate the intersections of race, space, class, and representations of urbanism. Through an interdisciplinary lens drawing from sociology, anthropology, Black Studies, geography and others, students critically engage with theories, methods, and empirical research to deepen their understanding of everyday life in cities and communities across the United States. Stephane Andrade. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
(Same as LALS 375 ) Child and youth migration has become an increasingly visible and recognized part of 21st century global migration flows. This course explores the complex and evolving phenomenon of child and youth migration, with a particular focus on unaccompanied minors. Adult perspectives across platforms - e.g., news media, academic research, and policy debates - often assume that unaccompanied child and youth migrants are passive recipients of adult decisions and routinely represent them as passive victims of exploitation, trafficking, and coercion. This course questions such assumptions by examining the multidimensional nature of unaccompanied child migration, highlighting children’s agency in making migration-related decisions, including those involving work, education, and family strategies. Students engage critically with an array of texts (e.g., memoir, fiction, social science research, and policy frameworks) to analyze the varying experiences of unaccompanied migrant children—both positive and negative—and to understand the broader socio-political contexts shaping their journeys. Eréndira Rueda. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 382Community Engaged Research: Theory and Practice1
This hands-on seminar introduces Community Engaged Research (CER) as both a social science research method and a practice of collective knowledge-making that seeks to bridge academic scholarship with community priorities, guided by principles such as reciprocity, co-learning, shared power, transparency, and accessibility. In the first half of the course, students explore the theoretical foundations of CER. Together, we examine how power, history, and context shape research relationships; critically analyze classic and contemporary examples of CER; and consider the principles and strategies that support respectful, collaborative research. Students learn to identify the risks of extractive and harmful practices and how to design approaches that foreground trust, relationship-building, and long-term impact. In the second half of the class, students, working as individuals or in teams, collaborate with community partners to conceptualize and develop a CER project proposal. Project proposals are designed with the aim of completing the project over the summer or the following academic year. The course concludes with a collective reflection, in conversation with community partners, on the opportunities and obstacles, possibilities and pitfalls, of Community Engaged Research as a participatory and democratic practice. Elizabeth Cannon, William Hoynes.
SOCI 151 or permission of the instructors. One 3-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
SOCI 386Ghetto Schooling1
(Same as EDUC 386 and LALS 386 ) In twenty-first century America, the majority of students attend segregated schools. Most white students attend schools where 75% of their peers are white, while 80% of Latino students and 74% of black students attend majority non-white schools. In this course we will examine the events that led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and the 60-year struggle to make good on the promises of that ruling. The course will be divided into three parts. In part one, we will study the Brown decision as an integral element in the fight against Jim Crow laws and trace the legal history of desegregation efforts. In part two, we will focus on desegregation policies and programs that enabled the slow move toward desegregation between 1954 and the 1980s. At this point in time, integration efforts reached their peak and 44% of black students in the south attended majority-white schools. Part three of the course will focus on the dismantling of desegregation efforts that were facilitated by U.S. Supreme Court decisions beginning in the 1990s. Throughout the course we will consider the consequences of the racial isolation and concentrated poverty that characterizes segregated schooling and consider the implications of this for today’s K-12 student population, which is demographically very different than it was in the 1960s, in part due to new migration streams from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean. Over the last 40 years, public schools have experienced a 28% decline in white enrollments, with increases in the number of black and Asian students, and a noteworthy 495% increase in Latino enrollments. Eréndira Rueda. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
0.5 to 1 unit(s) Individual project of reading or research. May be elected during the college year or during the summer. The Department. Special permission. Unscheduled. Course Format: OTH
