Sociology Course Synopses
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This course introduces students to the basic conceptual framework of sociology. Subjects dealt with range from "everyday" encounters, such as eye-contact and body-distance, to global and epochal phenomena, such as the rise of capitalism, the decline of inner cities, and the aging of populations. Students learn the various theories that guide sociological research and analysis, and gain "field" experience by doing participantobservation studies and small-scale surveys. The course consists of two lectures and one discussion section weekly.
SOC 11 Contemporary Social Problems
This course surveys different approaches to the study of social
problems in American society. Topics covered include: deviance
(drug abuse and alcoholism, mental illness, crime, sexuality and
sexual deviance, family, and sexual violence); inequality and
conflict (ageism, racism, sexism, income inequality, poverty,
and homelessness); and social change (unemployment, job alienation
and job displacement by technological and economic change, urban
problems, social consequences of environmental pollution, and
distribution of health care). For each topic, course materials
treat what is known about the problem, recent trends, their causes
and consequences, and individual and societal responses to them.
SOC 49S First-Year Seminar
This course is restricted to freshmen. Its subject matter changes
from year to year. First-year seminars are listed in a booklet
issued by the Pre-Major Advising Center.
SOC 98 Introduction to Canada
C-L: Interdisciplinary Course 98; also C-L: Canadian Studies,
Economics 98, History 98, and Political Science 98.
SOC 101A, S Contemporary American Society
This course is part of the TwentiethCentury America Program and
is reserved for freshmen enrolled in that program. It examines
the major changes occurring in the United States during this century,
such as changing work and leisure patterns, family formations,
sex-roles, life-styles, consumption habits, education, and socialization
practices.
SOC 101B, S Science and Technology in Twentieth-Century America
This course is part of the FOCUS program and is reserved for freshmen
enrolled in that program. The impact of social and political institutions
on the development of science and technology is the main theme
of discussion. Topics covered include cybernetics, atomic energy,
and biotechnology.
SOC 101C, S A Single Europe? Dreams and Reality
This course is part of the FOCUS program and is reserved for freshmen
enrolled in that program. The evolution of a single Europe, the
European Union, is used as the basis for a discussion of how economic,
political and social forces help shape societal development, how
the forces of nationalism and ethnicity compete with equally powerful
forces of consolidation and globalization.
SOC 101E, S The Political Economy of East Asia: From Nation-State
to Regional Cooperation
This course is part of the FOCUS program and is reserved for freshmen
enrolled in the program. The Asian-Pacific region is emerging
as the center of industrial growth for the next century. How are
countries in this region responding to the challenge of industrialization?
What impact has industrialization exerted on their cultures and
societies? How significant will cooperation in this region be
for the new order of international politics and economy?
SOC 103 Sexuality and Culture in America
Sexual ideas and practices vary from one group in society to another.
What are the different cultural contexts that give meaning to
and regulate sexuality in America? What impact has the rise of
a youth culture had on sexual expression? What role have popular
culture in general and the mass media in particular played in
encouraging new and different sexual beliefs and practices? How
do different campus cultures shape sexual behaviors and attitudes?
What brought about the rise of openly gay and lesbian cultures
and politics and what effect have they had?. C-L: Cultural Anthropology
and Women's Studies.
SOC 106 Social Psychology
How do we come to understand other people and their behavior?
What are the fundamental principles of human relationshipsfrom
chance encounters to intimate friendships? These are the kinds
of questions that form the foundation of social psychology. Specific
topics examined include the process by which we come to understand
our own and other people's behavior, attitudes, and prejudices;
human aggression; conformity; helping behavior; and behavior in
groups. Early in the course, about one week of class time is devoted
to research design issues relevant to socialpsychological studies,
providing a basis for critical evaluation of the studies discussed
in class. CL: Psychology 116; Women's Studies.
SOC 107 Bargaining, Power, and Influence in Social Interaction
The exercise of power and influence are crucially important social
processes. How does power emerge in social groups? Why do some
people have more influence than others? How do social groups manage
conflict? How is cooperation promoted and agreement negotiated?
Focusing principally on the study of micro-level interaction processes,
using experimental studies, this course also looks at other factors
that help shape social interaction, such as emotion and the search
for equity.
SOC 109 Introduction to North America
A course treating the North American continent as an integrated
whole, looking at the geography, history, politics, economics,
and cultural productions of Canada, the United States, and Mexico,
with some reference to the Caribbean. C-L: Cultural Anthropology
129, Economics 115, History 108F, Pol. Sci 119, Pub. Policy Studies
115, Romance Studies 125, IDC 110.
SOC 110 Comparative Sociology: Selected Areas (A-E)
This is actually a group of courses, each of which can be taken
independently. All of the courses are comparative, in that they
try to understand the basic social institutions of a country or
region by comparing them with institutions in other countries
or regions. Institutions covered vary but usually include culture
and communication, family, law and social control, cities, work
and industry. The subheadings are: A:Africa; B:Asia; C:Europe;
D:Latin America; and E:Cross-Regional. CL: Comparative Area
Studies.
SOC 111 Inequality in America: An International Perspective
Changes in the degree and kinds of inequality are studied to see
if there is reason to be more or less hopeful about the future.
The course is concerned with both the degree of inequality (of
education, jobs, and financial resources) and the processes by
which the inequality is produced and perpetuated. To what extent
are women and minority groups disadvantaged in the distribution
of life-chances? Are the children of poverty doomed to be poor
when they grow up? Why do people put up with inequality? All topics
are covered on a comparative basis, looking at national differences
in inequality, social mobility, and the processes that produce
them. CL: Women's Studies.
SOC 112 American Demographics
This course gives you the opportunity to learn about what is happening
to the population of the United States and introduces you to some
of the techniques social scientists use to keep track of population
trends and account for them. You will learn about changes in the
size and makeup of families, increases and decreases in the proportions
of different groups in the population, movements from one region
of the country to another, and migration flows across the country's
borders. The course pays special attention to how these changes
affect the demand for consumer goods, housing, college education,
jobs, and government services.
SOC 116 Race and Ethnic Relations
What is racism and how did it develop in the United States? What
is it like today? How much progress has been made in reducing
racism? Which strategies are most effective in which areas? What
are the effects of busing, affirmative action, civil rights legislation,
boycotts, selfhelp schemes, and interracial marriage? These questions
are discussed in the areas of economics, family, stratification,
education, housing, business, politics, the military, and deviance.
Lectures are combined with student reports, guest lecturers, and
discussions of current events on campus and elsewhere. CL: African
and AfroAmerican Studies.
SOC 117 Childhood in Social Perspective
The status of the child has undergone much change since the Middle
Ages. The course describes the forces that have altered the social
nature of childhood, paying special attention to the role of family,
schools, and recreational and religious organizations. The social
status of the child seems to have declined recently but its legal
status has risen. What lies behind these trends, and what are
the consequences for the child, the family, the school, and other
institutions that "handle" children? Materials are drawn
from films, historical accounts, and literature, as well as from
social science research.
SOC 118 Sex, Gender, and Society
During the twentieth century, men's and women's lives simultaneously
changed and remained the same. Women entered new domains of activity
and engaged in new role relationships with men. Men were confronted
with changing personal and social demands in their associations
with women. Still, child-rearing and household work remain overwhelmingly
women's responsibilities, while men and women alike face the uncertainties
of achievement in the workplace. Gender gaps in wages and fringe
benefits persist, with women and children comprising the major
poverty class in our society. Finally, technical innovations in
fertility, health maintenance, and the workplace environment are
transforming men's and women's selfconcepts and identities. CL:
Comparative Area Studies; Women's Studies.
SOC 119 Juvenile Delinquency
What are the rules that define delinquency? How have these rules
developed historically and how do they vary crossculturally? What
types of behavior violate the rules? How is delinquent behavior
explained? How do people react to delinquent behavior? This course
addresses these and related questions. Topics to be covered include:
the social environment in which juvenile delinquency develops;
the extent and nature of delinquent behavior; scientific explanations
for delinquent behavior; and societal reactions, expressed by
schools, courts, and other social control agencies.
SOC 120 Causes of Crime
This course describes the characteristics of criminals and their
victims. It explains both individual involvement in crime and
variations in the rates of different types of crime across social
groups, communities, and countries. Students will become familiar
with some of the problems involved in investigating and measuring
the "true" crime rate.
SOC 122 Punishment and Treatment of Deviants
How do societies define and deal with deviance? This course looks
at the consequences of different styles of societal response (e.g.,
punishment vs. rehabilitation); the justification given for these
differing reactions; the determinants of both the reactions and
their consequences; programs and facilities for deviants; the
structure and operation of "total" institutions (e.g.,
prisons, hospitals); and problems of returning to family and community
life after incarceration.
SOC 123 Social Aspects of Mental Illness
The importance of mental health concerns in the contemporary world
is considered and investigated in this course. What does it mean
to be mentally ill? What are the causes of mental illness and
how does society react to it? How is mental illness defined and
treated? How does the method of treatment vary over time and place?
Historical and comparative data, as well as personal biographies,
are used.
SOC 124 Human Development
This course illustrates and evaluates the application and complementarity
of biological, behavioral, and sociological approaches to problems
encountered over the human life course. The life course describes
the age-differentiated, socially-recognized sequence of transitions
that individuals characteristically undergo during their life
span. Sequences of transitions occur in a number of different
life domains which are interwoven in the individual's life. For
example, many times the completion of a level of education, or
a job promotion, is an occasion for marriage, or for starting
a family. A number of life-events are examined in order to trace
their impact on the life-course, including socioeconomic deprivation
in infancy, teenage pregnancy, adult unemployment, and retirement.
CL: Interdisciplinary Course 124; Psychology 124.
SOC 125 Comparative Approaches to Global Issues
Much of sociology has to do with the differences that exist between
societies in basic social institutions, such as the family, and
basic social processes, such as social mobility. This course deals
with problems of method. What are the proper procedures to use
when comparing different societies? How should cases be selected?
How many cases are necessary for drawing valid conclusions? How
can we generalize from a simple comparison between two countries?
How can we be sure we are measuring the same thing in different
societies? Materials are drawn from sociology, history, political
science, anthropology, comparative literature, and religion. CL:
Interdisciplinary Course 125; Anthropology 125; Comparative Area
Studies, History 137; Political Science 125.
SOC 126 Third World Development
This course reviews the evidence for, and theories concerning,
the impact of First World or "core" countries on national
development in the Third World or "periphery." Its premise
is that, to a large extent, the social institutions of the Third
World have developed in the context of their relation to more
developed countries. Family structures, labor force participation,
cities, mass communications, educational institutions, and the
like are increasingly shaped by global forces. These forces are
mediated by transnational economic institutions, such as the World
Bank, and by multinational corporations. Attention is also paid
to efforts by Third World governments to control these influences.
CL: Comparative Area Studies.
SOC 132 Methods of Social Research
How do sociologists select research problems, design studies,
collect data and interpret results? This course offers a systematic
review of all aspects of conducting social research. It is not
a cookbook course, but you will gain practical experience in the
enterprise of developing knowledge about social behavior. Various
data collection strategies are examined the experiment, social
surveys, field research, historical data, census, and other statistical
data. The course provides students with the opportunity to research
their own chosen problem and analyze their own data. This experience
provides valuable knowledge about how to detect and interpret
current social trends and patterns of behavior.
SOC 133 Statistical Methods
This course is no longer taught in the regular academic year,
although it is sometimes taught in the Summer Session. To fulfill
the statistics requirement for the major, students should take
Statistics 110C.
SOC 138D History of Social Thought
Thinking about societies with the goal of developing testable
theories about how they work is a fairly recent development. However,
the social sciences could not exist without such theories. This
course looks at the social conditions that encouraged systematic,
rational thought about society and the individual's place in it.
It traces the evolution of social thought up to the present by
looking at writers such as Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel, Pareto,
Freud, James, Mead and Parsons. The aim of the course is to introduce
students interested in philosophy and the social sciences to the
variety of perspectives on society that inform research, analysis,
and policy formation. Major issues include the relation between
the individual and society, the sources of conflict and change
in society, the role of ideas and beliefs in shaping human behavior,
and the ways in which social thought itself can be validated.
The course consists of two lectures and one discussion session
a week.
SOC 139 Marxism and Society
This course offers a critical appraisal of Marxism as a scholarly
method for understanding human societies. The course considers
the basic concepts of historical materialism, as they have developed
in historical contexts. Topics include sexual and social inequality,
alienation, class formation, imperialism, and revolution. This
is a core course for the Program in Perspectives on Marxism and
Society. CL: Anthropology 139; Education 139; History 186; Interdisciplinary
Course 139.
SOC 141 Consuming Passions
A consideration of some of the sociological and ethical issues
involved in living in a consumer society, where life is said to
be focused more around what we buy and own than what we do for
a living or whose relation we are, and where possessions contribute
to, and even become, our identities. Topics covered include collecting,
gift-giving, branding, advertising, consumer regulation, and the
rise of the global consumer.
SOC 142 Organizations and Global Competitiveness
Global competitiveness has become a central concern for all industrial
societies. There is considerable debate about how societies can
become more competitive in an increasingly interdependent world.
This course focuses on organizations as one of the primary social
bases of national competitiveness. Case materials are drawn from
the United States, Japan, Western Europe, and the newly industrializing
countries in East Asia and Latin America. Students learn that
nations have adopted quite different paths to become more competitive,
depending upon their economic, political, and sociocultural characteristics.
The course considers a broad range of organizations, including
multinational corporations, small and mediumsized familyowned
firms, public bureaucracies, labor unions, and formal and informal
social networks. The objective of the course is to understand
how the economic activities that produce competitive societies
are socially embedded in complex organizational contexts that
vary considerably across time, geographical regions, and nationstates.
SOC 143 Management and Labor Relations
Conflict is a major element of social interaction within and between
organizations. Managers need to know how to solve conflicts within
organizations in order to promote teamwork and interdepartmental
cooperation. Leaders of organizations need to blend the interests
of management and workers in order to avoid costly strikes, slowdowns,
and turnover. This course covers both intra and interorganizational
conflicts, and concentrates on solving them without losing the
creative aspects of conflict. Students learn teambuilding, mediation,
negotiation, and bargaining skills.
SOC 144 Organizations and Environments
Recognizing that no organization is an island unto itself, this
course explores the linkage between organizations and their environments.
The early part of the course examines key environmental dimensions:
culture, human demography, the economy, law, politics, and technology.
Then the course examines how these dimensions influence the creation
of organizations, the development of organizational strategies
and structures, organizational performance (growth, decline, and
death), and how such dimensions are influenced in turn by organizations.
Finally, the course examines why organizations form cooperative
linkages with other organizations and the social impacts of these
linkages. Some of the specific topics are: political and legal
developments and techniques (lobbying) of organizations; tactics
of gaining advantage over competitors (takeovers, interlocking
directorates); the effects of culture (for example, Japanese versus
American) on organizational design; marketing strategies; and
high technology.
SOC 145 Nation, Regions, and the Global Economy
This course looks at the changing configuration of global capitalism,
with a particular emphasis on comparing regions of the globe,
including North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
The development strategies of selected nations within each region
are a special focus of the course but it also makes broader inter-regional
comparisons (e.g. regional divisions of labor, state-society relationships,
the nature of their business systems, quality of life issues).
C-L: Comparative Area Studies.
SOC 149 Sexuality and Society
This course explores the social construction of sexuality, looking
at the way in which our ideas about sex and sexual conduct are
affected by cultural, social and political forces. The course
deals with crosscultural variations in sexual conduct, changing
social conceptions of sexuality, contemporary conflicts over the
relation between gender identity, sex roles, and sexuality, and
the social problems of sexual conduct, including prostitution,
pornography, violence against women and children, and the spread
of communicable diseases via sexual activity. Materials are drawn
from film, literature, and historical accounts, as well as social
science research.
SOC 150 The Changing American Family
The American family is changing in its composition, functions,
organization, and perceived importance in the lives of people.
Some feel the institution is endangered, while others see the
changes as welcome adaptations to the times. Through readings,
individual research, and class discussions the changes are examined
with a view toward understanding the forces behind them and the
social and personal problems caused by adaptations of the family
to the forces of change. CL: Women's Studies.
SOC 151 Sociology of Religion
This course is about the interplay between society and religion,
examining the religious aspects of modern society, and the social
aspects of modern religions. Most attention is paid to American
society, which has a certain distinctiveness among modern societies
because its high level of industrial development is combined with
high levels of religious affiliation. To make sure the materials
are meaningful and not just "bookish," students have,
as part of their course work, the task of observing different
religious "events" and relating them to the social organization
of their participants. In past years, students have studied such
settings as local black and white churches, unusual sects (e.g.,
Hare Krishna, snakehandling sect), and outdoor revival meetings.
SOC 153 Sport and Society
Sport is an element of American life so pervasive that few of
us are untouched by it. About seven out of every ten Americans
either watch sports or sports news on television, read the sports
section of the newspaper, or talk about sports with their friends
every day. Sport deserves our attention not only because people
take it so seriously but also because it is so closely tied to
other social institutions: family schedules are often altered
to accommodate sport involvement; athletics play a vital role
in schools and colleges; professional sports are big business;
and in the political arena, sport success is linked to feelings
of national pride. Finally, sports are of sociological interest
because they provide a setting in which to learn more about human
behavior in general: how individuals perform under stress; how
groups learn to work together; how people behave in large crowds;
how organizations recruit and train employees; how patterns of
race and gender discrimination can create unequal opportunities.
SOC 155 Organizations and Management
Modern societies are organizational societies. Indeed, nearly
all modern work, and much play, occurs in organizations. As a
result, organizations and organizational management have important
personal and social effects: organizational experiences can bring
pain or pleasure to their members, and managerial decisions can
send an organization's profits soaring or plummeting. The course
examines the nature and place of organizations and managerial
systems in modern societies. The central questions of the course
include: Do organizations pursue goals or do managers use organizations
to pursue narrow interests? How do managers control workers and
how much control is necessary and optimal? To what extent are
managers rational decisionmakers? Is there a "best way"
to structure and manage an organization? CL: Women's Studies.
SOC 156 Global Contexts of Science and Technology
What kinds of knowledge and technology develop most rapidly in
different social contexts? How are social contexts changed by
new ways of knowing and doing things? With a particular emphasis
on the globalization of science and technology, this course examines
the interdependent relationships between science (the social
activity that produces knowledge), technology (the application
of scientific knowledge to societal problems) and society
(the complex system of social institutions ranging from the family
to the economy). Society has been transformed by such technologies
as the computer and the contraceptive. But society also constrains
forms of knowledge and their applications in technologies as a
result of cultural (religious), ethical, political, and economic
pressures. The dynamic interdependency and often surprising outcomes
of these relationships will be studied through historical readings,
firsthand accounts, and social scientific studies.
SOC 157 The Legal Profession and the Law
The United States has more lawyers per head of population than
any other nation. Through bar associations, lawyers have been
powerful guardians of the right to practice and interpret the
law. This course looks at the evolution of the legal profession
in the United States. It examines the kinds of training lawyers
get, how they are recruited, and how they are paid. It looks inside
law firms, how they are structured, how work is distributed, how
partners are selected, and how new specialties develop. It follows
lawyers in their interaction with other lawyers, with public prosecutors,
judges and juries, and it examines how well lawyers conform to
their selfimposed code of ethics. It also looks at how minority
groups have fared in the legal profession.
SOC 158 Markets and Marketing
Markets refer to systems of social and economic exchanges that
operate in the economy, in organizations, and in people's lives.
Market domains include capital and credit, commodities, products
and services, and labor (people's jobs and careers). Marketing
refers to the strategies used by organizations and individuals
to deal with markets. The course addresses how different types
of markets are organized and developed, and their relationship
to other social structures such as families, work organizations,
the media, educational institutions, and the state. Finally, the
course assesses the effects of markets and marketing on individuals,
careers, organizations, consumption patterns, lifestyles, and
so on.
SOC 159 The Sociology of Entrepreneurship
Approximately one out of seven workers is selfemployed. Many new
jobs, and much innovation in the economy and society, have their
origins in entrepreneurial activity. This course considers the
social origins and careers of entrepreneurs and their organizations.
It examines the interrelation of work and family roles, and the
distinctiveness of values, interests, and other social factors
in entrepreneurial activity. Finally, through case studies and
other research, the course examines the role of entrepreneurial
activity in societal development, its function in different industries,
ethnic groups, and societies, and why some entrepreneurs succeed
and others fail.
SOC 160 Advertising and Society: Global Perspective
This course deals with commercial advertising. It examines the
history and development of advertising as a business practice
and as a creator and reflector of values. Much of the course concerns
itself with finding out how advertising campaigns are planned,
how particular advertisements are created, and how their effectiveness
is assessed. Particular attention is paid to the effects of advertising
on children, women, and ethnic minorities. The course also deals
with the economic structure of the advertising industry in the
context of its political regulation. Although the primary emphasis
is on advertising in the United States, some comparative material
from other societies is typically included. CL: Anthropology 110;
English 120; Women's Studies.
SOC 161 Adulthood and Aging
A famous philosopher once said that "the unexamined life
is not worth living." Participants in this course need never
worry about the value of their lives. This course examines the
adult life course, from adolescence through old age, in detail.
The course is divided into three sections. In Part I, the life
as a whole is examined, including the age structures of societies
and how they affect us all. In Part II, young adulthood and middleage
are looked at in detail. Part III is devoted to the later years
of life. Each section pays attention to both the social patterns
that shape our lives and the psychological issues that underlie
our changing goals and motivations. Themes that recur throughout
the course include sex differences, the vital importance of work
and family decisions, historical influences on the life course,
intergenerational relationships, and the ways public policies
have altered the course of adulthood. This course provides information
that is personally relevant, as well as scientificallybased. Emphasis
is placed on applying concepts rather than memorizing material.
CL: Women's Studies.
SOC 162 Health and Illness in Society
Health and illness are investigated as one aspect of the place
of the human body in society. A general understanding of the different
ways in which several aspects of the human body (healthillness,
strength weakness, selfpresentation, social control of somatic
action) are defined helps in the study of the place of medicine
and healing in modern society, and discussions of health care.
SOC 163 Aging and Health
This course focuses on the illnesses of the elderly, paying particular
attention to how individuals adjust to aging and infirmity. The
course also looks at how the sick elderly are treated and what
use they make of health care facilities. Comparisons are made
between the elderly in different countries. The course examines
social support for the sick elderly, medicare and medicaid provisions,
the decision to institutionalize, and the policy debate over euthanasia.
SOC 165 Occupations, Professions, and Careers
Most adults spend twenty-five to forty years of their life in
the labor force. Many jobs require detailed understanding of labor
markets and organizational careers. The course introduces students
to basic concepts and findings that help them understand occupations
and labor markets in the United States. Students apply their understanding
of the ideas in a class presentation and a paper on the occupation,
profession, or career of their choice. They use this part of the
course to conduct a detailed case study of their future career
that includes interviews with people in the field, the history
of the field, its location in organizations, regional and labor
market variations, career progressions, and possible problems
and stresses. CL: Women's Studies.
SOC 167 The Social Bases of Politics
What is the meaning of social power? This course examines in detail
various ideas about power, the ways in which power is exercised,
and the consequences of its use. A related issue is that of the
basis of power of different types of actors, ranging from individuals
to large collective entities like the corporation and the state,
and what happens when pairs of actors of different or similar
scale try to exert power on one another. Finally, because modern
political theory assigns the state the role of the monopolist
and arbiter of power, questions having to do with how the state
acquired this status and the implications of its position are
considered. Particular attention is given to the issue of the
intrusion of the public on the privateis it necessary, how far
has it gone, what are the consequences for the future of life
in modern societies? CL: Women's Studies.
SOC 169 Psychosocial Aspects of Human Development
In the past, behavioral and social scientists have studied the
development of children or adolescents or, more recently, adults
or the aged. Recent research has demonstrated the value of studying
the human life course as a whole. This interdisciplinary course,
a required component of the Undergraduate Certificate Program
in Human Development, has been popular with students because of
its excellent textbooks, its use of audiovisuals, and its emphasis
on discussion groups. The course provides an opportunity for sociology
majors to work with students from biology, psychology, and anthropology.
CL: Interdisciplinary Course 180; Human Development; and Psychology
130.
SOC 170 Mass Media
The mass media are dominant institutions in our social lives.
Many of us are influenced by what we see, hear, and read in the
mass media. What are the distinct qualities of mass communication?
What are the major differences between the mass media? What influence
do the media have over our lives? Among the specific issues covered
in the course are: the nature of the news as commodity for giving
the media a socially acceptable function; the impact of media
violence on children, and the political impact of the media in
a system premised on widespread citizen participation. CL: Canadian
Studies; Comparative Area Studies; Film and Video Studies Program.
SOC 171 Comparative Health Care Systems
Provision of affordable, accessible, quality health care has become
a major policy concern. Although developed countries organize
and finance health care very differently, the costs and outcomes
are strikingly similar. How is this possible? Socialist and communist
countries in the developing world have conducted interesting experiments
in health care, particularly China and Cuba. What can countries
learn from each other about effective and efficient health care
systems? Canada's health care system is emerging in the developed
world as the one to watch because it is achieving equitable distribution
of quality care at relatively low cost. CL: Comparative Areas
Studies.
SOC 173 Social Conflict and Social Movements
Under what circumstances can people be persuaded to contribute
money to a campaign, to march in a demonstration, to give their
lives for a cause? How do some individuals become leaders? Why
do some efforts to bring about social reform succeed and others
fail? Why do societies seem to be vulnerable to social change
at one time and stable at others? What have been the major sources
of social conflict in the history of the United States and to
what kind of change have they led? Sociologists bring theories
of group formation, "networking," and mobilization to
bear upon these questions. The course reviews these theories and
uses case studies of civil rights, feminist, peace, environmental,
religious, and both left and rightwing political movements to
test their validity.
SOC 175 Contemporary Global Issues
The content of this course, which examines issues in a global
context, varies from semester to semester. CL: Anthropology 109;
Comparative Area Studies; History 109, Interdisciplinary Course
109; Political Science 160; and Religion 156.
SOC 179 Modern Nationalist Movements
A recurrent feature in the development of modern societies for
the past two hundred years has been waves of nationalist movements.
This course examines underlying factors in the emergence of these
movements, first in the formation of Western nationstates (e.g.,
France, Germany, Greece); second in the breakup of empires in
the West; third in anticolonial movements against Western empires;
and, fourth, in regional nationalist movements against Western
nationstates. On the contemporary scene, the course looks at emergent
nationalist movements in other parts of the world, such as Southeast
Asia and within the former Soviet Union. Among themes to be examined
are the relation of language, ethnicity, colonialism, and identity
to nationhood. CL: Canadian Studies; Comparative Area Studies.
SOC 182 Media in Comparative Perspective
This course examines the diversity of media systems and products
in different countries; the interaction between a country's media
system and its social and political systems; several different
views of the role of mass media in social change and international
relations; and the basis and principles of the New International
Information Order. After a brief review of some fundamental concepts
and principles of communication and the mass media, we try to
accomplish these goals by examining Canadian media, media systems
in other selected countries, and the course of development and
action on the New World Information Order. Canada is chosen for
more extended consideration. CL: Comparative Area Studies; Political
Science 180; Interdisciplinary Course 182.
SOC 206 Sociological Theory.
Structure, foundations, and historical antecedents of recent formulations of such theoretical approaches
as phenomenological sociology, exchange theory, critical theory,
structuralism, neoMarxist sociology, sociobiology, and action
theory. 3 units. Tiryakian or Wilson
SOC 207 Social Statistics I: Basic Concepts and Methods.
Review of descriptive statistics; probability concepts; statistical inference,
ttests and the analysis of variance. Bivariate correlation and
regression, dummy variables, multiple regression, and the analysis
of covariance. Stress on applications. Statistical computing using
SP and other programs. One course. DiPrete or Land
SOC 208 Survey Research Methods.
Theory and application of survey research techniques in the social sciences. Sampling, measurement,
questionnaire construction and distribution, pretesting and posttesting,
response effects, validity and reliability, scaling of data, data
reduction and analysis. Prerequisite: Sociology 207 or the equivalent.
3 units. Lin or Smith
SOC 211S.AE Proseminars in Sociological Theory.
Development of sociological thought; systematic sociological theory; interrelations
with other social and behavioral sciences. 3 units. Tiryakian
or Wilson
SOC 212 Social Statistics II: Linear Models, Path Analysis, and
Structural Equation Systems.
Model specification, review of simple regression, the GaussMarkov theorem, multiple regression
in matrix form, ordinary and generalized least squares, residual
and influence analysis. Path analysis, recursive and nonrecursive
structural equation models, measurement errors and unobserved
variables. Applications of statistical computing packages. Prerequisite:
Sociology 207 or the equivalent. 3 units. DiPrete or Land
SOC 213 Social Statistics III: Discrete Multivariate Models .
Assumptions, estimation, testing, and parameter interpretation
for the loglinear, logit, logistic, and probit models. Model comparisons;
applications of statistical computing packages and programs. Prerequisite:
Sociology 212 or the equivalent. 3 units. DiPrete or Land
SOC 214 Comparative and Historical Methods.
Introduction to the theory of comparative research and analysis in the social
sciences with special emphasis on comparative methods, quasiexperimental
designs and case studies. CL: Comparative Area Studies and Political
Science 217. 3 units. Gereffi, Lin, Smith, or Tiryakian
SOC 215 Basic Demographic Methods and Materials.
Population composition, change, and distribution. Methods of standardizing
and decomposing rates, life tables and population models, analysis
of data from advanced and developing countries. Applications of
computer programs for demographic analysis. Prerequisite: Sociology
207 or equivalent. 3 units. Parnell
SOC 216 Advanced Methods of Demographic Analysis.
Theory and estimation methods for life tables. Reproductivity, the stable
population model. Graduation, interpolation, and other data adjustments
for faulty data. Hazards modeling. Applications of computer packages
for demographic analysis. Prerequisite: Sociology 215 or equivalent.
3 units. Land or Parnell
SOC 217S.AF Proseminars in Social Statistics and Research
Methods.
Selected topics in the collection and analysis of social
science data. 3 units. DiPrete or Land
SOC 221S.AD Proseminars in Aging and Life Course Analysis.
Selected topics in socialization, human development, status attainment
and careers, and the sociology of aging. 3 units. George, Lin,
Jackson, O'Rand, or Spenner
SOC 222S.AG Proseminars in Comparative and Historical Sociology
.
Selected topics in the differentiation and transformation
of societies. 3 units. Gao, Gereffi, Lin, Parnell, Simpson,
Smith, or Tiryakian
SOC 223S.AE Proseminars in Crime, Law, and Deviance.
Selected topics in crime and the institutions of social control. 3 units.
Land, O'Barr, Simpson, or Wilson
SOC 224S.AF Proseminars in Population Studies.
Selected topics in population studies. 3 units. DiPrete, Land, Manton, O'Rand,
Parnell, or Smith
SOC 225S.AH Proseminars in Organizations, Markets, and Work.
Selected topics in complex organizations, the labor process, and
changing occupations. 3 units. DiPrete, Gao, Gereffi, O'Rand,
Spenner, or Thornton
SOC 226S.AG Proseminars in Social Institutions and Processes.
Selected topics in the sociology of institutions and social
and institutional behavior. 3 units. Staff
SOC 227S.AD Proseminars in Medical Sociology.
Selected topics in medical sociology. 3 units. George, Gold, Jackson, Lin,
or Thornton
SOC 228S.AF Proseminars in Stratification, Mobility, and Labor
Force Behavior.
Core and special topics in social stratification,
including explanations for the existence, amount, and various
dimensions of stratification in society; institutions that produce
stratification; forces that cause the structure of stratification
to vary both over time and across societies; and structures that
govern social mobility within and across generations. 3 units.
DiPrete, Lin, O'Rand, or Spenner
SOC 229S.AF Proseminars in Social Psychology.
Selected topics in microsociology and social psychology, including social interaction,
decision-making, social exchange, group processes, intergroup
relations, self and identity, social structure and personality,
social networks and applications in organizations and health care.
3 units Cook, George, Jackson, Lin, or Spenner
SOC 234S Political Economy of Development: Theories
of Change in the Third World.
See CL: Political Science 234S; also CL:
Cultural Anthropology 234S, and History 234S. 3 units. Staff
SOC 282S Canada
See CL: History 282S; also CL: Cultural Anthropology
282S, Economics 282S and Political Science 282S. 3 units. Staff
SOC 291 Research Methods in Japanese.
Consent ofinstructor required. See C-L: Japanese 291; also C-L: Cultural Anthropology
290, History 292, and Political Science 291. 3 units. Staff
SOC 298S, 299S Seminar in Selected Topics.
Substantive, theoretical, or methodological topics. 3 units each. Staff
SOC 301 Methodological Issues in Sociology.
Selected issues central to sociological research and sociological knowledge. Epistemological
and ontological matters, differences over what sociological questions
are, preferred styles of doing research, standards for adequate
and appropriate data, and the language of sociological discourse.
Examines selected controversial matters, for example, quantitative
and qualitative, ethnomethodology, micro- and macrosociology,
survey and comparative-historical research, case study and the
case, and feminist research. 3 units. Smith
SOC 392S Individual Research in Sociology.
Students will conduct on an individual basis research designed to evaluate a sociological
hypothesis of their choice. The process must be completed by preparation
of a report on this research in adequate professional style. Prerequisite:
Sociology 207, 208 or consent of instructor. 3 units each. Staff
Description of Graduate Courses
