Course Offerings (GSAS Bulletin)All courses carry 4 points per term, unless otherwise indicated.
Two-Part Courses: A hyphen indicates a full-year course with credit granted only for completing both terms. A comma indicates credit is granted for completing each term.
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
Classical Sociological Theory (1848-1950)
G93.2111
Examines major figures of modern sociology, including Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Simmel. Focuses on the conditions and assumptions of social theory, the process of concept formation and theory building, general methodological issues, and the present relevance of the authors examined. An effort is made to speculate on the nature of the growth of knowledge in sociology.
Contemporary Sociological Theory
G93.2115
Reviews major trends in sociological theory since World War II, including structural functionalism, interpretive approaches, rational choice theory, Marxism, and recent European developments.
Advanced Seminar in Selected Sociological Traditions
G93.3112 Prerequisite: one basic (2000-level) theory course.
Advanced analysis of one or two sociological theorists or traditions, considering the origins, major claims, and current debates over their status (e.g., Marxism, Foucault, Merton, Bourdieu, Habermas).
Advanced Seminar in Selected Themes in Sociological Theory
G93.3113 Prerequisite: one basic (2000-level) theory course.
Advanced analysis of a particular theoretical question, looking at how varying authors and traditions have attempted to answer it; reviews historical and contemporary debates.
Advanced Seminar in Contemporary Sociological Theory
G93.3115 Prerequisite: one basic (2000-level) theory course.
Topics in sociological theory since World War II, including structural functionalism, interpretive approaches, rational choice theory, Marxism, critical theory, European developments, and the theoretical eclecticism of the discipline.
METHODS OF INQUIRY
Courses marked with an asterisk * following the course number satisfy the second methods requirement for the Ph.D. degree.
Methods and Statistics I, II, III
G93.2331, 2332, 2333* Prerequisite: G93.2331 or G93.2332 with at least a B, for entry into G93.2332 or G93.2333, respectively.
This three-semester sequence provides an introduction to quantitative research in sociology, integrating the study of research methods and statistics. The first semester introduces basic methodological issues and basic statistics. The second semester introduces multivariate techniques, emphasizing application through the study of one social science data set. While offering some more advanced techniques, the optional third semester stresses the application of the skills learned in the first two courses, guiding students through a complete secondary analysis of data.
Qualitative Methods
G93.2303*
Supervised experience in activities and techniques of qualitative, naturalistic field methods like observation, interviewing, and participant observation. Exploratory work may lead to an empirical dissertation project.
The Logic of Inquiry
G93.2304
Introduction to theoretical methodology and the philosophy of social science. Addresses basic and recurrent issues in sociological inquiry: the analysis of social change, the problem of interpretive sociology versus positivism, the “ideal-type” method of Weber, methodological individualism and psychological reductionism, functionalist and systems analysis, models of science and scientific revolutions, and issues raised by phenomenology, ethnomethodology, structuralism, and Marxist dialectics.
Research Formulation and Design
G93.2307
Seminar to help students move from the initial development of a research topic to a workable proposal. All substantive questions and methodological approaches are considered.
Historical and Comparative Sociological Methods
G93.2308* Prerequisite: knowledge of basic statistics and methods.
Overview of issues in historical and comparative methodology in macrosociology: methods of and current controversies in historical and comparative sociology; debates about what makes sociology “historical” to debates about the benefits of techniques, such as qualitative comparative analysis; analysis of recent macrosociological investigations in sociology, employing comparative and historical methods.
Advanced Multivariate Methods
G93.2312* Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.
Matrix formulation of regression, probit, and logit. Simultaneous equation systems, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, measurement models, loglinear models, time-series, and panel analysis. Pooling methods.
Mathematical Models in Sociology
G93.2313* Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.
Mathematical models of social process and structure. Linear programming, stochastic models, graph theory, game theory. Differential and integral calculus. Difference and differential equations. Diverse applications.
POWER AND INEQUALITY IN MODERN SOCIETIES
Social Stratification and Inequality
G93.2137
Assesses the research and theoretical work on economic inequality and classes in the social sciences. Reviews important classic contributions (including Marx, Weber, and Schumpeter), compares competing approaches (including Marxist, conflict, functionalist, elite, and status attainment theories), and surveys modern directions of development (such as labor market studies, socialist inequality, the role of the state).
Stratification and Inequality: Race
G93.2137.02
Sociology of Revolutions
G93.2141
Globalization: History, Dimensions, and Dynamics
G93.2145
Examines the process of globalization in its historical trajectory; its economic, political, and social dimensions; and its theoretical, cultural, and ideological representations. Focuses on the dialectics of global-local interaction and its consequences for the production of new categories of knowledge, academic disciplines, and methods.
Social Movements
G93.2153
Surveys controversies and research issues and topics in social movements. Topics include classical, economic, resource mobilization, political process, and political opportunity theories of social protest movements; so-called new social movements; and issues of identity formation. Analyzes recent thinking and research concerning the consequences or impact of social protest movements, including the U.S. civil rights movement, labor movements, neopopulist movements, and revolutionary movements.
Political Sociology
G93.2441
Surveys controversies and research topics in political sociology. At the center of these investigations are states and power. Explores concepts of power and the theories of the state. Topics are the formation of states, political institutions, and social policies and the determinants and outcomes of collective action.
Seminar in Social Stratification and Inequality
G93.3137
Seminar in Social Movements
G93.3153
Seminar in Macrosociology
G93.3441
Seminar in Political Sociology
G93.3442
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Social Psychology I
G93.2102
Four areas of developing work are considered in relation to historical change and social organization: communicative competences and practices; emotional experience, display, and control; temporal experience, conceptions, and practices; and the problematic character of the individual, self, and biography.
Socialization
G93.2211
Socialization refers to the social process of preparing novices for membership in groups, organizations, institutions, and societies. It also refers to the ways people learn new roles, statuses, or identities.
SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Sociology of Medicine
G93.2401
Political economy of health care in the United States, with concentration on the roles of the medical profession in the system. Issues include the social construction of illness, the social organization of treatment, and the institutional organization of the medical profession in its methods of recruitment and training. Discusses relations between the medical profession, paraprofessional occupations, third-party payers, and the government.
Sociology of Education
G93.2407
Sociological perspective on American education. Topics include the social context of socialization and learning; the effects of schooling; desegregation and social inequality; teachers as unionized professionals; school politics and bureaucracy; and selected policy issues confronting American education. Emphasis is on American institutions, although comparative perspectives are discussed.
Sociology of Culture
G93.2414
Survey of major approaches to the sociology of culture and the use of cultural theory in sociological analysis generally. Specific topics include cultural institutions, the relationship of popular to elite culture, different media of cultural communication and expression, historical transformations of culture (including debates over postmodernism), cultural hegemony and domination, and cultural politics. Authors whose works are studied include Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, Pierre Bourdieu, Paul Gilroy, Paul DiMaggio, and Charles Taylor.
Sociology of the Arts
G93.2415
The occupational and institutional organization of the production and distribution of the arts. The arts are analyzed as secondary occupations with special problems of commitment, identity, and standards as well as of economic survival.
Sociology of Knowledge
G93.2422
Reviews and evaluates important perspectives on the relationship between knowledge and social structure. Focuses on a number of research strategies concerned with types of knowledge and knowledge-systems, codes and symbols, the manipulation of knowledge for social and political purposes, the study of ideologies, and the major factors in knowledge production.
Society and Economy
G93.2435
Examines the relationship between economic institutions and other social institutions. Considers how economic life influences and is affected by political organizations, the logic of organizational functioning, kinship systems, class conflict, and other social phenomena. Materials include classical theoretical works and contemporary studies.
Urban Sociology
G93.2463
Introduction to the field of urban sociology that looks at the interplay between studies of city life and theories about cities. Traces the development of modern American cities; examines the theories that emerged to explain the causes and consequences of urbanization; and analyzes the social, political, and economic processes of community growth and decline among urban and suburban residents.
Comparative Urban Politics and Policy
G93.2464
Seminar in Social and Political Studies of Science
G93.3402
Seminar in the Sociology of Education
G93.3407
DEVIANCE, LAW, AND CRIMINOLOGY
Deviance and Social Control
G93.2160
Cumulative development and changing emphasis in deviance theory. Major methods of research and analytic models. Ecological anomie and subculture, functionalist, learning, and conflict perspectives. The social reactions approach: labeling processes and deviance amplification, organizational processing, and collective struggles over deviance definitions. Disputes over “labeling.” Political and public policy implications of deviance sociology.
Sociology of Law
G93.2434
Theoretical perspectives and research strategies in the sociology of law. Topics include the development of legal norms, legal participation and litigiousness, law and dispute resolution, the courts, the organization of public law enforcement, the legal profession, the relationship between social and legal change, and the use of law in social engineering.
Criminology
G93.2503
Historical development of criminology. Criminal behavior systems, etiology of crime and delinquency. Victimization. Crime in the mass media. The making of criminal laws and their enforcement by police, prosecutors, courts, probation and parole officers, and other agencies. Punishment and sentencing. Policy questions.
Sociology of Punishment
G93.2508
Seminar in Criminology
G93.3513
Seminar in the Sociology of Law
G93.3534
OCCUPATIONS, LABOR, AND ORGANIZATIONS
Large-Scale Organizations
G93.2132
Major organizational theories (Marx, Weber, Taylorism, human relations, decision-making and system models, contingency theory, organizational ecology, negotiated order). Methods of organizational analysis and examination of empirical studies. Linkages between organizations and the social, economic, political, and cultural environments.
Sociology of Occupations
G93.2412
Introduction to occupational analysis, its relation to class and organizational theory, the changing occupation distribution of the labor force, and theories explaining it and predicting its future. Considers impact on work commitment, identity, solidarity, status and career, and systematic methods of analyzing occupations.
Seminar in the Sociology of Work
G93.3411
Seminar in Organizations
G93.3463
SEX, GENDER, AND FAMILY
Sociology of Sex and Gender
G93.2227
Critically assesses the research and theoretical work on gender inequality in the social sciences. Provides a sophisticated, scholarly grasp of this fast developing field. Topics include the origins of gender inequality, economic equality between the sexes, political inequality, reproduction and child rearing, sexuality, violence, and ideology. Compares the competing theories of the causes of gender inequality and of changes in inequality.
Sociology of Childhood
G93.2416
Sociology of the Family
G93.2451
Systematic introduction to the literature on family and kinship. Includes classical theories and examines the major areas of contemporary research. Topics include family formation, social reciprocity, family dissolution, the history of the family, and a comparison of general theoretical paradigms.
Seminar in Sex and Gender
G93.3227
Seminar in the Family
G93.3451
VARIABLE CONTENT COURSES
Registration in the following courses is open only to students who have the consent of an instructor to supervise their work. See announcements at registration time for further information.
Apprenticeship I, II, III, IV, V, VI
G93.2321, 2322, 2323, 2324, 2325, 2326 Variable points.
Doctoral Dissertation I, II, III, IV
G93.3901, 3902, 3903, 3904 1-4 points per term.
Reading Course I, II, III, IV
G93.3915, 3916, 3917, 3918 2 points per term, unless instructor requests 1, 3, or 4 points.
Reading Course V
G93.3919
Doctoral Seminar
G93.3921, 3922
Interdisciplinary Seminar |
