The College Catalogue

First-Year Seminars

For a full description of first-year seminars, see the First-Year Seminar section.

10 {1010} b. Racism. Fall 2012 and Spring 2013. Roy Partridge. (Same as Africana Studies 10 {1010}.)

[22 {1022} b. In the Facebook Age.]

Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced Courses

101 {1101} b. Introduction to Sociology. Fall 2012. Dhiraj Murthy and Nancy Riley. Spring 2013. Shaun Golding.

The major perspectives of sociology. Application of the scientific method to sociological theory and to current social issues. Theories ranging from social determinism to free will are considered, including the work of Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Merton, and others. Attention is given to such concepts as role, status, society, culture, institution, personality, social organization, the dynamics of change, the social roots of behavior and attitudes, social control, deviance, socialization, and the dialectical relationship between individual and society.

201 {2010} b. Introduction to Social Research. Spring 2013. Ingrid Nelson.

Provides firsthand experience with the specific procedures through which social science knowledge is developed. Emphasizes the interaction between theory and research, and examines the ethics of social research and the uses and abuses of research in policy making. Reading and methodological analysis of a variety of case studies from the sociological literature. Field and laboratory exercises that include observation, interviewing, use of available data (e.g., historical documents, statistical archives, computerized data banks, cultural artifacts), sampling, coding, use of computer, elementary data analysis and interpretation. Lectures, laboratory sessions, and small-group conferences.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or permission of the instructor.

202 {2020} b. Quantitative Research Methods. Spring 2013. Ingrid Nelson.

Highlights applied research methods in sociology. Building on Sociology 201, students work throughout the semester to analyze current sociological trends in the United States using data from a large publicly available dataset. Focus on how researchers work with data to answer a set of questions, how to perform and interpret major statistical techniques used in sociological research, and how to present quantitative data.

Prerequisite: Sociology 201.

206 {2206} b - ESD. Sociology of Education. Fall 2012. Ingrid Nelson.

Examines the ways that formal schooling influences individuals and the ways that social structures and processes affect educational institutions. Explores the manifest and latent functions of education in modern society; the role education plays in stratification and social reproduction; the relationship between education and cultural capital; the dynamics of race, class, and gender in education; and other topics.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or Anthropology 101.

[208 {2208} b. Race and Ethnicity. (Same as Africana Studies 208 {2208}.)]

211 {2030} b. Classics of Sociological Theory. Fall 2012. The Department.

An analysis of selected works by the founders of modern sociology. Particular emphasis is given to understanding differing approaches to sociological analysis through detailed textual interpretation. Works by Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and selected others are read.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or permission of the instructor.

214 {2114} b. Social Media. Fall 2012. Dhiraj Murthy.

Explores theoretical aspects of new media through specific case studies from social media. Students exposed to key readings in German critical theory including Benjamin, Adorno, and Horkheimer. Uses critical theory to uncover sociological understandings of new media. Race/ethnicity, power, surveillance/privacy, and community are themes used to explore mediated communication. Sociology 211 is recommended but not required.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or Anthropology 101.

220 {2220} b - ESD. “The Wire”: Race, Class, Gender, and the Urban Crisis. Spring 2015. Brian Purnell.

Postwar U.S. cities were considered social, economic, political, and cultural zones of “crisis.” African Americans—their families, gender relations; their relationship to urban political economy, politics, and culture—were at the center of this discourse. Using David Simon’s epic series, The Wire, as a critical source on postindustrial urban life, politics, conflict, and economics, covers the origins of the “urban crisis,” the rise of an “underclass” theory of urban class relations, the evolution of the urban “underground economy,” and the ways the “urban crisis” shaped depictions of African Americans in American popular culture. (Same as Africana Studies 220 {2220} and Gender and Women’s Studies 222 {2222}.)

Prerequisite: Africana Studies 101, Education 101, Gender and Women’s Studies 101, or Sociology 101, or permission of the instructor.

221 {2221} b. Environmental Sociology. Fall 2012. Shaun Golding.

Applies sociological insights to investigating the ways that humans shape and are shaped by their ecological surroundings. Introduces theories and concepts for exploring how western society and more specifically contemporary American society interact with nature. Reviews central academic questions, including social constructions of nature and perceptions of ecological risks, and drawing from complementary readings and student-led dialogue, examines in greater depth ongoing struggles over conservation, sustainability, development, and social justice. (Same as Environmental Studies 221 {2334}.)

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or Anthropology 101.

[223 {2223} b - ESD. Cultural Interpretations of Medicine. (Same as Gender and Women’s Studies 223 {2223}.)]

[224 {2224} b - IP. Global Health Matters.]

227 {2227} b - IP. Transnational Race and Ethnicity. Spring 2013. Dhiraj Murthy.

Examines globally mediated formations of ethnic and racial identities, including the ways in which transnational communities are shaped through contact with “homelands” (physically and virtually) and vice versa. Particular attention given to “Black” and “South Asian” diasporic communities based in London and the transnational cultural networks in Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, and the Caribbean that they help maintain. Readings include works by Paul Gilroy, Arjun Appadurai, Les Back, Stuart Hall, Jayne Ifekwunigwe, Ian Ang, and the Delhi-based sarai school. (Same as Africana Studies 227 {2227} and Asian Studies 263 {2840}.)

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or Anthropology 101.

234 {2340} b - ESD. Tractors, Chainsaws, Windmills, and Cul-de-Sacs: Natural Resource-based Development in Our Backyard. Spring 2013. Shaun Golding.

Conflict around land use, conservation, planning, and development is pervasive. Introduces the central civic, economic, and institutional actors engaged in debates around resource-dependent development. Examines how human interactions shape the environment within the structures of the state, the economy, and community, and in response to changes brought about by globalization. Considers the areas of human health, environmental conservation, community economic vitality, and identity, and is built around the cases of agriculture, energy, and sprawl, placing particular emphasis on examples from Maine and New England. (Same as Environmental Studies 234 {2340}.)

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or Anthropology 101, or permission of instructor.

[236 {2236} b - IP. South Asian Popular Culture. (Same as Asian Studies 233 {2570}.)]

244 {2244} b - ESD. Migration, Work, and Inequality in the Global Economy. Fall 2012. Shaun Golding.

Crossing borders that separate widely disparate levels of financial and political stability, transnational workers increasingly fuel the global economy. Examines the causes and implications of a mobile global workforce. Through popular and academic readings, films, and regular discussions, examines the forces that inform decisions to move, the role that migrants play in shaping sending and receiving communities culturally and materially, and migration’s emerging place in political dialogue at the local, national, and global scales.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or Anthropology 101, or permission of instructor.

[250 {2250} b - ESD. Epidemiology: Principles and Practices.]

265 {2265} b. Gender and Family in East Asia. Fall 2012. Nancy Riley.

Family and gender are central to the organization of East Asian societies, both historically and today. Uses comparative perspectives to examine issues related to family and gender in China, Japan, and Korea. Using the enormous changes experienced in East Asia in recent decades as a context, explores the place of Confucian influences in these societies, the different roles of the state and economy, and the ways that gender and family have been shaped by and shaped those changes. (Same as Asian Studies 264 {2101} and Gender and Women’s Studies 265 {2265}.)

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 or Anthropology 101.

[275 {2575} b - ESD. Cultural Encounters with/in Hawai`i.]

291–294 {2970–2973} b. Intermediate Independent Study in Sociology. The Department.

299 {2999} b. Intermediate Collaborative Study in Sociology. The Department.

310 {3010} b. Advanced Seminar: Current Controversies in Sociology. Spring 2013. The Department.

Draws together different theoretical and substantive issues in sociology in the United States, primarily since 1950. Discusses current controversies in the discipline, e.g., quantitative versus qualitative methodologies, micro versus macro perspectives, and pure versus applied work.

Prerequisite: Sociology 211 or permission of the instructor.

[315 {3510} b. Seeing Social Life.]

316 {3116} b. Transitions to Adulthood: From Sweet Sixteen to Reality Bites. Fall 2012. Ingrid Nelson.

Examines adolescence and emerging adulthood from a sociological perspective. Explores why the transition to adulthood for American youth has grown longer in recent decades, and how this extended adolescence shapes and is shaped by social institutions (family, government, schooling). Focus on the role of college attendance. Attention to racial, ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic variation draws together different theoretical and substantive issues in sociology in the United States, primarily since 1950. Discusses current controversies in the discipline, e.g., quantitative versus qualitative methodologies, micro versus macro perspectives, and pure versus applied work.

Prerequisite: Sociology 101 and Sociology 201, or permission of the instructor.

401–404 {4000–4003} b. Advanced Independent Study and Honors in Sociology. The Department.

405 {4029} b. Advanced Collaborative Study in Sociology. The Department.