DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

Sociology emerges from the hunch that there are forces at work beyond our control (and often beyond our awareness) that influence how we think, feel, and act. Sociologists have turned this philosophical speculation into a systematic approach to building and testing theories. Sociological explanations center on the structure and dynamics of social groups (families, friendship networks, organizations, etc.) as enabling and constraining human behavior. In this course, you will learn to think like a sociologist - to use your "sociological imagination" to examine the social nature of a number of issues and behaviors, many of which may at first appear to be the results of strictly individual motives and personal choices. You will get a broad overview of the theories and methods used in sociology and how these are applied across a wide range of important phenomena, including gender, race, inequality, and education.

Sociology emerges from the hunch that there are forces at work beyond our control (and often beyond our awareness) that influence how we think, feel, and act. Sociologists have turned this philosophical speculation into a systematic approach to building and testing theories. Sociological explanations center on the structure and dynamics of social groups (families, friendship networks, organizations, etc.) as enabling and constraining human behavior. In this course, you will learn to think like a sociologist - to use your "sociological imagination" to examine the social nature of a number of issues and behaviors, many of which may at first appear to be the results of strictly individual motives and personal choices. You will get a broad overview of the theories and methods used in sociology and how these are applied across a wide range of important phenomena, including gender, race, inequality, and education.

This course examines inequality in American society with an emphasis on race, class, and gender. Lectures emphasize the mechanisms through which inequality develops and comes to be seen as legitimate, natural, and desirable. We will also examine the economic, social, and political consequences of rising inequality. We will place special focus on poverty and inequality in Native North America.

In this course, we will investigate how social conditions come to be defined as social problems. This course will be divided into two sections. The first section will be an overview of how sociologists have approached the study of social problems including theoretical perspectives (symbolic interactionist, conflict, structural-functionalist and constructionist perspectives). In this section, we will also conceptually examine the roles of policymakers, social advocates, and the media in the process of defining social problems. In the second section of the course, we will use the perspectives and conceptual tools from the first part to analyze contemporary social problems including bullying, violence among young people, and the effects of the media on children and teenagers. As a class, we will also examine the debates surrounding several social problems (such as teen pregnancy) to understand how interested parties can define a similar situation as problematic, but do so for very diverse reasons and in doing so suggest very different solutions.

Introduction to the role of law in American society. Relationship of law, inequality, and social change. Changes in legal institutions: the courts, the legal profession, and legal services for the poor. Taught with LEGAL ST 206; may not receive credit for both courses.

Instructor varies. See Caesar for current description.

The purpose of this course is to present and examine some of the major issues in the study and development of cities and their surrounding areas. Urban areas are dense settlements of diverse groups of people. Racial, gender, sexual, ethnic, cultural, economic, and political heterogeneity all require negotiation and sometimes lead to conflicts that play out in the streets and neighborhoods of major metropolises. Also, elite political and financial actors in cities have a heavy hand in shaping the direction of urban development and the allocation of resources. We will look at the role of both institutional actors and average city residents in affecting the following urban issues, among others: residential stratification by income and race, suburbanization, urban policy, gender, crime, immigration, and culture. The class is grounded in the study of U.S. cities, but world cities will be discussed to provide comparison and to highlight the importance of globalization.

This class will explore the nature of race in an effort to understand exactly what race is. It seeks to understand why race is such a potent force in American society. Close attention will be paid to the relationship between race, power, and social stratification. The course will examine the nature of racial conflict and major efforts to combat racial inequality.

This class will explore the nature of race in an effort to understand exactly what race is. It seeks to understand why race is such a potent force in American society. Close attention will be paid to the relationship between race, power, and social stratification. The course will examine the nature of racial conflict and major efforts to combat racial inequality.

Overview of the interactions between societies and the natural environment. Examines both key environmental problems, like climate change and oil spills, and possible solutions, and the roles played by different social structures and groups in shaping both issues.

This course introduces students to the idea that economies are fundamentally made up of social relations, and that social relations are influenced by economic systems. In contrast to free-market economic models which suppose a social and political vacuum where people make rational choices, we will begin with the supposition that family, geography, culture, race, class, gender and sexuality, and age mix and mingle with the way things are produced and consumed, how economies are managed by the state, and how society is molded to fit various economic systems. We will consider how social institutions like property, markets, work, and family evolve alongside different economic arrangements including classic liberalism, liberal-Keynesianism, and neoliberalism. Students should come away from the course with a deeper understanding of the way economy indexes power, who has it and who doesn't, and how economy intersects with social problems like racism and heterosexism.

The course introduces students to the sociological analysis of gender, with emphasis on the contemporary US context. The first part of the course provides an overview of sociological theories and concepts related to the social construction of gender. Next, we explore the causes and consequences of gender inequalities in key social structures and institutions including the family; education; the labor market; and health-care service provision. We conclude by considering gender inequality in an international comparative context to understand cross-cutting similarities and differences, but also to highlight the role social policies can play in mitigating gender inequalities. By the end of the course students should be able to (i) demonstrate a clear understanding of gender as a central component of social organization; and (ii) critically analyze the role of social policy in perpetuating and/or mitigating gender inequalities.

This course is an examination of social inequality in education, including its causes and consequences. The course will focus on the case study of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), a diverse school system in a major urban area. Building on existing sociological theories and concepts regarding educational stratification, as a class we will look at the influences of social inequality and diversity on the practice of education within CPS, including how educational outcomes vary across social student populations. We will also explore the historical development of CPS and the current state of social inequality and diversity within CPS. Social inequality takes on many forms and we will examine the interplay among multiple social statuses including gender, socioeconomic status, immigrant status, and race/ethnicity and explore how inequality impacts the experiences of the diverse student body present within CPS. Finally, we look at current efforts aimed at improving local Chicago public schools and the efficacy of these reform initiatives.

Logic and methods of social research, qualitative and quantitative analysis of social data, and ethical, political, and policy issues in social research. Foundation for further work in social research.

Instructor varies. See Caesar for current description.

Logic and methods of social research, qualitative and quantitative analysis of social data, and ethical, political, and policy issues in social research. Foundation for further work in social research.

Instructor varies. See Caesar for current description.

Legal Studies Research Methods introduces students to research methods used in interdisciplinary legal studies, including jurisprudence and legal reasoning, qualitative and quantitative social science methods, and historical and textual analysis. The course is a prerequisite for the Advanced Research Seminar in Legal Studies, 398-1,- 2, and is intended to prepare students for the design of their own research project to be conducted in 398-1, -2. Through exposure to and engagement with interdisciplinary research methods on law and legal processes, the course will provide students with a deeper understanding of law in its historical and social context. The course will provide students with a set of research tools with which to conduct research on legal institutions. The course builds on content from Legal Studies 206, a prerequisite for 207. While part of the Legal Studies major sequence, the course will enrich the analytic skills of students from many fields who are interested in law or in interdisciplinary research methods. Prerequisite: LEGAL ST 206. Taught with SOCIOL 227; may not receive credit for both courses.

In this course we will examine how social context shapes sexuality, as well as how sexuality shapes society. Although many consider sexuality to be deeply personal, in fact social context greatly affects how individuals understand and experience sexuality. Questions this course will consider include: What is the relationship between individual identities and practices and broader social, cultural, and structural contexts? How has sexuality shaped political and economic processes? In what ways does sexuality intersect with gender, class, race/ethnicity, geographic location, and nationality? How is sexuality gendered and raced? The course will also consider how sexuality is related to different types of social inequalities. At the end of the course students will be able to discuss how studying sexuality helps us better understand complex social processes.

This course approaches the study of sociological institutions from a unique perspective: under- standing how these institutions emerge and address existing societal problems. We focus on both coordination-type dilemmas - e.g. how to parent, which side of the street to drive on, who provides health care - and collective-action dilemmas - e.g. how to police fishermen going over quota, farmers reining in downstream pollution. We end with a study of how institutions persist - possibly beyond their useful lifespan - such as the persistence of the intentionally inefficient 'QWERTY' keyboard, and a conversation about why it's difficult to enact real policy change.

The course has two overarching goals. This first is to develop a new way of approaching and analyzing social institutions. The second is to build skills in summarizing and synthesizing what we cover in the course. Assignments are tasks and projects that will help us reach these goals from the perspective of institutional analysis: in-class writing for quick summaries, papers for more in-depth summaries, and the exam and final project for synthesis. By the end of the course, you will be able to describe an institution and provide examples of coordination-type and collective-action-type institutions. I also hope that you'll have deepened your interest in social science and the ways we can use it to understand and explore the world around us!

Learn different sociological theories about cities and social life and about research that supports or revises those theories. Topics include physical ecology of cities, political economy of cities, social life among social groups, and the question of community, deviance and social control, and planning for the future.

Most of our waking hours are spent participating in various types of formal organizations - schools, corporations, churches, or (unfortunately) prisons. We generally begin our lives in hospitals, and often end our days in nursing homes. While we want to join some organizations (e.g. Northwestern - go Cats!), we also avoid others like plague (e.g. the DMV). But where do organizations come from? What do they have in common? How to they shape who we get to know, how we get ahead or fall behind? Why do organizations change or fail to change?

We will begin to answer these questions using three main theoretical frameworks - sometimes referred to as "rational," "natural," and "open" systems approaches - that pull together the aspects of organizations in coherent approaches with different emphases and implications. By the end of the quarter, you will be able to think analytically about organizations from these different and sometimes competing perspectives. This should enable you to think about how you might better survive and thrive in our organizational world.

Most of our waking hours are spent participating in various types of formal organizations - schools, corporations, churches, or (unfortunately) prisons. We generally begin our lives in hospitals, and often end our days in nursing homes. While we want to join some organizations (e.g. Northwestern - go Cats!), we also avoid others like plague (e.g. the DMV). But where do organizations come from? What do they have in common? How to they shape who we get to know, how we get ahead or fall behind? Why do organizations change or fail to change?

We will begin to answer these questions using three main theoretical frameworks - sometimes referred to as "rational," "natural," and "open" systems approaches - that pull together the aspects of organizations in coherent approaches with different emphases and implications. By the end of the quarter, you will be able to think analytically about organizations from these different and sometimes competing perspectives. This should enable you to think about how you might better survive and thrive in our organizational world.

The course provides an in-depth introduction to the analysis and interpretation of data. We'll walk through basic statistical concepts to understand and analyze patterns in data. By the end of the course, students will be able to conduct analysis on data sets and will be ready to undertake a senior thesis, if interested.

This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the field of population studies, also known as demography. Demography covers all of the factors related to changes in the size and characteristics of a human population. The topics that will be covered in the course include health disparities in the United States, the impact of AIDS on family life and longevity in Africa, migration patterns within and from Latin America, the reasons behind sex-selective abortions in Asia, and the implications of the current low birthrates in Europe.

Sociological perspectives developed by classic theorists. Elucidation and testing of sociological principles in contemporary research. Primarily for sociology majors. Open to others with consent of instructor.

Instructor varies. See Caesar for current description.

This course is a critical sociological look at education in the United States - with a focus on contemporary debates and issues. The course will cover how sociologists have both theoretically and empirically looked at schooling practices, what and how students learn, and how schools fit into the larger society including how the educational system in the US interacts with political, economic, family, and cultural institutions. We will also spend much time focusing on how one's educational experiences and opportunities are shaped by their gender, class, and ethnic/racial statuses. We will focus on K-12 and college with specific topics including college admissions, same-sex schooling, and Teach for America. Throughout all of these issues and topics, we will examine how schools both challenge and support existing systems of inequality.

What issues are facing families today and how are families changing? This course will examine the evolution of family structure and relationships over the past couple of decades as well as looking at contemporary issues and debates in family life including same-sex marriage and single motherhood.

This course looks closely at how different social groups, institutions and policies shape the ways food is produced, distributed and consumed in different parts of the world, especially the United States, and the social and environmental consequences of such a process. We look at the dramatic growth of factory farming and the social and political factors lying behind such rise, and alternatives such as sustainable farming, Farmers' Markets, and local food. aspects of the food systems we examine, and the social actors and policies giving rise to such alternatives.

What does the global financial crisis of 2008 mean for the future of capitalism? Is it the end of the unregulated, free market approach, or is it the start of an authoritarian political order controlled by billionaires? How the United States became a country riddled with extreme inequality and catastrophic financial crises? To answer these questions we will study key historical developments that led to the crisis of 2008 in three parts. We will begin with the crisis itself and explore why it happened. We will try to determine who should be held responsible, the bankers who gambled on our prosperity or the regulators and economists who turned a blind eye to them. In the second part of the course, we will go back to the 1930s and examine how elites built the Keynesian New Deal state to redistribute wealth with the goal of preventing the recurrence of another Great Depression. In the final part of the course, we will study the demise of the Keynesian state in the turbulent decade of the 1970s, when the US economy was hit with record unemployment and inflation in the face of global oil shocks. We will see how the Federal Reserve took over managing the economy, how this led to financial deregulation, and how a new right-wing coalition of politicians, grassroots activists, and policy advisers instituted the infamous Reagan tax cuts. Studying the history of our present in these three parts will allow us to rethink what the economic sources of power are in contemporary capitalism.

This course examines the relationship between law and the distribution of power in society, with a particular emphasis on law and social change in the United States. Readings will be drawn from the social sciences and history, as well as selected court cases that raise critical questions about the role of race, gender, and sexual orientation in American society. Among the material we will examine are the documents made public in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Students should be aware that some of this material is graphic and disturbing. 

In many ways, capitalism has been global from the start. With its earliest development in the destructive fires of colonialism and transatlantic slavery, capitalism's very development depended not only upon technological advancement, but upon international trade and finance and both forced and voluntary labor migration across national borders. Yet, since World War II, we have seen a noteworthy transformation in the nature of global capitalism. The rise of multi-lateral trade agreements and increasing power of global institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary fund are just two examples. This course will examine what we traditionally refer to as "globalization" as a historical and multi-scalar phenomenon, one developing in the context of neoliberalism; i.e. the cocktail of deregulation, privatization, and austerity currently stressing social and political norms across the globe. Paying particular attention to the way debt and austerity are used to uphold the power relations established in the long and disparate colonial histories of Asia, Africa, and Latin/North America, students should come away from this course understanding global capitalism as something that has changed at various points in time rather than something that emerged over the latter half of the twentieth century.

From the violent mass displacement in Syria to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, crisis tends to unmask the sharp inequalities between and within nations that structure our social and political world. This course will consider the ways in which inequality is manifested both within and between nations through the lens of disaster, austerity, and migration, paying particular attention to socio-historical constructions of life worth saving and life which is not. Students will be asked to consider the rise of the transnational capitalist class, and how colonial legacies and sustained inequality between nations has given way to economic imperialism and increased inequality within them. By the end of the quarter, students should have a better understanding of how states, institutions, and racial formations contribute to global inequalities, and the global nature of local phenomena under neoliberal economic regimes.

The course will be a critical examination of how "childhood" and "adolescence" have been defined in the U.S. We will consider how modern and historical conceptions of childhood and adolescence have evolved and how these definitions have been shaped by societal forces and institutions such as the economy, religion, and politics. We will also look at the lives of children themselves and how individuals experience being children, kids, teens, and so forth in a particular time and place.

As a class, we will also be very critical of cultural and media portrayals of children and teenagers and ask how these representations have reflected and shaped how society views youth. We will also look at how childhood itself has been viewed as a social problem. Children and adolescents and their behavior have often been considered to be the root of many social concerns (such as teen pregnancy, suicide, and bullying). But also many social problems arise because of society's feeling that children and young people need to be protected (such as calls to end child labor and the "missing child" awareness movement). 

The final topic for the course will be how adolescents make the transition to adulthood socially, emotionally, and economically, and how this transition has changed over time - particularly over the last several decades.

From the inception of the field, sociologists have employed ethnographic and qualitative methods to analyze and understand the social world. In contrast to other forms of data collection, ethnographies provide a close, processual portrait of social relations, collective meanings, and interactions. The historical sociologist Charles Tilly once described ethnography as both a science and an art. No longer exclusively focused on "exotic" peoples or "deviant" urban populations, ethnographers have begun to examine elites and the powerful. Recent ethnographic works have explored party politics, scientific and intellectual communities, fashion entrepreneurs, ethnic organizations, and international development agencies. This demanding course introduces students to the craft of ethnography and participant observation. Students will read and evaluate ethnographic works, as well as engage in original ethnographic research and analysis. In the process of research and reading, we will reflect on questions of ethics, power, theory, and representation.

Climate change is the worst environmental problem facing the earth. Sea levels will rise, glaciers are vanishing, horrific storms will hit everywhere. After looking briefly at the impacts of climate change on natural and social environments both in the present and near future, we then consider how to best reduce climate change and how to adapt to its impacts. Issues of climate justice, divides between the global North and South, social movements, steps taken in different countries and internationally, and the role of market and regulations are addressed. 

This course covers the economic, social, and political causes and consequence of class in America. Specifically, this course examines the effects of class on culture, politics, social interaction, identity, social psychology, and language, and emphasizes ways that social class shapes the background and experiences of current Northwestern students and what their future will hold.

This course introduces some of the main topics of medical sociology: the social construction of health and illness; inequalities in the distribution of illness and health care; the globalization of health care; and the organization of health care work, the medical professions, and the health care system. Students will learn about variations in who gets sick and why, how the health professions evolved in the United States and how the health care "turf" has been divided among professions, whether and when patients and their families participate in medical decision making, why physicians have more authority and receive higher incomes in the U.S. than elsewhere, what doctors do when interns and residents make mistakes, what the relationship is between hospitals and other health care organizations and how that relationship has changed over time, how the American healthcare system compares to other healthcare systems, how expenditures on preventive medicine compare with expenditures on high-tech cutting-edge medicine, and why the U.S. invests so much in high-tech medicine.

In this class, we will investigate how gender – as a set of relations, identities and cultural schemas -- shapes politics, including political participation and representation, social policy, and the formation of social movements (e.g., feminist and anti-feminist movements).  We will also investigate how, in turn, political institutions and policies shape gender. Gender is understood as situated in a landscape of complex inequalities, social differences and power differentials related also to race, class, sexuality, religion. We aim to understand gendered politics and policy from both "top down" and "bottom up" perspectives, in the US and other countries. Among the topics we’ll cover are an introduction to theories of gender; the intersection of gender, race and class; the history and present situation of women’s movements; women’s and men’s political representation; social policy and law relevant to work, family, and reproduction; masculinities and political power.

This course explores the modern American urban street gang. It looks at the long sociological tradition of theory and research on such gangs, much of it conducted right here in Chicago. It looks at the structure and activities of such gangs and the response of local community institutions including the police, and national urban and criminal justice policy with respect to street gangs.

Independent research projects carried out under faculty supervision. Prerequisite for 398-2: B- or better in 398-1.

Independent research projects carried out under faculty supervision. Prerequisite for 398-2: B- or better in 398-1.

This course is designed to teach students the basics of single variable calculus, probability, set theory, random variables, and hypothesis testing. The course prepares students for the next class in the statistics sequence. The fundamental math used in this course will be covered in a review course prior to the start of the quarter. By the end of the course, students will understand the intuition behind statistical analysis, have practice applying the statistical techniques covered, and be familiar with different types of statistical anlysis.

Introduction to the theory, methods, and practice of linear regression analysis: descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, ordinary least squares (OLS), regression diagnostics. STATA used for computation. For first-year graduate students in sociology.

Regression models with categorical and discrete outcomes: categorical variables, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), probit and logistic regression, logit models, tobit models, and advanced STATA techniques. For first-year graduate students in sociology.

Application of the methods of case study, interviewing, and participant observation.

This seminar, which is required for and restricted to first-year Sociology students, introduces some of the essential sociological writings of Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, and Georg Simmel. These four men wrote what are generally considered to be the foundational texts of sociological theory, and their thinking continues to guide contemporary research. We will be focusing on how these social theorists conceptualized modernity and whether the analytic tools they developed at the beginning of the twentieth century are useful for addressing the issues and social configurations of the twenty-first.

This course addresses the role that social factors play in in the development of sociological perspectives and schools of thought. Attention will focus on the role of race, gender and power in the rise of American sociology. The case of W. E. B. Du Bois will be highlighted to shed light on the origins and development of American sociology.

Advanced areas of graduate students' interest. Content varies.

In this course, students will develop the necessary skills to conceptualize, plan, and execute interview-based research projects. We will cover topics such as fine-tuning a research idea, formulating research questions, designing a rigorous research plan, navigating the IRB process, recruiting respondents, creating the interview guide, conducting interviews, and analyzing and writing up data. We will also consider reflexivity, ethics, and the complexities of interviewing various populations. Students at all levels of the graduate student process are welcome. However, the course tends to focus on issues that arise at the beginning stages of a second year paper or dissertation proposal. Those students will therefore receive preference in course enrollment.

Introduction to the department, faculty, and adjunct faculty. Faculty discuss their research and teaching interests. Mandatory two-quarter weekly seminar for first-year students.

Independent study for work on second-year paper.

This course should be seen as a first step in a never-ending mission for developing one's own pedagogical skills. Students will learn each stage of the collegiate course design and implementation process: creating syllabi, teaching effectively, and evaluating both student and teacher. Assignments throughout the course are designed primarily to help students improve and reflect on their teaching. The final assignment is to create a teaching portfolio that will lay the foundations for what students would use on the academic job market. As part of the course, students gain hands-on teaching experience by the department's 110 course: Introduction to Sociology. TAing for 110 will require students to lead a discussion section every week along with grading essays, midterms, and the final exam. The first two weeks of the course will prepare students to quickly learn and execute their responsibilities.