Principles of Sociology

The goal of this course is to introduce students to theories and concepts of sociology, as well as to facilitate the development of each student’s “sociological imagination.” Members of the class will critically examine how social institutions and social structures operate, and to what ends. After introducing the sociological perspective and the research methods used to study society, we will examine what sociologists have come to know about various social structures and institutions (i.e., class, crime and deviance, the economy, education, gender, family, media, race, sexuality, etc.) as well as forms of social inequality (stratification and social class, race and ethnicity, and gender inequality). By discussing and applying theories and concepts central to the discipline, we will begin to deconstruct and understand how these social structures and institutions shape individuals’ ideas about, and experiences in, the social world.