Sociology: Social Theory

Classical sociological theory including Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Mead, as well as DuBois and early female theorists such as Martineau. Reading and writing intensive. Prerequisites: SOC 1500; three additional hours of Sociology; minimum Sophomore standing.

Prereqs enforced by the system: SOC 1500; Also required: 3 additional hours of SOC; Minimum Sophomore standing PACE students with permission and override

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6aa2frtjfobr5f2s855yy/Developing-Sociological-Theory-v10-16-2023.pdf?

People have lots of ideas about how society works: explanations for why the social world is the way that it is, why things tend to unfold as they do. Every day you and I use these ideas – both implicit and explicit ones – to make predictions and decisions about what to do in our local social worlds. Unfortunately, many of these ideas are different varieties of bad. They’re bad because they are often wrong. Or, unhelpful because they are deeply incomplete. Or, problematic because they are based on our sharply limited experience. Or, because they fail to account for an accumulated basis of sociological knowledge generated over hundreds of years of scholarly and practical work. Sometimes they are just common sense and therefore do not help us understand the social world in new and more useful ways. So how do we develop ideas that are good, useful, increasingly correct, rigorous, or otherwise interesting about the social world? The academic discipline of sociology works to develop sociological theory: explanations for why the social world is as it is, how social situations unfold, why so many dimensions of social inequalities exist and persist, and what might be done to create social change. This course will focus on the craft of making, using, and critiquing sociological theory. We’ll learn some social theory along the way, too. The course will begin with some very basic questions, like: Why theorize? What counts as theory? And, Where have these ideas come from? We’ll progress through studying some important substantive theories of the social world – e.g. theories about the state, the economy, about race and racism, about gender and sexuality, health and illness, and about science and technology – and break down their construction, use, and travel. And then, towards the end, we’ll take a shot at developing or constructing a theoretically informed puzzle ourselves.

Students will be expected to read theoretically centered sociological research, critically engage with the readings through weekly discussion board posts and responses to classmates, attend lecture and contribute actively to classroom discussion, and progressively utilize the ideas and insights learned in class and through readings to analyze a sociological puzzle of their choosing. Students should expect to spend at least 5 hours outside of class each week preparing for course sessions, writing discussion posts, and writing midterm and final essays.

Students will be evaluated via Weekly Discussion Posts + Comments (30% of final grade; Presentation of Sociological Puzzle (10% of final grade); Midterm Essay #1 (15% of final grade); Midterm Essay #2 (15% of final grade); Final Essay (30% of final grade).