LOOKING FOR A SPRING CLASS?

Are you looking for a SOCY class for Spring 2025?  These classes still have enrollment spaces.

• 41 Religion in a Global World South Asia (Cross-listed with ASCL 55.02) Upadhyay, 3A
• 43 Crossing Over: Latino Roots and Transitions (Cross-listed with ANTH 12.19, LATS 44) Cabrera, 3A
• 46 Constructing Black Womanhood (Cross-listed with AAAS 25, WGSS 33.01) Hayes , 2
• 49.26 Markets and Their Critics (Cross-listed with GOVT 20.10) Clark, 10
• 52 Insurgent South Asia (Cross-listed with ASCL 55.03) Upadhyay, 12
• 78 The Micropolitics of Race Stockstill, 2A

41. Religion in a Global World South Asia

(Course Syllabus) (Cross-listed with ASCL 55.02)

What are the social functions of religion? How does religion shape our everyday experiences and the way we make meaning of the world? What is the relationship between religion and structures of power? This course tackles these questions by engaging in sociological perspectives on religion. We begin the semester with theoretical interventions from classical social theorists like Marx, Weber and Durkheim. We will then move to critical perspectives on the social functions of religion, which will be based on empirical material and analysis that is rooted in the context and experience of post-colonial societies in the global South. Students will have the opportunity to develop critical perspectives on different facets of religion and their intersections with structures of power, including imperialism, colonialism, class, gender, and race. Dist: SOC; Non-WCult. Upadhyay.

43. Crossing Over: Latino Roots and Transitions

(course syllabus) (Cross-listed with ANTH 12.19 and LATS 44)

This course focuses on the histories and experiences of Latinx transnational migrants—from Mexico, Central America, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba—living in the United States.  You will study the historical, political, and economic processes that have led to these migrations, as well as the varying ways in which race/ethnicity, class, gender/sexuality, and citizenship affect Latinx migrant lived experience.  Given our focus on "crossing," readings will foreground subjects that capture this theme, from the literal movement of people, to the constant back and forth that shapes Latinx lives, to the adjustments Latinx people make given their language, their proximity to other immigrants and communities of color, and their varying acceptance within the United States.  Dist:SOC; WCult:CI. Gomez.

46. Constructing Black Womanhood

(course syllabus) (Cross-listed with AAAS 25 and WGSS 33)

This course is a critical examination of the historical and contemporary status of black women in the United States, as presented in fiction, primary accounts, and social science literature. We will explore the nature, extent, and consequences of the multiple discriminations of race, sex, and class, as the context in which these women shaped their social roles and identities within the black community and the larger society. We will consider the themes of family, motherhood, and sexuality; educational, economic and political participation; aesthetics and religious traditions; self and social images. Dist: SOC; WCult: CI.Hayes.

49.26 Markets and Their Critics

(course syllabus)(Cross-listed with GOVT 20.10)

The purpose of this course is to explore the nature and implications of the market primarily as a political, but also as a social, economic and even moral phenomenon. From being a marginal, controlled, and secondary social institution in most early societies, markets have risen to become a central mode of social coordination and economic production, distribution and exchange in modern ones throughout the Western and non-Western world. What is the best way of thinking about this transformation in the prominence of the market in human life? Why has it happened, whom has it benefited, whom has it harmed, what functions has it served, what new problems has it created, and what if anything are the limits on the social utility of markets? Dist: INT or SOC. H. Clark.

52. Insurgent South Asia

(Course Syllabus) (Cross-listed with ASCL 55.03)

Within the short quarter century run of the 21st century, the world has witnessed a global upwelling of insurgency. Southern Asian sites, including but not limited to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal have been fertile grounds for tens of millions of insurgent publics protesting against austerity, rising living costs, student debt, corrupt governments, police brutality, and government neglect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Who are these Southern Asian insurgent publics? How does South Asia reflect – or depart from – global patterns of insurgency and other forms of social protest? Do we need to theorize southern insurgency differently from those occurring in other parts of the world? Dist: SOC; Non-WCult. Upadhyay.

78. The Micropolitics of Race

(course syllabus)

This class explores racialized experiences and controversies that affect daily life in the United States. We use insights from sociology to analyze racial identity and public behavior. For example, why do many people of color often "code-switch" as they move from interacting with family and friends and into their workplace? Why are some Black people accustomed to giving "the nod" to other Black people they encounter in majority-white spaces? Why are many Asian-Americans told that they "speak really good English"  something social scientists would call a microaggression)? We explore these issues and other controversial topics including interracial dating, neighborhood, gentrification, whiteness, and colorism. Dist: SOC; WCult: CI. Stockstill.