Sociology
SOCI 110 - Introduction to Sociology
The course introduces students to the sociological imagination, or "the quality of mind essential to grasp the interplay of individual and society, of biography and history, of self and the world," as C. Wright Mills described it. The enduring value of a sociological imagination is to help students situate peoples' lives and important events in broader social contexts by understanding how political, economic, and cultural forces constitute social life. Sociology explores minute aspects of social life (microsociology) as well as global social processes and structures (macrosociology). Topics covered vary from semester to semester, but may include: socialization, suburbanization and housing, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class stratification, deviance and crime, economic and global inequality, families and intimate relationships, education, religion, and globalization.
Frequency: Every year.
SOCI 150 - Prius or Pickup? Political Divides and Social Class
The Far Right in the United States has appropriated working class identities to produce an identity among the white working class. Donald Trump, for instance, intentionally portrays a large gap in highbrow and lowbrow to take jabs at privileged liberals (such as when he tweeted the "Hamberder" photo). This course observes what can be called the Far Right "theater of politics" in order to understand how liberals have left working class culture behind in ways that allowed the far right to fill the void by finding persuasive techniques in culture (country music, religion, church...) to articulate a political voice that some working class folks, especially whites, may find appealing. Some of the major questions of the course include: (1) How do political and economic elites produce class, gender, and racial divides and segmentations by aligning themselves with the cultural practices often associated with working class folks? (2) Can the left create a political culture that cultivates respect for organic cultural expressions that include religious expressions and pop-cultural themes like country music and sports (yes, even football!) into their fold Reducing everything to class and asking all others to submit to its political logic is a limited vision. Instead, the course investigates whether it is possible to envision a political project that rather than privileging the concerns of upper-middle class whites produces a culture of resistance that can articulate working class subjects - straight, queer, white, black, binary, non-binary - into a populist left movement? One of the truly powerful features of the Left is that it is much more diverse than the Far Right. Is it possible to extend that diversity even further so that it can show a "little respect" for organic cultural producers to feel comfortable producing and living in multiple class, racial, gender, and sexual habitus?
Frequency: Every year.
SOCI 170 - Work, Identity, and Inequality
This course will examine recent transformations in the U.S. economy - including deskilling, downsizing, and the rise of the service sector - and it will consider how each of these "transformations" relate to issues of identity, community, family formation, structural inequality and national culture. Work has changed so quickly in the last three decades that we have yet to fully comprehend the micro level consequences in our daily lives and the macro level consequences for American culture and global processes.
SOCI 175 - Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the study of the social language variation inevitable in all societies, be they closed and uniform or diverse and multicultural. Language and culture are so closely tied that it is nearly impossible to discuss language variation without also understanding its relation to culture. As humans, we judge each other constantly on the basis of the way we use language, we make sweeping generalizations about people's values and moral worth solely on the basis of the language they use. Diversity in language often stands as a symbol of ethnic and social diversity. If someone criticizes our language we feel they are criticizing our inmost self. This course introduces students to the overwhelming amount of linguistic diversity in the United States and elsewhere, while at the same time making them aware of the cultural prejudices inherent in our attitude towards people who communicate differently from us. The class involves analysis and discussion of the readings, setting the stage for exploration assignments, allowing students to do their own research on linguistic diversity.
Frequency: Offered every spring.
Cross-Listed as: LING 175
SOCI 185 - Masculinities
We have seen a burst of writing and thinking about men in the past several decades. Many of these writings argue that as more women are excelling professionally, earning more college degrees than their male counterparts and acting as the family breadwinner, the traditional gender landscape is quickly fading into what they identify as a matriarchy. According to this view, men, having falling from their privileged place in society, are being out competed by women for the most prestigious occupations and are now becoming emasculated in the process. We will critically explore the debate that this perspective has engendered, looking at not only the facts of whether this is true or not, but the cultural anxieties and fantasies such a perceived closure of the alpha male trope has produced. We will begin with the idea that manhood has a history, that it is a human creation rather than an edict from above or from nature. Some of the key questions we will ask are: How has manhood changed in the United States since the 19th century? Are there different forms of masculinities, especially when we take into account social indicators like class, race, and ethnicity? Can masculinity take on chameleon forms that in the past seemed antithetical to masculinity, like geeks, cosmopolitans, metrosexuals, or in upper-class gentlemanly cultures? Are we experiencing an emerging hybrid or inclusionary forms of masculinities or are these simply a repackaging of the old?
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: WGSS 185
SOCI 190 - Criminal Behavior/Social Control
The use of imprisonment as a form of criminal punishment is only about as old at the United States. Currently, 1 in 100 adults in the United States are in prison or jail. How should we understand the growth of this form of criminal punishment? How is it similar to other methods to react to and to attempt to control unwanted behavior? What are the social consequences of these formal institutions of social control? In this course, we examine these developments in the processes and organization of social control, paying particular attention to criminal behavior and formal, legal responses to crime. We study and evaluate sociological theories of criminal behavior to understand how social forces influence levels of crimes. We examine recent criminal justice policies in the United States and their connections to inequality, examining the processes that account for expanding criminalization. Finally, we compare the development of formal, bureaucratic systems of social control and informal methods of social control, paying attention to the social and political implications of these developments.
Frequency: Alternate years.
SOCI 194 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
SOCI 200 - The Old Order is Dying and the New Cannot Be Born
This course, which has no prerequisites, examines the deep structural crisis of the entire edifice of our political and economic system that some call progressive neoliberalism, characterized by a market-based economy wrapped in progressive sounding diversity politics. The course title reflects a predicament described by Antonio Gramsci in the 1930s, but that may be more salient today: "'the crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old order is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear." The morbid symptoms of our own old order can be seen in the severe and increasing inequality. The two beneficiaries of this system are (1) those who are at the apex of the system, the so-called 1% and (2) the highly-educated elite professionals, intellectuals, and managerial class, the next 9% and sometimes called the clergy or the secular high priests of the system. The remaining population, largely composed of less educated whites, minorities, blacks, and women are being further and further removed from the rewards of the system. This hyper-inegalitarian system of rule is now experiencing a legitimacy crisis by both the far right and the left, but no true alternatives have yet been proposed to reform or replace it. The far right wants to take us on a path of racial white supremacist rule and further escalate inequalities and prepare us for possibly even a more sinister form of a postcapitalist society. The far left, on the other hand, wants to create a system of radical democracy and respect for nature that has the potential for replacing capitalism with a new historical system based on a more just foundation. This course will identify what was historically in place, capitalism's distinctive dynamics so that we may better determine what is needed to resolve it. With that in mind, as Nancy Fraser has argued, we need to seek a path forward that leads beyond the current impasse -- through political realignments to societal transformation. We will explore what this capitalist system is, how it functioned historically, where it is now, and what systems may replace it in the future. To cover all that in one course is exciting and may help us think about some possible futures we can begin to imagine and work toward.
Frequency: Every year.
SOCI 210 - Sociology of Sexuality
What is social about sexuality? Sexuality and its components (desire, pleasure, love, the body) are more than personal or individual characteristics. Sexuality is socially constructed. Sexuality has been configured during different historical time periods as sin, as a means of fostering alliances between powerful families, as perversion, as a means to pleasure, as a symbol of love, and as personal identity. These different sexual configurations are connected with larger social-historical trends such as the development of capitalism, the use of rationalized technologies, and the expansion of scientific-medical discourse. In this course, we explore how sexuality has been constructed through history. We examine how categories shape our understanding of sexuality such as male/female, heterosexual/homosexual/queer. We also will address issues such as children's sexuality, sex work, queer and trans representation in the media and heteronormativity.
Frequency: Every year.
SOCI 220 - Sociology of Race/Ethnicity
This course explores historical and contemporary perspectives on racial and ethnic groups in American society, including African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, European Americans, and Americans of Middle Eastern descent. The goal is to develop an understanding of socio-historical forces that have shaped the lives of racial and ethnic groups in America.
Frequency: Every year.
SOCI 248 - Struggles for Reproductive Justice: A Global Perspective
This course focuses on reproductive health as a human right following the reproductive justice framework. It will focus on women and how they navigate the system to expand their rights. The course will pay particular attention to women who are marginalized due to their race, class, gender identity, indigeneity, and religion. In doing so, this course studies reproductive health and human rights in relation to the broader structural context in the Americas (e.g. national laws and international conventions). As the topic of women's reproductive rights is vast, we will be focusing on abortion, domestic violence, and motherhood. Students in the class will study these issues from the perspective of women's organizations that have mobilized to expand reproductive rights. This course will be comparative in nature as it will focus on reproductive rights in the U.S. and Latin America from the 1980s onwards. These two regions are intimately connected politically and economically, and in regards to reproductive rights. For example, the gag rule introduced by the Reagan administration in 1984 jeopardized the reproductive health services provided in Latin American countries that received funding from the U.S. government. Yet another way that these two regions have been coupled is through feminist networks that have been working to expand reproductive rights in the Americas.
Frequency: Every year.
SOCI 258 - Immigrant Voices in Times of Fear
According to the International Organization for Migration (OIM), in 2019, the United States had the largest foreign-born population in the world. During the same year, immigrants represented 15% of the United States population while 53% of the foreign-born migrants came from Latin America. At the same time, we are observing the securitization of the US-Mexico border that is resulting in the removal of undocumented individuals from the U.S. in large numbers, specifically Latino men. The course examines recent U.S. immigration as part of a global (historical) phenomenon to understand how we got to where we are. While we will become familiar with immigration policies, we will pay attention to the experiences of immigrants, particularly those coming from Latin America. We will explore questions such as: What motivates people to migrate? How does migration reconfigure social relations, such as parental and community relations? This is a discussion-based course and includes guest speakers and a civic engagement project with a local organization.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: LATI 258
SOCI 269 - Social Science Inquiry
Social scientists have many methodological approaches to choose from in their research toolkit ranging from qualitative to quantitative to comparative historical. Each of these approaches allows us to see and understand society from different perspectives, sometimes offering us complementary snapshots and other times presenting us with contradictory information. How, then, can we engage evidence to make claims about the social world? What even counts as evidence and who gets to speak for whom? Social Science Inquiry is part of a methods training sequence that emphasizes quantitative social science inquiry-that is, the approach to social science research that entails statistically analyzing relatively large datasets and emphasizes concerns such as measurement, replicability, objectivity, generalizability, and causal inference. However, this methodological approach is not without its critics. Therefore, this course begins by being in conversation with quantitative social science's critics, examining the abuse of quantitative knowledge in social science research and how quantitative social scientists have themselves been complicit in building many of the tools now at the center of contemporary ethical debates over online privacy, digitization, facial recognition, AI, and their use in policing, surveillance, and border enforcement. Taking the stance that quantitative methods are tools with the capacity to either build up or break down social structures, we will work with municipal data from the City of Minneapolis to explore how quantitative methods may be, in sociologist Ruha Benjamin's words, "retooled" to serve emancipatory and abolitionist purposes. Readings will focus on case studies from social science research and critical texts from science and technology studies. Methods-training content will specifically entail the use of R and will cover inferring population characteristics from survey samples, estimating causality and predicting outcomes using linear regression, the principles of probability and estimating statistical uncertainty, and how to critically read quantitative information presented via figures and tables.
Frequency: Every year.
SOCI 270 - Interpretive Social Research
This class introduces students to the methodologies and analytic techniques of fieldwork and ethnography: participant observation, interviewing, and the use of documents. Students will read exemplary, book-length studies and will conduct an extensive field research for their final project.
Frequency: Every year.
Prerequisite(s): For declared Sociology majors only; all others require permission of instructor.
SOCI 272 - Social Theories
This course is designed to engage students with the most sophisticated and useful schools of thought available in the social science disciplines. The course raises a number of questions: How can we best understand the complexities of self and society? Are these units of analysis useful in and of themselves? Are they contained in an essential body or polity that we can identify as some unitary entity called Jenny and John Doe, American, French, Arab/Jew, black/white, modern/primitive, developed/underdeveloped, Oriental/ Occidental, homo/heterosexual, male/female? Or are they socially produced units that have no essence in-of-themselves, produced and made real only through performance with the "Other"? Furthermore, is there something unique about modernity that has fundamentally transformed the notions of our selves, bodies, polities, races, and civilizations? If the answer to the last question is in the affirmative, how and why did this come to be the case, and what consequences does it hold for our understanding of the past and of the future? These are the kinds of questions that great figures in sociology have been asking since the nineteenth-century, including classic theorists like Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx, as well as more recent writers such as Ervin Goffman, Michel Foucault, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Edward Said.
SOCI 275 - Comparative-Historical Methods for Social Science
This course introduces students to comparative and historical methods used in the social sciences, most prominently but by no means exclusively in sociology and political science. Comparative-historical researchers use huge comparisons to understand big structures and large processes that have immense importance for social life. The course addresses questions such as: How do social scientists gather and analyze evidence about macrosocial phenomena? What types of logic guide the definition and selection of cases? In addition, we learn about analytical choices facing comparative-historical researchers, including different methods of comparison and analysis of historical evidence. Beyond reading and discussing material about comparative-historical methods, we will analyze examples of research and apply lessons we learn to gain more familiarity with using comparative-historical methods.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: POLI 250
SOCI 280 - Indigenous Peoples' Movements in Global Context
During the last three decades, a global indigenous rights movement has taken shape within the United nations and other international bodies, challenging and reformulating international law and global cultural understandings of indigenous rights. The recognition of indigenous peoples' rights in international law invokes the tensions between sovereignty and human rights, but also challenges the dominant international understandings of both principles. In this course, we examine indigenous peoples' movements by placing them in a global context and sociologically informed theoretical framework. By beginning with a set of influential theoretical statements from social science, we will then use indigenous peoples' movements as case studies to examine the extent to which these theoretical perspectives explain and are challenged by case studies. We will then analyze various aspects of indigenous peoples' movements and the extent to which these aspects of the movement are shaped by global processes.
Frequency: Every other year.
Cross-Listed as: INTL 280
SOCI 283 - Economic Sociology
Economic activity is a form of social activity: people attribute meaning to economic activity, they pursue such activity in relation to others, and this activity is patterned and organized. Starting from these premises, economic sociologists ask a wide range of questions, such as: How do people find jobs? What historical and social legacies affect prospects for development? How do art dealers know how to set prices on unique original works of art? What social arrangements influence economic inequalities? In what ways do people mix economic activities and intimacy? By surveying recent developments in economic sociology, this course introduces students to the kinds of questions that economic sociologists ask, the types of evidence they use, and the range of answers they generate. Students do not need a background in economics or sociology for this course.
Frequency: Alternate years.
SOCI 290 - Islam and the West
How can we best understand the complexities of the present U.S. "War on Terrorism"? Should it be understood as a clash between two different cultural systems, one modern and democratic and the other feudal and fanatic? Or, is the violence systemic, taking a variety of forms in different parts of the globe? What role does power and inequality on a global scale have to do with it? These and many other questions will be dealt with in this course. We will trace the conflict historically to assess moments of violence and tensions and other periods of calm and symbioses. Finally, we will analyze how modernity transformed the relationship between Islam and the West, Jew and Arab, male and female, and nation/race and identity.
Frequency: Alternate years.
SOCI 294 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
SOCI 310 - Law and Society
Law is omnipresent in contemporary social life. How should we understand this development and its consequences? How does law operate to the advantage or disadvantage of various members of society? Can law be the source of significant social change? This course examines the development of a formal, legal system and the ways in which such a system connects to other parts of society. We begin by focusing on individual experiences and understandings of law and what these tell us about how law fits into the larger social order. We then evaluate explanations about the connections between social and legal development. We also consider how the "law in action" operates by examining empirical studies of legal institutions and the limits and potential of law as a source for social change.
Frequency: Alternate years.
SOCI 335 - Families and Social Change
This class focuses on the relationship between families and larger social institutions, including governments, economic institutions, and labor markets. This course also explores how various societal forces shape relationships within contemporary American families, as well as considering other historical forms and understandings of the family.
Frequency: Every year.
SOCI 370 - Political Sociology
What is the nature of power within society and how does it relate to the development of nation-states? This course explores the development and operation of nation-states, examining how civil society and state practices relate to each another. We examine how the system of nation-states came into existence and what contemporary developments mean for the future of nation-states. We consider the nature and consequences of both citizenship and nationalism, trying to understand how these relations between individuals and states have developed. We also examine contemporary developments that might change citizenship, such as how we should understand national citizenship given the development of international human rights.
Frequency: Alternate years.
SOCI 394 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
SOCI 480 - Senior Seminar
This senior seminar serves as the capstone experience for sociology majors. This class provides students with an opportunity to develop a synthetic understanding of their sociology course work and to conduct prospective research that may culminate in honors projects.
Frequency: Every year.
SOCI 494 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
SOCI 611 - Independent Project
Students may explore sociological topics not covered in regular course offerings or pursue more advanced study of topics represented in the department curriculum through an independent project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
SOCI 612 - Independent Project
Students may explore sociological topics not covered in regular course offerings or pursue more advanced study of topics represented in the department curriculum through an independent project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
SOCI 613 - Independent Project
Students may explore sociological topics not covered in regular course offerings or pursue more advanced study of topics represented in the department curriculum through an independent project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
SOCI 614 - Independent Project
Students may explore sociological topics not covered in regular course offerings or pursue more advanced study of topics represented in the department curriculum through an independent project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
SOCI 621 - Internship
Internships allow students to participate in an off-campus learning experience. Students may engage in internships in a variety of settings that match their academic goals, including nonprofit organizations, government, and business.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
SOCI 622 - Internship
Internships allow students to participate in an off-campus learning experience. Students may engage in internships in a variety of settings that match their academic goals, including nonprofit organizations, government, and business.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
SOCI 623 - Internship
Internships allow students to participate in an off-campus learning experience. Students may engage in internships in a variety of settings that match their academic goals, including nonprofit organizations, government, and business.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
SOCI 624 - Internship
Internships allow students to participate in an off-campus learning experience. Students may engage in internships in a variety of settings that match their academic goals, including nonprofit organizations, government, and business.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
SOCI 631 - Preceptorship
Preceptors may assist faculty members organize and teach courses with an emphasis on leading discussion groups, preparing study sessions, and individual tutoring.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
SOCI 632 - Preceptorship
Preceptors may assist faculty members organize and teach courses with an emphasis on leading discussion groups, preparing study sessions, and individual tutoring.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
SOCI 633 - Preceptorship
Preceptors may assist faculty members organize and teach courses with an emphasis on leading discussion groups, preparing study sessions, and individual tutoring.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
SOCI 634 - Preceptorship
Preceptors may assist faculty members organize and teach courses with an emphasis on leading discussion groups, preparing study sessions, and individual tutoring.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
SOCI 641 - Honors Independent
The honors independent study is an option reserved for students participating in the honors program. Students may receive this course credit for pursuing research devoted to their honors project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
SOCI 642 - Honors Independent
The honors independent study is an option reserved for students participating in the honors program. Students may receive this course credit for pursuing research devoted to their honors project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
SOCI 643 - Honors Independent
The honors independent study is an option reserved for students participating in the honors program. Students may receive this course credit for pursuing research devoted to their honors project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
SOCI 644 - Honors Independent
The honors independent study is an option reserved for students participating in the honors program. Students may receive this course credit for pursuing research devoted to their honors project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.