Sociology
The Department of Sociology strives to understand the origins and reproduction of social inequality, especially as it relates to issues of pressing public concern. Our particular areas of focus include — but are not limited to — the following: race/ethnicity; gender and the family; the sociology of organizations, work, and the workplace; immigration; political sociology and social movements; and community and urban sociology.
Sociological analysis begins from theoretical perspectives that explain how the structures that organize and govern social systems emerge and change. Our curriculum and research emphasize an understanding of social processes that is well-grounded in empirical data related to how societies actually function. We also seek to engage with social policies and social institutions to better understand the world in which we live and to help guide social change.
Re-established in 2015 after a hiatus of more than two decades, the department offers undergraduate major and minor programs with wide-ranging course offerings every semester. The curriculum provides students with research tools to examine critical social issues and to apply their understanding of sociology to activities outside of the university.
Contact Info
Contact: | Kaitlyne A. Motl |
Phone: | 314-935-5790 |
Email: | kaitlyne.motl@wustl.edu |
Website: | http://sociology.wustl.edu |
Chair
Jake Rosenfeld
Professor
PhD, Princeton University
Associate Chair
Ariela Schachter
Associate Professor
PhD, Stanford University
Director of Graduate Studies
Kenneth (Andy) Andrews
Professor
PhD, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Caitlyn Collins
Associate Professor
PhD, University of Texas at Austin
Department Faculty
Darwin Baluran
Assistant Professor
PhD, Vanderbilt University
Yannick Coenders
Assistant Professor
PhD, Northwestern University
David Cunningham
Professor
PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Steven Fazzari
Bert A. and Jeanette L. Lynch Distinguished Professor
PhD, Stanford University
Cynthia Feliciano
Professor
PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Patrick Ishizuka
Assistant Professor
PhD, Princeton University
Samuel Kye
Assistant Professor
PhD, Indiana University
Zakiya Luna
Associate Professor
PhD, University of Michigan
Margot Moinester
Assistant Professor
PhD, Harvard University
Adia Harvey Wingfield
Mary Tileston Hemenway Professor in Arts & Sciences
PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Kiara Wyndham-Douds
Assistant Professor
PhD, New York University
Visit online course listings to view semester offerings for L40 SOC.
L40 SOC 106 Social Problems and Social Issues
This course explores and analyzes contemporary American social problems and social issues using sociological tools. The sociological perspective provides the overarching framework for analyses of social issues, along with the application of sociological theory and research. Topics may include aging, substance use and abuse, crime, violence, poverty, discrimination, health care, family, globalization, and environmental degradation. This course will be valuable to students pursuing graduate work and careers in sociology, law, medicine and health care, and social services. The content may also prove useful for MCAT, LSAT, and GRE preparations. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 144 First-Year Seminar: Monumental Anti-Racism
As sources of national memory and identity, public monuments, place names, historical markers, and other elements of commemorative landscapes are potential sites of cultural violence (e.g., alienation, disrespect, and erasure) contributing to broader conflict and inequality; they are therefore important considerations in movements for equal opportunity and justice. Some contend that memory sites are "the new lunch counters," where our racial politics are worked out. This course examines the racial politics of commemorative objects and practices as well as commemorative intervention as a strategy of anti-racist activism. We begin with an historical survey of various ways that racism has been inscribed on the commemorative landscape, and readings in history, political theory, cultural studies, and other fields will be used to gain insight into these contested commemorative objects, their development, and social significance. We then turn to a critical assessment of efforts to remove and recontextualize commemorative objects and to erect new objects commemorating neglected figures and issues. We consider how these reparative efforts relate to what political theorists call "remedies of recognition" and specifically how they might aid in advancing equal opportunity and justice. Through our study and engagement with contested commemorative landscapes (including local, national, and global cases), students will become familiar with the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of memory studies, diverse forms and sites of commemoration, local and global efforts to advance what has been termed "commemorative justice," and the challenges being faced.
Same as L90 AFAS 144
Credit 3 units. A&S: FYS A&S IQ: HUM, SC Arch: HUM Art: CPSC, HUM BU: BA EN: H
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L40 SOC 2010 The Roots of Ferguson: Understanding Racial Inequality in the Contemporary U.S.
This course provides an overview of sociological understandings of race, with a particular focus on race relations in the contemporary United States. The course begins by inquiring how sociologists understand racial distinctions, asking: What comprises a racial group? What constitutes a "group" in the social sense? The course then shifts to explore patterns of racial inequality in the U.S., particularly through investigating the intersections of economic, political, and racial stratification. After analyzing national trends in racial stratification, the course narrows its focus to particular regions and metropolitan areas, including St. Louis, to shed light on pressing public concerns such as the interrelationships between race and the criminal justice system. The course ends by looking beyond U.S. borders to compare the way that race is understood in other countries. Are there common patterns of racial classification shared by many societies? What makes the U.S. system of racial stratification distinctive? No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 2020 Order and Change in Society
This course identifies and analyzes processes that create social order and forces that generate social change. What kinds of structures make social life coherent so that people can navigate a wide range of social settings? How do societies sometimes mobilize to alter the status quo, and what kinds of barriers limit those efforts to change social systems? This course engages with such core issues through a sociological lens. Specific topics include: the emergence of social roles and status systems; how social networks matter in communities, schools, and other groups; and the performance, reproduction, and, subversion of privilege and inequality. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 2030 Social Movements
Social movements are collective efforts to produce political, economic, and/or cultural change. This course draws on a range of historical and contemporary case studies to analyze such collective actions by interrogating distinctive aspects of movements and their associated campaigns. Key questions include: when and where do movements occur, who participates and why, how do protest strategies and tactics develop, how do police and other movement targets react to challenges to the status quo, and how can we assess the direct and indirect impacts of contention? No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 2090 Media, Culture, and Society
This introductory level course will focus on the critical analysis of media at both structural and interactional levels. The course will approach critical questions about media as a social institution, such as how media is socially constructed and, relatedly, how media shapes the social world. Core themes students will consider include critical media theory, representation in media, consumption of media, and action/engagement with social issues concerning media. Along these themes, the course will consider key concepts such as race, gender, class, sexuality, nation, language, law/justice, generation, space/place, and social change. The course will use an intersectional, social justice framework to discern how media reflects, commodifies, oppresses, liberates, and constructs social life. This course will be an accessible entry point for students who are new to sociology as a discipline. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC EN: S
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L40 SOC 2110 Social Inequality in America
Americans face different challenges and opportunities that depend on a variety of characteristics, including race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. This class examines these intersecting categories from a sociological perspective - not simply as ways to classify people, but as social constructions that help to explain social inequality. Students will examine these systems in a variety of institutional contexts, such as popular culture, family life, education, the criminal justice system, and the labor force. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 250 Topics in Sociology
This course acts as an introductory-level seminar that provides in-depth explorations of sociological concepts, methods, or perspectives. Topics of study vary. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC
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L40 SOC 2510 Sociological Approaches to American Health Care
This course is a sociological exploration of how health, illness, and health care delivery in the United States are influenced by the social structure in which they are embedded. With the backdrop of the ongoing crisis of health care in the United States and the controversy surrounding the Affordable Care Act, the course focuses on the intersections of diversity factors including such as race, social class, gender, and sexuality that predict risks in navigating the health care system. Professionals representing a variety of health-oriented settings who serve the needs of a diverse constituency will share their perspectives. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 2511 Juvenile Justice in the Black Experience
This course examines the sociolegal past, present, and future of American juvenile justice, with a focus on the Black American experience. The course is organized in three parts. Part I surveys the late 19th- and early 20th-century development of the "parental state," including its institutional centerpiece (the juvenile court), its principle legal subjects ("dependents" and "delinquents"), and how these took shape alongside the contemporaneous rise of American Apartheid. Part II examines several key changes and challenges in contemporary juvenile justice, including the transformation of this institution in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement and the endurance of racialized juvenile social control in the post-Civil Rights period. Finally, Part III considers possible futures of youth justice in the United States and beyond as well as practical strategies for achieving equal protection within and beyond the law. For AFAS majors, this course counts as Area Requirement 2.
Same as L90 AFAS 251
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 2520 Inequality By Design: Understanding Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities
This course critically examines health status and health care disparities among racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States. The course will utilize sociological, demographic, epidemiological, and psychological concepts to introduce students to racial/ethnic health disparities research. Students will be exposed to the descriptive demography and epidemiology of health indicators across population groups, as well as to the theories used to understand and explain racial/ethnic health disparities. In particular, the course will examine the ways in which multiple forms of interpersonal and institutional discrimination, neighborhood and community factors, and inequalities in socioeconomic status influence health behaviors, access to health care services, and health status outcomes across racial/ethnic groups. Concepts such as acculturation, patient preferences, provider congruence and cultural competence will also be explored in this course. Finally, students will be challenged to use the theories and frameworks introduced in this course to develop and present policy approaches to address racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care in the United States. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 2530 Punishment and Inequality
This course examines the institutions and policies that shape punishment in the United States, with a particular focus on mass incarceration. The U.S. incarceration rate has more than quadrupled since the early 1970s. In this course, students examine how the United States became the world's leader in incarceration and how racial and class disparities in imprisonment became so large. The course next investigates the consequences of incarceration, both in terms of its high rates and intense social concentration. The course concludes by assessing recent attempts to reform the criminal justice system. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 2580 Families and Social Inequality
Families have changed dramatically in recent decades in the United States. Dual-earner families, single parents, cohabiting families, and blended families are now common in the contemporary family landscape. The prevalence of increasingly diverse and complex family configurations varies substantially by social class, race and ethnicity, and gender. Men's and women's work and family lives have also become more similar over time, but gender inequalities in child care remain significant. Drawing on insights from sociology, demography, and economics, this course aims to understand the causes and consequences of social inequalities in family life. The course focuses primarily on the contemporary U.S. context, but also explores historical and cross-national variation in families. The course also considers the role of social policy in affecting inequalities. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 2710 First-Year Seminar: Beyond the Melting Pot: Life in Immigrant America
This course uses a sociological lens to explore contemporary immigration to the United States. The more than 43 million immigrants living in the United States today come from across the globe. Their reasons for migrating to the United States are complex, as are the laws, policies, and social structures they must navigate before and after their arrival. In the first half of the course, students will get to know Mexican immigrants who split their lives between Brooklyn and their small hometown in Mexico, fourth-generation Chinese Americans who are still asked, "Where are you from?", and West Indian immigrants forced to confront a U.S. racial order where they are defined by their Blackness. In the second half of the course, students will learn about Iranian-American youth navigating life in post- 9/11 America and the challenges of becoming a young adult when one learns that they lack any legal status. Who are these immigrants? Why and how did they come here? How well are they and their children integrating into American society? Readings will be drawn from sociological research that opens windows into the lives of immigrants in America. Students will also conduct their own hands-on research to better understand life in immigrant America. This course is open to first-year students only. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S: FYS A&S IQ: LCD, SSC, SC BU: BA, IS EN: S
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L40 SOC 2910 Alternative Facts: An Introduction to the Social Construction of Reality
This course acts as an introduction to the concept of social construction - the idea that an 'objective' reality is shaped by one's social positions and through social interactions. Recent political events and social conflicts highlight deep divisions in American society, raising critical questions about the media and objectivity (e.g., alternative facts and 'fake' news), networks and segregation (e.g., who talks to whom), who gets to decide what is viewed as `truth,' and the role of researchers and academia in combating (or contributing to) misinformation. This course explores these questions through a sociological lens. Students will use foundational sociological theories to learn how to recognize the existence of multiple realities, and consider the implications of social constructionism for key domains of everyday life, American politics, and the production of knowledge. Students will also evaluate the ways that cutting-edge technological innovations and academic research can - or cannot - help people distinguish facts from 'alternative' facts. No prerequisite.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 2911 Racism and Antiracism
When President Obama was elected, it ignited a debate about whether America had finally become "post-racial." This assertion was belied by an entrenched underclass of Blacks and others from immigrant backgrounds; by the regular killing of innocent, young Black men alongside their mass incarceration, along with a whole series of other social indicators; by the dramatic rise in anti-Semitic incidents and Islamophobia globally; and most evidently by the discourse used during the Trump era that weaponized white Christian nationalism. At the end of four years of the Trump presidency defined by racist discourse and policies, it culminated in an insurgent riot on the Capitol designed to block the peaceful transfer of power, the basis of American democracy. This course provides the long view to understanding this recent period in American and global history. We begin by defining key terms in the discussion around racism today, including what we mean by racism and what unites anti-Semitism, anti-Black racism and Islamophobia, but also notions like privilege, cultural appropriation, and microaggressions. We then move on to the long history of the category of race. We start with a unit on race and religion and then move on to the role of the discovery of the "New World" and the development of the Atlantic slave system, and its impact on the Enlightenment, which was the incubator for the concept of race. From there, we consider how fundamental race was to European and American colonial dominance by the end of the nineteenth-century and the role it played in racial states like Nazi Germany and South Africa. The last portion of the class will focus on struggles to dismantle racism over the the last century, considering the anti-colonial and Civil Rights movement, and the anti-apartheid struggle. Along the way, we will have addressed the overlaps and disconnects between anti-Black, anti-Jewish, and anti-Islamic racism and read a number of key thinkers and activists who can help us in the fight against racism.
Same as L75 JIMES 2910
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC
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L40 SOC 3001 Social Theory
This course provides an overview of major theoretical frameworks used by sociologists to understand social behavior and group patterns. This course explores classical theories, including those developed by Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, along with contemporary perspectives such as functionalist, interactionist, and conflict theories. Class discussions and writing assignments emphasize students' application of theory to understand current social experiences and structures. The course has no specific prerequisites, but students should be prepared for intensive study of challenging ideas and the application of these ideas in new contexts relevant to modern society. This course counts toward the program's Theory component which Sociology majors and minors must complete to fulfill degree requirements.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 3002 Black Feminist Theory
What makes Black feminist theory unique? Whose theorizing is considered "theory" worthy of canonizing? What are the different strands of Black feminist thought ? What has Black feminist thought contributed to academic and popular culture? Through engaging with primary text and producing their own text, students in this seminar will develop answers to these questions through exploration of (contemporary) Black feminist thought. The course has no specific prerequisites, but students should be prepared for intensive study of challenging ideas and the application of these ideas in new contexts relevant to modern society. This course counts toward the program's Theory component which Sociology majors and minors must complete to fulfill degree requirements.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Arch: SSC Art: SSC EN: S
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L40 SOC 3006 Global Health and Language
Long before COVID-19, scholars across the globe postulated that language in health care is one of the most significant, and yet underexplored, social determinants of health in underserved linguistic diverse communities. This new course attempts to harmonize work across the disciplines of Global Public Health and Applied Linguistics by analyzing studies that examine language acquisition and language use across contexts with populations that experience serious health disparities- immigrants, refugees, indigenous peoples, racial and ethnic minority groups- and the course offers corresponding implications for health equity. Broadly speaking, this course addresses global health literacy issues, in both spoken and written communications, and its relationship to public health. As part of the seminar, students will apply the theory and research they learn to help meet the local language health needs of a changing population of refugees and immigrants in St. Louis community.
Same as L97 GS 3006
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC, SC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA, ETH, IS EN: S
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L40 SOC 301B Individual and Community
What social, political, and cultural forces shape the individuality of people and yet make them part of not just one community but many, each of which is greater than the sum of the individuals that comprise it? What role do families and friends fill in this process? Students explore answers to these questions by reading theories and case studies that try to explain the foundations of individuals' sense of self and the interdependence and responsibilities of individuals, families, and communities to one another. Cases students read highlight (1) how family and communal experiences (like school) influence individuals and (2) how virtual (online) and non-virtual communities are structured and sustained as social entities. In addition to readings, the class will rely on guests from the "real world" as well as field trips into virtual and non-virtual communities. AMCS Majors may count this course for Fieldwork credit with permission of instructor; a supplemental assignment might be required.
Same as L98 AMCS 301B
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA, ETH, IS EN: S
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L40 SOC 3030 Introduction to Research Methods
This course offers an overview of research methods commonly used to investigate sociological phenomena, including experiments, surveys, ethnographic field research, and analysis of existing data. The course explores general issues in sociological research, such as research design, conceptualization and measurement, reliability, validity, sampling, and ethical conduct. Students will also review applications of research methods in specific sociological studies and analyze how research results are communicated. This is a core course within the Sociology program and is required of all Sociology majors; Sociology minors are encouraged to take this course to fulfill their Methods requirement within their course of study. The course has no specific prerequisites, but some familiarity with sociological analysis is recommended.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 3050 Statistics for Sociology
This course acts as an introduction to descriptive and inferential statistical techniques used in sociological research. Topics addressed include: probability distributions, data presentation and visualization, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and linear regression. Students will learn to design and evaluate statistical analysis drawn from sociological research and other social science data sources, such as polling and economic data. Students will use statistical software to complete lab assignments. This is a core course within the Sociology program and is required of all majors; Sociology minors are encouraged to take this course to fulfill the Methods requirement within their course of study. The course has no specific prerequisites, but some familiarity with sociological analysis is recommended.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: NSM, AN Arch: NSM Art: NSM
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L40 SOC 320B Deviance and Society
In sociology, deviance is the term used to describe actions or identities that differ from group norms. It encompasses everything from serious crimes (e.g. murder) to non-criminal, but frowned upon, behavior (e.g. talking loudly at the movies). Why do certain actions and identities become labeled as deviant and others do not? In what ways do societal conceptions of deviance change over time? How do people labeled as deviant manage their deviant identities and deal with any associated stigma? In this course, students will think about and explore how sociology and related disciplines have approached the study of social deviance and consider what can be learned about societies by looking at the way they construct deviant identities and acts. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC
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L40 SOC 3212 The Social Construction of Race
This course examines race, ethnicity, and racism from a sociological perspective to understand race as a socially-constructed phenomenon manifested in a wide range of social institutions. The course focuses on how race and racism impact contemporary social problems and public policy issues including immigration, affirmative action, education, media representation, and work. Students will learn to apply sociological analysis to understand current race-related events. This course has no specific prerequisites, but completion of an introductory Sociology course is recommended prior to enrollment.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 3310 The New Inequality
This course explores recent trends of economic inequality in the United States that have reached levels not seen since before the Great Depression. Students will examine factors that account for the decades-long increase in economic disparities, paying particular attention to patterns in educational attainment, political developments, and the role of technological change. Students will also compare recent movements in economic inequality and macroeconomic performance in the U.S. to other advanced industrialized nations. This course has no specific prerequisites but successful completion of an introductory Sociology course is recommended prior to enrollment.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD, WI Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 3320 Getting Paid: A Sociological Investigation of Wages and Salaries
A Burger King worker in the United States today performs the same duties and requires the same skills as a Burger King worker in Denmark. However, the worker in Denmark earns two-and-a-half times as much money. Why? A full-time construction worker in the United States today earns $10,000 less per year (adjusted for inflation) than a worker with the same job in 1973. Construction work cannot be shipped overseas, so why the decline? What determines one's pay? Are people paid fairly? How might one know? This course seeks to answer these questions. Students will draw on a range of comparative, historical, and contemporary case studies to explore changes in the ways in which American workers get paid. Key areas of focus include: employer strategies to prevent workers from realizing their market value, the role Wall St. plays in influencing pay, and ongoing efforts to measure and reward individual productivity. The ultimate goal of the course is to upend students' taken-for-granted assumptions about pay-setting, and to provide students with a richer and more complex understanding of the contemporary world of wage and salary determination. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: ETH EN: S
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L40 SOC 3350 Poverty and the New American City
This course explores structural changes that are transforming the American urban landscape, especially for low-income populations. The course begins with a review of classic theories of urban poverty and consider their relevance in the modern context. Students will then analyze key political, economic, demographic, and geographic shifts in how urban poverty is organized and reproduced, including gentrification, immigration, social policy reform, and the credit crisis. Special attention will be devoted to exploring the social and political implications of changing urban policy approaches, as well as the "suburbanization" of poverty. The course will conclude by discussing how urban poverty interfaces with broader social structures, including law, markets, and the state. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory sociology course or consent of the instructor.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 3410 Gender in Society
This course acts as an introduction to the sociological study of gender. The primary focus of the course will be on U.S. society, but the course will also discuss gender in an international context. From the moment of birth, boys and girls are treated differently. Gender structures the experiences of people in all major social institutions, including the family, the workplace, and schools. Students will explore how gender impacts lives and life chances. The central themes of the course are historical changes in gender beliefs and practices; socialization practices that reproduce gender identities; how race/ethnicity, class, and sexuality shape the experience of gender; and the relationship between gender, power, and social inequality. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 351 Topics in Sociology
An intermediate- to advanced-level seminar focused upon various topics and subject areas within - and adjacent to - the field of Sociology. Themes and content of course will vary by offering and instructor. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.
Credit 3 units.
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L40 SOC 352 Topics in Sociology: Growing Up Poor Across America-An Application of Sociological Reasoning to Data
This is an advanced seminar on poverty in America, with a special focus on applying and analyzing data pertaining to its study. The American Dream is built around the idea that anyone, regardless of his or her origins, can have a fair start in life. Yet, recent research shows that the promise of the American Dream is uneven across the nation. Poor children growing up in San Jose, CA are three times more likely to escape poverty than those in Charlotte, NC. What might be driving these geographic differences in opportunities for low-income youth? This course will investigate factors that might drive these differences by working with engaging real-world data. Students will explore cutting-edge research on poverty and mobility in America to develop their own research questions. Students will also develop the computational and statistical skills to put their ideas into practice by learning to analyze data and construct data representations that communicate their findings effectively. The ultimate goal of this course is to learn to connect sociological reasoning and understanding of poverty and inequality with data analysis. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Completion of - or concurrent enrollment in - Introduction to Research Methods (SOC 3030) and/or an introductory statistics course (SOC 3050 or equivalent) is strongly encouraged.
Credit 3 units. BU: BA
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L40 SOC 3550 Sociology of Work
This course acts as an overview of the sociological understandings of work, and in particular, how work reduces or replicates inequality. This course will cover classic and contemporary sociological theories of work; how work in the U.S. has changed over time; and how workers are matched to "good" and "bad" jobs. Threaded through the course is the exploration of barriers to racial, gender, and class to inclusion and advancement at work. Students will explore how organizational structures, policies, and practices can increase or decrease those barriers. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 3660 Social Conflict
This course is a comparative and historical examination of conflict between social groups, including groups defined by race, ethnicity, and class. Course readings will combine classical and contemporary perspectives on collective conflict with in-depth analyses of historical and contemporary episodes. The course will discuss the various ways in which conflicts can manifest, including: the formation and hardening of divisive attitudes; discriminatory lawmaking and criminal justice practices; riots and collective violence; residential segregation; and sustained social movement activity. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 3710 Sociology of Immigration
This course reviews theoretical and empirical research on how and why people migrate across international borders, and the consequences of international migration for immigrants and natives in the United States. While immigration is one of the most controversial issues in the contemporary United States, these contentious debates are not new. Americans once voiced the same concerns about the economic and social impact of Southern and Eastern European immigrants that today are aimed at immigrants from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. In this course, students will compare historical (1880-1920) and contemporary (1965-present) waves of immigration to the United States. In this, students will explore why and how people migrate; immigrant integration; the impact of immigration on native-born Americans; and how government policies - at the national, state, and local level - shape immigrant assimilation and what it means to be considered truly "American" in a social as well as a legal sense. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 3711 Confronting Capitalism: Feminism, Work and Solidarity
This course explores the relationship between gender, the ideological construction of work and workers, and feminist and queer mobilizations against labor exploitation. To examine how notions of the "ideal worker" shape and are shaped by gender, sexuality, and race, we will study various forms of work, including care work and reproductive labor; affective and emotional labor; migrant labor; service work; and sex work. Considering what is "new" and old about late (or neoliberal) capitalism, we will explore how the relationship between citizenship, the state and political economy has shifted over the last four decades. Across each of these registers, we will engage thinkers spanning Marxist feminist, radical feminist, liberal feminist, indigenous feminist, Black feminist, and disability justice traditions. We will ask how these interwoven genealogies grapple with U.S. imperialism and the relationship between race, class, and patriarchy, while mapping out various visions of solidarity economies, internationalism, and anti-work politics. Prerequisite: Intro to WGSS or permission of instructor.
Same as L77 WGSS 371
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC BU: BA EN: H
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L40 SOC 3810 Film and the City
What makes a city a city? Is there something unique about urban life, in comparison to the way life is lived in rural areas and small towns? Only recently has over half of the world's population started to live in urban centers. What issues, if any, might have arisen from this development? In this course, students will think about and explore how sociology and related disciplines have approached the study of cities. Students will read classic and contemporary theorists on urban life and consider how cities shape the human experience. Then, they will apply what they learn to consider the city as portrayed in film. Movies will become the lab where students grapple with the good, the bad, the ugly, and also the beauty of cities. This course has no specific prerequisites, but completion of an introductory Sociology course is recommended prior to enrollment.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 3910 Economic Realities of the American Dream
Exploration of the realities of economic life in the U.S. and how they correspond to the American Dream. Interdisciplinary perspectives from economics, sociology, and other areas of social inquiry. Emphasis on the consistency between empirical data and different concepts of the American Dream. Specific topics to include sources of economic growth and changing living standards, unemployment, impact of globalization on U.S. citizens, economic mobility, poverty and inequality, and social justice. Prerequisites: An introductory course in economics or sociology, or consent of the instructors. All students who pre-register will be put on the wait list. Students will receive an email immediately after pre-registration requesting more information.
Same as L11 Econ 348
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, WI Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 3920 Philanthropy Lab
This course is designed to give students a theoretical and practical understanding of contemporary philanthropic efforts. First, the course will lay out the sociological and historical roots of philanthropy in the United States, including where philanthropic funds come from, how they are used, and the inherent tension between capitalism and philanthropy. The role of government in funding non-profits and new philanthropic tools, such as donor-advised funds, will also be reviewed. The course will also look at philanthropy's role in addressing social issues, including new approaches that go beyond simply giving money - such as the growing interest in and need for advocacy among institutional givers. This course has no specific prerequisites, but some familiarity with sociological analysis is recommended.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA, HUM EN: S
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L40 SOC 3950 Culture and Identity
Topics course focusing on instances of identity and culture within the American scope. Varies by semester, see Course Listings for description of current semester's offering. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor.
Credit 3 units.
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L40 SOC 4036 Children of Immigrants: Identity and Acculturation
This seminar takes an interdisciplinary approach to children of immigrants as an analytical subject. The course texts are in sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies, and a significant number of our case studies focus on 1.5- and second-generation Asian Americans and Latinx. Identity and identity politics are main topics; in addition, the course will critically examine theories on acculturation and assimilation. Our discussions cover a wide range of topics from culture, ethnicity, and race, to bilingualism, education, family, school, ethnic community, and youth culture. Students are required to conduct an individual research project among a selected group of children of immigrants. Attendance on the first day of class is mandatory to reserve class enrollment.
Same as L97 GS 4036
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H
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L40 SOC 411 Childhood and Society
This discussion-based course will focus on the social context and critical analysis of childhood as a social construct and as a valuable site of sociological research, social inquiry, and social action. The course will discuss critical questions about how social inequalities and social institutions shape life chances and outcomes from early childhood through young adulthood. The breadth of the analytic framing of this course will range from the prenatal context and birth to early childhood, school age, pre-teen and teen stages and will also importantly consider how the social transition to "adulthood" is both socially constructed and has concrete impacts and outcomes. Students will consider intersections of inequality and childhood including but not limited to economic inequalities, race, gender, sexuality, education, criminal justice, health, disability, immigration, media, environment, and social change as the course highlights an intersectional lens. Students focus on an applied sociological perspective of childhood and will emphasize social action and social change. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC EN: S
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L40 SOC 4110 Applied Sociological Research
This couse is an advanced seminar that aims to connect sociological reasoning with practical data analysis. Course instructors will select current issues in contemporary sociology and identify relevant data that students will use to explore a range of related research questions. The course develops computational and statistical skills in order to put sociological ideas into practice by learning to analyze and evaluate data, in addition to presenting study results in ways that communicate one's research findings effectively. Topics and subject areas covered will vary by offering and instructor. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Completion of - or concurrent enrollment in - Introduction to Research Methods (SOC 3030) and/or an introductory statistics course (SOC 3050 or equivalent) is strongly encouraged. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: NSM Arch: NSM Art: NSM
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L40 SOC 4210 Land of Dollars: Race, Money, and the Politics of Equity
This course will explore how racialized meanings and structures shape the circulation and accumulation of money throughout the market economy. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC BU: BA
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L40 SOC 4211 Race and Place
In this course, students will investigate the claim that race and place are mutually constitutive; that is, race shapes how people perceive and organize places, and places in turn shape understandings and experiences of race. This investigation will span time - form the beginning of colonization in North America to the present - and space - from rural communities to central cities. Students will use a primarily sociological lens, but will also draw insights from history, political science, demography, and philosophy. Topics of study include segregation, housing, the criminal legal system, schooling, work, and more. This seminar is an upper level course intended for advanced sociology majors and minors, as well as graduate students. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Arch: SSC Art: SSC EN: S
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L40 SOC 4212 Work, Family, and Gender Inequality in the Contemporary U.S.
Despite dramatic increases in women's education and employment over the past century, progress toward gender equality in both the public and private sphere has slowed or stalled in recent decades. Drawing on research in sociology, economics, and demography, this course examines why gender inequality persists in the workplace and in family life. Students focus primarily on the contemporary U.S. context but also draw on historical and cross-national comparisons. In addition, the course considers the role of cultural norms and work-family policy in shaping gender inequality. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Arch: SSC Art: SSC EN: S
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L40 SOC 423 Political Sociology
In this course, students will be discussing politics, the way that people interact with politics, and the way that politics shape our lives. Why do individuals participate in politics (e.g., vote) or become engaged in their communities (e.g., join a voluntary association, protest, etc.)? What role do social connections play in political and civic engagement? What does political competition in the US look like today? What accounts for increasing political partisanship in the United States? Who has access to political institutions? How amenable is our political system to change? Who has the power to impact policy and institutions? How do shifts in political participation, civic engagement, and partisanship all shape policymaking? How does policy shape participation? In this class students will engage with these questions through course discussion, group work, class data collection and analysis, and more. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC EN: S
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L40 SOC 4260 Memory for the Future
The year-long Studiolab "Memory for the Future" (M4F) will create spaces and practices of humanities education, practical public history, and collaboration in the spirit of "multidirectional memory." This concept tries to address the interlinked histories and legacies of the Holocaust, slavery, apartheid, and colonialism and create opportunities for dialogue between communities impacted by and implicated in these forms of violence. Our principal aims are to explore, enrich, and sustain the global and local focus of "reparative memorial practices" in St. Louis. Focusing on commemorative efforts through public memorials, monuments and especially museums, M4F will engage survivors, activists, institutional leaders, and scholars (students and faculty) in the development of educational materials, artistic representations, exhibitions, and other approaches to bringing the past into the present. We strive to support the efforts of local and regional initiatives and venues to end racism, antisemitism, and homophobia and their related violence through innovative and inclusive memory work. Alongside classroom-based instruction focusing on discussing scholarship and acquiring practical, curatorial, and pedagogical skills, students will work with area institutions and initiatives to apply their study of multidirectional memory. This practicum is an integral part of the course and requires students to leave campus and regularly work with one of our partners (The Griot Museum of Black History, George B. Vashon Museum, St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Reparative Justice Coalition of St. Louis, St. Louis Community Remembrance Project). Participants of the Studiolab are expected to attend regular weekly meetings and engage in self-directed and collaborative project work. We are also preparing study trips to regional sites of memory and education. The M4F Studiolab will convene at the Lewis Collaborative, a living-learning-commercial space at the west end of the Delmar Loop. All A&S graduate students and advanced undergraduates are invited to participate. Undergraduate enrollment by permission of the instructors. For History majors, this course fulfills the capstone requirement as an Advanced Seminar. As a year-long course, students are expected to enroll in both the fall and spring sections. For more information, please consult https://www.m4f.community/
Same as L56 CFH 426
Credit 4 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC Arch: HUM Art: CPSC, HUM BU: HUM EN: H
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L40 SOC 4289 Neighborhoods, Schools, and Social Inequality
A major purpose of the course is to study the research and policy literature related to neighborhoods, schools and the corresponding opportunity structure in urban America. The course will be informed by theoretical models drawn from economics, political science, sociology, anthropology, education and law. A major focus is to gain greater understanding of the experiences and opportunity structure(s) of urban dwellers, in general, and urban youth, in particular. While major emphasis will be placed on data derived from the interface of urban environments and the corresponding institutions within them, the generational experiences of various ethnic groups will complement the course foci. Prerequisite: Completion of any 1000, 2000, or 3000-level Education course, graduate standing, or permission of instructor. Enrollment note: All students are enrolled onto the waitlist. Priority is given to Department of Education majors, minors, and graduate students. Undergraduate students must enroll in Educ. 4289 and graduate students must enroll in Educ. 5289
Same as L12 Educ 4289
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 4310 Sociology of Higher Education
What we call "higher education" in the United States is a complex web of institutions - nearly 3,000 4-year colleges, 1,500 2-year colleges, and still more postsecondary institutions that grant a variety of credentials. It is a system through which tens of millions of students pass each year; over the last few decades, the importance of earning a postsecondary credential has increased markedly. As such, higher education is deserving of rigorous scrutiny and careful interrogation. But in studying "higher education," we are in fact attending to a multitude of things - among other things, varied institutional types with different resources and different imperatives, experiences of accessing and navigating higher education that are widely divergent along axes of inequality, and institutional processes that play out on campus but have resonance beyond the university gates. In this course, which will be conducted as a discussion-based seminar, we will engage with texts examining the enterprise of higher education from varied vantage points, but always through a sociological lens. We'll discuss why and how higher education came to be so important and loom so large in contemporary life, the stark differences between different sectors of the higher education landscape, and how stratification occurs between and within institutions. We'll talk at length about how higher education is a microcosm of many of the inequalities we see in the broader society, looking at issues of race, class, gender, and politics on campus. By taking a sociological lens to studying higher education, we'll learn a language and facility for rooting discussion of issues in higher education in theoretical grounding and empirical evidence. In so doing, students will develop the capacity to more critically assess research and public discourses on higher education, as well as their own work and experiences in the sector. Prerequisite: Completion of any 1000, 2000, or 3000-level Education course, graduate standing, or permission of instructor. Enrollment Note: Undergraduate students must enroll in Educ. 4310, and graduate students must enroll in Educ. 5310.
Same as L12 Educ 4310
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC EN: S
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L40 SOC 450A Interdisciplinary Topics in the Humanities: Freedom | Information | Acts
Same as L93 IPH 450
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, WI Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H
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L40 SOC 450B Interdisciplinary Topics in the Humanities
Same as L93 IPH 450A
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H
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L40 SOC 451 Topics in Sociology
This course is an upper-level seminar course providing in-depth explorations of sociological concepts, methods, or perspectives intended for advanced Sociology majors or minors and graduate students. Topics of study vary. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. BU: BA
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L40 SOC 4510 Race, Ethnicity, and Migration
This course will explore theoretical and empirical analyses of race, ethnicity and migration through a sociological lens, focusing on children of immigrants and later-generation descendants of migrants in the United States. Students will compare the experiences and outcomes of various racial and ethnic "groups," including whites/Europeans, Blacks/African-Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, and Asians, investigating how migration processes and patterns shape racial/ethnic group formations and inequalities. Examples of specific topics related to these issues include: assimilation; ethnic and racial identities; multiraciality; language; legality; intergroup relations; and education. This course will be taught in a seminar style where student engagement within class discussions is required and one's participation is central to the learning process. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC, SC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA, IS EN: S
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L40 SOC 4511 Sick Society: Social Determinants of Health and Health Disparities in the United States
Improving the health of the U.S. population and reducing disparities in health are national priorities. To reach these goals, much research has sought to determine the factors that influence health status beyond health care quality and access. This course explores the broad area of study termed the "social determinants of health" while placing special emphasis on the exploration of health disparities in the United States. The course will examine the social conditions that relate to the health of populations, paying particular attention to how patterns of health vary by social class, race/ethnicity, and gender. The course will also consider mechanisms that produce and maintain these differences. In addition to sociology, students will draw upon the work of multiple disciplines, including public health, demography, anthropology, public policy, economics, and medicine to understand what makes our populations sick and what might make them better. The class will be taught through an active learning approach, with class discussions, small group work, presentations, and critical writing assignments being central to the learning process. Student participation through reading and discussions is essential for both the success of the class and individual student learning. While this course has no specific prerequisites, some familiarity with sociologicla analysis is strongly recommended. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 4515 Migration and Health
This course explores the complex relationship between migration and health, with a focus on immigrant health in the United States. Topics include the immigrant health paradox, the impact of immigration enforcement on health and health behavior, access to health care, the health effects of migration on those left behind, and refugee health. Throughout the course, students will pay particular attention to the diverse mechanisms through which immigration and immigration status affect health. In addition to sociology, students will draw on scholarship from the fields of anthropology, demography, medicine, public health, and public policy. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory Sociology course or consent of instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 4601 Historical Racial Violence: Legacies & Reckonings
There is growing awareness of the legacies of historical racial violence in the United States and a related increase in reckoning efforts. Area histories of enslavement, lynching, and other racial terror and dispossession relate to inequality, conflict, and violence in the same places today. These 'haunting legacies' include heart disease and other health disparity, homicide rates, white supremacist mobilization, and corporal punishment in schools. Meanwhile, many communities and institutions are moving to acknowledge and address legacies of historical racial violence in various ways. This course combines seminar-style readings and writing on legacies of racial violence with a practicum component, where individual students or groups of students will conceptualize and develop interventions intended to clarify and disrupt legacies of racial violence, facilitating contemporary reckoning. The practicum will explore and support a broad range of interventive efforts, including public policy measures, original research projects, archival development, commemorative efforts, and a related array of mediums, including visual art, design, film, digital projects, and other creative approaches.
Same as L90 AFAS 4601
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 470 Interdisciplinary Topics: Data Signs-A Literary History of Information
Various interdisciplinary topics are explored that may includes around the humanities, social sciences and data sciences.
Same as L93 IPH 470
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H
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L40 SOC 4720 Race, Reproduction, and Justice
Reproduction is biological, economic, political, and social. Of course, individuals reproduce, but when, how, why, and with whom we do (or do not) is also a matter of public policy and social concern. Drawing on readings from sociology, law and other fields that engage continually with these key questions: Why is reproduction an important site through which to understand sociology? How do statuses such as race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability influence people's reproductive possibilities? How have communities supported or resisted efforts at reproductive control? Why is reproductive justice central to these answers? Students will review theoretical pieces, empirical research, media and more to explore the answers. This course primarily focuses on the US but will expose students to global reproductive concerns. Class sessions include lecture, in-class discussion and online discussion, media analysis and other activities. This upper-level seminar presumes an understanding of the basic concepts in sociology such as sociological imagination and social construction. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in this 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC EN: S
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L40 SOC 4810 Global Structures and Problems
This course examines social problems around the world and their relationship to globalization - that is, the increasing connectedness of social and economic life across borders. Students will investigate a range of these problems - such as environmental degradation, labor exploitation, human rights abuses, ethnic conflict, poverty, and inequality - and these issues' links to both personal experiences and larger social structures. The course is premised on the idea that to understand current global social problems, one must understand the evolution of markets, states, civil society and social movements, gender hierarchies, ethnic categories, and global governance over the past century. While the course has no specific prerequisites, some familiarity with sociological analysis is strongly recommended. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC, SSP BU: BA, IS EN: S
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L40 SOC 4830 Global Racial Systems
This course will examine the history and contemporary expressions of racism around the world. Specifically, it aims to illuminate the entwinement of racist systems with capitalism, gender, science/knowledge production, and politics over time, focusing on global convergences and localized manifestations of such overlapping structures. The course aims to highlight the effects of global racism across spectrums of (dis)advantage as well as social movements, programs, and policies resisting racism and its effects. Prerequisite: successful completion of an introductory-level Sociology course or consent of the instructor. Graduate students should enroll in the 500-level offering.
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC, SC Arch: SSC Art: SSC EN: S
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L40 SOC 4884 Advanced Seminar: The Roots of the American Working Class: Myths, Realities, Histories
The diverse realities of American labor and working-class experience have long been submerged under layers of politics and ideology. How should we study the lives of working people? What questions should we ask? Where do we go to answer them? This research seminar engages the lived experiences of the American working classes, in all their complexity, over the long 19th- and 20th-centuries, to the present. The course has the double project of (1) exploring the roots of mythologies about American working people that have the effect of distorting or erasing their experiences, efforts and accomplishments, and struggles for organization, visibility, citizenship, and power, with special attention to mythologies about American workers who are non-white, non-male, and non-U.S.-born who did/do not fit conventional tropes of "American labor" or "the white worker"; and (2) exploring the roots of working people's experiences, as shaped by forces of technology, class, race, gender and sexuality, religion, nationalism, and violence : what are the challenges, conceptual and archival, of studying the people, in their working and familial/community lives, as producers and consumers, in their organizing efforts, and in their civic and political capacities? How did the transformation of work, technology, culture, and society over this long era from Enslavement to Artificial Intelligence, from Blackface Minstrelsy to Hip Hop, shape working people's lives and struggles? How did working people survive cataclysmic crises, from the Civil War to Covid, and mold the evolution of American citizenship and democracy? Each student will produce a 12-15 page original research paper related to the course material, based on an analysis of primary sources, in consultation with the instructor, and due at the end of the semester; the course is designed to closely mentor students in this project.
Same as L22 History 4884
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC EN: H
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L40 SOC 4900 Capstone Paper for Sociology Majors
This course requires students to carry out an independent research and writing project pertaining to the material covered within the student's choice of an associated 300- or 400-level class that they have successfully completed prior to this Capstone course - or such a course in which the student is currently enrolled. Student work will be supervised and evaluated by the faculty member who instructed or is instructing the course on which this paper is written. Registration may be concurrent with the associated course or after the course is completed. Successful completion of this paper satisfies the capstone requirement for the Sociology major. Students will normally enroll in the minimum one credit required to fulfill the capstone requirement, but students may register for up to three credits with the approval of their faculty supervisor. This course is open to Sociology majors only. Students should obtain faculty approval for their sponsorship and proposed paper topic well in advance of course registration. Students will register for the section assigned to their respective faculty supervisor and will be waitlisted until supervisor approval is confirmed. Prerequisites: approval of faculty supervisor and upper-level class standing at the time of enrollment.
Credit variable, maximum 3 units.
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L40 SOC 4901 Sociology Honors Thesis
The Honors Thesis program is a two-semester sequence of coursework that aids students in developing, designing, executing, and producing original research within the field of sociology. Successful completion of this sequence and the thesis product is required for a student to be eligible for Latin Honors in Sociology. In the fall term, students will participate in a seminar-style course centered upon research design and obtaining needed approvals for carrying out their proposed project. In the spring term, students will be supervised by faculty mentors in an independent study as they carry out their research, analyze their findings, construct the thesis document, and defend their work in a formal defense. Students may be required to share their work in additional venues, such as departmental symposiums or institution-wide undergraduate research events. Successful completion of both terms of coursework and completion of a defendable thesis paper satisfies the capstone requirement for the Sociology major. Additionally, students may count three of the six-credit sequence's hours toward the major's upper-level requirements.This course is open to Sociology majors only. Students who are interested in the thesis program should contact the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies and/or the Academic Coordinator - as well as their planned faculty mentor(s) - prior to their planned enrollment. Students will be waitlisted until program acceptance and faculty approval is confirmed. Prerequisites: acceptance into Honors Sociology Program; consent of instructor and faculty mentor(s).
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC EN: S
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L40 SOC 4910 Internship in Sociology
Students may receive up to three units of credit for an approved, faculty-sponsored internship that relates to the study and application of sociological material. To fulfill the major's capstone requirement, students must enroll in no less than two credit hours and complete at least 90 approved hours at their internship site, in addition to constructing an academic product to be submitted to and evaluated by their faculty advisor. Specific academic and work requirements will be set by the faculty supervisor in consultation with the student's supervisor at the organization where the internship work is completed. Students must complete and submit an Internship Learning Agreement prior to their course enrollment and no less than two weeks after beginning at their internship site. This course is open to sociology majors; Sociology minors may enroll with departmental permission. Student should register for the section assigned to their faculty supervisor. Students will be waitlisted until their completed Internship Learning Agreements have been received. Prerequisites: completion and submission of the department's Internship Learning Agreement and approval of faculty and internship site supervisors.
Credit variable, maximum 3 units.
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L40 SOC 4920 Teaching Practicum in Sociology
Students may receive up to 3 units of credit for work assisting in course instruction, tutoring, and preparation of course materials under the supervision of a faculty member. This course may fulfill sociology major requirements with the permission of one's advisor and/or the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students may enroll in this course multiple times, but may only receive program credit once. Register for the section assigned to the faculty supervisor. This course is open only to students who have been approved and assigned to work as a departmental course assistant. Students who register will be waitlisted until practicum assignments have been confirmed with faculty supervisors. Please contact the department's Academic Coordinator for additional details. Prerequisites: approval for practicum participation from supervising faculty and Academic Coordinator.
Credit variable, maximum 3 units.
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L40 SOC 4930 In\Visible St. Louis: People, Place, and Power in the Divided City
This course approaches the study of segregation and inequality in St. Louis as deeply relational and contextual -- that is, embedded in a particular space and place and constituted through social-political relations. Students will be immersed in the history, theory and contemporary academic debates surrounding inequality, segregation, and social justice initiatives in urban cities across the United States. The course pairs this theoretical base (conceiving of segregation as multifaceted and durable, historical, spatial, and interpersonal) with intensive research experiences drawing on the methodological tools available across sociology, urban design, and architecture (archival research, data collection, mapping, diagramming, interviewing, field observation). Students will initiate collaborative research projects aligning with the needs of local organizations that serve the city's historically disadvantaged populations. Local guest speakers (scholars, community leaders, residents) will enhance students' classroom learning, as will site visits and other discussion formats. This interdisciplinary course bridges the Department of Sociology and the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, a collaboration supported by The Divided City initiative.
Same as I50 INTER D 4930
Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC BU: BA EN: S
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L40 SOC 4950 Research in Sociology
Students will conduct independent research on a sociological topic as directed by a faculty member within the Department of Sociology. The student and supervising professor will agree in writing on the course goals, requirements, readings, assignments, meeting schedule, and evaluation criteria. The written agreement must be submitted to the department's Academic Coordinator and approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies before registration will be authorized. Students should enroll in the section assigned to their faculty supervisor. Students will be waitlisted until faculty supervisor approval is confirmed. Students may take the course for up to three credits, and, with the approval of the supervising faculty member may be repeated. However, this course may be taken for program credit no more than twice (a maximum of 6 credit hours), depending on the student's status as a major or minor. Prerequisites: approval of faculty supervisor and Academic Coordinator.
Credit variable, maximum 3 units.
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