Introduction to Sociology (110-0-20)
Instructors
David Schieber
1810 Chicago Avenue
Office Hours: By Appointment
I received my BA from Northwestern in 2012 with a major in sociology and a minor in psychology, and I received my PhD in sociology from UCLA in 2019. My teaching and research interests lie at the intersection of work and organizations, health, gender, sexuality, culture, and economic sociology.
Meeting Info
Lutkin Hall: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
Sociology is a field of study that examines how people and groups interact, navigate, and make decisions within the structure and constraints of their social world. Often these social processes go unobserved or unacknowledged, and sociologists treat it as their job to shed analytical light on how people experience and participate in society. Through sociological analysis, we can answer questions like: How did Evanston become largely segregated by race? Why is it illegal for people to sell their kidneys? Is suicide contagious? Why would someone pay for Instagram followers?
Sociology is a huge field of study, and includes and enormous variety of topics and methods. Each week, we will focus on a specific area of sociological study (Culture, Gender, Race, Family, Money, Deviance, etc.) with the goal of offering you a general overview of the types of questions sociologists ask and how they answer them. By the end of the quarter, you will be able to think sociologically about your own world, and hopefully develop a budding interest in one or more of the areas we discuss in class.
Learning Objectives
Students will learn about what types of research sociologists conduct, focussing on the relationship between societal forces (e.g. norms, laws, organizational structures, etc.) and the behaviors of humans as individuals and groups. Each lecture highlights research on how the decisions people make are both embedded in the social structures / contexts the person exists in, as well as the social psychological underpinning of how people act within these social contexts. Using short answer questions to evaluate their comprehension of the core ideas discussed in lecture, students will be expected to synthesize these concepts with their own outside examples or personal experiences.
Students will gain a broad understanding of the qualitative and quantitative methods social scientists use to observe, describe, and understand individual human and group behavior. Students will be expected to discuss and critique the methodological choices researchers make when conducting there research in their writing assignments, and lectures throughout the quarter will cover the benefits and drawbacks of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods social science research.
Students will develop their skills in reading and critiquing the theories and methods discussed in academic sociology research and will learn to build upon the arguments these research articles make through through their own writing. By reading primarily academic articles (and not a textbook) and completing assigned reading response papers, students will demonstrate their comprehension of research at the source, and then build their skills in critiquing research at source through written responses to the research.
Class Materials (Required)
All materials for this course will be made available on Canvas - no purchase necessary.
Class Attributes
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area