Classical Theory in Sociological Analysis (406-1-20)

Instructors

Vilna Bashi
Vilna Bashi is the William and Cathy Osborn Professor of Sociology, and Faculty Fellow of the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs. She is also a visual artist. She specializes in global inequality, race and ethnicity, and international migration. Bashi is the 2020 recipient of the Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award from the American Sociological Association for scholarship in service to social justice. Her book The Ethnic Project: Transforming Racial Fiction into Ethnic Factions was honored by placement on the Zora Canon, a list of the top 100 books ever written by an African American woman.

Meeting Info

Parkes Hall 222: Tues 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

This course is required for graduate students newly entering Northwestern University's doctoral program in sociology. Students in this course read selected writings of Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Du Bois, and Simmel, thinkers widely considered sociology's founders. We will query their ideas about this thing we call "society," why they argued that we need a brand new scientific discipline to explore it, and how that science is properly conducted. Ten weeks is a very short time to engage with this knowledge, so expect this course to be very reading and writing intensive.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, successful students can (1) explain the foundational ideas that support sociology as a discipline distinct from other sciences; (2) explain differences among Marx's, Weber's, Durkheim's, Du Bois's, and Simmel's approaches to sociological inquiry; (3) understand how sociological inquiry is informed by the theory one uses to shore it and the research method chosen to explore it, and (4) see that successful research is achieved only when theory and method align.

Teaching Method

Seminar Format of Lecture/Discussion

Evaluation Method

Exams and/or Essays/Papers

Class Materials (Required)

This course will have required books/other materials.

Please bring your books or printed articles to class as we will constantly refer to specific passages during our discussions. For that reason it is helpful to use the specific editions listed below, and either purchase the paper (not digital, not hardcover) versions, or find a .pdf version so the the page numbering and paragraph formatting align. I'll make most of the readings available on Canvas (under "Files" or using the links below), and mark them below with an asterisk. You may find most of the writings of Marx and Du Bois online for free. I suggest, however, that this is one class where you should consider purchasing as many books as you can afford. These books are basics in any sociologist's library.

Elementary Forms of Religious Life, by Émile Durkheim, translated by Karen Fields.

Rules of the Sociological Method and Selected Texts on Sociology and Its Method, by Émile Durkheim, edited by Steven Lukes.

Hegel: Texts and Commentary, by G. W. F. Hegel, edited by Walter Kaufman.

The Marx-Engels Reader, edited by Robert C. Tucker

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, by Max Weber, translated by Talcott Parsons.

From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, by Max Weber, translated by H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills.

George Simmel: On Individuality and Social Forms, edited by Donald N. Levine.

The Philadelphia Negro by W. E. B. Du Bois (Oxford U Press, edited by Henry Louis Gates)

The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois (Yale University Press, edited by Jonathan Holloway)

Class Notes

This course is required for students in the doctoral program in sociology, and all first year students are expected to enroll. They get first priority in enrollments, so quite unfortunately there are few seats for students not matriculating in Northwestern's Sociology PhD.

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: REASON: Pre-registration is not allowed for this class. Please try again during regular registration.