1 - 10 of 235 results for: SOC

This course to get students to think like a sociologist; to use core concepts and theories from the field of sociology to make sense of the most pressing issues of our time: race and ethnicity; gender and sexuality; family; education; social class and economic inequality; social connectedness; social movements; and immigration. The course will draw heavily on the research and writing of Stanford¿s own sociologist.

Why do people behave the way they do? This fundamental question drives social psychology, a field that bridges psychology and sociology. This course surveys social psychological research on a wide variety of topics including conformity, morality, respect, generosity, identity, and prejudice, giving students a deeper understanding of the causal architecture of the social world.

An overview of the major forms of inequality in American society, their causes and consequences. Special attention will devoted to to public policy associated with inequality.

Preference to freshmen. The impact of societal organization on the lives of ordinary people in socialist societies and in the new societies arising through the processes of political, economic, and social transformation. Do the concepts of democratization and marketization suffice to characterize ongoing changes? Enrollment limited to 16.

Theory and research on African Americans' roles in post-Civil Rights, US social movements. Topics include women¿s right, LGBT rights, environmental movement, and contemporary political conservativism.

Preference to freshmen. Seminar discussion of how race is conceptualized and how categorizations are determined across a range of disciplines and institutions in U.S. society. Course materials survey approaches from history, demography, law, sociology, psychology, genetics, and medicine. Students will read original social science research, learn to conduct and analyze in-depth interviews, and use library resources to support legal/archival case studies.

Preference to freshmen. The conditions under which social protest occurs and the emergence, success, and viability of contemporary social movements. Examples include women's civil rights, ecology, and antiwar and anti-globilization movements in the U.S. and elsewhere. Sociological theories to explain the timing, location, and causes of mobilization; how researchers evaluate these theories. Comparison of tactics, trajectories, and outcomes.

This class focuses on the political party and on the different scholarly perspectives from which it has been studied. We will study these perspectives analytically¿to find the main elements that characterize them¿and historically¿to understand how the party has operated in different contexts and how scholarly interpretations have changed in time. The emphasis on the party requires a contextualization of two processes that have shaped the functioning of the institutions of the state in the last decades¿one operating below the state and the other operating abovenFrom below the state, the fragmentation of interests has been challenging the traditional identities that used to be embedded in the party. From above, international economic processes have been undermining the role of the state, and thus of the party, as the main vehicle for bringing grievances into the political arena. Thus, part of the agenda of the party is dominated by the activities of organized social movements that only partially follow traditional cleavages (class, status, race, ethnicity, urban/rural), while another part is dominated by multinational firms and banks that only partially represent national interests. Yet, to the extent that the institutions of the state remain relevant, the political party remains a powerful and significant actor of Modern democracies. The fundamental question of this class is to understand the way in which the party continues to shape the functioning of the state.n We will approach this question analytically and historically. Analytically, we will read through various definitions of what a party is. The aim is not to arrive at a ¿correct¿ definition of the party (there is not such a thing!) but to sharpen the differences between the several approaches. Historically, we will study the party in action with the goal of understanding the perspective from which the party was portrayed. Together, in this double exercise you will learn the tools of the trade, so to speak, of political sociology.

Preference to sophomores. Historical overview of race in America, race and violence, race and socioeconomic well-being, and the future of race relations in America. Enrollment limited to 16.