“The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.” – James Baldwin
WGS 101: Women’s Perspectives and Values, Northeastern Illinois University
This course is a survey course, the goal of which is to introduce students to the field of Women’s and Gender Studies. Placing women’s and gendered experiences at the center of interpretation, this class introduces basic concepts in Women’s and Gender Studies. We examine the ways in which gender, race, class, and sexual orientation are socially constructed. The central aim of this course is to foster critical reading and thinking about women’s lives and gendered lives including an understanding of how the interlocking systems of racism, classism, sexism, and heterosexism shape all of our lives as well as the ways feminists have worked to resist these oppressions.
SOCIOLOGY 316: Race and Ethnic Relations, Northeastern Illinois University
This course examines the role of race and ethnicity in the making of United States society. This means we will critically analyze the past in order to understand current day race and ethnic patterns in the United States. Throughout the semester you will be challenged to (re)examine what you’ve been taught to believe about race and racial stratification.
SOCIOLOGY 337: Introduction to Sociological Methods, Northeastern Illinois University
This course is intended to provide an introductory overview of the practice and theoretical issues in sociological research, including emphasis on increasing student’s abilities to communicate their understanding of social science research; focus on learning social science research vocabulary; developing an understanding of issues in the philosophy of the social sciences, and; learning steps and procedures in sociological research, and using writing skills relevant to social science research.
SOCIOLOGY 100: Introduction to Sociology, Northeastern Illinois University
This course is intended to provide an introductory overview of the discipline of sociology, including (a) some of the main sub-fields and specialized areas of research in sociology; (b) different theoretical approaches to understanding social life; and (c) different research methods used by sociologists, both quantitative and qualitative. Lastly, in addition to learning about sociology, you will learn how to write as a sociologist, and conduct some form of sociological research and analysis.
SOCIOLOGY 170: Population Problems, UW-Madison
Population Problems draws on materials and perspectives from the related fields of demography (the statistical study of populations) and epidemiology (the study of the distribution and determinants of health and disease states in populations). We will examine how certain social phenomena—particularly structural inequality—influence and are reproduced by population change both globally and in the contemporary United States. Throughout the course, we will focus on issues that feature in current social science and public policy debates, including population aging, fertility and reproduction, immigration, and social inequalities. We’ll pay special attention to health disparities by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. View Discussion Syllabus Here: SOC170_FALL17
SOCIOLOGY/ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES 220: Ethnic Movements in the U.S., UW-Madison
This course uses a social movements perspective to discuss ethnic movements and conflict in the United States. Questions we will discuss include: (1) When do groups adopt collective rather than individual strategies for improving their status? (2) When and how are ethnic identities constructed? How and when do people come to see a common identity despite differences within the group? (3) How do economic and political conditions affect life conditions and shape the possibilities for collective action? (4) What are the interests and issues involved in inter-group conflict? (5) How does the history of inter-group relations affect the present? Substantively, most of our emphasis will be on African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. Lectures and supplementary articles will give information about other Hispanic groups, Jews, European immigrant groups, and nativist/racist movements among European Americans. We seek to understand current issues and conflicts by locating them in their historical and political/economic context. We will pay close attention to the resource mobilization and political opportunity questions: who controls the situation, what resources and capacities do aggrieved groups have to affect the situation? We will also give explicit attention to the ways in which different groups have different perspectives and interests. Some of the time we will be focusing on giving the facts about a particular group, and other times we will be discussing topics that cut across groups. There will be at least four films shown and at least two guest speakers, possibly more. View Discussion Syllabus Here: SOC220_SPR2016
SOCIOLOGY 120: Marriage and Family, UW-Madison
The family is a fundamental building block of social life in at least two senses. First, families provide the context in which individual lives unfold: they set the stage for birth, life, love, and death. In this sense, families are “private institutions.” Second, families have consequences for the greater good: they educate children and care for the elderly, but they also play a major role in generating and perpetuating social inequalities. In this sense, families are “public institutions” that matter for society as a whole. This course will examine families as private and as public institutions from the perspectives of family sociology and social demography. As such, it will focus primarily on aggregate patterns and historical trends within and between groups as defined by race, gender, and socioeconomic status, and less on individual experiences. View Syllabi Here: SOC120_Syllabus_SPR2014, SOC120_LECTURE_SPR2014
SOCIOLOGY 160: Understanding Human Sexuality, UW-Madison
The subject matter of this course is human sexual expression. While we will cover most aspects of sexuality, the emphasis will be on the contributions of social scientists to our understanding of this topic. Objectives of this course are to: 1) To provide practical information needed for everyday living (information about sexual anatomy, contraception, and sexual transmitted infections, for example) and to deal with problems in sexual functioning (such as early ejaculation or inability to have an orgasm), 2) To help students appreciate the fabulous diversity of human sexuality along many dimensions including age, sexual orientation and identity, ethnicity within the United States (a multiethnic perspective), and culture around the world (a multicultural perspective), 3) To help students feel more at ease with thinking and talking about sex, both to minimize their own personal discomfort with a tension-causing topic and to help them become responsible decision-makers in an important aspect of their personal lives and in their roles as citizens and voters, 4) To familiarize students with methods used in research on sexuality, and particularly with problems inherent in some of these methods, so that they can read research reports critically and intelligently. View Syllabi Here: Soc160_Discussion_FA2013, Soc160_Lecturesyllabus
RESEARCH PRACTICUMS
Sociology 320 is a research practicum course that involves the supervised practical application of previously studied theories of research method. It is offered as a way to assist students who are interested in learning about the research process through practical application. As a student enrolled in this course, you will undertake a research project in which you will work with data provided by the instructor.
SOCIOLOGY 320: First-Generation and Working-Class Graduate Students’ Stories of Pursuing Higher Education – A Life Histories Interview Study (FA 2023-SPR 2024), UW-Madison
Life History as Method and Theory
This course is especially concerned with life histories as method and theory. While there are varying definitions of life history, most scholars agree that a life history comprises the telling by a person of their life (hi)story to another person, the researcher, in reference to a given context. The life historian then retells that life history/ies to an audience/s.
Of life history, Ivor Goodson and Pat Sikes (2001) have written:
Life historians are concerned with inviting their informants to consider and articulate answers to questions like: Who are you? What are you? Why are you? Why do you think, believe, do, make sense of the world and the things that happen to you, as you do? Why has your life taken the course it has? Where is it likely to go? What is your total experience like in relation to the experiences of other people? What are the differences and similarities? How does your life articulate with those of others within the various social worlds you inhabit? What are the influences on your life and what influence and impact do you have? What is the meaning of life? How do you story your life? Why do you story it this way? What resources do you employ in assembling your life story? (p. 2)
Ardra Cole and J. Gary Knowles (2001) have written:
Life history inquiry is about gaining insights into the broader human condition by coming to know and understand the experiences of humans. It is about understanding the experiences of humans. It is about understanding a situation, profession, condition, or institution through coming to know how individuals walk, talk, and work within that particular context. It is about understanding the relationship, the complex interaction, between life and context, self, and place. It is about comprehending the complexities of a person’s day-to-day decision-making and the ultimate consequences that play out so that insights into the broader collective experience can be achieved (p. 11).[1]
As a student enrolled in this course, you will engage readings on life history as method and theory. You will also engage with original life history interview data.
[1] Adapted from CURRIC 723 Life History: Theory and Methods syllabus with permission from instructor.
SOCIOLOGY 320: Multiplicity of Identities and University Life (FA 2016), UW-Madison
This research practicum especially deals with qualitative data and methods. Students should expect to receive basic training in how to work with qualitative data. This training includes transcribing, coding, basics of building literature reviews, research ethics (CITI Program certification), and some analysis work. View Syllabus Here: SOC 320_FA 2016