An examination, beginning with the Enlightenment and extending to the early twentieth century, of the more important Western ideas concerning the nature of society. The student will write a major paper on one social theorist, based insofar as possible on reading of original materials. Three periods per week. Topics covered include structural-functionalism, symbolic interactionism, ethnomethodology, conflict theory, exchange theory, systems theory, feminism, and postmodernism. Students will read a variety of primary sources.
Evaluation is based on a combination of student-instructor presentations and a term paper.
Three periods per week. Designed primarily for junior and senior students in the social sciences. An examination of the division of society into classes or strata which are arranged in a hierarchy of wealth, prestige, and power. This examination will include both theoretical and empirical studies and will focus primarily, although not exclusively, on modern industrial society. Three periods per week.