Topics vary from semester to semester and will be announced.

This course covers sociological approaches to death and dying. Topics include social theory and theorists as they relate to death, American culture history, and contemporary issues regarding death and dying.

Introduces the major theoretical issues and traditions in sociology, especially as developed in the writings of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. Sociology majors are expected to take this course in their third year.

Human societies exist in time.This course will examine the historical development of a variety of societies from earliest times to the present. Its focus will be on the relation of the West to the rest of the world. The course is particularly intended for social scientists, to make them aware of the historical dimension to human society; but it is open to all.

Study of a comprehensive contemporary understanding of the history, struggle and diversity of the African-American community.

This study of the development of human societies explores the five major 'techo-economic bases' that have characterized our species' history (hunting-gathering, horticultural, agrarian, industrial and information/biotech) and examines how contemporary macrolevel trends affect our lives at the microlevel.

Explores the ways in which physical environments shape and are shaped by social life.  Examines the relationship between urban space and culture in different historical and social settings, though there is a particular focus on the rise and development of modernity as expressed through the experience of particular cities.

Introduces the study of race and ethnic relations, including the social and economic conditions promoting prejudice, racism, discrimination, and segregation.  Examines contemporary American conditions, and historical and international materials.

This course explores mental health and illness in social context, focusing especially on the history, definitions, social and cultural determinants, and consequences of conceptualizations and treatment of mental illness. It includes an examination of perceptions of mental illness in popular culture, and the spread of psychiatric ideas in more global context. Pre-requisite: six credits of Sociology

Studies the fundamental concepts and principles of sociology with special attention to sociological theory and research methods. Survey of the diverse substantive fields in the discipline with a primary emphasis on the institutions in contemporary American society.