This course will introduce students to the basic concepts and theories of sociology, as well as to the methods utilized in sociological research. It will address how sociological concepts and theories can be utilized to analyze and interpret our social world, and how profoundly our society and the groups to which students belong influence them. Students will be given the opportunity to challenge their taken for granted or common sense understandings about society, social institutions, and social issues. Special attention will also be paid to the intimate connections between their personal lives and the larger structural features of social life. In addition, the implications of social inequalities, such as race/ethnicity, gender, and social class will be central to the course's examination of social life in the United States.

This course is an introduction to the sociology of gender and gender inequalities. While analyzing how masculinity, femininity and other gender forms are socially constructed, we will also analyze how gender intersects with other forms of social stratification such as race, socio-economic status, disability and sexual orientation. Our analysis of gender will focus on gender socialization, gender identities, and how gender forms are deeply rooted and reproduced in social institutions, interactions and relationships.

This course explores all aspects of human sexuality from a sociological perspective. Topics include, but are not limited to, sex work, intimate relationships, sexual response, political movements, power, and the social construction of sexuality. The course also considers how various social statuses such as ethnicity, gender, and social class intersect with sexuality.

This course provides an overview of contemporary intimate relationships and families from sociological perspectives. We will examine intimate relationships and families as social constructions whose meanings have changed over time and from place to place. This course will aid students in developing a greater understanding of intimate relationships and families as institutions in contemporary U.S. society. Intersections of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and other factors within these institutions will be addressed.

Major personal and social issues related to the process of dying in our culture.

This course studies the nature, scope, and effects of social problems and their solutions. The course will concentrate on sociological perspectives, theories, and key concepts when investigating problems, such as inequality, poverty, racism, alienation, family life, sexuality, gender, urbanization, work, aging, crime, war and terrorism, environmental degradation, and mass media. This course is designed to build students' sociological understanding of how sociological approaches attempt to clarify various issues confronting contemporary life, as well as how sociologists view solutions to these problems.