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This course is designed to give students a broader understanding of individual actions in the social context, using what sociologist C. Wright Mills calls a “sociological imagination.” Throughout the semester, students will learn to apply their sociological imagination by setting aside preconceived ideas about social relationships, and analyze how external social factors, like class, race and ethnicity, gender, education, and community, shape people’s lives. This course highlights the role of transnational/global flows of people, capital, culture and economy, and encourages students to reimagine our everyday lives in American society by connecting global forces to local contexts. Major topics include sociological theories, methods, culture, socialization, race and ethnicity, gender, class, education, and globalization.