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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.

Course objectives:

1. Cultivate your sociological imagination

1. Understand the ways in which society shapes individual lives, and how individuals shape society

2. Understand and apply major sociological theories

2. Develop a basic understanding of how sociologists do research

1. Identify different types of research methods

2. Discern which methods are appropriate for which questions

3. Strengthen your critical thinking and sociological writing skills

1. Make an argument using sound logic and empirical evidence

2. Write cohesive, articulate expositions

4. Conduct small scale sociological research paper using all of the above