Sociology

  • GRS SO 701: Advanced Sociological Theory (Classical)
    Primarily for first-year graduate students. Required for master's degree in sociology. Advanced survey and review of classical sociological theory and theorists.
  • GRS SO 702: Proseminar: Sociological Methods
    Designed primarily for first-year graduate students. Review of major sociological methods.
  • GRS SO 708: Contemporary Sociological Theory
    Covers the basic elements of the major theoretical paradigms in modern sociology, covering topics and problems in the philosophy of social science and current controversies in the field.
  • GRS SO 712: Qualitative Methods
    Introduces qualitative methods in sociology, highlighting ethnography and interviews. Strengthens students' evaluation skills, enhances understanding of the logic of qualitative design, and allows students to employ qualitative methods and develop a research proposal.
  • GRS SO 716: Macro Organization Theory
    Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing.
    Organization theory aims to explain the origins, persistence, and disappearance of organizations. This seminar introduces the major theoretical approaches and debates in organizational theory. Besides providing a roadmap to the field, it also aims to help generate original research ideas.
  • GRS SO 721: Seminar on Social Networks
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: GRS SO 702; or equivalent graduate research methods course; or consent of instructor.
    Explores the theoretical justifications for the study of social networks using classical and contemporary formulations as well as empirical research. Also covers mainstream methods and computer applications for the visual and quantitative analysis of social networks.
  • GRS SO 724: Quantitative Methods in Sociological Analysis
    Introduction to a wide range of standard statistical techniques typically used in the sociological analysis of large-N data. Covers quantitative approaches to sociological research, basic univariate and bivariate analysis, multiple regression, and binary logistic regression.
  • GRS SO 742: Urban Inequality
    Presents key theoretical approaches to the study of the city and uses them to investigate features of urban inequality; examines how space is produced and utilized to marginalize at the bottom and seclude at the top of the social structure.
  • GRS SO 765: The Sociology of Religion
    Explores the relationship between religion and society, considering religious language, symbols, communities and practices as social phenomena and the social processes at work in congregations and denominations, new religious movements and conversion, religious communal identity and ethnic conflict.
  • GRS SO 770: Topics in Sociology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: For Advanced Methods in Social Networks - Students should have taken a course in the fundamentals of social networks.
    Topics seminar that takes in-depth look at a social issue. May be repeated for credit as topics change. Two topics are offered Fall 2021. Section A1: Meritocracy. This course critically evaluates the concept of "meritocracy," its origins and contemporary adoption as an ideal worth striving for. What would a true meritocracy look like, what are its societal implications and what social processes may stand in its way? Section B2: Advanced Methods in Social Networks. Course covers applications of common advanced methodologies in the analysis of social networks like blockmodeling, ERGM, topic modeling and HLM for ego networks. Focus will be applications of methodologies analyzing small and medium size network data. Topic for Spring 2022, Section A1: The Craft of Theorizing Research. Research projects are like gems that need polishing and the craft of polishing them to uncover a theoretical contribution can partly be learned. This intensive course is designed to help participants polish their gems-in- the- making and sharpen their emerging contributions. The seminar is primarily designed for doctoral students who have already collected and/or analyzed data. The common denominator for participants is that they be engaged in research projects reliant on qualitative or quantitative data (e.g., archives, interviews, field observations, and surveys) and be willing to share with the class a draft analytical memo, paper, or chapter from their research.
  • GRS SO 800: Student Editorial Interns Practicum
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: currently enrolled in Sociology graduate program.
    Students get familiarized with day-to-day practices of running an academic journal, including the overall workflow, including initial evaluation of submitted manuscripts, selecting and inviting reviews, evaluating reviews and editorial decision-making. Also assist in other tasks, such as post-publication promotion of articles through social media, organizing virtual discussion forums and connecting authors to classroom instructors.
  • GRS SO 803: Seminar: Gender Stratification
    Considers how the social production of gender contributes to various forms of gendered inequalities in employment, the family, dating markets, media representation, etc., with a special emphasis on how race, class, sexuality, and disability mediate the process.
  • GRS SO 804: Seminar: The Family
    Explores the rise of "modern" families and the plurality of contemporary family forms and processes including gay and lesbian families and new reproductive technologies. Particular attention to social and economic inequalities and their implications for family life. Also offered as GRS AA 804.
  • GRS SO 808: Seminar: Ethnic, Race, and Minority Relations
    Formation and position of ethnic minorities in the United States, including cross-group comparisons from England, Africa, and other parts of the world. Readings and field experience.
  • GRS SO 818: Medical Sociology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)
    Sociological factors in physical and mental illness as they operate in the community, hospitals, and interpersonal relations. Current research on selected topics in medical sociology; contributions to sociological theory and their practical application. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • GRS SO 820: Graduate Study in Women and Social Change in the Developing World
    Studies women in nonindustrial countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Stresses empirical research, theory, and methodology. Comparisons among regions and with industrial countries important. Focus on sex segregation, female labor force participation, migration, fertility, family roles, and women and political power.
  • GRS SO 834: Seminar: Mental Illness
    Sociology and social psychology in study of incidence and prevalence of mental illness, organization of treatment institutions, doctor-patient relationships, and community psychiatry.
  • GRS SO 837: Seminar: Sociology of Culture
    Sociology of culture in the twenty-first century. Focuses on the connection between the mind and culture. Examines the interdependence between culture, society, and individuals, and how belief, faith, knowledge, symbol, ritual, and the like both produce and are products of social organization.
  • GRS SO 838: Seminar on International Migration
    Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing.
    The course will explore key themes in international migration. It will emphasize connections between current topics in immigration, and sociological theories that explain immigrant pathways, mobilities, and outcomes. Students will engage in analytical memo-writing that make these links, and write a final term paper. Throughout, the course will emphasize how the intersection of inequalities--of legal status, gender, race and class--shape immigration processes. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • GRS SO 839: Seminar: State Building and Failure in the Developing World
    Considers the political significance of failed and fragile states in the developing world in the post-9/11 era. Students analyze historical patterns of state formation and its relevance in contemporary society.