Courses

• CAS SO 436: S:Strat&Soc Chg
  
• CAS SO 437: Seminar: Sociology of Culture
  Examines the mutual interdependence between social structure and culture, focusing on the ways in which belief, faith, knowledge, symbol, ritual, and the like both produce and are products of social organization.
• CAS SO 438: Seminar on International Migration
  Explores the social dynamics of contemporary international migration, ranging from the development of transnational migrant communities to the impact of state policies that strive to regulate migrant labor flows.
• CAS SO 440: Seminar: Political Sociology
  Explores the "deep cultural" level behind the daily conduct of politics. A theoretical framework relying upon Tocqueville and Weber is developed and then applied to unveil the political cultures of the United States, Germany, England, Russia, and Mexico.
• CAS SO 444: Seminar: Sociology of Education
  Explores how learning is executed in different settings and persons are selected to fit in various parts of our culture and how the institution of education contributes to social stability and change. Contemporary educational reforms are reviewed and their effects are analyzed.
• CAS SO 448: Culture, Markets, and Inequality
  This seminar examines commerce as a cultural process, focusing on cultural production and consumption practices in fields like fashion, music, and bodily goods and services. Traces the cultural construction and maintenance of gender, race, and class inequalities in markets.
• CAS SO 457: Seminar: Sociology of Mind
  Illustrates the various sociological approaches to "mental" phenomena and elucidates some recent developments in cognitive sociology.
• CAS SO 462: Seminar: Great Theorists
  Examines works of major classical theorists and addresses issues in sociological theory generally. The theorists' confrontation with modern capitalism and modernity in general is explored, as are their postures with respect to reform and revolution. Focus on Durkheim and Weber.
• CAS SO 491: Directed Study
  Individual instruction and supervised study project in sociology for concentrators and nonconcentrators.
• CAS SO 492: Directed Study
  Individual instruction and supervised study project in sociology for concentrators and nonconcentrators.
• CAS SO 521: Seminar: Epidemiology
  Theoretical and empirical, cross-national examination of the social determinants (e.g., community, race, class, gender, ethnicity) of population health, and of the challenges posed to human capacity and hope by the biological facts of disease and the social processes of illness, including health care, policy, and research.
• CAS SO 534: Seminar: Modernity and Social Change
  Evaluation of globalization. Themes include historical bases of globalization in colonialism and imperialism; increasing global interconnectedness; work pattern shifts; power of transnational and financial institutions; social movements against globalization; possible replacement of globalization with the "new imperialism."
• CAS SO 541: Modernity Seminar I
  This seminar looks at the phenomenon of modernity from a multidisciplinary point of view. Discussed are the cultural foundations of modernity, specifically and primarily nationalism but also Romanticism, science, and major political ideologies. Also analyzed are modernization and development as studied by the social sciences, modernism, and postmodernism in literary and cultural studies; and the nature of man and society in the perspectives of modern philosophy. Also offered as CAS AN 541. Either or both of SO 541 and SO 543 may be taken for credit.
• CAS SO 543: Modernity Seminar II
  This seminar looks at the phenomenon of modernity from a multidisciplinary point of view. Discussed are the cultural foundations of modernity, specifically and primarily nationalism but also Romanticism, science, and major political ideologies. Also analyzed are modernization and development as studied by the social sciences, modernism, and postmodernism in literary and cultural studies; and the nature of man and society in the perspectives of modern philosophy. Also offered as CAS AN 543. Either or both of SO 541 and SO 543 may be taken for credit.
• CAS WR 097: English Grammar and Composition (ESL only)
  Study of conventions of academic writing along with review of grammar and mechanics. Emphasis on comprehension, summary, and critical analysis of a wide range of readings. Focus on accuracy and fluency in writing and speaking. Frequent papers and in-class writing.
• CAS WR 098: Introduction to College Reading and Writing in English (ESL only)
  Emphasis on critical reading and analytical writing. Review of grammar and mechanics in context. Intensive practice in the patterns of academic argumentation. Various theme-based readings. Multiple writing assignments of increasing complexity. Refinement of speaking skills through discussions and oral presentations.
• CAS WR 100: Writing Seminar
  Topic-based seminar in academic reading and writing. Attention to reading and analyzing primary and secondary sources, argumentation, prose style, revision, and citation. Significant writing and individual conferences.
• CAS WR 150: Writing and Research Seminar
  Topic-based seminar in academic reading, writing, and research. Continuing attention to argumentation, prose style, revision, and citation, with additional emphasis on college-level research. Significant writing and individual conferences.
• CAS WR 202: Children?s Literature in the Elementary School
  An introduction to the world of children?s literature. Classics and exemplary modern works are studied, with a particular focus on literary techniques, nonfiction text structures, cultural diversity, and gender. Covers children?s literature recommended by Massachusetts English Language Arts Framework (2001).
• CAS WS 101: Gender and Sexuality I: An Interdisciplinary Introduction
  Introduction to women's, gender, and sexuality studies, integrating approaches from the natural and social sciences and humanities, focused on the origins, diversity, and expression of gendered and sexed individuals. Topics include the evolutionary origin of sexes; evolution, development, and social construction of sex differences; sexual differences, similarities, and diversity in bodies, brains, behavior, and artistic and intellectual expressions. Team-taught. Students who complete both halves of the two-semester sequence WS 101/102 receive divisional studies credit for two courses, from two different divisions: Natural Science (without lab), Social Science, and/or Humanities. Neither WS 101 nor WS 102 alone carries divisional studies credit.

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