Courses

• GRS RN 771: Topics in Ancient Christianity
  Topic(s) for 2011/2012: TBA.
• GRS RN 795: Humanities Approaches to Religion
  Introduces major theoretical questions in the humanistic study of religion. Examines the nature and origin of religion as well as definitions and critiques of religion from comparative, historical, sociological, literary standpoints as well as postmodern and gender studies approaches.
• GRS RN 796: Social Science Approaches to Religion
  Introduces major theoretical questions in the social scientific study of religion. Examines approaches of Marx, Durkheim, and Freud among others.
• GRS RN 799: Topics in Judaic Studies
  Topic for Spring 2011: The Zionist Idea. Zionist ideology carefully examined through the ideas of the main Zionist thinkers, and of the critiques of Zionism. Begins with the mid?late nineteenth century and continues through to contemporary formulations.
• GRS SO 699: Teaching College Sociology I
  The goals, contents, and methods of instruction in sociology. General teaching-learning issues. Required of all teaching fellows.
• 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 sociological theory and theorists.
• GRS SO 702: Proseminar: Sociological Methods
  Designed primarily for first-year graduate students. Review of major sociological methods. Required for master's degree in sociology.
• 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 709: Theory and Practice of Field Research
  Procedures of sociological field inquiry based on field observation, participant observation, and ethnography. Principles and philosophical foundations of field research. Students conduct research under supervision.
• GRS SO 720: Development and Underdevelopment
  Focuses on the causes and consequences of social, economic, and political developments in semi-industrialized countries contrasted with developments in countries that industrialized first. Emphasis on general issues of development and specific case studies.
• GRS SO 765: The Sociology of Religion
  
• GRS SO 803: Seminar: Gender Stratification
  This course will allow students to further their understanding of the persistence of inequality between women and men in the workforce. What has changed and what has remained the same? We will examine the nature and causes of inequality in post/industrial societies, especially in the United sttes. Students will have the opportunity to engage in independent scholarship in the seminar, exploring their own questions about gender and work in greater depth.
• GRS SO 804: Semionar: Sociology of the Family
  This course explores contemporary economic and cultural global processes, and their implications for family life. We wil begin with a critical exploration of the globalization concept, and then move on to a series of case-studies of family life today, within the U.S. as well as other parts of the world. Among the specific topics and themes covered are: immigrant families, transitional family networks, the emergence of adolescence as a life stage in developing countries, and the effects of the new postindustrial economy on families in the U.S.
• 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 810: Formal Organization
  Studies of bureaucratic structure and process, basis of organizational change, formation and replacement of work rules, consensus and communication, and relations between authority and norms supported by nonformal social relationships. Emphasis on industry, government, hospitals, schools, and prisons.
• GRS SO 811: Seminar: Sociology of the Nonprofit Sector
  Introduction to sociological research on that part of society known as the nonprofit sector, including nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, voluntary associations, and social movements. Focus on some of the literature’s major themes: civil society, social capital, and nongovernmental organizations.
• GRS SO 812: Seminar: Religion and Social Identity
  This seminar will explore a variety of theoretical perspectives on the social formation of modern persons, asking how those insights inform an understanding of individual and collective religious identity. Students will also participate in field research foxused on the intersection of religious and social identities.
• GRS SO 815: Seminar: Sociology of Law
  Criminal law as a form of social control. The effect of social processes and social systems on the legal definition of crimes and the administration of criminal justice.
• GRS SO 817: Seminar: Community Sociology
  The study of communities in different settings; their organization and contribution to building a social and moral order in urban areas. The historical development of communities and the way persons adapt to urban life through communities are also considered.
• GRS SO 818: Medical Sociology
  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.

Back to full list of Graduate School of Arts & Sciences