Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

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  • CAS SO 208: Sociological Approaches to Current Issues
    Topic for Spring 2019: Community Sociology. Explores how sociologists understand community and how race, ethnicity, and religion shape the boundaries of community attachment. Readings include empirical studies of what community on the American landscape has looked like since the 1930s.
  • CAS SO 215: Sociology of Health Care
    Social, cultural, and intercultural factors in health and illness. Training and socialization of medical professionals, roots of medical power and authority, organization and operation of health care facilities. U.S. health care system and its main problems. Comparison of health care systems in the U.S. and in other countries. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Ethical Reasoning
  • CAS SO 225: Law and Society
    The development and impact of law as an institution. Analysis of the social and political foundations of law, the legal profession and the legal system in the U.S. context. Examination of law in everyday life and in social change. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • The Individual in Community
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS SO 230: Crime and Justice
    This course examines sociological research on crime, the social context of violence, and criminal justice policy in the United States. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS SO 240: Sexuality and Social Life
    Introduction to sociological perspectives on sexuality. Historical and comparative analysis of sexuality, with a focus on the social and cultural institutions that shape sexuality in the contemporary U.S. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS SO 241: Sociology of Gender
    An introduction to the social construction of sex and gender with a focus on the economic, political, social, and cultural forces that shape gender relations. Examines gender as a social structure that patterns institutional inequalities and everyday interactions on society. Carries social sciences divisional credit in CAS. Also offered as CAS WS 241. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • The Individual in Community
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS SO 242: Globalization and World Poverty
    (Meets with CAS IR 242.) Globalization and world poverty; how and why over 80% of the world remains poor and inequality increases despite economic modernization and democratization. Addresses urbanization, immigration, religion, politics, development politics, foreign aid, women, drugs, environment, food security. Special attention to Latin American, African, and Asian experiences. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Ethical Reasoning
  • CAS SO 244: Urban Sociology
    An analysis of cities and urban phenomena in preindustrial, industrial, and postindustrial societies with an emphasis on European and U.S. urbanization. A comparison of social scientific theories used to explain urban dynamics, processes, and policies. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking, Social Inquiry I.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • The Individual in Community
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS SO 253: Sociology of Popular Culture
    Sociological perspectives on popular culture and mass media, with a focus on the consumption and production of cultural goods; the effects of popular culture on politics and inequalities; and the mutual interdependence of consumer identities and cultural fields. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry I.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • The Individual in Community
  • CAS SO 302: Social Networks
    Examines social networks in the economy, family and community, technology, politics and crime, religious and social movement organizations, and popular culture. Introduces the social network perspective, and its tools of analysis.
  • CAS SO 303: Substantive Themes in Sociological Theory
    Critique and application of major sociological theories to key themes and topics. Connections between classical and modern arguments, syntheses of alternative perspectives, and gaps between various perspectives. Themes include the maintenance of social order, power and authority, conflict and change, and sources of alienation. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, The Individual in Community.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • The Individual in Community
  • CAS SO 306: Boston's People and Neighborhoods
    A comparison between nineteenth- and twentieth-century neighborhoods, connecting changes in everyday life to larger demographic, economic, physical, and political changes affecting the whole city and immediate suburbs. Includes tours of several Boston neighborhoods and archival research using neighborhood newspapers. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • The Individual in Community
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS SO 313: Economic Sociology
    Presents the sociological approach to the study of production, distribution, consumption and markets, emphasizing the impact of norms, power, social structure, and institutions on the economy. Compares classic and contemporary approaches to the economy by the social science disciplines. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS SO 314: Social Problems and Social Change
    Focuses on social problems such as ethnic and sexual discrimination, deviance and crime, and mental disorders. A theoretical approach is taken to identify and interpret changes generated by the contradictions of industrialization and modernization.
  • CAS SO 315: The Social Nature of Technology
    Theoretical foundations of sociology of technology from antiquity through the modern age. Explores the paradox of technology as being socially constructed, but treated as similar to nature.
  • CAS SO 317: Gender and Crime
    Examines social forces shaping gender discrepancies in crime. Using a feminist lens, students explore how cultural ideologies about masculinity and femininity shape criminalization, victimization, and offending. Topics include the gendered contexts of crime and punishment, gender-based violence, and intimate labor.
  • CAS SO 318: Sociology of Childhood and Youth
    Uses in-depth studies centered on children and youth to examine the socially stratified and fragmented experiences of young people historically and contemporarily. This course focuses on the social construction of youth and the cultural and institutional forces that shape the social experiences of youth and our knowledge of them. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS SO 320: Political Sociology
    This course traces the sociology of politics from ancient times to modern era. Analyzes U.S. & global political shifts. Topics include: political cultures, constitutions and laws; political authority; political parties; revolutions and war; mass media, and politics of violence. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS SO 323: Markets in Biomedicine and Healthcare
    Complex ways in which market exchange impacts the practice of medicine, the delivery of patient care, and the medical profession; commodification of bodies and emotions; theoretical discussion of the market and overview of US health care system Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS SO 334: Sociology of Mental Illness
    An evaluation of current theories and research on the social sources and consequences of mental illness. Featured topics for discussion include social-psychological perspectives on the definition, diagnosis, etiology, and treatment of mental disorders.

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