Department of Sociology

SOCI 30002. Principles of Sociological Research. 100 Units.

Explores how theoretical questions and different types of evidence inform decisions about methodological approach and research design. This course is required for first year Sociology PhD students.

Instructor(s): R. Vargas     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Open only to 1st year Sociology PhD students

SOCI 30003. History of Social Theory. 100 Units.

This course is an introduction to sociological theory. It will cover major theoretical writers from the classical and recent canons.

Instructor(s): J. Martin     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Open only to 1st and 2nd year Sociology Phd students

SOCI 30004. Introduction to Statistical Methods and Models. 100 Units.

This course has two purposes. First, using nationally representative US surveys, we'll examine the early emergence of educational inequality and its evolution during adolescence and adulthood. We'll ask about the importance of social origins (parent social status, race/ethnicity, gender, and language) in predicting labor market outcomes. We'll study the role that education and plays in shaping economic opportunity, beginning in early childhood. We'll ask at what points interventions might effectively advance learning and reduce inequality. Second, we'll gain mastery over some important statistical methods required for answering these and related questions. Indeed, this course provides an introduction to quantitative methods and a foundation for other methods courses in the social sciences. We consider standard topics: graphical and tabular displays of univariate and bivariate distributions, an introduction to statistical inference, and commonly arising applications such as the t‐test, the two‐way contingency table, analysis of variance, and regression. However, all statistical ideas and methods are embedded in case studies including a national survey of adult labor force outcomes, a national survey of elementary school children, and a national survey that follows adolescents through secondary school into early adulthood. Thus, the course will consider all statistical choices and inferences in the context of the broader logic of inquiry with the aim of strengthening our understanding of that logic as well as of the statistical methods.

Instructor(s): S. Raudenbush     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Priority registration for Ugrad Sociology majors and Sociology PhD students. No prior instruction in statistical analysis is required. Others by consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20004

SOCI 30005. Regression and Generalized Linear Models. 100 Units.

Social scientists regularly ask questions that can be answered with quantitative data from a population-based sample. For example, how much more income do college graduates earn compared to those who do not attend college? Do men and women with similar levels of training and who work in similar jobs earn different incomes? Why do children who grow up in different family or neighborhood environments perform differently in school? To what extent do individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds hold different types of political attitudes and engage in different types of political behavior? This course explores statistical methods that can be used to answer these and many other questions of interest to social scientists. The main objectives are to provide students with a firm understanding of linear regression and generalized linear models and with the technical skills to implement these methods in practice.

Instructor(s): G. Wodtke     Terms Offered: Winter. Priority registration for Sociology Majors and Sociology 1st and 2nd year PhD Students
Prerequisite(s): SOCI 30004 or equivalent to an introductory Stats Class
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20009

SOCI 30006. Second-Year Writing Seminar. 100 Units.

Doctoral students in Sociology are required to take this seminar in their second year as they develop their Qualifying Paper (a full draft, at minimum, must be turned in to the department by June 11). In addition to providing a framework for these individual writing projects, the seminar will address norms of professional publishing, including professional peer review, as well as strategies for argumentation and analysis.

Instructor(s): L. Zhao     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Sociology PhD students only

SOCI 30008. Third-Year Dissertation Proposal Seminar. 100 Units.

This course is required for all Sociology PhD students. Most students take this course in their 3rd year, though it may be possible to take the course in year 4. The course intensively involves workshops dissertation projects, and students are expected to produce a defensible proposal by the end.

Instructor(s): K. Schilt     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Restricted to Sociology third year PhD students only; all others with consent of instructor.

SOCI 30112. Applications of Hierarchical Linear Models. 100 Units.

A number of diverse methodological problems such as correlates of change, analysis of multi-level data, and certain aspects of meta-analysis share a common feature--a hierarchical structure. The hierarchical linear model offers a promising approach to analyzing data in these situations. This course will survey the methodological literature in this area, and demonstrate how the hierarchical linear model can be applied to a range of problems.

Instructor(s): S. Raudenbush     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Applied statistics at a level of multiple regression
Equivalent Course(s): PPHA 44650, EDSO 30112, SOCI 20112

SOCI 30125. Rational Foundations of Social Theory. 100 Units.

This course introduces conceptual and analytical tools for the micro foundations of macro and intermediate-level social theories, taking as a basis the assumption of rational action. Those tools are then used to construct theories of power, social exchange, collective behavior, socialization, trust, norm, social decision making and justice, business organization, and family organization.

Instructor(s): K. Yamaguchi     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20125

SOCI 30233. Race in Contemporary American Society. 100 Units.

This survey course in the sociology of race offers a socio-historical investigation of race in American society. We will examine issues of race, ethnic and immigrant settlement in the United States. Also, we shall explore the classic and contemporary literature on race and inter-group dynamics. Our investigative tools will include an analysis of primary and secondary sources, multimedia materials, photographic images, and journaling. While our survey will be broad, we will treat Chicago and its environs as a case study to comprehend the racial, ethnic, and political challenges in the growth and development of a city.

Instructor(s): S. Hicks-Bartlett     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring. Autumn quarter offered at the Undergraduate level only and Spring quarter offered at the Graduate level only
Equivalent Course(s): RDIN 20233, SOCI 20233, MAPS 30233, RDIN 30233

SOCI 30258. Maverick Markets: Cultural Economy and Cultural Finance. 100 Units.

What are the cultural dimensions of economic and financial institutions and financial action? What social variables influence and shape 'real' markets and market activities? 'If you are so smart, why aren't you rich?' is a question economists have been asked in the past. Why isn't it easy to make money in financial areas even if one knows what economists know about markets, finance and the economy? And why, on the hand, is it so easy to get rich for some participants? Perhaps the answer is the real markets are complex social and cultural institutions which are quite different form organizations, administrations and the production side of the economy. The course provides an overview over social and cultural variables and patterns that play a role in economic behavior and specifically in financial markets. The readings examine the historical and structural embeddedness of economic action and institutions, the different constructions and interpretations of money, prices, and other dimensions of a market economy, and how a financial economy affects organizations, the art and other areas.

Instructor(s): K. Knorr     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20258, ANTH 25440, ANTH 35405

SOCI 30324. Muslims in the United States. 100 Units.

Muslim migration to the United States and Western Europe proliferated in the last quarter of the 20th Century, and Islam has been a visible (and controversial) presence in these societies ever since. Though internally varied by race, ethnicity, national origins, sect and class positionality, Muslim communities have faced homogenizing narratives rooted in orientalist frameworks. As Islam continues to be a site of conflict in geopolitical struggles, these frameworks have reproduced themselves into the twenty-first century. This course will use an intersectional and critical lens to examine the issues facing Muslims in the United States and Western Europe on both macro and micro levels. One third of the course will cover the interactions between Muslim communities and their "host societies" vis-à-vis the state, mass media, and public opinion. Another third of the course will delve into issues of socioeconomic mobility and cultural assimilation, Finally, the last third will show how these macro concepts influence the everyday lived experiences of Muslims in these contexts. This is a seminar-style, reading-heavy course. Students should be familiar with and capable of deploying the sociological concepts of race, class, gender and intersectionality.

Instructor(s): E. Abdelhadi     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Undergrads should have 3rd or 4th year standing.
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 38990, CHDV 28999, ISLM 38990, GNSE 28990, CHDV 38990

SOCI 30574. How to Think Sociologically. 100 Units.

To paraphrase Georg Simmel, sociology isn't just a great pot into which a bunch of topics related to society are dumped. It represents a particular perspective on the world, one that is very different from common-sense and commonly available perspectives rooted in, say, economics, biology, physics, or psychology. Sociologists tend to explain the world using words like social structure, culture, agency, and process rather than self-interest, genetics, evolution, natural laws, or neural wiring. A sociological perspective can be very powerful, casting a new and clarifying light on important social issues and problems, from racial segregation in the United States to democratic backsliding globally (and in the United States). The aim of the course is to get students to think sociologically and deepen their sociological imaginations. To this end, we'll discuss a set of societally important (and not at all controversial) topics, including epistemology, identity, inequality, race, sexuality, social class, orientalism, and political division. As the course will demonstrate, a sociological approach can help illuminate these topics and shed new light on how to approach them. While the readings will include dense social theory, every effort will be made to make the ideas at stake accessible to a non-specialized audience.

Instructor(s): M. Garrido     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20574, HIPS 20574, CHSS 30574

SOCI 30576. Social Theory for the Digital Age. 100 Units.

Society rearranges itself, though we don't always know where it is heading. When the postmodern moment had arrived in the 1980s it perplexed social theorists, hence its characterization as simply a "post"-stage of modernity. Digitization is one answer to the question of direction of change in the last decades. In this class, we take the ongoing transformations that we attribute to digital media as a starting point to ask what challenges they provide to social theory that may force us to reconsider some of our most basic concepts and premises. We will understand the term digital age broadly to refer to the rise of algorithms, sensors, (big) data, machine learning, and computational methods, all developments that swirl in and around the Artificial Intelligence scene and intersect with and replace purely human relations. The class gives particular attention to concepts such as action and interaction, embodiment, social situations, subjectivity and autonomy, as wells as society as communication.

Instructor(s): K. Knorr     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CHSS 30576, HIPS 20576, ANTH 20576, SOCI 20576, ANTH 30576

SOCI 30591. Introduction to Critical Social Theory. 100 Units.

This course introduces graduate and advanced undergraduate students to a tradition of social thought and research called "Critical Social Theory." As opposed to Traditional Social Theory, Critical Social Theory questions inherited theoretical frameworks and conceptual formations in an attempt to reconstruct social theory and harness it for its liberatory potential. It offers alternative theories and concepts to inform social research that exposes and questions rather than assumes existing social institutions, inequalities and power relations. Examples of readings are works by the Frankfurt School, Marxist theorists of hegemony (e.g. Antonio Gramsci, Stuart Hall), theorists of power and agency (Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu), Feminist Standpoint Epistemology/Theory, Black Marxism, Black Feminist Thought, Queer Theory, and Decolonial/Postcolonial Theory - among other possible schools of theorizing. Rather than a detailed examination of any one of these schools of theorizing, the course offers a broad overview, locating shared and contrasting themes and lines of argumentation.

Instructor(s): J. Go     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Priority registration to junior and senior undergraduates
Equivalent Course(s): CCCT 30591, SOCI 20591, CCCT 20591

SOCI 30606. New Topics in Asian American Studies. 100 Units.

This course offers an introduction to new critical works of Asian American studies covering critical themes in an interdisciplinary fields including research from anthropology, cultural studies, gender and women studies, history, political science, psychology and sociology. This course will focus on new works published in recent years that showcase recent theoretical innovations and literary styles that will sharpen our analysis of both Asian and Asian American experiences in the United States and globally. We will cover topics as they relate to migration, war and empire, violence, race/class/gender/sexuality, and immigration integration in educational institutions and the labor market.

Instructor(s): K. Hoang     Terms Offered: Autumn. Cancelled - Not offered in 2026/27
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20606, RDIN 20606

SOCI 30624. The Global Movement of Wealth. 100 Units.

This course introduces the study of contemporary global wealth movements, drawing insights from economics, sociology, geography, and public policy. We will explore the evolving architecture and geography of financialization, examining global capital flows at three levels: macro-economic trends, institutional structures, and individual actors driving capital accumulation. Key topics include China's economic rise, the growth of sovereign wealth funds, and the expansion of offshore financial centers that facilitate and obscure the global circulation of wealth. Special attention will be given to the ethical and social implications of these financial systems, particularly their role in exacerbating global inequality. By the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of how financialization shapes the global economy and its impact on everyday life.

Instructor(s): K. Hoang     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20624

SOCI 30632. Sociology of Immigration. 100 Units.

This course is structured as a research seminar. We will explore major topics in immigration studies, including the causes of migration, immigrant assimilation, transnationalism, the intersection of immigration and race, immigration policies, public opinion towards immigration, and illegality. We will also devote some time to immigrant-receiving contexts outside of the U.S. especially Western Europe. The purpose of the class is to encourage students to develop their own immigration research projects. We will pay special attention to research design and methodological issues. We will engage with research that uses multiple methodologies and theoretical perspectives.

Instructor(s): R. Flores     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20632

SOCI 30646. Al and the Future of Culture. 100 Units.

What happens to culture when artificial intelligence becomes part of how we create it, experience it, and pass it on? This seminar explores how AI is reshaping fundamental aspects of cultural life in ways we are only beginning to understand. We examine AI not just as a tool for making things faster or cheaper, but as something increasingly woven into the fabric of culture itself: algorithms that shape what art and music we encounter, chatbots that become romantic companions, NPCs in games that feel increasingly lifelike, and generative systems that flood the internet with content of wildly varying quality. Through close examination of specific cases and theoretical engagement with cultural sociology, we ask how these changes might alter what gets created, what gets valued, how people learn to be cultural beings, and whether culture becomes richer or poorer as a result.

Instructor(s): B. Koch     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20646

SOCI 30654. Public Records and FOIA Request Methods. 100 Units.

This course provides a comprehensive exploration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and state-level public records laws as a data collection method for social science and investigative journalism. Students will progress from the foundational "why" of transparency to the technical "how" of securing high-value government data, examining the legal frameworks, timelines, and exemptions that govern public access. The course will explain how to integrate formal social scientific research designs using public record request methods, teaching students how to use FOIA for both deductive hypothesis testing and inductive exploratory analysis. Through a series of practical workshops and case studies, participants will master the art of drafting precise requests, managing large-scale file organization, and navigating agency resistance such as fee hurdles and stalling tactics. By the end of the term, students will be equipped to critically evaluate data quality, code complex documents, and execute strategic FOIA campaigns in the public interest.

Instructor(s): R. Vargas and C. Castle      Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20654

SOCI 30655. Religion and Inequality in America. 100 Units.

How does religion reflect, reproduce, and occasional disrupt structures of inequality? Since the earliest days of American social science, researchers have understood that religious groups are highly stratified by race, class, gender, ethnicity, and other factors. We will examine the causes and consequences of these inequalities, both historically and in the contemporary world, by reading key texts and by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data on American religious groups.

Instructor(s): T. Huttenlocher     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): RDIN 20655, AASR 30655, RDIN 30655, RLST 27233, SOCI 20655

SOCI 30658. Collective Action and Social Change. 100 Units.

What makes collective action possible, and what determines its success or failure? This course examines how individuals and groups address common problems, pursue shared interests, and seek change within and across social, political, economic, and environmental domains. Through engagement with foundational theories and contemporary research on collective action and social movements, the course explores why collective action emerges, how it is organized and sustained, and the conditions that permit or prohibit success. The course is anchored by questions of power, inequality, culture and identity, political opportunity, the challenges of coordinating action in complex societies, as well as the consequences of coordinated efforts. Students will gain an understanding of collective action as a social process while developing an analytical skillset to critically examine collective efforts to maintain, contest, or transform social systems.

Instructor(s): B. Priem     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 30658, SOCI 20658, CEGU 20658

SOCI 30659. Qualitative Methods for Social Science Research. 100 Units.

This course introduces qualitative research methods used in environmental social science to examine the relationships between society, governance, culture, and socio-environmental change. Students will develop practical skills in a variety of qualitative approaches, including but not limited to ethnography and observational analysis, digital ethnography, interviewing, policy and document analysis, and systematic literature reviews. Each methodological focus emphasizes the strengths and limitations of the approach, as well as ethics, research design, data collection, interpretation, and the application of qualitative inquiry to questions related to environmental governance, climate adaptation, sustainability, and socio-ecological systems. Reflexive examination of researcher positionality and its implications for data collection, interpretation, and knowledge production is incorporated throughout the course. Through readings, case studies, and applied research exercises, students will learn how qualitative methods can generate insights into key questions in environmental social science.

Instructor(s): Betsy Priem      Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 36301, ANTH 26302, SOCI 20659, CEGU 26301

SOCI 40150. Global Ethnography. 100 Units.

This seminar explores how ethnography extends from local contexts to global structures, processes, and questions. Students will read ethnographies situated in single sites, comparative studies across countries, and multi-sited works that follow global connections. Through a practicum format, students gain first-hand experience in theoretically grounded and critically reflexive ethnographic methods. After examining exemplary studies, they will design and conduct their own local ethnographic project. The course addresses key issues in the epistemology, ethics, and politics of participant observation and introduces diverse analytical traditions, including grounded theory, abductive analysis, phenomenology, and processual sociology.

Instructor(s): K. Hoang     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates with consent of instructor ONLY or you will be dropped from the course

SOCI 40164. Involved Interviewing: Strategies for Interviewing Hard to Penetrate Communities and Populations. 100 Units.

Imagine that you must interview someone who hails from a background unlike your own; perhaps you need to interview an incarcerated youth, or gather a life history from an ill person. Maybe your task is to conduct fieldwork inside a community that challenges your comfort level. How do we get others to talk to us? How do we get out of our own way and limited training to become fully and comfortably engaged in people and the communities in which they reside?  This in-depth investigation into interviewing begins with an assumption that the researcher as interviewer is an integral part of the research process. We turn a critical eye on the interviewer's role in getting others to talk and learn strategies that encourage fertile interviews regardless of the situational context. Weekly reading assignments facilitate students' exploration of what the interview literature can teach us about involved interviewing. Additionally, we critically assess our role as interviewer and what that requires from us. Students participate in evaluating interview scenarios that are designed to explore our assumptions, sharpen our interviewing skills and troubleshoot sticky situations. We investigate a diversity of settings and populations as training ground for leading effective interviews. The final project includes: 1) a plan that demonstrates knowledge of how to design an effective interviewing strategy for unique field settings; 2) instructor's feedback on students' interview journals.

Instructor(s): S. Hicks-Bartlett     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): MAPS 40164, SOCI 20547

SOCI 40177. Coding & Analyzing Qualitative Data using MAXQDA. 100 Units.

This focus of this course is on coding and analyzing qualitative data (e.g., interview transcripts, oral histories, focus groups, letters, and diaries, etc). In this hands-on-course students learn how to organize and manage text-based data in preparation for analysis and final report writing of small scale research projects. Students use their own laptop computers to access one of two free, open-source software programs available for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. While students with extant interview data can use it for this course, those without existing data will be provided text to code and analyze. This course does not cover commercial CAQDAS, such as AtlasTi, NVivo, The Ethnograph or Hypertext.

Instructor(s): S. Hicks-Bartlett     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring. Autumn:Restricted to 4th and 3rd year Sociology Majors only and MAPS students only ONLY. Spring: Offered at the graduate level only
Equivalent Course(s): MAPS 40177, SOCI 20548

SOCI 40242. Parametric and Semi-parametric Methods of Categorical Data Anaysis. 100 Units.

This course introduces various regression and related methods and models for the analysis of categorical data with an emphasis on their applications to social‑science research. The course covers various regression models with a categorical dependent variable, including (1) logistic regression, (2) probit regression, (3) multinomial logit regression, (4) ordered logit regression, (5) nested logit regression, (6) bivariate probit regression, and (7) regression models with a latent-class dependent variable. In addition, the course also tries to cover (8) the use of a categorical regression model for the estimation of propensity scores in causal analysis, (9) the use of propensity scores in the statistical decomposition analysis of a categorical outcome variable, and (10) the use of propensity scores in segregation analysis with covariates. The course also provides students with examples of various substantive social‑science applications of the categorical data analysis. The course employs STATA for models without using latent-class variable and employs LEM for models with a latent-class variable. LEM is made available free of charge to students. The course requires as a prerequisite only an introductory-level knowledge of regression analysis. No prior knowledge in the use of STATA and LEM is required.

Instructor(s): K. Yamaguchi     Terms Offered: Spring

SOCI 40258. Causal Mediation Analysis. 100 Units.

Causal mediation analysis lies at the very heart of social science. It seeks to uncover not just whether but al so why an exposure affects an outcome by quantifying the processes and mechanisms through which a causal effect operates. That is, it aims to identify causal chains that connect an exposure to an outcome via intermediate variables known as mediators. This class will cover methods for analyzing causal mediation with an emphasis on social science applications. It will use precise notation (potential outcomes) and accessible conceptual diagrams (directed acyclic graphs) to lead students from basic definitions of effects, via minimally necessary identification assumptions, to cutting-edge estimation procedures. It will provide a guide for analyzing causal mediation using modern techniques, including effect decomposition, adjustment for both pre- and post-exposure confounding, analysis of multiple mediators, and estimation via regression modeling, inverse probability weighting, and machine learning methods. The class will address both theory and conceptual material alongside practical implementation using R or Stata.

Instructor(s): G. Wodtke     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Students interested in taking this class are expected to have a solid background in probability, multivariate statistics, linear models, and the basics of causal inference. Knowledge of linear algebra and calculus will be an asset but is not required.

SOCI 40267. Thinking like a Computational Social Scientist. 100 Units.

The movement of much of our social lives online has created exciting new opportunities for social science research. This course provides a broad survey of computational methods used to make sense of this data. Students will learn how to collect online data and analyze this data using contemporary techniques from natural language processing, supervised/unsupervised machine learning, and generative AI. Students will also cultivate analytical skills through formal paper presentations, oral exams, and an original research project. The course will be taught in Python. This is an intuitive introduction without prerequisites, although previous experience with probability, statistics, and/or programming will be helpful. This course has a shared lecture on Thursdays and a separate graduate and undergraduate sections on Tuesdays(required).

Instructor(s): B. Koch     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 49307, MACS 30267, PSYC 28520, SOCI 20602, PSYC 38520, DATA 20602, MACS 20267

SOCI 40269. The Sociology of Democracy: Democratic Backsliding. 100 Units.

This course brings a sociological approach to bear on a topic of great contemporary importance: democratic backsliding. We will define the phenomenon, situate it in the context of democratization and the project of democratic consolidation, and consider the larger theoretical story at stake (about the need to strengthen certain kinds of institutions). We will then examine several cases of "backsliding," including the United States. The course will be reading-heavy and discussion-intensive, with readings drawn from political science, sociology, and economics.

Instructor(s): M. Garrido     Terms Offered: Winter. Not being offered in 2026/2027

SOCI 50003. Sociology of the State. 100 Units.

Through taxation, regulation, redistribution, and the provision of services, modern states profoundly shape social life and constitute a principal form of political power. This seminar will survey major theories of the state, engaging with both comparative-historical questions (pre-modern state forms, the rise of nation-states, the development of welfare states and economic policy regimes) and contemporary challenges of governance. The course provides an overview of selected current research and an opportunity for those interested in political, historical, or macro-comparative sociology to develop empirical projects with the state as an important dimension of analysis.

Instructor(s): E. Clemens     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CHSS 50003

SOCI 50092. Sem: Religion and Politics. 100 Units.

In this seminar we will consider meanings of religion and politics, and examine their interactions from a comparative perspective. After digesting alternative theoretical understandings of the relationship between religion, states, and political processes, we will turn to empirical accounts that illuminate historical and local issues at points around the globe. Among other phenomena, students will explore patterns of secularization, religious nationalism, fundamentalisms, and policy-oriented religious social movements.

Instructor(s): O. McRoberts     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): AASR 50092, RDIN 50092

SOCI 50112. Sem: Health and Society. 100 Units.

A long and healthy life is a widely sought after human goal. But not everyone has equal chances of achieving this goal. This course focuses on the role played by society in differential access to physical, psychological, cognitive health and well-being. We will discuss the role of parental characteristics and childhood circumstances in later-life health, differences in health and well-being for men and women, for racial and ethnic groups, by characteristics of our neighborhoods and communities, and by regions or countries. Each class meeting we will read and discuss three or four journal articles or sections of a book, with class participants presenting each reading, summarizing it, and then critiquing it. The class will then discuss. We will add to and subtract from the readings to match the interests of participants on each topic; the syllabus will list readings as a starting point for this process.

Instructor(s): L. Waite     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Some Social Science background
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 50112, CHDV 40112

SOCI 50136. Comparative Socialism Studies. 100 Units.

his seminar interrogates "socialism" as both an important analytical category and a diverse set of objects of social inquiry. We will examine the historical experiences of "actually existing socialism" in the Soviet Union, China, East Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa through multiple comparative lenses. We will consider the common challenges besetting socialist projects around the world, varieties of socialism and their shapers, transnational linkages and system-wide dynamics, and pathways of transitions from socialism to capitalism. Theoretical treatises, historical texts and empirical research from such disciplines as sociology, history, political science, anthropology, heterodox economics and literary/cultural studies will be surveyed for these purposes. Throughout the quarter, we will explore how a comparative inquiry of socialism helps us rethink some of the most foundational concepts in the social sciences, such as capitalism, democracy, development, labor, the state and society.

Instructor(s): Y. Zhang     Terms Offered: Winter

SOCI 50139. Historical Research: Epistemology and Praxis. 100 Units.

This seminar introduces students to some of the major epistemological and methodological challenges confronting qualitative historical research in the social sciences. It is divided into two parts. The first half tackles key issues regarding the logic and reasoning of historical research, including causality, contingency, narrativity and the use of comparisons. The second half delves into the practical and minute complexities of historical research methods - particularly archival research and oral histories - and their epistemological roots. This seminar is NOT a substantive introduction to the vast body of work produced under the rubric of comparative historical sociology and historical social sciences, but rather familiarizes students with problems concerning the "logic of historical inquiry" as well as equips students to conduct actual historical research.

Instructor(s): Y. Zhang     Terms Offered: Winter

SOCI 50144. Bad Words: Corruption, Politics, and the Politics of Knowledge. 100 Units.

This course is part-book workshop, part-writing seminar. The first half of class will be spent discussing a chapter of my new book-in-progress, Bad Words. The book deals with the topics of corruption, politics, postcolonial identity, and epistemic struggle mainly in the context of the Philippines (although discussions will undoubtedly resonate with students interested in countries elsewhere across the Global South). In the second half of class, we will look behind the curtain, as it were, and discuss the writing process over the long haul. We might call this part "how to write a book or dissertation." Here we will discuss everything from where to begin to where to publish (and how to deal with getting rejected). The course is intended for PhD students at all stages, especially those in the social sciences.

Instructor(s): M. Garrido     Terms Offered: Autumn

SOCI 50145. Sem: Historicizing the Present: Of Populists, Oligarchs, and Ideologies. 100 Units.

Current events suggest that we are witnessing an epochal shift. It appears as if liberal democracy, pioneered by the United States 250 years ago, is fast approaching its end. This is all the more surprising given that in 1989/91 many believed that liberal democracy had finally triumphed ("the end of history"). This class focuses on the interaction between various institutional domains and how developments in each have interacted to drive historical change over the last half century. Neither the economy, nor politics, neither mass-media, nor religion and technology can on their own explain how we have arrived at the present moment. Looking across all of these domains together, however, begins to present a relatively compelling picture which at the same time will lead us to draw into question standard social scientific accounts of social change. Readings will connect theory and historiography with primary source materials.

Instructor(s): A. Glaeser     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Priority registration/slots for Phd Students. Open to MA students, and undergraduate students REQUIIRE consent of instructor or you will be dropped from the course.
Equivalent Course(s): CCCT 50145

SOCI 50146. Practicum in the Sociology of Gender. 100 Units.

The purpose of this course is to develop and sharpen a critical lens on gender and sexuality in sociological research. The course is only open to sociology PhD students who are undertaking a dissertation project or a significant research project related to gender and sexuality. Students are invited to workshop a dissertation chapter, a dissertation proposal, a special field essay, an article, or a 10-page "concept essay". Each presenter will also assign two readings with which they are in conversation to help situation their work in a broader context. In each class session, a student will take a turn presenting on their research, leading the class in a discussion of their outside readings, and workshopping their submitted writing. The goals of the course are to a) aid students in developing greater familiarity with talking about their research in public; b) gaining a deeper understanding of the theoretical concepts that undergird the sociology of gender literature; c) receiving and addressing diverse feedback on written work.

Instructor(s): K. Schilt     Terms Offered: Winter. Registration requires permission of instructor or you will be dropped from the class.
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 50146

SOCI 60001. Workshop: Demography. 100 Units.

This workshop is sponsored by the Committee on Demographic Training in collaboration with the Population Research Center of NORC and the University. Visitors from other campuses as well as Chicago faculty discuss current research activities in population studies. PQ: Must Register for an R

Instructor(s): Staff     Terms Offered: Spring Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ECON 58900

SOCI 60020. 1st-Year Proseminar Research Questions and Design. 000 Units.

A required, non-credit colloquium for first-year doctoral students in Sociology. The Colloquium addresses how to generate research questions and design projects through the current work of department faculty.

Instructor(s): Staff     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): 1st-year Sociology PhD students only

SOCI 60021. Wksp. Politics, History and Society. 000 Units.

The Politics, History, and Society workshop provides a home for graduate students and faculty who occupy the interdisciplinary spaces that exist between sociology and political science and/or between sociology and history. All of the papers we workshop are concerned with the institutions and processes of modern political orders, studied comparatively or historically. State formation, civil society, legal structures, social movements, colonialism, empire, and globalization are all frequent themes. Recent and upcoming papers include an ethnographic study of the political culture of indigenous Taiwanese, a case study of criminal conspiracy and corporate regulation in the 1920s and 1930s United States, an analysis of the role of social networks of Sufi Saints in the 18th and 19th century Ottoman Empire, and a multi-national comparison of causes of inter-communal violence. PQ: Students must register for an R

Instructor(s): Y. Zhang     Terms Offered: Spring Winter