Graduate Course Atlas - Spring 2012
| SOC 506-000: Applied Regression |
| SOC 527-000: Gender & Global Health (same as WGS 527-000) |
| SOC 562-00P: Sociology of Mass Media |
SOC 585-000: Sociology of Sex & Gender |
| SOC 590R-000: Second Year Research Paper |
SOC 506-000: Applied Regression
| Instructor | Day(s) | Time(s) | Maximum Enrollment |
| Hicks | TU | 1:00 - 4:30 pm | 10 |
Semester Details:
Applied Regression Analysis, SOC 506, is a graduate-level course in the theory and application of regression models as they pertain to social science data. Topics include simple linear and multiple regression, dummy variable techniques, model reduction and diagnostics, violation of classic assumptions, nonlinear and dynamic models, and simultaneous equations. The course will provide the necessary foundation in statistical theory and estimation procedures underlying multivariate regression analysis and give students data analysis tools, which will allow them to undertake their own research using these techniques. In addition, a thorough grounding in the basics of statistical theory will facilitate students' understanding and interpretation of regression-based social science research literatures.
Required Textbooks, Articles, and Resources:
- Buy 2nd hand. Only purchase this particular ISBN number edition. If you have questions, contact Dr. Hicks. Gujarati, Damodar N. Basic Econometrics, 4th Edition.
ISBN: 9780071276252.
Grading:
- Take-home computer assignments
- In-class exams
- A final paper
SOC 513-000: Perspectives on Mental Health
| Instructor | Day(s) | Time(s) | Maximum Enrollment |
| Keyes | F | 2:00 - 5:00 pm | 10 |
Semester Details:
This course entertains two broad questions within which numerous models, theories, and empirical studies are employed. First, what is the nature and burden of mental illnesses and the benefits of mental health? Second, what are the causes of mental illnesses and mental health? This course employs a bio–psycho–social causal model of health. It therefore examines mental health in terms of its proximal (biological), medial (psychological), and the distal, contributing (sociological) causes. This course is intended to train students to be theoretically–driven, interdisciplinary scholars of ‘public’ mental health.
Required Textbooks, Articles, and Resources:
- Buy 2nd hand (hand through amazon.com, etc.). Teresa L. Scheid and Tony N. Brown. A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health: Social Contexts, Theories, and Systems. 2nd Edition.
ISBN: 9780521728911.
Grading:
- Two in class reviews (40% of grade)
- Paper (40% of grade)
- Peer review (20% of your grade)
SOC 525-000: Global Structures & Processes
| Instructor | Day(s) | Time(s) | Maximum Enrollment |
| Boli | W | 1:00 - 4:00 pm | 10 |
Semester Details:
Emphasizing the period since globalization’s take-off phase in the 19th century, this course reviews contemporary global processes of economic, political, and cultural structuration and change. We will explore major perspectives on global development, including realism/neo-realism, neoliberalism, world-system theory, global governance analysis, and world-polity theory. Topics include the global economy, state formation, decolonization, world culture, global social movements, international nongovermental organizations and intergovernmental organizations, world authority, global problems, and anti-globalization movements and ideologies. Reserve reading will include articles and chapters with empirical investigations and case studies, as well as theoretical work.
Required Textbooks, Articles, and Resources:
- Baldwin, David A. Neorealism and Neoliberalism: The Contemporary Debate.
ISBN: 9780231084413. - Boli, John and George M. Thomas. Constructing World Culture: International Nongovernmental Organizations since 1875.
ISBN: 9780804734226. - Chase-Dunn, Christopher. Global Formation: Structures of the World Economy. 2nd Edition.
ISBN: 9780847691029. - Boli, John and Frank J. Lechner. World Culture: Origins and Consequences.
ISBN: 9780631226772. - Mcphail, Thomas and Gareth Schott. Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Trends. 2nd Edition.
ISBN: 9781405134279. - Scholte, Jan Aart. Globalization. 2nd Edition.
ISBN: 9780333977026.
Grading:
- Class participation
- Presentations on readings
- Short-essay assignments
- Term paper
SOC 527-000: Gender & Global Health
(same as WGS 527-000)
| Instructor | Day(s) | Time(s) | Maximum Enrollment |
| Yount | TH | 1:00 - 4:00 pm | SOC = 4; WGS = 4; |
Semester Details:
This course investigates, through indepth discussion, film, and texts, theories, evidence, and interventions related to gender and health, with a focus on the poor settings. Students are exposed to some of the major theoretical developments in sociology and population studies that have advanced an understanding of the institutional bases of gender inequality, and of the power dynamics within families and households, that influence women’s well being in these settings. The theoretical and empirical underpinnings of existing social policies and interventions intended to improve the position of women in LDC’s are emphasized, and case studies of the health-related consequences of these policies and interventions are discussed. By the end of the course, students will have developed the ability to evaluate critically and to identify the relationships between theories, policies, and social interventions related to gender and health.
Required Textbooks, Articles, and Resources:
- No required texts.
Grading:
- Regular class attendance and participation (15%)
- Leadership of one discussion (15%)
- Weekly reaction journal (20%)
- Annotated bibliography (20%)
- Term paper (30%)
SOC 540-000: Basic Theoretical Problems
| Instructor | Day(s) | Time(s) | Maximum Enrollment |
| Lechner | F | 9:00 am - 12:00 pm | 10 |
Semester Details:
This course examines basic theoretical problems in sociology through an analysis of the work of classical theorists and some of their contemporary successors. It addresses questions about social action and social order, the structure of modern societies, and the moral and political implications of theoretical analysis.
Required Textbooks, Articles, and Resources:
- Durkheim, Emile and Robert N. Bellah. On Morality and Society: Selected Writings.
ISBN: 9780226173368. - Weber, Max and Hans H. Gerth. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology.
ISBN: 9780195004625. - Smith, Adam, R. L. Heilbroner, and Lawrence J. Malone. The Essential Adam Smith.
ISBN: 9780393955309. - Levine, Donald N. Visions of the Sociological Tradition.
ISBN: 9780226475479. - Simmel, Georg and Donald N. Levine. Georg Simmel on Individuality and Social Forms.
ISBN: 9780226757766. - Mead, George Herbert and Anselm L. Strauss. George Herbert Mead on Social Psychology.
ISBN: 9780226516653. - Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, and Robert C. Tucker. The Marx-Engels Reader. 2nd Edition.
ISBN: 9780393090406.
Grading:
- Presentations
- Essay
- Paper
SOC 562-00P: Sociology of Mass Media
| Instructor | Day(s) | Time(s) | Maximum Enrollment |
| Dowd | W | 1:00 - 4:00 pm | 10 |
Semester Details:
The course (1) provides students with a grounding in media sociology and (2) prepares students for doing their own media research. To facilitate the first objective, we survey the media literature that spans a number of disciplines, which includes (but is not limited to) sociology, communications, and history. In pursuing this survey, we touch upon a number of important themes, including the following: (a) We consider the social implications of new forms of communication media. (b) We examine how various media industries (e.g., radio, TV, record, motion picture, print) are organized and how such organization is sometimes transformed by regulation, competition, and/or technology. (c) We focus on the content of media products and investigate factors that promote stability, change, and diversity in media content. (d) We address the consumers of mass media products and inspect how they utilize and are affected by media content. To facilitate the second objective (i.e., doing research), we give special attention to methods and designs employed in current research, and we heed how theoretical ideas are translated into empirical projects. Thus, by the end of the semester, each student will have a grasp of the field and an understanding of how to do media sociology.
Required Textbooks, Articles, and Resources:
- Readings on electronic reserve at Woodruff Library; additional course materials and resources will be available on a class website.
- Weekly memos
- Final research paper
SOC 585-000: Sociology of Sex & Gender
(same as WGS 586R-000)
| Instructor | Day(s) | Time(s) | Maximum Enrollment |
| Browne | TH | 1:00 - 4:00 pm | SOC = 5; WGS = 5; Total = 10 |
Semester Details:
This course is an overview to the sociological study of sex and gender. We explore how sociologists answer the questions, “What is gender?” “How is gender related to race, class and sexual orientation?” “How does gender influence social institutions, social interactions, and individual experiences?” “How do these institutions and interactions influence the construction of gender?” Specific topics include: sexualities, schools, families and relationships, work and organizations, migration and social movements and politics. Throughout the course, we will take an intersectional approach, looking at intersections of gender with race, class and sexuality. We will focus on how traditional sociological theory and feminist theory can be useful in understanding gender construction and gender stratification, highlighting the implicit as well as explicit debates in the sociology of gender. We will also consider questions about sociological methods and evidence.
Required Textbooks, Articles, and Resources:
- Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment.
ISBN: 9780415924849. - Ridgeway, Cecilia L. Framed by Gender: How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World.
ISBN: 9780199755783. - Pascoe, C. J. Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School.
ISBN: 9780520252301. - Kang, Miliann. The Managed Hand: Race, Gender, and the Body in Beauty Service Work.
ISBN: 9780520262607. - Lan, Pei-Chia. Global Cinderellas: Migrant Domestics and Newly Rich Employers in Taiwan.
ISBN: 9780822337423. - Klawiter, Maren. The Biopolitics of Breast Cancer: Changing Cultures of Disease and Activism.
ISBN: 9780816651085.
SOC 590R-000: Second Year Research Paper
| Instructor | Day(s) | Time(s) | Maximum Enrollment |
| Rubinson | M | 1:00 - 4:00 pm | 10 |
Semester Details:
This seminar has two broad goals. First, it instructs students in the conceptual and pragmatic issues associated with empirical research. It does so by focusing on such fundamental issues as the construction of literature reviews, the translation of theoretical concerns into empirical projects, and the design and implementation of empirical studies. Second, it assists students in bringing their own empirical research to completion. As a result, enrolled students are expected to enter the semester with an identified research project; moreover, they are expected to make substantial progress on these projects, especially given the feedback and dialogue that will occur throughout the semester.
Required Textbooks, Articles, and Resources:
- Online reserves.
Grading:
- In-class presentations of ongoing research efforts
- Demonstrated progress on research paper by end of semester
| More Information: |
|---|