Comparing the experience of three out of five ethnic groups (e.g. African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicano/Latino, European Americans, and Native Americans) we shall examine historically how each people entered American society and built communities and transformed their cultures in the process. Students will be introduced to the sociological perspective, characteristic methods of research, and such key concepts as culture, community, class, race, social change, and social movements.

The basic premise of this class is that sociology has a great deal to offer not only to the theoretical understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship, but also to entrepreneurship as a practical enterprise. This perspective, while popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, has gotten steadily lost in the entrepreneurial fervor of the 1980s as the study of entrepreneurship was passed almost exclusively into the hands of people in and around the business-school community. The objective of this class is to (re-) incorporate critical social analysis into the field. Throughout the semester, we will explore the various ways in which the social sciences have provided fresh new insights into entrepreneurial behavior by placing innovation in its broader social, cultural, and cross-national contexts. Additionally, we will look at entrepreneurship from the perspective of a much wider range of actors (classes, genders, racial and ethnic groups) than is typically done by the business community. By the end of the semester, you should have a firm grasp of what entrepreneurs do (the usual purview of modern business schools), as well as the causes of entrepreneurship and its cumulative (often not so positive) effects.

This course invites students to consider the ways in which capitalist economies and particular forms of social life are indelibly bound up with one another. It offers a social and political perspective on economics in five parts. The first introduces theoretical approaches to the study of markets formulated by classical and neoclassical economists before examining critiques of both liberal economic thought and capitalism as a social formation. The second examines market economies as social constructions and probes how “the economy” emerged as a discrete object of technical analysis. The third turns toward neoliberalism and the way activities previously considered non-economic have become valorized along market lines. The fourth engages with processes of globalization and the rise of finance as a primary engine of capital. The course’s concluding section reflects on the possibility of alternative models of economic organization with an eye toward social, environmental, and economic justice.

This course explains why organizations are the most powerful elements of modern societies. All interests – economic, political, social, and cultural – are pursued through organizations like business firms, social movements, social media, and streaming-TV companies. This course takes students through the history of organizations to how sociologists study organizations to questioning the roles that organizations play in critical challenges like climate change, inequality, and partisan politics.

Introduces students who are considering majoring in sociology to the basic topics, concepts, and principles of the study of society. This course is required for the major; 1 or any version of 3 is prerequisite for other sociology classes; students not considering a sociology major are directed to any version of 3 or 3AC.

Introduces students who are considering majoring in sociology to the basic topics, concepts, and principles of the study of society. This course is required for the major; 1 or any version of 3 is prerequisite for other sociology classes; students not considering a sociology major are directed to any version of 3 or 3AC.

Introduces students who are considering majoring in sociology to the basic topics, concepts, and principles of the study of society. This course is required for the major; 1 or any version of 3 is prerequisite for other sociology classes; students not considering a sociology major are directed to any version of 3 or 3AC.

Introduces students who are considering majoring in sociology to the basic topics, concepts, and principles of the study of society. This course is required for the major; 1 or any version of 3 is prerequisite for other sociology classes; students not considering a sociology major are directed to any version of 3 or 3AC.

Introduces students who are considering majoring in sociology to the basic topics, concepts, and principles of the study of society. This course is required for the major; 1 or any version of 3 is prerequisite for other sociology classes; students not considering a sociology major are directed to any version of 3 or 3AC.

Introduces students who are considering majoring in sociology to the basic topics, concepts, and principles of the study of society. This course is required for the major; 1 or any version of 3 is prerequisite for other sociology classes; students not considering a sociology major are directed to any version of 3 or 3AC.