Courses Taught:
Sociology 201: Research Methods in Sociology
An introduction to sociological research that cover basic methods of collecting and analyzing empirical data to test sociological hypotheses. In this course, students learn about all stages of the research process, beginning with underlying research logics. This course covers a range of methods commonly used in the social sciences, both quantitative and qualitative. Students will also learn how to ask sociological questions as they move through the steps to answer those questions, including methodological design, analysis, and basic components of research writing.
Sociology 344: Environmental Sociology
This course serves as an introduction the subfield of environmental sociology with a focus on political economic processes at the macro level. We will begin with an overview of the field of environmental sociology and its central theoretical perspectives and then move to consider the effects of human societies on the natural environment and vice versa. We will examine the societal – political, economic, and cultural – causes of environmental degradation and resource depletion in a global context. In addition, we will consider environmental injustices – or the disproportionate consequences of environmental problems based on social categories such as race and class – within the US and globally.
Sociology 248: Social Problems in a Global Perspective
This course is an examination of contemporary social problems as they are experienced in different countries, and how each is connected to global level processes or institutions. Such problems as poverty, unemployment, crime, violence, social conflict, and environmental degradation are considered in the context of globalization.
Sociology 336: Social Change
Development and modernization are studied in a historical and comparative perspective that emphasizes the universality of social change in human societies. The approach is macrosociological, focusing on broad patterns of change in economic, social, and political organization in the modern era. Also addressed are questions around "progress," "development," and efforts at planned change.
Sociology 361: Historical Development of Sociological Theory
This course explores the intellectual and theoretical foundations of sociological inquiry. It will cover the main currents in the development of modern sociology from the classic tradition to the twentieth century. In this course, we will seek to ask (1) how key thinkers in the sociological tradition understood the structure of the worlds in which they lived; and (2) which aspects of their thought still seem useful today. This course can be used to satisfy the (WRTD) "Write Effectively within One’s Discipline" requirement for sociology majors.