This course introduces the discipline of sociology in three ways.
First, we examine some of the classical texts of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber as exemplary works of modern social theory. This connects the historical formation of sociology to ideas you encounter elsewhere in the liberal arts college; you do not have to be a sociology major to benefit from this discussion.
Second, we expand, synthesize, and challenge the ideas and debates established by these founding sociologists to address the contemporary world we live in. In this way, we will replicate how current sociologists engage the classical tradition, rather than just read what they have to say about it.
Finally, we exercise a more general "sociological imagination" to understand how sociology as a way of thinking can illuminate our lives and the world around us.