This course introduces you to the discipline of sociology in three ways.
First, we examine texts, theories and debates from the classical sociologists, including Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx. 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 examine contemporary sociological theory and research that expand, synthesize, and challenge the ideas and debates established by the classical sociologists. 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, through discussion and writing we develop a more general "sociological imagination" to understand how sociology as a way of thinking can illuminate our lives and the world around us.