What makes sociology a unique field of study? How is it different from psychology and social work? How can we study a society? Why are there patterns of people and communities that are advantaged and disadvantaged? What forces create the “rules” we live by? What can you do with sociology? In this course, we will seek to find answers to these questions and many more as we explore the exciting field of sociology.

The world we live in is driven by information. Unlike the past, when success meant obtaining and controlling access to scarce information, the main challenge of the 21st century is the over-abundance of information. The ability to review large quantities of information, assess the quality of information, and draw meaningful insights from an ocean of data is a necessary skill in today’s knowledge economy. The objective of this class is to help you develop those skills through the practice of social science research.

What is poverty? Why are some people poor while others are not? Why are some communities poor while others are not? How has poverty changed over time? What can be done to alleviate poverty? In this course, we will examine the causes and consequences of poverty, as well as some possible solutions.

The Industrial Revolution and its subsequent consequence of mass migration from the countryside to cities are often cited as catalyzing the development of the science of sociology. Therefore, the urban environment lies at the heart of sociological inquiry. Urban sociology specifically aims to better describe the ways in which cities shape social life – centering spatial context as crucial to understanding our ever-changing social world. Today, a majority of the population calls urban areas home - both in the United States and globally. However, urbanization is not an inevitable part of human progress. While cities offer many opportunities, city dwellers often question their quality of life, experience social problems, and face inequities (class, race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and space) – yet most remain in sprawling metropolitan regions. Therefore, insights from sociologists on urbanization and globalization will become increasingly important to fully understanding modern social life.

Sexuality is commonly viewed as a “natural” phenomenon - an instinctual or purely biological force - having little to do with society or social categories created within societies. However, we know that this view, regardless of how pervasive and embedded it seems, does not completely represent what we know about human sexuality. Various forms of sexual expression are obscured, lauded, trumpeted, practiced, abolished, ignored, or celebrated given a society’s temporal and spatial context. Therefore, in this course, we will take on a sociological lens to problematize and critically assess this colloquial understanding by seeing how popular media, discoveries in the natural sciences, and sociological theory help construct our scientific understanding of sexuality.

In just a few months during 1994, as many as one million people were killed as violence swept across Rwanda. A civil war, an economic downturn, and growing animosity between Rwanda’s two main ethnic groups—the Hutu and the Tutsi—preceded the genocide, which affected all parts of the country. The violence ended just a few months after it began, leaving Rwanda’s institutions in shambles. Since then, the Government of Rwanda has engaged in multiple initiatives to rebuild the country, and Rwanda has rapidly transformed. This course will explore the 1994 Rwandan genocide and its aftermath through active learning experiences in Rwanda.