Introduction to Sociology: The Sociological Imagination In this course, we will study social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior on American society. Specifically, we will examine the ways that individuals interact in social groups, organizations, and the larger society and the ways that the larger society both influences and is influenced by various social actors. Specific topics may range from crime, education, health, the economy, wealth, income, families, religion, race, gender, sexuality, class, among others with the goal of examining how individuals come together to construct society. In addition, we will explore the ways that social inequalities are created and maintained, examining many different perspectives and research techniques that sociologists use to answer some of society’s most important questions.

Society and the Individual This course examines the ideas and enduring contributions of the giants of modern social theory, including Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, and Sigmund Freud. Readings will include selections from original works, as well as contemporary essays. Key issues will include the nature of modernity, the direction of social change, and the role of human agency in constructing the "good society." This course serves as a general introduction to sociology.

Gender and the Body What is your gender and how do you know? In order to answer this question, we need to consider how gender is known through biology, psychology, consumer capitalism, and our everyday embodiment.  We will also look at how the meaning and performance of gender have changed over time from Classical Greece to Victorian England to the contemporary U.S.  Throughout, we will consider how gender does not operate along, but is always entangled with, race, class, sexuality, nationality, and ability.

Sociology of Labor In this class we will survey the sociological literature on labor and labor movements in America and around the world. We will raise questions related to the organization and transformation of work, the making of class society, trade unionism and other class-based organizing, and the impact of globalization on labor organizations. Exploration of these key themes will happen through an analysis of classic and contemporary texts, as well as fiction and film. This is a seminar-style course with opportunities for students to lead class discussions and debates.

The Family in Contemporary Society This course will investigate the social, economic, and political forces that have brought about changes in family life in the beginning of the 21st century. We will begin by looking at various attempts to define "the family," and we will then explore a range of topics, including the webs of family relationships (e.g., mothering, fathering, kin networks), labor and family intersections (e.g., mediating between work and family; the household division of labor), gay and lesbian family life, and domestic violence. Although the focus will be on contemporary United States, we will also examine some cross-cultural and historical material.

Sociology of Sport In this course we will explore sport-related issues and sport-society issues from a sociological perspective. Through lectures, films, class discussions, and student presentations we will examine the roles of sport within contemporary social systems, and ways in which sport reflects and enhances individual, collective, and national agendas and identities. We will also critically analyze various topics, including violence, cheating, and technology while focusing on “mega sporting events,” the media, and eSport. Additionally, by using sport as a lens to examine class, gender, and race we will illuminate the manners in which sport is entangled in socio-cultural, political, and economic forces.

Social Networks Networks have always been the backbone of social life, long before social media, or email, people spread information through letters, commercial exchange, or simply face to face interactions. These ties embed us into an invisible web of connections that, through the methods of network analysis, we can make tangible and analyze. In this course students will engage with consequences of connectivity and understand why small changes in the structure of our ties can lead to big differences in how networks behave. In weekly hands-on sessions, students will learn the basics of network analysis using open-source software like R and Gephi and will collect, describe, and visualize a social network of their choosing for the final project.

Theories and Fundamentals of Conflict Transformation In this course, we will explore the interdisciplinary field of Conflict Transformation as both a philosophical orientation and a theoretical framework for understanding conflict as part of the human experience. In exploring conflict transformation, we will move beyond examining conflict as something that should be avoided (conflict prevention) or resolved through various formal and informal processes of negotiation (conflict resolution). Instead, this course will examine the ways that conflict is normal in human relationships, an integral part of human experiences, and can act as a catalyst for social transformation. To do so, we will examine conflict at multiple different levels of human experiences such as interpersonal, national, and international using a broader lens to explore the “bigger picture” of the historical, social, and interpersonal causes of conflict. In doing so, we will come to understand conflict as not something that is always destructive but also productive in creating social change on the personal, interpersonal, local, national, and international level.

Higher Education and Society Concerns about quality, value, and cost have raised doubts about whether higher education remains a pathway to opportunity. In this course we will consider these issues by reviewing research on the changing demographics of students, the evolving definition of “merit” in admissions, the challenges of assessing what students learn, and the relationship between student loan debt and economic inequality. We will also examine how college shapes later outcomes such as income, health, and family formation. Finally, we will discuss efforts to reform higher education and the potential for innovations like global expansion to reshape post-secondary schooling in the future. 3 hrs.lct.

The Social Roots of Environmental Inequality Rising temperatures, climate disasters, toxicity, extractivism. How can sociology help us understand some of the most pressing environmental issues of our times? In this course we will examine environmental problems through multiple sociological lenses that center questions of power, agency, and solidarity. We will begin by interrogating the nature-society divide and its consequences for the analysis of socio-ecological problems. We will then examine a range of case studies from around the globe to consider how factors such as race, class, gender, and nationality fragment experiences of and orientations towards environmental issues. We will conclude by critically evaluating intended and unintended consequences of various responses to socio-ecological problems.

Contemporary Israel: Society, Culture and Politics In this course we will examine Israeli society and politics in a period of rapid and profound transformation.  We begin with an introductory unit on Zionism, Palestinian nationalism and the history of the state. Subsequent units examine the social, cultural and political characteristics of Israel’s main population sectors (Middle Eastern, European, Russian and Ethiopian Jews and Palestinian citizens and residents of the state) and religious groupings (Muslims and Jews, including secular, traditional, national-religious and ultra-Orthodox). The final units examine intensifying political struggles that will shape the future of Israel and the region. Topics will include the role of religion in public life; civil rights, democracy and the courts; and West Bank settlements, occupation, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The City and Its People We all live somewhere, and increasingly we find ourselves living in an urban environment. In this course we will explore current topics in urban sociology, with particular emphasis on the power of place, culture, and community in U.S. cities. We will study the historical, cultural, and political conditions that have shaped contemporary U.S. cities, such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. We will examine how cities change and resist change through the lens of such subjects as migration, poverty, urban arts, crime, and education as it pertains to the city. Students will read a variety of ethnographic and sociological materials, in order to gain an understanding of the complexities of both urban life and processes of representation.

Visual Sociology We live in a visual world. To understand society and culture, we must understand the images we produce and consume. This course provides a sociological lens to study how we use and are used by images. We will study key theories that frame how visual contents (such as photographs, films, and videos) are shared, viewed, and interpreted by various audiences. Using images as our starting point, we will analyze the messages and imagery in visual texts to extract their social meanings. We will engage three sides of visual sociology: images as cultural artifacts, picture making as data collection, and displaying research visually. (Sociology)

Inequality and the American Dream In this course we will explore sociological attempts to explain who “gets ahead” in the contemporary United States. We will discuss two distinct issues that are often conflated in public discussions: economic inequality and social mobility.  We will consider the conceptual and empirical associations between these measures, how each has changed over time, how the United States compares to other countries, and how different social environments (such as colleges, neighborhoods, and families) influence life chances within and across generations. We will also examine the challenges of producing research about these topics, focusing on both theoretical and methodological issues.

Social Psychology in Sociology The purpose of this course is to examine the relationship between self and society from a sociological perspective. Our initial focus will on the nature of symbols, language, and the social self as theorized by G. H. Mead and early "symbolic interactionists." We will then address the presentation of self through the works of Erving Goffman, and subsequently consider more contemporary concerns, such as emotions, emotional labor, and inequality in social interaction. The second half of the course will address questions of identity and debates surrounding the emergence of "postmodern" selves.

Data and the Social World Digital data and computational tools have transformed social science research. In this course we will learn about the tradition and logics of computational social science and learn how to apply it to their own sociological questions. Half of each class will be spent discussing published research: evaluating the methodological approach to the research question, reviewing the ethics or limitations of the data, and assessing the communication of results. The other half will be devoted to hands-on lab sessions, where students will learn the foundations of data science through computational research and the R statistical software language. These labs will cover the basics of reproducible workflows, and data collection, analysis, and visualization.

Globalizing Gender In this course we will explore gender and the process of gendering as a complex and evolving global phenomenon of the 21st century. The readings will focus on the politics and experience of gender and sexualities in various parts of the world, including India, Pakistan, Muslim minorities in South Asia, and among diasporic communities in Europe and the United States. Through lectures and small group discussions, we will critique and analyze themes including third gender, masculinity, changing practices of marriage, the politics of sexuality, and the impact of the women’s movement, and gay rights movement on existing understanding of gendered traditions. (National/Transnational Feminisms)

Genders and Sexualities in the US In this course we will explore and examine how genders and sexualities are constructed and the  implications that such constructions have on individuals and societies. We will examine the  theories, concepts, practices, and beliefs about sex, gender, sexuality, and sexual identity and  explore how these concepts are different between different groups and how they have changed  over time, specifically using an intersectional lens. Students will be encouraged to discuss  intricacies of their own sexual and gender identities and how these statuses may impact their  social status and their relationships with others and the larger society.

Men and Masculinities In this course we will consider the creation and performance of masculinities in the American context.  We will ask how masculinity is constructed and how concepts of masculinity intersect with class, race, sexuality, and nation. Topics will include: The construction of idealized notions of masculinity in opposition to both femininities and subordinated masculinities; depictions of masculinity in the media; male socialization and boyhood; the workplace, family life and fatherhood; trans and gender queer masculinities; men’s health; men as perpetrators and victims of violence; and explicitly male-focused social movements and subcultures (such as pro-feminist men; Men’s Rights Activism; Pick-Up artists, Incels).

Sociology of Subcultures Whether based on music and style (punk, emo, hip hop), physical activities (skateboarding, surfing, parkour) or pop culture fandom, networks of (young) people are regularly labelled as subcultures. This course will introduce students to the study of subcultures based on sociological and ethnographic materials. Who participates in subcultures and why? Who is excluded (on the basis of class, race, gender, sexuality)? Are subcultures forms of resistance, and what distinguishes them from social movements? How do forces such as globalization, technological development, and political transformation impact subcultures? These questions will guide our introductory look at examples and theories of subcultures.

Sociology of Modern Antisemitism In this course, we will explore modern antisemitism from a sociological perspective. Drawing on theories and empirical research from sociology and related fields, we will analyze the logic of antisemitic narratives, how antisemitism differs from other forms of racism, how antisemitism has changed after the Holocaust, whether antisemitism and anti-Zionism are related phenomena, and how prevalent antisemitic attitudes and discrimination remain today. We will also explore what role antisemitism plays in contemporary conspiracy theories and far-right movements but also whether there are forms of antisemitism specific to the Left. Overall, we will consider how to integrate an analysis of antisemitism into contemporary theories of racism, such as Intersectionality or Critical Whiteness.

Deviance and Social Control  This course will introduce students to sociological perspectives on the nature, causes and control of deviant behavior and populations. We will consider, historically and theoretically, the construction of deviance, the social purpose it serves, and the societal response deviance engenders. We will pay special attention to the ways in which the deviant body is constructed and managed through a variety of frameworks – including medical, punitive and therapeutic - and reflect critically on the social and political ramifications of the categorizations “deviant” and “normal”.

The Logic of Sociological Inquiry In this course students will be introduced to the basic tools of sociological research including problem formulation, strategies of design and data collection, and analysis and presentation of results. This class will help students formulate a research question and develop a research strategy to best explore that question. Those strategies may include interviews, structured observation, participant observation, content analysis, and surveys. This class, strongly recommended for juniors, will culminate in the submission of a senior project proposal.

American Jewish Life In this course we will explore American Jewish life during a period of rapid change. We will begin with a survey of American Jews’ 20th century ethnic, racial, and religious identities. We will then focus on scenes of contemporary religious and communal innovation across a wide spectrum of American Jewish life, including case studies of Hasidic, Queer/progressive, Orthodox and Reform Jews, and Jews of Color. Throughout, we will examine how diverse Jewish collectivities incorporate broader American and global ideas, creating new amalgamations and contributing to social change. In the final unit, we will explore contentious issues related to Israel, antisemitism, gender, and American politics. Sources will include books, articles, films, and a study tour in New York City.

Social Theory This course provides an overview of major lines of development in 20th century social theory relevant to the field of sociology, focusing on how various theorists have grappled with the basic issues that have dominated 20th century social thought. Particular attention will be given to the questions arising from the conceptual distinctions between structure and action, on the one hand, and identity and culture, on the other. How is social order possible? How autonomous are human agents? How do we explain the persistence of observed patterns of human interaction and social practice? How do we analyze relations between the world of everyday life and the large-scale development of social systems? How does social change take place? (SOCI 0105)

Social Movements and Collective Action An analysis of the range of factors which influence the emergence and development of social protest, social movements, rebellion, and revolution. Topics to be considered include: the generation and mobilization of discontent; recruitment and participation; member commitment; tactics and strategy; revolutionary situations and outcomes; collective violence; and the factors that influence the success and failure of movement organizations and collective action in general. Emphasis will be placed on critically analyzing alternative approaches and theories of social movements and collective action (i.e., self-interest/deprivation, participation gratification, traditional collective behavior and resource mobilization). Empirical studies will be used throughout the course. Limited places available for students to satisfy the College writing requirement.

White People White people did not just appear out of nowhere. Instead, they are the result of a long history of structural and everyday racism that was always intertwined with class, sex, sexuality, and nation. We will explore how whiteness became a foundational category for citizenship in the US, especially after the Civil War when the Color Line was drawn through the legal, cultural, and spatial practices of Jim Crow. We will consider how "new immigrants" and even white "trash" became white primarily through the exclusion of Black Americans. Finally, we will look at the formation of whiteness today as a site of privilege, aggrieved entitlement, and violence.

Sociology of Heterosexuality Most people believe that heterosexuality is natural or rooted in biology and so never look very closely at it as a product of culture.  In this course we will examine the artifacts, institutions, rituals, and ideologies that construct heterosexuality and the heterosexual person in American culture.  We will also pay close attention to how heterosexuality works alongside other forms of social power, especially gender, race, and class.

Writing the Sociological Imagination In this writing course, students will create flash non-fiction that engages with sociology’s core focus: placing the personal in its social context. We will read texts that explore a variety of approaches to creatively explore the interplay of biography and history and focus on the range of craft elements these authors use. Students will write short (300-800 word) pieces that we will workshop together in class. The final product will be a portfolio of revised pieces from which students will select 2-3 pieces to share, if they choose, in a public reading for the Middlebury community.

Theories of Celebrity In this course we will explore the cultural significance of the concept "celebrity" from a variety of theoretical perspectives. We will draw from a range of examples, including the history of Hollywood, the branding of sport stars, the rise of reality television, YouTube fame, and celebrity gossip, to examine the structures of power and inequality the celebrity phenomenon and its commodification embody. We will use theoretical concepts such as hegemony, the spectacle, mechanical reproduction, the panopticon, hyperreality, microcelebrity, postmodernity, and neoliberalism to analyze the extraordinary rise of a visual culture based on the production and consumption of celebrity.

The Idea of Drugs and Addiction Drugs cause panic and social hysteria.  We spend time talking about them and expend energy distinguishing between good and bad drugs and users.  Movies, documentaries, literature, art, and television shows reflect this preoccupation with the use and misuse of drugs. In this course we will  investigate the social significance of “drugs” as a cultural, rather than pharmacological, category. We will consider drugs and addiction as ideas that reflect concerns about the “self” in modernity. We will examine the panic surrounding drug use and addiction, our preoccupation with treatment, and our emphasis on sobriety.  Overall, we will engage with the larger themes the idea of drugs and addiction raises: harm, exclusion, inequality, pleasure, freedom, desire, perfection, enlightenment, and control. 3hrs. lect./disc.

Writing the Family Family brings us the full range of emotions, from joy to suffering. In this course, we will look at various attempts to define “the family.” We will read sociological accounts of the family, memoirs that grapple with this topic, and do our own writing. This is a workshop-based class: we will read, discuss, write, share our stories, and offer constructive and supportive feedback, paying attention to the variety of ways to write about this complicated topic. This class will culminate in a public reading for the campus community, where students will share portions of their final project: a written story that links our biographies with history to creatively examine one of the most fundamental yet contested social institutions in the 21st century. (SOCI majors only and others by permission)

Sociology of Expertise and Collective Action How is knowledge produced and legitimated? How does one become an ‘expert’? Who should lead and participate in expertise building? While institutions have historically served as major channels for the construction, certification, and advancement of expertise, challenges from “citizen experts” or “experts by experience” have increasingly shifted attention to knowledge production processes that exceed institutional bounds. In this course we will examine how different collective action initiatives construct, dispute, and operationalize expertise vis-à-vis their movement’s objectives. We will discuss foundational theories within the sociology of knowledge, examine three contentious areas of expertise (health and biomedical knowledge, environmental expertise, and financial expertise), and consider epistemological and empirical implications of challenges to institutionally produced specialized knowledge.

Higher Education and Society Concerns about quality, value, and cost have raised doubts about whether higher education remains a pathway to opportunity. In this course we will consider these issues by reviewing research on the changing demographics of students, the evolving definition of “merit” in admissions, the challenges of assessing what students learn, and the relationship between student loan debt and economic inequality. We will also examine how college shapes later outcomes such as income, health, and family formation. Finally, we will discuss efforts to reform higher education and the potential for innovations like global expansion to reshape postsecondary schooling in the future. 3 hrs.lct.

The Long Civil Rights Movement The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most significant political forces in American history, but too often we reduce it to its heyday in the 1950s and 60s. In this course we engage a much longer, more varied history of African American freedom struggles, from protests against segregated trains in the late 19th century to today’s #BlackLivesMatter. We use social movement theory to explore these cases, and use the cases to develop new theories of politics and social structure, paying close attention to the roles of organizations, resources, leadership, recruitment, commitment, values, ideology, culture, gender, and counter-movements.

Digital Feminisms: Theory and Activism Online Does gender matter on the Internet? How does patriarchy, misogyny, and racism get coded into our digital tools? Is a feminist Internet possible? In this class we will investigate how feminist and sociological theory makes sense of the relationship between gender and power in our digital and technologically mediated world. We will apply these theories to understanding various digital pursuits, including online labor, bodily autonomy, and the design of social media platforms. Throughout we will discuss how feminism is put into practice by communities of technologists, designers, and data scientists. Students will complete a final zine analyzing a digital phenomenon of their choice.

Cinematic Sociology In this course, we will develop the sociological imagination through the viewing, discussing, and analyzing of popular films and television shows. Rather than simply “entertainment,” we will explore the various ways that popular films and television can be a vehicle for social commentary, analysis, and criticism, particularly about controversial topics. This class will also examine popular films and television shows and explore the various ways that they can be viewed as a critique of society.

The Continuing Significance of Race in the United States This course will introduce students to theories of race and racism in the United States, how racial categories are formed and maintained in a variety of social arenas, and how race and racism influence social systems. In order to demonstrate the prevalence of race and racism in the U.S., the course will be a “topics” course in that each week, we will explore a different topic (such as education, crime, gender) and examine how they are influenced by race and racism. In addition, the course will compare and contrast the experiences of different racial and ethnic groups in the United States and examine how these different experiences influences the way they are seen, how they see themselves, and how they interact with other groups. Upon completion of the course, students will have a better understanding of the historic and contemporary significance of race and how race influences our everyday interactions in multiple different social arenas.

Digital Sociology We live in a digital world. We surf. We tweet. We swipe left. We create data. We become data. In this course we will consider how we use and are used by digital technologies. Digital spaces are neither neutral nor separate; they reflect and recreate the “real world.” We will critically examine today’s technologies and practices using central concepts in sociological theory, namely identity, inequality, and power. We will focus on four main topics: social media and productive labor; surveillance and privacy; stratification in access, use, and experience across race, class, gender, and sexuality; and online political organizing.

Politics of Identity In this course we will introduce students to social diversity in the U.S. as it is reflected in four master identities: class, gender, race, and sexuality. We will examine what these identities mean for group membership, how group membership is attained or ascribed and maintained. Using both historical and contemporary materials, we will explore how identities have developed over time and how they have been challenged. In addition, we will examine how multiple identities intersect and the implications of these intersections have on individual identities.

Sociology of AI Generative AI is rapidly developing, threatening, or already causing major shifts throughout society. What are these shifts and who are they most impacting? Where is the use of Generative AI creating social benefit and where might it be exacerbating existing inequalities, or even introducing new ones? In this course we will take up these questions and more to differentiate between the much-hyped promises of generative AI and the actual consequences of its employment. Over the course of the class, we will discuss the promises and actualities of AI use in education, health, and work, as well as how engagement with tools like ChatGPT shifts people’s relationships to each other, to expertise, and to the environment. Students will engage weekly with creative prompts for thinking critically about AI, document an AI-dependent society as imagined in cinema, and write a final paper about the impact of AI on topic of their choosing.

Social Statistics In this course we will learn the practical tools social sociologists and other scientists use to analyze data quantitatively. Topics will emphasize applications with statistical software and data from the General Social Survey and other datasets. We will explore methods to describe statistics about samples, apply the principles of probability to make predictions about populations, and estimate the significance of those predictions through inference and hypothesis testing. We will conclude with an introduction to linear regression. (Open only to majors or by Instructor Approval)

Sex and Society In this seminar we will explore the pleasures, power, and problems of sex and will place sexuality in dynamic interaction with larger social issues. It is impossible to understand sexuality as separate from other dimensions of the human condition such as economics, politics, work, family, race, and gender.  In particular, we will examine questions related to the science of sex, morality, monogamy, sex work, power and domination, desire and fantasy, and sexual politics. Overall, students will gain an understanding of sexuality as a social phenomenon.

Sociology of the Pandemic In this seminar students will conduct original sociological research on the COVID-19 pandemic. We will also examine the ways that sociological theory and other materials—films, news reports, journalism, social media, etc—can help us understand the disruptive social, political, economic, and cultural changes brought on by the current crisis. Students will pursue their own projects or work in groups, and will work collectively as a class to help each other examine the sociological dimensions of the pandemic. Topics might include the impacts on labor and work issues, family dynamics, inequality, education, and the intersections with race, class, and gender.

Sociology of the Family Family life is both a personal experience and a social institution central to sociological inquiry. In this seminar we will consider how sociologists study the family as a site where identities are shaped and inequalities are reproduced. Readings will include classic and contemporary works that analyze family formation, parenting, the household division of labor, intersections between work and family life, and the influence of law and social policy. While our emphasis will be on the contemporary United States, we will also consider historical change and comparative contexts. Students will complete research projects that apply sociological theory and methods to the study of families.

Stuff: A Sociology of Things Stuff surrounds us. It fills our lives and makes our lives more fulfilling. We make it, we break it. We love it, we hate it. Then we throw it away. But stuff can just as easily make us and break us. Yet, sociology rarely pays much attention to things. In this course we will uncover and study the surprisingly active social lives of objects. Drawing broadly from work on material culture, cultural studies, consumption studies, and critical theory, we will explore the complex meanings of objects, the relationships people form with them, and the ways they shape how we think and what we do. Students will learn object-based research methods to investigate the social meanings and uses of everyday objects.

Documentary Sociology In this course we will consider how documentaries can bring the “sociological imagination” to life by using video and audio to link individual troubles with social issues and personal biography with historical context. Through readings and viewings, we will spend the first third of the class discussing the potential of the short documentary form to illustrate sociological concepts. Students will develop a proposal for their own short video documentary that they will then work on throughout the semester. Students must be willing to spend significant time outside of class on their documentary and to provide constructive feedback on each other’s developing projects in class. No prior experience or coursework in video or audio production is required. (SOCI 0105; open to SOCI majors or by instructor approval) (formerly SOCI 0364).

Sociology of Tourism We're all tourists now. The world's largest industry, tourism touches every part of the globe and every aspect of our lives. Tourism is a driving force of globalization, simultaneously a force of cultural differentiation and homogenization. As more and more places and people become economically dependent on tourism, tensions between tourists and locals increase, sparking protest and efforts to limit tourism in some area. In this course, we will use sociology to better understand tourism as well as using tourism to explore many different sociological theories. In this course we will critically study the social and cultural effects of tourism and tourists, with a focus on meaning making, tourist identities, inequalities and exploitation, the environmental effects, as well as reflecting our own, as well as Middlebury College's, place within tourism economies.

Sociology of Subcultures Whether based on music and style (punk, emo, hip hop), physical activities (skateboarding, surfing, parkour) or pop culture fandom, networks of (young) people regularly are labelled as subcultures. In this course, we will examine subcultures based on sociological and ethnographic materials. We will discuss who participates in subcultures and who is excluded (on the basis of class, race, gender, sexuality); whether subcultures are inherently resistant and what distinguishes them from social movements; and whether the concept of subculture holds up under contemporary processes of globalization, digitalization and post-modernization or in geographic settings beyond urban centers.

Topics in Sociological Practice In this project-based course, we will use tools of data analysis and digital methods to explore sociological research topics and communicate findings. We will review examples of public social science such as the Opportunity Atlas, Social Explorer, and the Open Policing Project. Through readings and workshops, we will reflect on how these forms create challenges and opportunities related to data ethics, principles of data visualization, and digital pedagogy. Students will build on their previous coursework to develop interactive websites that can be integrated throughout the department's curricula. Students will extensively use programs such as R and Datawrapper but no previous experience with these tools is required. (Open to Sociology majors)

Global Gays and the Global Gayze In this course we will explore the ways that non-straight sexualities have been understood within a global context. Specifically, we will examine the various ways that non-straight sexualities have been constructed around the globe, the factors that have led to the development of various forms of sexual identifications, as well as the linkages between different cultures, nations, and locations that have influenced the ways that societal beliefs about non-straight sexualities, as well as non-straight sexual “identities,” have come to be influenced through such connections.

Race and Racism in Vermont: A Sociohistorical Exploration In this course, we will trace the racial history of Vermont from its founding, through the eugenics movement in the early 20th century, and into the current era of racially-biased policing and incarceration. Drawing on Black and Indigenous scholars (DuBois, Wynter, Byrd), students will examine the articulation between local/global manifestation of race, and investigate how anti-indigeneity, anti-blackness and ableism guided the sociohistorical construction of whiteness in Vermont. Students will grapple with pressing questions: How was/is ‘race’ mobilized by the State? Are racially biased policing/incarceration an afterlife of policies of erasure? This class will culminate in a critical engagement with ways reparation and reconciliation may or may not prevent deep-rooted structures from continuing to reproduce discriminations in Vermont.  Mabrouka M’Barek is a PhD student in sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research, in North America, Europe and North Africa focuses on the longue durée of racial regimes and the long-lasting impacts of colonialism and chattel slavery./

Introduction to Critical Data Studies A data-driven economy is based on the production, sharing and reuse of trustworthy datasets. The processes to generate, share and reuse data are subject to organizational, political, institutional, and economic forces. Data are never raw, they are cooked. In this course, students will examine how data are generated within organizational contexts and made portable through a social scientific and humanistic lens. Through a combination of reading, writing, and discussing peer reviewed research, students will learn about the social aspects of data. Each week students will learn and discuss concepts such as organizational forms for data, data cultures; information infrastructure. Students produce a research project that focuses on compiling a biography of a dataset.   Sarika Sharma is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas-Austin in the Critical Data Studies Lab. Her work examines emerging information policy and its impact on the preservation, storage and reuse of information./

Writing for Social Change In this course we will learn to write essays and editorials addressing current political, social, and cultural issues. Drawing from recent conflicts and protest about labor, the environment, education, healthcare, foreign policy, elections, and other arenas, students will draft compelling essays, written for publication in mainstream and alternative outlets. The class encourages experimentation with a variety of styles and formats—journalism, long-form nonfiction, personal essays, research-based reports, and public advocacy writing. Students will also learn about pitching their writing to magazines or newspapers as well as the editorial process, from original concept to final draft. The course is team-taught by an investigative journalist and a sociologist, both of whom have experience writing for major American and international outlets.

The AI Gourmet: A Recipe for the Future In this course, students will critically assess whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools democratize access to professional knowledge by generating a cookbook of recipes using AI-powered chatbots. During the activity, students will learn how AI tools generate content, ways in which AI tools enhance creativity and exploration, the pitfalls of AI tools (including bias, discrimination, and copyright violations), and why AI tools generate anxiety and fear yet also promise hope for a better future.  Sarika Sharma is an Assistant Teaching Professor of First-Year Seminar. She teaches courses in organizational behavior and institutional change.

Data Science Across Disciplines In this course, we will gain exposure to the entire data science pipeline—obtaining and cleaning, large and messy data sets, exploring these data and creating engaging visualizations, and communicating insights from the data in a meaningful manner. During morning sessions, we will learn the tools and techniques required to explore new and exciting data sets. During afternoon sessions, students will work in small groups with one of several faculty members on domain-specific research projects in Biology, Geography, History, Mathematics/Statistics and Sociology. This course will use the R programming language. No prior experience with R is necessary.  BIOL 1230: Students enrolled in Professor Casey’s (Biology) afternoon section will use the tools of data science to investigate the drivers of tick abundance and tick-borne disease risk. To do this students will draw from a nation-wide ecological database.  GEOG 1230: In this section, we will investigate human vulnerability to natural hazards in the United States using location-based text data about hurricane and flood disasters from social media. We will analyze data qualitatively, temporally, and spatially to gain insights into the human experience of previous disasters and disaster response. We will present findings using spatial data visualizations with the aim of informing future disaster preparedness and resilience.  HIST 1230: In U.S. history, racial differences and discrimination have powerfully shaped who benefited from land and farm ownership. How can historians use data to understand the history of race and farming? Students will wrangle county- and state-level data from the U.S. Census of Agriculture from 1840-1912 to create visualizations and apps that allow us to find patterns in the history of race and land, to discover new questions we might not know to ask, and to create tools to better reveal connections between race, land, and farming for a general audience.    STAT 1230: In this course students will dive into the world of data science by focusing on invasive species monitoring data. Early detection is crucial to controlling many invasive species; however, there is a knowledge gap regarding the sampling effort needed to detect the invader early. In this course, we will work with decades of invasive species monitoring data collected across the United States to better understand how environmental variables play a role in the sampling effort required to detect invasive species. Students will gain experience in the entire data science pipeline, but the primary focus will be on data scraping, data visualization, and communication of data-based results to scientists and policymakers.  SOCI 1230:  Do sports fans care about climate change? Can sports communication be used to engage audiences on environmental sustainability? In this section of the course, students will use the tools of data science to examine whether interest in sports is associated with climate change knowledge, attitudes and behaviors, as well as other political opinions. Participants will use survey data to produce visualizations and exploratory analyses about the relationship between sports fandom and attitudes about environmental sustainability.

Adam Federman

Adi Livny

Alex Lyford

Chong Han

Hemangini Gupta

Isabelle Langrock

Jamie McCallum

Laurie Essig

Linus Owens

Mabrouka M'barek

Markus Gerke

Matt Lawrence

Maya Bhave

Rebecca Tiger

Sarika Sharma

Ted Sasson

Zohar Gazit

Read 257 reviews for Sociology courses at Middlebury College. Find the best Sociology professors and courses.  Discover your new major today!

I took this class because it fit into my schedule and looked somewhat interesting and not too difficult; it pretty much was exactly that. This is an R-based class, but it is very introductory and is a good choice if you are new to R and anticipate that you will be using it more later on. This is a very project-based class, and it culminated in a really cool project about our own habits online, which I did about my Spotify. We did a cool presentation event at the end. The professor was very fair with the workload and grading and really transparent with us (it was her first semester). 

I really enjoyed this course with Professor Lawrence last fall. He is extremely passionate about his work and an awesome Professor full of liveliness and knowledge. This course was also really interesting in the sense of the political education stance that we are in right now. It was great relating to Middlebury but also to other colleges. The readings were interesting, and we would discuss them in class- also had discussion posts to do, which were helpful in synthesizing the reading. We had 2 papers that were pretty "choose your own adventure." Overall, I will def be taking another course with Prof. Lawrence! 

I rally enjoyed this course as well as the professor who taught the class. It was very fun and chill but very informative and beneficial and helpful learning overall. I would for sure take this class again.