SOCY 1101 Introduction to Sociology (Manohar): Home

This course is an introduction to the discipline of sociology. Simply put, sociology is the scientific study of society and of social life – the organization and operation of society, the social institutions, relationships, norms and cultures that undergird social life and which we, as members of society interact with and respond to in our everyday lives. The promise of sociology is a rethinking of “common sense”; it involves a reexamination of our everyday assumptions of social dynamics and social life. We will therefore explore the structuring of society that contextualizes our lives, how institutions and structures shape individuals who in turn recreate these institutions – in short, we will develop what C. W. Mills called a “sociological imagination”. Sociology is a very broad discipline. We will not be able to cover all topics that are of interest to sociologists in this course. Therefore, in this course we will focus on mastering three broad themes in sociology:

1. sociological imagination and thinking
2. power and structural inequality
3. lived experience in institutions.

Within these broad themes we will examine what sociology entails, the key theoretical perspectives through which social life is analyzed the intersectional operation of power and inequality through race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, nation, (dis)ability, age among others, and how social life is lived through key social institutions like families, workplaces, public space etc.

Blackboard Collaborate Synchronous Lecture Days: Tuesday and Thursday
Blackboard Collaborate Synchronous Lecture Time: 9:30am - 10:45am