Course Description:
This is a course on the theories that underpin the large and, by today, very complex discipline called sociology. This is the flagship course on theory in the Department of Sociology at Rutgers. It is designed specifically for third-year students majoring in sociology. It is also appropriate for students in the other social sciences as well as history and other humanities. It is a survey course, with an emphasis on a close reading and a critical evaluation of the giants on whose shoulders much of today’s social science stands. We start with the “classics” of the field—Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. Then we proceed to a set of classes devoted to some of the later—albeit in no way less important—“gurus.” This is an intense and rewarding class that also places great emphasis on student writing.
