Course 2021-2022 a.y.

Introduction

KEY CONCEPTS
Power, Authority, and Class
Socialization, Kinship, and Community
Groups and Networks

MULTIDIMENSIONAL INEQUALITIES
Social Stratification & Inequality
Global Inequalities
Public Health & Epidemics

ECONOMIC & POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY
The Economy as an Instituted Process
Comparative Economic Systems
The State and its Critics
Welfare States in Comparative Perspective

GLOBALIZATION
Globalization & Challenges to the State
A world of crises
Globalization & Political Transformations
The Future of States and Globalization

• Think sociologically about world phenomena.
• Differentiate sociological thinking from other disciplines.
• Use conceptual tools from sociology to explain social, political and economic dynamics.

• Apply sociological reasoning and sociological tools so that they can formulate broader or fuller explanations for social phenomena, compared to those offered by other social science disciplines.
• Interpret data in ways that problematize overly simple solutions and rely on strong explanatory frameworks.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Individual assignments

Students may elect to write a short paper as an individual assignment (see Assessment Methods).

Two take-home assignments (1/3 of final grade each)

The two take-home essay-style assignments aim to assess students’ ability to apply the analytical tools presented during the course, to develop sociological explanations for different phenomena, and to interpret major social changes in a rigorous way. The questions will draw on the material/theories covered in classes and will invite students to develop arguments based on their own reading and any relevant empirical evidence (no independent data analysis is expected, but it can be employed). The emphasis should be on developing an argument that directly engages with the essay topic; further guidance and instructions to be offered during class 1.

The maximum word limit will be 1,200 words per question (no minimum), excluding references. You can include figures or tables, if relevant to your argument. Academic-style referencing is expected, as appropriate. All assignment topics are available to you via Blackboard (under “assessment”).

Final exam (1/3 of final grade)

The final exam will last two hours. It will provide two essay options drawing on classes 15-18, from which you must answer one.

Optional assignment (0-1 extra point – you can choose only one of the two options below)

Option 1: Short class presentation

Either individually or in a group of two, you will select one of the “discussion pieces” noted in the reading lists of some classes (see below) and will kick-off a class discussion on the topic.

Option 2: Short assignment

Students may elect to write a short assignment on the topic of inequality to boost their grades. This will take the form of a hypothetical ‘explainer’ blog post for a policy think tank. Example topics include: ‘Changing inequality patterns in Italy — here is what you need to know,’ ‘The gender pay gap in Turkey — here is what you need to know,’ ‘The impact of the 2015 refugee inflows on wages in Germany — here is what you need to know’…

Final written exam (100%)

The final exam includes two types of questions:

• 16 multiple choice questions.
• 2 essay-style questions (7 points each).

The questions cover all topics of the course. Please see mandatory readings and material covered in the lectures.

Students are provided with a selection of readings on the course Bboard site.

First part

What is Sociology?

Sociological perspectives.

Asking and answering sociological questions.

Research methods.

Social stratification and its dimensions.

Occupations and occupational change.

Education

Educational inequality

Second part:

Returns to education

Race, Ethnicity and Migration

Values, norms and socialization

Gender and Sexuality

Crime and deviance

Families and intimate relationships

The life course

• Autonomously and critically search, and understand, sociological research on a wide range of topics, with diverse methodological approaches, linking this research to wider knowledge across the spectrum of social sciences.

• Cast sociological explanatory hypotheses on a wide range of social phenomena, in particular concerning policy-relevant issues, and to sketch research designs useful to test such hypotheses.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

• Interactive class activities: in almost every lecture there are interactive class activties, such as role playing, puzzles to be solved in group, designing online surveys.

Students can choose between two options: 

1. A written exam or two partial exams (each with a 2/5 weight towards the overall grade), plus a short paper, written individually or together with another student (with a 1/5 weight towards the overall grade). 
2. A written exam, either taken through two partial exams (each with a 1/2 weight towards the overall grade) or one general exam (with a 100% weight towards the overall grade). 

• Exams: written exams include both short answers and essay-style questions. The questions cover theory, and interpretation of the results of applied research. The exam covers all topics of the course. Material covered in the lectures, in the text book and other set readings may be included in the exam. 

• Book: A. GIDDENS, P.W. SUTTON, Sociology,  Polity, 8th Edition.
• Readings: a set of readings and lecture slides are available on Bboard.