SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

SOC 300

A sociological examination of race, class, gender and sexuality - four central axes of social stratification, identity and experience that have real consequences in people's lives, the opportunities they have, and the challenges they face. Topics include sociological perspectives on how identities and differences are socially constructed and reproduced, and how these categories manifest themselves in inequities in institutions such as schools, workplaces, housing, and the law.

C&ESOC/SOC 923

Advanced study of current research in social stratification, e.g., historical and comparative studies of inequality; mathematical and econometric modeling of mobility and achievement processes; demographic approaches to power and inequality.

SOC 550

An introduction to the sociological study of racial orders in comparative and historical perspective. As W.E.B. Du Bois famously wrote, "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line," but as he also insisted, the social meaning of race is shaped by specific historical and economic contexts. Half of the content focuses on the American experience, especially over the last 50 years, exploring historical and contemporary meanings of race in America, and how racial dynamics have changed (and not changed) across time. The other half continues to explore the American experience, but now using a comparative historical approach, discussing patterns of racial inequality and social change in South Africa and Brazil, both to understand how these issues have played out in those contexts, and to gain new insights into our experiences in the United States.

GEN&WS 331

Topics in the feminist study of inequality and difference based on class, gender and race/ethnicity, with a social science emphasis.

ELPA 863

Critically examines race and class inequality in education, including the importance of race and class at multiple levels of analysis, including the classroom and school, as well as the family, neighborhood, and community.