SOC 105 Individual, Group and Society:  An Introduction to Sociology (3 Credits)

Mon. & Wed., 11:00AM-12:15PM
Instructor: Erela Portugaly, PhD

Mon. & Wed., 2:00AM-3:15PM 
Instructor: Prof. Gwendolyn Dordick

Mon. & Wed., 5:00PM-6:15PM 
Instructor: Nicole Sarette

Tues. & Thurs., 9:30AM-11:30AM 
Instructor: Jennifer Sloan

Tues. & Thurs., 5:00PM-6:15PM 
Instructor: Talha Issevenler, PhD

Friday, 9:00AM-11:30AM 
Instructor: Edward Silver, PhD

Friday, 12:00PM-2:30PM,
Instructor: Colin Ashley

Note: All Sections are IN-PERSON

The language of sociology, the sociological perspective, and basic areas of sociological inquiry. Topics include: culture, socialization, self and society, social stratification and social class, the family, religion, policy, community organization, collective behavior, mass culture, social order and social change.

This course fulfills a general education requirement and is required for Sociology majors and minors.

SOC 231 Sociological Statistics / ECO 20150 Principles of Statistics (4 Credits)

Tues. & Fri., 12:30PM-1:45PM | Hybrid Asynchronous, with in-person classes and additional asynchronous work
Instructor: Prof. James Biles

Fri., 9:00PM-11:45PM | Hybrid Asynchronous, with in-person classes and additional asynchronous work
Instructor: Shu-Hao Chang

An introduction to statistical theory and techniques as utilized by sociologists. This course covers descriptive and inferential statistics.

No prerequisite – please contact Prof. Gwen Dordick, Ms. Bowman, or Powell School advisor, if needed. Credit given for only one of the following courses: SSC 31100, SOC 23100, ECO 20150, PSY 21500.

This course fulfills a general education requirement.

SOC 232 Methods and Techniques of Sociological Research (4 Credits)

Mon. & Wed., 11:00AM-12:15PM
Instructor: Suleyma Vergara-Tapia

Mon. & Wed., 5:00PM-6:15PM
Instructor: Chang Liu

Tues. & Thurs., 11:00AM-12:15PM
Instructor: Prof. Katherine Chen

Note: ALL sections are Hybrid Asynchronous with in-person classes and additional asynchronous work. ZERO TEXTBOOK COST.

The meaning and relevance of “the Scientific Method” as a canon guiding the logic of research in sociology. Historical perspective and method of social research in the recent past. Survey research, sampling, questionnaire construction analysis, and hypothesis- testing; community study, field observation, unstructured interviewing, participant observation, control of bias.

This 4-credit course requires additional work outside of class, including flipped lectures, readings, and assignments.

This course is REQUIRED for all sociology majors.

SOC 237 Foundations of Sociological Theory (4 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 6:30PM-7:45PM
Instructor: Prof. Jack Levinson

Tues. & Thurs., 11:00AM-12:15PM
Instructor: Prof. Maritsa Poros

Note: ALL sections are Hybrid Asynchronous with in-person classes and additional asynchronous work. ZERO TEXTBOOK COST.

The roots of modern sociology in the ideas of nineteenth and early twentieth century theorists, such as Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, Veblen and Cooley, with emphasis on the intellectual and social context and current relevance of the concepts and propositions they developed. This 4-credit course requires additional work outside of class, including flipped lectures, readings, and assignments.

This course is REQUIRED for all sociology majors.

SOC 244 Principles of Social Work (3 Credits)

Tues. & Thurs., 5:00PM-6:15PM | In-Person
Instructor: Siobhan Pokorney, L.C.S.W. and Ph.D

Introduction to principles of group work, case work, and community action. Primarily designed for those planning a career in Social Work.

SOC 24800 Deviance (3 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 6:30PM-7:45PM | In-Person
Instructor: Ian Heller, J.D.

This course critically considers how some actions or groups come to be understood and shaped as “deviant”. It situates such labels of deviance within their broader historical and social context and the resulting consequences of those labels for individuals and society more broadly.

SOC 251 Urban Sociology (3 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 12:30PM-1:45PM | In-Person
Instructor: Prof. Gwendolyn Dordick

Nature and origins of the modern city, and of community life within and in relation to the metropolis. Urbanization as a process. Types of cities and urban communities. The changing nature of contemporary cities, urban development and the dilemmas of growth.

SOC 27000 Sociology of Health and Illness (3 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 5:00PM-6:15PM | In-Person
Instructor: Prof. Jack Levinson

This course examines health, illness, disability, and medicine from a social perspective. Topics may include: epidemiology, historical transitions in population health, social and cultural analysis of health and disease, medicine as profession and work practice, health policy, and the nature and role of health-related knowledge in professional and popular contexts.

This course counts as a required or elective course for the health justice minor.

SOC 31197 / PSY 311-87: Cults, Authoritarian and New Religious Movements: Charisma and Domination (3 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 3:30PM-4:45PM | In-Person
Instructor: Edward Silver, Ph.D

Why do people join cults? Why are authoritarian leaders so compelling to so many people? How do “charismatic” leaders and collectives convince members to give up control over their lives, including their finances and intimate relationships? This course explores popular, self-help, religious, and political movements through the lenses of sociological and psychological theories. Working from specific case studies, we examine research on cults and authoritarian movements, and develop theoretical frameworks that will help us to understand the personal, structural, and emotional factors that draw people to such movements. Case studies include the Church of Scientology, the People’s Temple, QAnon, and the Sullivanians, a psychoanalytic cult hiding in plain sight in Manhattan’s Upper West Side during the 1970s and 1980s.

SOC 31920 Science and Society (3 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 12:30PM-1:45PM | In-Person
Instructor: Prof. Larry Au

This course examines the interconnections between science and society, and how social values are embedded and encoded in the tools and knowledge scientists use and produce, with implications for everyday lives and communities. We examine examples of knowledge production and its impacts on society in advances in neuroscience, environmental science, genomics, aerospace engineering, stem cell research, and more.

Note: this course was previously titled Science, Technology, and Society.

** NEW COURSE**
SOC 31958 Using Online Mapping Tools for Social Analysis (3 Credits)

Tues. & Thurs., 9:30AM-10:45AM
Instructor: Prof. James Biles

Mapping is a powerful way of analyzing and displaying data. With online mapping platforms, users can access and analyze social data collected by government agencies and private organizations. Using such publicly  accessible data, researchers can examine, for example, demographic  patterns and trends, housing and homelessness, educational attainment and outcomes, income, employment and poverty, and health outcomes and  access to medical care. This course introduces how to use open access online mapping platforms such as Social Explorer, PolicyMap, the Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool, and Data2Go.NYC to  assess housing vulnerability and segregation, gender inequality, social  mobility, food security, health disparities, and environmental racism within US neighborhoods and communities. Although this course primarily focuses upon New York City and other large US metropolitan areas, urban-rural disparities in quality of life and social conditions will also be considered. Although no software is required, students need access to a laptop or tablet to complete required assignments.

SOC 31996: Capitalism (3 Credits)

Tues. & Thurs., 3:30PM-4:45PM | In-Person
Instructor: Prof. Ramona Hernandez

This course will explore the origins and development of capitalism as a social system composed of vertical and horizontal class relationships, with an emphasis on the interrelationship between white supremacy and working-class organization. Readings will include seminal contributions from sociology, political science, labor history, and economics, e.g. Karl Marx, W.E.B. Du Bois, Francis Fox Piven, and Robert Brenner.

SOC 32200 Poverty and Inequality (3 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 3:30PM-4:45PM | In-Person
Instructor: Yana Kucheva

This course examines the nature of inequality in the contemporary U.S. with some reference to other times and places. Students are introduced to key scientific breakthroughs that are foundational to our current understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty.

** NEW COURSE **
SOC 327 Special Topics in Sociology of Education: Institutions, Power, and Social Mobility through Education (3 Credits)

Tues. & Thurs., 2:00PM-3:15AM | In-Person
Instructor: Jennifer Sloan

Using a sociological lens, this class examines how educational systems can maintain, or challenge, structures of inequality, power, and privilege in society. We focus on how specific educational institutions, such as CUNY, New York City Public Schools, and competing charter and private schools, can promote social mobility for current and future generations. To understand how these efforts arose, we also consider these institutions’ histories, including CUNY’s origins with free tuition and student-led activism around curriculum (e.g., CCNY’s Black Studies Department). Analyses include how race, class, and gender impact opportunities to pursue social mobility through education.

SOC 33000 / PSY 31194 Special Topics in Science, Knowledge, and Technology: Engineering Values: Social Issues in Science and Technology (3 Credits)

Tues. & Thurs., 6:30PM-7:45PM | In-Person
Instructor: Elise Li Zheng, Ph.D

Science and engineering have profoundly transformed societies. Yet technological progress is not value-neutral: design choices  can reinforce inequality, inflict new harms, and undercut justice, collective responsibility, and the public good. However, design can also increase inclusivity and reinforce desired values, allowing individuals and communities to thrive. Drawing on critical social theory, ethics, and value-sensitive design, we examine how technologies interact with human needs, institutions, and power structures. Starting from analyzing problems in science and technology with a sociological lens, we then explore how justice, integrity, solidarity, care, and other values can be incorporated into engineering and technological practices. Students will develop a final concept or prototype that addresses a contemporary sociotechnical challenge, or draft a policy project for stakeholders to propose change.

SOC 33200/PSY 31195: Special Topics in Health and Mental Health: Sociology of Mental Health (3 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 2:00PM-3:15PM | In-Person

Instructor: Erela Portugaly, PhD

What is mental illness? Is it different from mental health? Is it a “real” medical condition or a personality trait? Can psychiatry “fix” it, and should we consider other approaches? We will ask – and attempt to answer – these and other questions about mental illness, mental health, and disability. Together, we will investigate the links between mental illness and mental health as they intersect with social categories such as race, gender, class and sexuality. Merging insights from Medical Sociology, Critical Race Theory, Feminist / Queer Theory, and Disability Studies, we explore the entanglements between our psychic lives and social worlds.

Note: This course was previously SOC 31905; if you have already earned credit for SOC 31905 or PSY 31195, please take another course.

SOC 332 Special Topics in Health and Mental Health / PSY 31159 Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Medicine: Ethical Issues in the Future of Health (3 Credits)

Tues. & Thurs., 3:30PM-4:45PM | In-Person
Instructor: Elise Li Zheng, Ph.D.

Rapidly developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing healthcare possibilities through Big Data, advanced algorithms and computing power. Proponents of AI promise that this technology will help treat diseases, support more informed decisions, and enhance care that improves people’s physical and mental health. However, ethical challenges around personal privacy, autonomy, and data justice raise questions about AI use and threats to human well-being. This class introduces the field of AI ethics in health and healthcare and uses case studies to debate the risks and benefits of using AI, helping students analyze its role in healthcare.

SOC 334 Special Topics in Race and Ethnicity: Race, Class, and Power / BLST 31155 Race, Class, and Power (3 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 11:00AM-12:15PM | In-Person
Instructor: Colin Ashley

How are racial and class hierarchies constructed and sustained, and how do these enable exploitation? This class explores the concepts of race and class in relationship to power through Racial Capitalism, which delves into the interlocking and intersectional workings of race and class. This course covers common sociological understandings of Race, Class, and Power while tackling the complexity, origins, and usages of the more specific category of analysis that is Racial Capitalism. We compare the US and other locales to understand how Racial Capitalism operates locally and globally.

Note: If you have already earned credit for SOC 31112 or BLST 31155 Race, Class, and Power in a previous semester, please do not take this class.

SOC 335 Topics in Culture and Media /MCA 344 Journalism and Society: Covering Power (3 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 9:30AM-10:45AM | In-Person
Instructor: Ekim Killic

Journalism is often referred to as the fourth estate, highlighting its role as a watchdog over both public and private power. This course examines how journalism intersects with political and institutional power structures while exploring the sociology of journalism. We will analyze how journalistic practices and discourse are shaped by multiple layers of power, the social patterns that emerge among journalists, and how these practices influence public perceptions of society, politics, and journalism itself—especially in the context of contemporary concerns such as fact-checking, fake news, and conflicting narratives. Students will gain an understanding of journalism’s role in covering key societal issues, including politics, immigration, the economy, race, education, criminal justice, housing, the environment, and climate change. 3 credits.

Note: If you have already earned credit for this course under its original course number SOC 31156, please take another course. This class is cross-listed with MCA 344 Journalism and Society: Covering Power.

SOC 33700 Special Topics in Latin American and Latino/a/x Studies /LALS 396 Gender, Technology and Inequality: From Maquilas to Ex-Machinas (3 Credits)

Tues. & Thurs., 11:00AM-12:15PM | In-Person

Instructor: Norma Fuentes-Mayorga

This course examines the work experiences of immigrant women in the U.S. and of other women in nations of Latin America and the Global South, with a focus on how their participation in digital economies shape new forms of development, migration and the racialization of labor. Questions guiding this course include: What kinds of labor and workers drive new digital economies? How do industrial jobs in “maquilas” or factories owned by international capitalists in developing nations, like the Dominican Republic, Mexico, or the Philippines, affect the lives of women and their eventual migration elsewhere? What technological innovations and mechanisms lead women to find jobs in data processing plants, call centers, or virtual sex work? This course familiarizes students with studies on economic development and international migration, gender and feminist thought in AI and Cybernetics, and philosophies of technology and communication. Students will learn to conduct critical analysis of how technological development impacts the lives and status of women, especially among Latinas and Asians, who work as invisible laborers at the bottom rung of new, digital economies.

SOC 33700 Special Topics in Latin American and Latino/a/x Studies / LALS 396 Migration, Gender and Health (3 Credits)

Tues., 12:30PM-1:45PM In-Person and
Fri., 12:30PM-1:45PM Online Synchronous
Instructor: Prof. Iris Lopez
Hybrid Synchronous

“Sin salud no hay esperanza”  (Without health there is no hope), proverb

In an era of neoliberalism, this course explores how people, particularly women, men, and youth, experience health problems that are interrelated to migration and poverty. We will place health risks within an intersectional transnational context, examining the socio-economic, political, and cultural influences on particular social problems and health outcomes. We critique the political discourse on health and how they construct racialized, sexualized others. We also study how health promotion and other programs that aim to design culturally sensitive interventions for migrant health problems and how communities and individuals address their own health risks.

SOC 37800 / BIO 37800 Science of Sex and Gender (3 Credits)

Tues. & Thurs., 9:30AM-10:45AM | In-Person
Instructor: Prof. Chris Li

This course will explore biological and sociological understandings of sex and gender. From the biological viewpoint, the course will explore the interactions among genes on the Y chromosome with genes on other chromosomes as determinants of biological sex. Sociologically, the course will investigate the social construction of gender and how gendered identities shape everyday life, including at the intersection of sex and gender (e.g., intersex and trans expressions of sex and gender).

Note: If you received credit for SOC 31910 or BIO 31910, please take another course.

SOC 38211 Drugs and Society (3 Credits)

Mon. & Weds., 2:00PM-3:15PM | In-Person
Instructor: Prof. Jack Levinson

This course examines psychoactive drug use in social and historical context, and includes both illegal and medical drug use. Topics may include: varying patterns of use, addiction and treatment, epidemiology, drug control policy and enforcement, drug markets, prescribing practice, and very basic pharmacology (how drugs work in the body).