Designated Research Seminars
Students electing the research paper option to complete their senior requirement can do so in the following upper-level seminars:
DESIGNATED RESEARCH SEMINARS (2024-25)
Fall 2024
SOCI BC3920 ADVANCED TOPICS: GENDER AND SEXUALITY
This research and writing-intensive seminar is designed for senior majors with a background and interest in the sociology of gender and sexuality. The goal of the seminar is to facilitate completion of the senior requirement (a 25-30 page paper) based on “hands on” research with original qualitative data. Since the seminar will be restricted to students with prior academic training in the subfield, students will be able to receive intensive research training and guidance through every step of the research process, from choosing a research question to conducting original ethnographic and interview-based research, to analyzing and interpreting one’s findings. The final goal of the course will be the production of an original paper of standard journal-article length. Students who choose to pursue their projects over the course of a second semester will have the option of revisiting their articles further for submission and publications.
SOCI BC3928 ADVANCED TOPICS: POLITICS & SOCIETY
Research and writing intensive seminar on civic and political engagement in contemporary American society, along with critical evaluation of methods used to collect and analyze data on political and social life. Requirements include a final research paper based on independent data collection and analysis. Seminar limited to sociology majors with senior standing (except in exceptional circumstances).
Spring 2025
SOCI UN3901 SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE
Drawing examples from popular music, religion, politics, race, and gender, explores the interpretation, production, and reception of cultural texts and meanings. Topics include aesthetic distinction and taste communities, ideology, power, and resistance; the structure and functions of subcultures; popular culture and high culture; and ethnography and interpretation.
SOCI BC3927 ADVANCED TOPICS: IMMIGRATION & INEQUALITY
Examines processes of immigrant incorporation in the U.S. and other advanced democracies, with a focus on how immigration intersects with categorical inequalities (such as citizenship, social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and religion) in major institutional realms. Under instructor's supervision, students conduct a substantial research project related to course themes.
DESIGNATED RESEARCH SEMINARS (2023-24)
Fall 2023
SOCI BC3927 ADVANCED TOPICS: IMMIGRATION & INEQUALITY
Examines processes of immigrant incorporation in the U.S. and other advanced democracies, with a focus on how immigration intersects with categorical inequalities (such as citizenship, social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and religion) in major institutional realms. Under instructor's supervision, students conduct a substantial research project related to course themes.
Spring 2024
SOCI UN3901 SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE
Drawing examples from popular music, religion, politics, race, and gender, explores the interpretation, production, and reception of cultural texts and meanings. Topics include aesthetic distinction and taste communities, ideology, power, and resistance; the structure and functions of subcultures; popular culture and high culture; and ethnography and interpretation.
SOCI BC3925 ADVANCED TOPICS: LAW & SOCIETY
The course will focus on a single topic within US law-and-society scholarship: either the profession of lawyering or the criminalization of immigration. We will critically examine existing research, and then create our own. With the support of their peers and instructor, students will design and complete substantial independent research projects.
DESIGNATED RESEARCH SEMINARS (2022-23)
Fall 2022
SOCI UN3901 SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE
Drawing examples from popular music, religion, politics, race, and gender, explores the interpretation, production, and reception of cultural texts and meanings. Topics include aesthetic distinction and taste communities, ideology, power, and resistance; the structure and functions of subcultures; popular culture and high culture; and ethnography and interpretation.
SOCI BC3920 ADVANCED TOPICS: GENDER AND SEXUALITY
This research and writing-intensive seminar is designed for senior majors with a background and interest in the sociology of gender and sexuality. The goal of the seminar is to facilitate completion of the senior requirement (a 25-30 page paper) based on “hands on” research with original qualitative data. Since the seminar will be restricted to students with prior academic training in the subfield, students will be able to receive intensive research training and guidance through every step of the research process, from choosing a research question to conducting original ethnographic and interview-based research, to analyzing and interpreting one’s findings. The final goal of the course will be the production of an original paper of standard journal-article length. Students who choose to pursue their projects over the course of a second semester will have the option of revisiting their articles further for submission and publications.
Spring 2023
SOCI BC3928 ADVANCED TOPICS: POLITICS & SOCIETY
Research and writing intensive seminar on civic and political engagement in contemporary American society, along with critical evaluation of methods used to collect and analyze data on political and social life. Requirements include a final research paper based on independent data collection and analysis. Seminar limited to sociology majors with senior standing (except in exceptional circumstances).
SOCI BC3930 ADVANCED TOPICS: RACE & ETHNICITY
Discusses theories of race and ethnicity, distinctions between prejudice, discrimination, and racism, and the intersectionality paradigm. Under instructor’s guidance students design a research proposal, conduct their own fieldwork and write a research paper on a sociological question relating to race and/or ethnicity.
DESIGNATED RESEARCH SEMINARS (2021-22)
Fall 2021
SOCI UN3901 SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE
Drawing examples from popular music, religion, politics, race, and gender, explores the interpretation, production, and reception of cultural texts and meanings. Topics include aesthetic distinction and taste communities, ideology, power, and resistance; the structure and functions of subcultures; popular culture and high culture; and ethnography and interpretation.
SOCI UN3927 ADVANCED TOPICS: IMMIGRATION & INEQUALITY
Examines processes of immigrant incorporation in the U.S. and other advanced democracies, with a focus on how immigration intersects with categorical inequalities (such as citizenship, social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and religion) in major institutional realms. Under instructor's supervision, students conduct a substantial research project related to course themes.
SOCI BC3930 ADVANCED TOPICS: RACE & ETHNICITY
Discusses theories of race and ethnicity, distinctions between prejudice, discrimination, and racism, and the intersectionality paradigm. Under instructor’s guidance students design a research proposal, conduct their own fieldwork and write a research paper on a sociological question relating to race and/or ethnicity.
Spring 2022
SOCI BC3916 SOCIOLOGY OF CROSSOVER CULTURE
The rise of crossover culture: racially segregated markets and genres; organizational environments and the rise of independent labels; the creative process and black-white conflict and connection; the emergence of rock as a "white" genre; civil rights, Black Power, and the politics of soul; cultural borrowing and the postracial ethos.
SOCI BC3928 ADVANCED TOPICS: POLITICS & SOCIETY
Research and writing intensive seminar on civic and political engagement in contemporary American society, along with critical evaluation of methods used to collect and analyze data on political and social life. Requirements include a final research paper based on independent data collection and analysis. Seminar limited to sociology majors with senior standing (except in exceptional circumstances).
SOCI BC3946 GLOBAL HEALTH, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY
What is global health? Where do global health disease priorities come from, and how do the ways that we understand disease shape how we respond to it? What happens when good ideas and good intentions go wrong? This course critically examines the politics of global health and its impact on local institutions and people. Drawing on social science research, the course will address three main themes: 1) how global health priorities are defined and constructed, 2) how our understandings of disease influence our response to that disease, and 3) how efforts to respond to disease intersect with people on the ground, sometimes in unexpected ways. We will examine the global health industry from the vantage point of different institutions and actors – international organizations, governments, local healthcare institutions, healthcare workers, and people living with or at risk of various illnesses like HIV/AIDS, malaria, cancer, and Ebola. A primary goal of this course is to help you to develop skills in critical thinking in relation to global health issues and their impact on society. Students will demonstrate their knowledge through individual writing, class discussion, presentations, and a final research project.
DESIGNATED RESEARCH SEMINARS (2020-21)
Fall 2020
SOCI BC3920 ADVANCED TOPICS: GENDER & SEXUALITY
This research and writing-intensive seminar is designed for senior majors with a background and interest in the sociology of gender and sexuality. The goal of the seminar is to facilitate completion of the senior requirement (a 25-30 page paper) based on “hands on” research with original qualitative data. Since the seminar will be restricted to students with prior academic training in the subfield, students will be able to receive intensive research training and guidance through every step of the research process, from choosing a research question to conducting original ethnographic and interview-based research, to analyzing and interpreting one’s findings. The final goal of the course will be the production of an original paper of standard journal-article length. Students who choose to pursue their projects over the course of a second semester will have the option of revisiting their articles further for submission and publications.
SOCI BC3946 GLOBAL HEALTH, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY
What is global health? Where do global health disease priorities come from, and how do the ways that we understand disease shape how we respond to it? What happens when good ideas and good intentions go wrong? This course critically examines the politics of global health and its impact on local institutions and people. Drawing on social science research, the course will address three main themes: 1) how global health priorities are defined and constructed, 2) how our understandings of disease influence our response to that disease, and 3) how efforts to respond to disease intersect with people on the ground, sometimes in unexpected ways. We will examine the global health industry from the vantage point of different institutions and actors – international organizations, governments, local healthcare institutions, healthcare workers, and people living with or at risk of various illnesses like HIV/AIDS, malaria, cancer, and Ebola. A primary goal of this course is to help you to develop skills in critical thinking in relation to global health issues and their impact on society. Students will demonstrate their knowledge through individual writing, class discussion, presentations, and a final research project.
Spring 2021
SOCI BC3901 SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE
Drawing examples from popular music, religion, politics, race and gender, explores the interpretation, production, and reception of cultural texts and meanings. Topics include aesthetic distinction and taste communities, ideology, power and resistance; the structure and functions of subcultures; popular culture and high culture; and ethnography and interpretation.
SOCI BC3925 ADVANCED TOPICS: RACE & ETHNICITY
Discusses theories of race and ethnicity, distinctions between prejudice, discrimination, and racism, and the intersectionality paradigm. Under instructor’s guidance students design a research proposal, conduct their own fieldwork and write a research paper on a sociological question relating to race and/or ethnicity.
DESIGNATED RESEARCH SEMINARS (2019-20)
Fall 2019
SOCI BC3925 ADVANCED TOPICS: LAW & SOCIETY
Law creates order. And yet, outlaws or lawbreakers are everywhere. Students will learn to ask and answer questions about living law, understanding that it involves law-followers and law-breakers. Students will read and discuss sociological investigations of the law and perform their own research into a significant question about law-in-action.
SOCI BC3930 ADVANCED TOPICS: RACE & ETHNICITY
Discusses theories of race and ethnicity, distinctions between prejudice, discrimination, and racism, and the intersectionality paradigm. Under instructor’s guidance students design a research proposal, conduct their own fieldwork and write a research paper on a sociological question relating to race and/or ethnicity.
Spring 2020
SOCI BC3901 SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE
Drawing examples from popular music, religion, politics, race and gender, explores the interpretation, production, and reception of cultural texts and meanings. Topics include aesthetic distinction and taste communities, ideology, power and resistance; the structure and functions of subcultures; popular culture and high culture; and ethnography and interpretation.
DESIGNATED RESEARCH SEMINARS (2018-19)
Fall 2018
SOCI BC3920 ADVANCED TOPICS: GENDER & SEXUALITY
This research and writing-intensive seminar is designed for senior majors with a background and interest in the sociology of gender and sexuality. The goal of the seminar is to facilitate completion of the senior requirement (a 25-30 page paper) based on “hands on” research with original qualitative data. Since the seminar will be restricted to students with prior academic training in the subfield, students will be able to receive intensive research training and guidance through every step of the research process, from choosing a research question to conducting original ethnographic and interview-based research, to analyzing and interpreting one’s findings. The final goal of the course will be the production of an original paper of standard journal-article length. Students who choose to pursue their projects over the course of a second semester will have the option of revisiting their articles further for submission and publications.
SOCI BC3925 ADVANCED TOPICS: LAW & SOCIETY
Law creates order. And yet, outlaws or lawbreakers are everywhere. Students will learn to ask and answer questions about living law, understanding that it involves law-followers and law-breakers. Students will read and discuss sociological investigations of the law and perform their own research into a significant question about law-in-action.
Spring 2019
SOCI BC3907 COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Examines how changes in the economy, racial composition, and class relations affect community life--how it is created, changed and sometimes lost--with a specific focus on the local urban context. Student research projects will address how contemporary forces such as neoliberalization, gentrification and tourism impact a community's social fabric.
SOCI BC3930 ADVANCED TOPICS: RACE & ETHNICITY
Discusses theories of race and ethnicity, distinctions between prejudice, discrimination, and racism, and the intersectionality paradigm. Under instructor’s guidance students design a research proposal, conduct their own fieldwork and write a research paper on a sociological question relating to race and/or ethnicity.
DESIGNATED RESEARCH SEMINARS (2017-18)
Fall 2017
SOCI UN3901 SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE
Drawing examples from popular music, religion, politics, race, and gender, explores the interpretation, production, and reception of cultural texts and meanings. Topics include aesthetic distinction and taste communities, ideology, power, and resistance; the structure and functions of subcultures; popular culture and high culture; and ethnography and interpretation.
URBS UN3545.001 THE SHAPING OF THE MODERN CITY: URBAN INEQUALITY (Only Prof. Becher's section of the course counts as a designated research seminar.)
This course will explore the origins and experiences of US urban inequalities from the 1970s to the present. We will examine social-science research about race, class, and cultural segration; about living and laboring in unequal cities; and about gentrification and development. Students will read and discuss existing research but will also develop their own skills and experience in doing research. During the semester, students will participate in class discussions, write short reading-reaction memos, and produce and present an original research paper.
Spring 2018
SOCI UN3901 SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE
Drawing examples from popular music, religion, politics, race, and gender, explores the interpretation, production, and reception of cultural texts and meanings. Topics include aesthetic distinction and taste communities, ideology, power, and resistance; the structure and functions of subcultures; popular culture and high culture; and ethnography and interpretation.
SOCI BC3907 COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Examines how changes in the economy, racial composition, and class relations affect community life-how it is created, changed and sometimes lost-with a specific focus on the local urban context. Student research projects will address how contemporary forces such as neoliberalization, gentrification and tourism impact a community's social fabric.
SOCI BC3920 ADVANCED TOPICS: GENDER & SEXUALITY
This research and writing-intensive seminar is designed for senior majors with a background and interest in the sociology of gender and sexuality. The goal of the seminar is to facilitate completion of the senior requirement (a 25-30 page paper) based on “hands on” research with original qualitative data. Students will receive intensive research training and guidance through every step of the research process, from choosing a research question to conducting original ethnographic and interview-based research, to analyzing and interpreting one’s findings. The final goal of the course will be the production of an original paper of standard journal-article length.
SOCI BC3930 ADVANCED TOPICS: RACE AND ETHNICITY
Discusses theories of race and ethnicity, distinctions between prejudice, discrimination, and racism, and the intersectionality paradigm. Under instructor's guidance students design a research proposal, conduct their own fieldwork and write a research paper on a sociological question relating to race and/or ethnicity.