Sociology 441: Stratification

Sociology 441 is a basic overview course on the sociology of inequality. We address a wide variety of issues in the field and so jump rather quickly from one topic to another. There are, however, a number of underlying themes that will appear repeatedly in different topics. You need to be aware of these themes and recognize how they are similar from one topic to another.

Prerequisites: Junior standing. 6 credits of sociology or permission of department (which is usually granted with 6 credits of suitable social science background).

• Topics:
  • Individual Mobility,
  • The structure of inequality:
  • Income inequality,
  • Poverty and welfare,
  • Working class resistance, and
  • Elites.
• Objectives:
  • Causal explanations,
  • evidence, and
  • micro/macro distinctions.
• Reading discussion questions (10%)
• Paper (35%)
• Exams:   a midterm (20%) and a final (cumulative) (35%)
• Schedule
• List of figures