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Introduction to Sociology is a
survey of the concepts, methods, and theories scientists use to
study social life. Lecture and course materials explore the
sociological paradigm, major theoretical perspectives, research
strategies, and politics of science. The goal of this course is to
acquire two intersecting forms of knowledge: scientific – competency in the language and logic
sociologists use to describe, explain, and understand social
structure and processes; critical-practical – to see
science as a method for criticizing exploitative-oppressive social
relations and imagining and constructing alternative possibilities.
The course is designed to help students develop a sociological vocabulary and
conceptual inventory; cultivate a critical sociological perspective,
what C. Wright Mills calls "sociological imagination"; recognize the
major social forces and relations that produce and reproduce social
order; identify and comprehend the structural contradictions and
social struggles that surround and involve us; develop a critique of
scientific practice, which involves understanding how scientific
research and social policy are created, who they are
created for, and what purpose they serve.
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