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- Soc 308 Social Demography
- Soc 310 Political Sociology
- Soc 314 Economic Sociology
- Soc 316 Historical and Comparative Sociology
- Soc 318 Social Movements and Collective Action
- Soc 320 Foundations of Social Psychology
- Soc 322 Social Interaction, Social Structure, and Social Exchange
- Soc 340 Social Stratification
- Soc 342B Gender and Social Structure
- Soc 345 Comparative Race and Ethnic Relations
- Soc 360 Foundations of Organizational Sociology
- Soc 363A Organizational Theory
The Stanford Sociology Doctoral Program: Approved Survey Courses 2007-2008
Students must complete four broad survey courses to demonstrate command of a range of sociological literatures. Students should consult with their adviser to ensure that the combination of courses chosen to meet this requirement exhibits sufficient breadth.
The following courses fulfill the survey course requirement:
Please note: Class offerings rotate. Not all approved survey courses are offered every year. Some courses are offered occasionally or every other year. Doctoral students in the department must take required courses for a letter grade if available and are expected to earn a grade of ‘B+’ in each course. Any grade of ‘B’ or below is considered to be less than satisfactory. No substitutions for the approved courses will be allowed.
Survey Course Decriptions
SOC 308. Social Demography
Topics: models of fertility behavior, migration models, stable population theory, life table analysis, data sources, and measurement problems. How population behavior affects social processes, and how social processes influence population dynamics. Recommended: sociological research methods; basic regression
analysis and log linear models.
SOC 310. Political Sociology
Theory and research on the relationship between social structure and politics. Social foundations of political order, the generation and transformation of ideologies and political identities, social origins of revolutionary movements, and social consequences of political revolution. Prerequisite: doctoral student.
SOC 314. Economic Sociology
Classical and contemporary literature covering the sociological approach to markets and the economy, and comparing it to other disciplines. Topics: consumption, labor, professions, industrial organization, and the varieties of capitalism; historical and comparative perspectives on market and non-market provision of goods and services, and on transitions among economic systems. The relative impact of culture, institutions, norms, social networks, technology, and material conditions. Prerequisite: doctoral student status or consent of instructor.
SOC 316. Historical and Comparative Sociology
Theory and research on macro-historical changes of sociological significance such as the rise of capitalism, the causes and consequences of revolutions, and the formation of the modern nation state and global world system. Methodological issues in historical and comparative sociology.
SOC 318. Social Movements and Collective Action
Topics: causes, dynamics, and outcomes of social movements; organizational dimensions of collective action; and causes and consequences of individual activism.
SOC 320. Foundations of Social Psychology
Major theoretical perspectives, and their assumptions and problems, in interpersonal processes and social psychology. Techniques of investigation and methodological issues. Perspectives: symbolic interaction, social structure and personality, and cognitive and group processes.
SOC 322. Social Interaction, Social Structure, and Social Exchange
Current theory and research on topics such as social cognition and identity, group processes, bargaining and negotiation, social justice, social dilemmas and exchange, and networks and collective action. The social ex-change approach.
SOC 340. Social Stratification
Classical and contemporary approaches to the unequal distribution of goods, status, and power. Modern analytic models of the effects of social contact, cultural capital, family background, and luck in producing inequality. The role of education in stratifica-tion. The causes and consequences of inequality by race and gender. The structure of social classes, status groupings, and prestige hierarchies in various societies. Labor markets and their role in inequality. The implications of inequality for individual lifestyles. The rise of the new class, the underclass, and other emerging forms of stratification.
SOC 342B. Gender and Social Structure
The role of gender in structuring contemporary life. Social forces affecting gender at the psychologi-cal, interactional, and structural levels. Gender inequality in labor markets, education, the household, and other institutions. Theories and research literature.
SOC 345. Seminar in Comparative Race and Ethnic Relations
Restricted to doctoral students. Factors that create, maintain, and diminish the salience of race and ethnic boundaries. Theoretical debates surrounding the emergence, persistence, and change in racial and ethnic boundaries, nationalism and sovereignty, and mobilization. Empirical evidence on race and ethnic tensions, conflict, and warfare. The relationship between democracy, immigration, and diversity.
360. Foundations of Organizational Sociology
Core problems in the sociology of organizations, main theoretical perspectives, and research programs directed at evaluating these perspectives.
SOC 363A. Seminar on Organizational Theory
(Same as EDUC 375A.) The social science literature on organizations assessed through consideration of the major theoretical traditions and lines of research predominant in the field.