Cover image above: Christina Kekka on Flickr (cc)

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the discipline of Sociology. At its most basic, sociology is the study of society and social life: how societies are organized, the social institutions, cultures, and norms that structure our social worlds and daily lives, and often interact with in a taken for granted fashion. Sociology encourages us to re-think “common sense,” and to see the familiar through new eyes as something strange and different. Together we will explore the social structures that provide the context for our lives, and critically examine the social institutions and systems of power that shape our worlds. In the process, we will develop what has been called “sociological imagination” or, more recently, “sociological curiosity,” a way of asking questions about the world around us that can lead to new insights and understands.

Societies are very complex, and so, unsurprisingly, sociology is a very broad discipline. It is not possible to cover all aspects of sociology in one course. We will focus on a few specific elements of sociology that provide a basis for understanding the discipline and enable you to think critically about the world around them: 1) sociological imagination and asking questions, 2) power and structural inequality, and 3) selected social institutions. Within each area of focus, we will explore key sociological perspectives and analysis, apply these perspectives to our lives and worlds, and develop the ability to think critically about power and the institutions that shape our lives.

Course Learning Outcomes

In this class, you will learn to

1. Examine social life beyond your own experience, recognize social and cultural patterns and processes, and ask new questions about the contexts that shape daily life: i.e. develop a “sociology imagination”
2. Understand basic sociological concepts and theories, and apply them to real world lived experiences
3. Strengthen critical thinking and analytical skills through reading, writing, and integrating concepts from the course materials into analyses of your own life and surrounding world

OER Statement

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This course website contains copyrighted materials available only for your personal, noncommercial educational and scholarly use. This site is used in accordance with the fair use provision, Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act where allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Every effort has been made to provide attribution of copyrighted content. If you wish to use any copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain expressed permission from the copyright owner. If you are the owner of any copyrighted material that appears on this site and believe the use of any such material does not constitute “fair use”, please contact Professor Naomi Braine to have the content removed, if proven necessary.

This open educational resource was created as part of the CUNY and SUNY 2017-2024 Open Educational Resources Initiatives. Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NY State Legislature awarded CUNY and SUNY $16 million to implement open educational resources to develop, enhance and institutionalize new and ongoing open educational resources across both universities.

Special thanks to the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs, the CUNY Office of Library Services, Brooklyn College Administration and Professor Frans Albarillo, Coordinator, Brooklyn College Open Educational Resources Initiative. Site design and formatting by Colin McDonald, OER Developer.