Social Theory: Past and Present

Social theory asks how modern society became what it is and what conceptual tools we have to make sense of it, tracing the conversation from Marx, Nietzsche, Weber, and Durkheim through Goffman and Bourdieu into Foucault, systems theory, and beyond. You'll read primary texts each week, write weekly reports that force you to actually wrestle with the arguments, and sit a midterm and final. It pairs naturally with the department's political theory and sociology offerings, giving you the theoretical vocabulary that more applied POLS courses on the state, ideology, and power tend to assume you already have.