SOCIOLOGY

At the end of the course students should be able to navigate through different sociological perspectives, link and combine them properly, and get a sense of how sociological research works. Generally speaking, this course will allow students to (-) improve their critical thinking; (-) understand sociology as a scientific discipline; (-) describe the main theoretical and empirical issues within both classical and contemporary sociology; (-) be well-acquainted with a variety of sociological imaginations; (-) be prepared to attend other, more advanced or specific, sociological courses; (-) hopefully, begin to look at social reality anew and have some epiphanies about its construction.

No prerequisites are required for this class.

Knowledge and understanding: This course will provide key theoretical and empirical tools to understand sociology, its scope, and its importance. Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to make the most out of the opportunity of seeing social reality sociologically, getting familiar with a broadly applicable sociological literacy that cuts across many substantive subfields. Making judgments: Students will have the means for analyzing the history of sociological thought and competently express their views on it. They will also demonstrate a thorough understanding of some of the major sociological paradigms. Communications Skills: Sociological concepts, appropriate terminology, and technical terms will be carefully investigated. Students’ communicative skills will be enhanced, especially in terms of their ability to deliver scientific and academic presentations. Learning skills: This course will allow students to improve their critical reasoning skills and their ability to think through complex sociological problems. Furthermore, students will articulate their own views on contemporary sociological issues.

Welcome to our class on “Sociology”! This course is designed to provide a guide to the foundations of sociology as a distinct scientific discipline, analyzing the most influential literature in the field and offering a broad overview of the history of sociological thought. Sociology’s subject matter is quite diverse, its scope and method controversial: similar to an archipelago, an octopus, or a kaleidoscope, it does not have a hegemonic paradigm (and this could be a blessing in disguise). In this view, we will assume that ‘sociology is what sociologists do’ and, more importantly, what seminal sociologists have done so far. Therefore, we will read, parse, and discuss selections from authors whose works have shaped the discipline. Even though, of necessity, we can only skim the surface of sociology’s rich history, the course aims to explore some of the major sociological schools of thought and intellectual traditions. This course is wide-reaching. It ranges from Durkheim to Bourdieu, from Weber to Hedström, from Simmel to Zerubavel. Approaches covered include but are not limited to methodological individualism; collective holism; structural-functionalism; symbolic interactionism; ethnomethodology; social action theory; critical theory; rational choice; formal sociology; cultural sociology; cognitive sociology; analytical sociology; public sociology; processual sociology (there is plenty of “special” or subfield sociologies, as you can see). Moreover, we will review those theoretical achievements, epistemological debates, and empirical results that have influenced what sociology is today. A distinction is drawn between classical and contemporary sociology, and the program is divided accordingly. We will start, unsurprisingly, with classical authors and move ahead diachronically; each part of the course builds on content from previous parts. As described below, in each week of the course we will focus on a specific author/perspective.

There is no handbook for this course. This is supposed to give you the chance to get familiar with primary literature, reading directly the work of various authors under examination (whose study is challenging but deeply rewarding). For this reason, regular class attendance is strongly recommended (but not required); lectures are intended to help you join the dots, make connections between perspectives that seem not to be connected but actually are, form a general picture, stimulate your creative processes as well as your idiosyncratic preferences in terms of sociological theory and empirical research. Intuitively, “required readings” (as listed below) are for attending students; “further readings” (again, as listed below) are for students who do not attend class – in addition, of course, to required readings. Ideally, you are expected to peruse all the required readings prior to the class for which they are scheduled. More realistically, you might want to look through them in advance, glancing at the most compelling excerpts (not a big deal, just to get a basic idea of what we are talking about). All readings are made freely available on the Web, through LUISS' digital platform "Learn".

A painstaking exegesis of texts will be paired with simplified syntheses. Standard lectures will be combined with focused debates and case study analyses. As a rule of thumb, online lectures will be devoted to theoretical explanations, while lectures on campus will have a more practical/interactive focus. Speaking of which, international experts and distinguished scholars will be invited on a regular/semi-weekly basis, depending on the specific author at issue. Rather than being something like keynote lectures, these situations are conceived to be extremely synergistic and participative: this is to say that you will have the opportunity to ask a question, or better yet, to make a (concise and brief!) point, then treasuring the well-educated answers and thoughts of our guest. Nota bene: extra credits will be given to the most deserving student(s).

For those of you who will attend this course, the examination will consist of a midterm exam (which is written) and a final one (which is oral). The midterm exam covers content from the first part of the course and consists of 4 open-ended questions: the highest total score is 30, the minimum passing score is 18. The final, oral, exam covers material from the rest of the course. Your final grade is computed as follows: midterm score + final score ÷ 2. Students who do not take (or fail) the midterm exam, or students who want to improve their grade, can take a final oral exam on the entire program. For those of you who won’t able to attend class, the examination will consist of a single oral exam on the entire program. (Again, as stated above, “required readings” are for attending students; “further readings” are for students who do not attend class – in addition, of course, to required readings). Extra credits, as already mentioned, will be systematically awarded after the “students-meet-experts events”. A few other extra credits will be offered occasionally, as a result of class activities and focused debates.

For those of you interested, please reach me at lsabetta@luiss.it. (By the way, please feel free to contact me for any further information!) Project proposals are more than welcomed (bring it on!) and will be taken into consideration with the greatest attention.

Sustainability is addressed dealing with the topic of unintended consequences. It will be explored Beck's idea of "emancipatory catastrophism" and what can be defined "sustainability through unsustainability".