Sociology

This course applies a gender perspective to different sociological objects and illustrates how this perspective can enrich our analysis of society. The course covers how sociology has integrated gender (or not) in the analysis of the family, education, labor markets, or politics. This is a general sociology course that addresses some of the key questions that interest sociologists while systematically applying a gender perspective to these questions. It also studies gender as a social category, discusses how it is produced and reproduced in society, and how it relates to social inequalities. This course provides a new perspective on some of the topics covered in introductory sociology classes, and it covers also some additional ones. Some previous background in sociology is recommended, but not required to follow the course.

This course focuses on the centrality of gender as a factor structuring, ultimately, all social relations. The course explores relationships between men and women, men and men, women and women, as personal and sexual relations, within the household, the labor market, and the state; how gender relations and practices are performed in different cultures; the role of gender in processes of social transformation and the impact of industrialization and migration on gender relations. 

How we tell stories and what our stories reveal about us, our lives and our relations with others has attracted the attention of numerous strands of social scientific inquiry. It is notable that narrative research interviews constitute the main qualitative method for identity analysis. Discourse and sociolinguistic studies of storytelling have drawn on this diversity of social scientific work but they have also infused it with vital insights into how everyday life stories are told in interaction with other people and in specific contexts. The course familiarizes students with the main frameworks within discourse and sociolinguistic studies for the analysis of stories and identities. The presentation of concepts and analytical tools become tangible with close analysis of a wide range of stories from various everyday life contexts: cafés, classrooms, the workplace, social media platforms, etc.