Sociology is the scientific study of the social aspects of human behavior. What this means in practice is that sociologists study the interplay between personal traits and characteristics –such as where we're from or whether we are male or female-- and large-scale factors that are outside of ourselves—such as the rules that govern how an educational system is organized. We say that people who are comfortable thinking about the interplay between the self and society have a sociological imagination; the goal of this course is to help you develop your own sociological imagination, and to learn a bit about the world along the way. We will do this by considering a series of questions of contemporary interest, and collectively exploring how having a sociological imagination might help us come up with convincing answers. For each question that we take up, we will:

• Identify and discuss our initial thoughts
• Consider some relevant sociological theories
• Evaluate some empirical information
• Develop revised answers

This approach is intended to help you learn how to analyze these questions sociologically. By the end of the course, you should be able to:

(1) Identify how individual behaviors are shaped by the social environment;
(2) Identify how individuals shape their social environment;
(3) Distinguish between opinion and empirical evidence
(4) Write effectively (and sociologically!) about course content