Cluster 2: Social Inequalities and Social Change

The study of inequalities and social change to address inequalities has historically been a core field of study in Sociology. Early social theorists such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim developed concepts and analytical frameworks that still influence the study of inequalities and social change.

Today, sociologists focus on inequalities of race, ethnicity, and immigrant status; social class; and gender. Historic levels of inequality of wealth and income, education, and political and civic participation have wide-ranging effects on health, crime, family structure, residential segregation, work and unemployment, and social mobility.

Social change to address these inequalities focuses on re-structuring societal institutions to distribute resources more equitably. Social change that produces greater equality can also involve changes in norms, values, technology, and patterns of interaction among individuals and social groups. Methods that create such change include social movements and other forms of local, national, and global activism. Change also arises from advocacy and social reform activities by nongovernmental nonprofit organizations and from governmental policy analysis and reform.

Elective courses for the Social Inequalities and Social Change cluster

SOC 10: American Society
SOC 11*: Racial/Ethnic Minorities OR Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
SOC 20: Families and Intimate Relationships
SOC 30: Sex and Gender in Society
SOC 50: Globalization and Social Change
SOC 60 OR SOC 130: Social Inequalities/Social Justice
SOC 70: Immigration, Race, and American Society
SOC 72: Sociology of Latinxs
SOC 94-02: Health Policy & Inequality
SOC 94-03: The Sociology of Science and Risk
SOC 94-06: Sociology of Violence
SOC 94-09: The Sociology of Higher Education
SOC 94-10: Education and Inequality
SOC 94-11: People, Places and the Environment
SOC 94-13: Freshman Seminar: Common Reading, Common Purpose
SOC 94-14: Homelessness in America
SOC 94-16: The American Labor Movement
SOC 94-17: Girls and Girlhood
SOC 99: Internship
SOC 106 OR 149-08: Political Sociology
SOC 110: Racial/ Ethnic Minorities*
SOC 111: Making Social Change Happen
SOC 112: Criminology
SOC 113: Urban Sociology
SOC 121: Sociology of Law
SOC 135 OR SOC 35: Social Movements
SOC 141: Medical Sociology
SOC 149-05: Consumers & Consumerism
SOC 149-06: Deviant Behavior
SOC 149-07: Sexuality and Society
SOC 149-09: Mental Health and Illness
SOC 149-10: Understanding Poverty
SOC 149-17: Theories of Femininity
SOC 187: Seminar: Immigrant Children
SOC 188-04: Seminar in Current Soc: Consumers and Consumerism
SOC 188-05: Seminar in Current Soc: The Masculine Mystique
SOC 188-07: Seminar in Current Soc: Race and Politics
SOC 188-08: Seminar in Current Soc: Identity & Inequality
SOC 188-09: Seminar in Current Soc: Youth of Color
SOC 188-10: Seminar in Current Soc: Racial Identity in Historical Perspective
SOC 188-11: Seminar in Current Soc: Intimate Violence
SOC 188-12: Seminar in Current Soc: Comparative Social Inequalities
SOC 188-13: Seminar in Current Soc: DuBois' Sociological Dream
SOC 190: Seminar: Immigration: Public Opinion, Politics & Media
SOC 192: Seminar: AIDS: Social Origins, Global Consequences
SOC 193: Politics, Policies and Risk in Science and Technology
SOC 197: Independent Study
SOC 198: Directed Research in Sociology
SOC 199: Senior Honors Thesis

*SOC 11 "Sociology of Race and Ethnicity" was formerly offered as SOC 11, SOC 110
"Racial/Ethnic Minorities." Students who have previously taken SOC 11, SOC 110 "Racial/Ethnic Minorities" may not count this course as a separate elective.