Cluster 3: Globalization, Transnationalism, and Immigration

Early social thinkers such as Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim recognized that national societies influence one another and that global connections and processes affect social upheaval, policy outcomes, and the movement of people from one place to another. Nearly a century ago, the Chicago School of Sociology illuminated immigrants' experiences and in doing so contributed to our understanding of social cohesion and adaptation; today, this inquiry is more robust than ever.

While globalization, transnationalism, and immigration have long been important phenomena for sociologists, recent changes—including the worldwide break with Keynesian national economic management in the 1970s, the end of the Cold War in 1989, the terrorist attacks of 2001, and myriad technological advances—have transformed the global social landscape. Using diverse theories and methods, sociologists have expanded our understanding of globalization, transnationalism, and immigration and the many ways these multifaceted phenomena continue to reshape social conditions close to home and in distant locales.

The Globalization, Transnationalism, and Immigration cluster examines U.S. society in the context of its interaction with the rest of the world. Students will examine transnational connections that complement, interact with, and transform societies and the dynamics of human movement, settlement, and adaptation across and within national borders. Courses showcase factors that initiate and sustain migration flows; hybrid identities that emerge as people become transnational and locate themselves in new imagined or real communities; the internationalization of practices related to war, religion, finance, and health; and transformations of the nation-state.

Elective courses for the Globalization, Transnationalism, and Immigration cluster

The Globalization, Transnationalism, and Immigration cluster requires completion of four (4) of the following Sociology courses:

  • SOC 20: Family and Intimate Relationships
  • SOC 35 OR SOC 135: Social Movements
  • SOC 50: Globalization and Social Change
  • SOC 70: Immigration, Race, and American Society
  • SOC 94-03: The Sociology of Science and Risk
  • SOC 99: Internship
  • SOC 108: Epidemics
  • SOC 113: Urban Sociology
  • SOC 120: Sociology of War and Peace
  • SOC 143: Sociology of Religion
  • SOC 149-13: Places of Pleasure: Tourism Economies Cross Culturally
  • SOC 149-19: Latin American Society
  • SOC 181: Seminar on War, Peace, State, and Society
  • SOC 186: Seminar: International Health Policy
  • SOC 187: Seminar: Immigrant Children
  • SOC 188-08: Seminar in Current Soc: Identity & Inequality
  • SOC 188-09: Seminar in Current Soc: Youth of Color
  • 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