This course is an advanced introduction to the study of a wide-
ranging set of areas in sociology that are classified within the IU
Sociology curriculum as "social organization." Because the broad
scope of this course has traditionally been understood as including
(but not being limited to) the study of institutions,
stratification, and politics, we have an unusual opportunity to
investigate theory and research in a broad array of sub-fields.
These include organizational theory and contemporary debates
involving social network approaches, traditional institutional
theory, and the "new" institutionalism; debates over rational choice
models in economic sociology; race, class, and gender inequalities;
the study of electoral politics, public opinion, and welfare states;
culture; social movements; and the analysis of globalization. One of
our main goals will be to develop a working overview of these areas,
while adding to our toolkits of concepts, models, and interpretative
strategies. A second goal is to identify scholarly debates that
provide significant opportunities for conducting research in these
areas of contemporary sociology.