FAS/SOC 290: Introduction to Social Science Research Methods
Spring 2027 | Online | Undergraduate

This course helps students build the foundational knowledge to be thoughtful consumers of social science research. We cover the basic elements and types of social science research and learn how to find, read, and critique published research. Students practice bringing research into their writing to support their ideas, and develop a strategy for evaluating the research claims they encounter in everyday life.

SOC 498/598: Law and Social Inequality
Spring 2027 | Online | Undergraduate and MA

What is the law? How do people view the law and its role in their lives? How can law perpetuate existing social inequalities while also spearheading social change?

This course takes up these questions through three lenses: philosophical understandings of law (theories about the law), the practical application of law (the justice system and “law in action”), and people’s lay perceptions of law (their sense of justice and of right and wrong). We examine how these views often differ from one another, and how law works as both an instrument of social change and a source of social inequality. Throughout, we pay particular attention to one area of social life where law has played a significant role over time: race.