Seeing Through Society: Thinking Like a Sociologist

Like fish who cannot see the water they swim in, we move through invisible cultures that steer how we think, feel, and act. Inconspicuous social forces shape opportunities available to us, often in unequal ways. In this course, you will learn to see the water. You will explore how everyday experiences connect to larger networks, institutions, and norms. You will examine data, methods, and theories sociologists use to investigate how social environments shape personal choices. You will discover how individual choices recreate social conditions. The course emphasizes not just what social scientists know, but how they think and answer questions. No previous knowledge of sociology required.