This course is designed to introduce students to the major theories, concepts, and pieces of research in classical sociology. What is society? How did the early social scientists understand the dramatic transfor- mations provoked by capitalism? How did they conceive the organization of the increasingly complex modern societies? The course considers these questions and discusses other related topics. The course is composed of two modules. The first module presents the ‘classical’ sociological theories, notably those elaborated by the ‘founding fathers’ of sociology, (i.e., Comte, de Tocqueville, Marx, Weber, and Durk- heim). The second module focuses on several issues and controversies (i.e., social stratification, social mobility, gender and sexuality, and race) that had great salience in the works of the early sociologists and have an enduring importance for understanding contemporary societies. The course instructor explains theoretical and empirical works, reviews social research methods and, through an active learning ap- proach, stimulates students to think critically about social problems.
- Teacher: Fabio Bolzonar