DSOC 6030: Classical Sociological Theory
Taught: Cornell University, Spring 2011, Fall 2011
The central objective of this course is to provide students with an overview of the classical theoretical foundations of sociology. Students will review key works of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber and Georg Simmel as well as contemporary and historical treatments of them. Students will explore foundational statements and formulations of the discipline and will focus on a series of common problematics and critiques of modernity, enlightenment and modern society. Over the course of the semester, we will examine the similarities and differences between ways that classical theorists framed questions of method, history, economy, society, and control. We will further explore the ways that these formulations have shaped the discipline of sociology and the ways they have been reformulated and reinterpreted over the past 100 years.
The central objective of this course is to provide students with an overview of the classical theoretical foundations of sociology. Students will review key works of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber and Georg Simmel as well as contemporary and historical treatments of them. Students will explore foundational statements and formulations of the discipline and will focus on a series of common problematics and critiques of modernity, enlightenment and modern society. Over the course of the semester, we will examine the similarities and differences between ways that classical theorists framed questions of method, history, economy, society, and control. We will further explore the ways that these formulations have shaped the discipline of sociology and the ways they have been reformulated and reinterpreted over the past 100 years.
