| Course Title: Special Topics in Sociology: 'Culture, Society, and the Myth of Modernity' |
| Start Date: 01/27/2026 End Date: 05/12/2026 |
| Term: Spring Semester 2026 |
| Description: This advanced seminar studies the theoretical development of cultural sociology and challenges commonly held assumptions about our so-called "modern" society, including the idea that we are highly rationalistic and that religion is a thing of the past. The writing-intensive course will focus on 20th century theories of "the cultural turn" from sociology, linguistics, anthropology, history, and philosophy, and will apply these theories to contemporary research on environmentalism, literature, religion, sports, and travel. Students will learn to write in the form of advanced cultural analysis. |
| Distribution(s): III - Social Sciences , WI - Writing-Intensive , TP - Topics Course |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate | Credits:4.00 |
| Faculty | Phone | Email address |
| Anne Taylor | annetaylor@mtholyoke.edu |
| Meeting Dates | Method | Meeting days | Meeting times | Building name | Room | Frequency |
| 01/27/2026 - 05/12/2026 | Seminar | Thursday | 01:30PM - 04:20PM | PORT - Porter Hall | 108 | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses | ||
| Prereq: SOCI-123 and SOCI-216CR. | Take previously | Required |
| Comments |
| Additional Comments |
| Course Tags |
| Cross-listed Sections |
| None |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Open | Capacity: 18 | Enrollment: 10 | Available: 8 | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List | Required | Publisher Full Price |
| Title: Culture and Society: Contemporary Debates Author: Alexander, Jeffrey C. Copyright: 1990 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 0521359392 Publisher: Cambridge |
Optional | 44.10 |
| Title: Inside the Critics' Circle: Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times Author: Chong, Philip K. Copyright: 2020 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 9780691212500 Publisher: Princeton University Press |
Optional | 13.00 |
| Title: My Tax Dollars: The Morality of Taxpaying in America Author: Braunstein, Ruth Copyright: 2025 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 9780691254999 Publisher: Princeton University Press |
Optional | 24.97 |
| Title: Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American Author: Farrell, Justin Copyright: 2021 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 9780691217123 Publisher: Princeton University Press |
Required | 13.49 |
| Additional Book Comments |
| This is the complete book list for this class. |
| Instructor's comments about the book list: All readings for the course, including the books listed above, are available for free from the library or in PDF version on Canvas. These books are listed here for your information in case you would like to purchase your own copies. |