LEARNING OUTCOMES

The main goal of this class is to provide students with conceptual and methodological basis adequate to the understanding of contemporary and past societies as the interconnection between culture, economics and politics. We will privilege a twofold perspective, historical on the one hand as well as oriented to contemporary societies in order to integrate the most recent sociological perspectives with the new global order. Being an introductory class we will provide the acquisition of the fundamental tools for social analysis and a general background of the main theoretical and empirical, approaches.By the end of the lessons, the student will be able to: handle most conceptual and analytical concepts, also comparative ones, within contemporary societies. The mstudent will also acknowledge the history of sociology starting from the early works in social sciences. Moreover, the student will be able to evaluate and discuss critically the social world he/she belongs to.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The objective of teaching is to understand the basic elements, categories and problems of contemporary society and the most recent developments in sociological theory and research.

In particular, it is intended to provide the foundations of sociological discourse, to present the still relevant contribution of the "classics," and to arrive at the most recent theories; fundamental will be the development of critical thinking.

TEACHING METHODS

In-person and online lectures via Teams platform, group research lab activities. The code for access will be communicated on Aulaweb.

I will upload on Aulaweb the slides used during the lectures, further study materials (articles from Italian and international periodicals, weeklies, etc.) and some optional readings to help understanding of the different topics.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

This teaching presents a broad program of sociological tools, guiding students in the art of asking good sociological questions, devising sophisticated theory, and developing methodologies for observing social phenomena. The course aspires to provide students with the tools to quickly understand any new sociological topic or contemporary social problem.

Teaching shows how specific sociological topics can be easily investigated and understood using a scientific approach to social problems. With a global and comparative perspective, teaching covers a rich variety of sociological topics and social problems, such as crime, immigration, media, education, family, organizations, gender, poverty, modernization, and religion.

The teaching will include in-class lectures, group work, presentations proposed by the students, with insights from the topics explained in class, class discussions, and viewing of audio-video documents.

Particular emphasis will be placed on group work by students aimed at investigating, analyzing and understanding a sociological phenomenon identified at the beginning of the teaching.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For attending and nonattending students: Introduction to Sociology. Text by Frank Van Tubergen. 

For non attending students: L'Associarsi Quotidiano. Sebastiano Citroni, 2022, Milan, Meltemi Editore.