Graduate Courses

Economic Sociology (PDF).

This course is an introduction to the sociology of economic life. To marshall the material, the theme of the course will be moral views of market society. By this I mean the long history of arguments about the relationship between the market and the moral and social order. In Albert Hirschman’s terms, markets have variously been seen as civilizing (the neoliberal program), destructive (critiques of commodification) or feeble (varieties of institutionalism and network theory). A fourth idea, that of markets as moralizing (cultural) projects has recently taken hold in the literature as well. The seminar will follow these categories, though we will not devote equal time to each one. Roughly speaking, the first two will get less time than the latter two.

Advanced Topics in Economic Sociology (PDF).

This course examines recent work in economic sociology focusing on the relationship between the moral order of exchange and the regulation of markets. We focus on three topic areas: 1. Markets and the creation of moral boundaries. How are conceptions of moral agency and virtue expressed and implemented by legally permitting or banning various kinds of controversial exchanges? 2. The role of legal and economic professionals in the classification and legitimation of controversial exchanges. Of note here is the recent literature on the role of economic models in the design and operation of markets (often labelled the “performativity” of economics). 3. Gift- and commons-based exchange and their relationship to market exchange and legal regulation.

Sociology of Culture (PDF).

This is a survey course in the sociology of culture. It is a difficult topic to organize into a manageable course for several reasons. Unlike the family, religion or politics, it is not a distinct institution or social process that can be treated more or less separately from others. Unlike networks, stratification or micro-interaction, it does not have as well-developed a set of methods that can provide an initial focus for study. The bias of this course is towards empirical studies of the production of culture, particularly in its more organizationally and institutionally durable forms. But this is still a very wide net, and we will read pieces covering everything from micro-level studies of small groups to comparative macro-sociologies of cultural change across nations.

Undergraduate Courses

Sociology of Organizations (PDF).

Formal organizations pervade our society: most of us spend most of our lives inside one sort or another, be they schools, churches, corporations or the state. They are also a relatively modern phenomenon. It is only in the past century or so that the American labor force went from being about 90 percent self-employed to 90 percent working for someone else. Such a transformation suggests formal organizations are remarkably successful entities. And yet often they don’t seem to work properly at all, whether in small ways (like trying to get customer service on the phone) or large ways (such as disasters like the Challenger explosion). So, how should we think about organizations? Can we understand them?

Sources of Sociological Theory (PDF).

This course is an introduction to some of the classical thinkers whose work helped establish sociology as a distinctive discipline. It is thus also an introduction to early efforts to explain the turbulent origin, extraordinary growth and inner workings of modern industrial-capitalist societies. We spend most of our time discussing five authors: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and Georg Simmel.

Some Teaching Materials

Choosing Your Workflow Applications (PDF).

A short discussion, aimed at graduate students, about why you should think carefully about your workflow applications, i.e., the software tools you use to write papers. It consists of some general principles to bear in mind together with a bunch of specific recommendations.

Thinking about your Research Paper (PDF).

A brief guide aimed at helping undergraduates think about designing a small research study. Written for a class I TA’d as a graduate student, and maybe of some use to others.