Topic 1: Basic Issues in Sociological Theory. May be counted toward the theory specialization.

Topic 2: Contemporary Sociological Theory. May be counted toward the theory requirement. Required of all graduate students during their second semester of study.

Topic 3: Classical Sociological Theory. A review of classic works in sociological theory, focusing on the work of nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century theorists. Critically examines the historical and theoretical context of sociology's founding ideas. Explores the promises and problems of the relationship between sociological theory and the modern era. May be counted toward the theory requirement. Required of all graduate students during their first semester of study.

Topic 4: Evolutionary Theory (including Sociobiology). May be counted toward the theory specialization.

Topic 12: Sociology of Culture. An overview of some of the major contemporary research in the sociology of culture. Includes discussion of meaning systems and their transformations; symbolic nature of consumption; relationship between culture and social stratification; cultural bases of power; culture industry; and sociology of the arts. May be counted toward the theory requirement.

Topic 13: Cultural Studies. Examines the history, debates, and key developments within the trans-disciplinary field of cultural studies. Considers the significance of the intellectual work produced in Britain from the 1940s to the present and the relationship today between the sociology of culture and cultural sociology. May be counted toward the theory requirement.

Topic 14: Theories of Power. Examines the social theory controversy over the definition of the terms power and domination. Considers the classical and contemporary theoretical understandings of power and domination and studies the diverse ways in which these concepts have been deployed in empirical research. May be counted toward either the theory requirement or the political sociology specialization.