Welcome to Introduction to Sociology! I invite you to join me to explore, through the prism of sociology, about how our society works. More specifically, the following are a sample of questions that students shall address:

1. What is sociology? If it studies human social conditions, how is it different from philosophy, arts, and literature? How is it different from psychology, economics, and political science? Don't they all study human social conditions? Students will examine a classic study of suicide from Emile Durkheim, a founding father of sociology, to understand the "sociological perspective."
2. What interests sociologists? Here, students will take a brief look at the traditions of sociological thoughts.
3. How do sociologists go about doing their research? Students will take an over-the-shoulder look at how sociologists actually conduct their research and the logic behind it.
4. A colt can stand up a few hours after birth. A human baby cannot survive the first few years without aid. What does this tell us about the nature of human development and about the nature of our human social organization? How do we acquire cognitive, emotional, moral, and social understandings? Here, students shall explore a core sociological concept called "socialization."
5. Why some people commit crimes while others don't? Why some areas have higher crime rate than other places? Can we fight white-collar crime the same way we fight street crime? What do criminologists know about drug use/sales and crime? Does gun availability cause crime? And, just who is to say what is crime or deviant behavior? Are there universal moral standards? Here, students will be introduced to the area of criminology within the discipline of sociology.
6. America is such a rich country. How come there are still so many poor people? Conversely, there are so many poor people, why some are able to rise from poverty while others can't? Students shall explore the issue of social stratification and social mobility in the United States.
7. Few would confuse a Chinese for a Polish. So what do we mean when we say race is an "illusion"? If it is an illusion, then why does the Census Bureau still collect that information? How do prejudice and discrimination work? What is a more effective route for the upward social mobility of ethnic minorities in the United States: forget their own culture or keep their culture? Why do different ethnic groups tend to live in different neighborhoods and what are its consequences?
8. Are men from Mars and women from Venus? How do we account for the differences in gender behaviors? We are in the 21st century already, why for every dollar men earn, women still earn about 77 cents (if for the same kind of work, it would be about 88 cents)? How come it seems that in traditional societies, women have fewer political and economic rights and yet men seem more likely to sing life long commitments and yet, in our own society, while women have more political and economic power, men seem to have a commitment problem?
9. The latest news is that "being married means being outnumbered." Yet, most Americans still want to get married and most divorcees remarry. So, is American family in trouble or just doing fine? How is family today different from the families of the "good ole days"? What has contributed to the rise of divorce rate in the United States? What is the impact of divorce on children? Do cohabitation increase or decrease divorce rate? Would second marriage be better than first marriage?
10. What do all religions have in common? This is not an idle question because it implies the social functions that religion serves. Is religion a force to keep people in line or a source for social change? What does being religious mean in American people's mind? Why America has so many denominations? Why America has more people claim to be religious than almost all other advanced industrial societies?
11. What is the nature of bureaucracy? How did it develop and became the dominant form of organization in the west? Is being humane good for business? Are modern social organizations really "rational"? How do modern organizations adapt to today's constantly changing world?
12. How does social movement start? Do we really need to have some kind of collective suffering for a movement to start? How does social movement recruit people and mobilize its resources? Students will have a case study of the Civil Rights movement to explore these issues.