History, Anthropology, Religions

This course is designed to provide a guide to the foundations of sociology as a distinct scientific discipline, analyzing the most influential literature in the field and offering a broad overview of the history of sociological thought. Sociology’s subject matter is quite diverse, its scope and method controversial: similar to an archipelago, an octopus, or a kaleidoscope, it does not have a hegemonic paradigm (and this could be a blessing in disguise). In this view, we will assume that ‘sociology is what sociologists do’ and, more importantly, what seminal sociologists have done so far. Therefore, we will read, parse, and discuss selections from authors whose works have shaped the discipline. Even though, of necessity, we can only skim the surface of sociology’s rich history, the course aims to explore some of the major sociological schools of thought and intellectual traditions. This course is wide-reaching. It ranges from Durkheim to Zerubavel, from Merton to Garfinkel. A distinction is drawn between classical and contemporary sociology, and the program is divided accordingly. We will start, unsurprisingly, with classical authors and move ahead diachronically.

No prerequisites are required for this class.

(-) Émile Durkheim (1895) "Che cos'è un fatto sociale", in Le regole del metodo sociologico. Torino, Einaudi, 2008 (solo pp. 25-33). (-) Max Weber (1919) "La politica come professione", in La scienza come professione - La politica come professione. Torino: Einaudi (solo pp. 100-121). (-) Georg Simmel (1903) La metropoli e la vita dello spirito. Roma: Armando, 2010 (solo pp. 35-57). (-) Robert K. Merton (1949/1968) "La profezia che si autoadempie", in Teoria e Struttura Sociale, Vol. II. Bologna, Il Mulino, 1971 (solo pp. 765-789). (-) Harold Garfinkel (1967) "Che cos'è l'etnometodologia", in Etnometodologia. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1983 (solo pp. 55-87). (-) Erving Goffman (1969) "Giochi d'espressione: analisi dei dubbi al gioco", in L'interazione strategica. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1988 (solo pp. 9-61). (-) Pierre Bourdieu (1997) "L'essere sociale, il tempo e il senso dell'esistenza", in Meditazioni Pascaliane. Milano: Feltrinelli, 1998 (solo pp. 217-257). (-) Eviatar Zerubavel (1981) "Regolarità temporale", in Ritmi Nascosti: Orari e calendari nella vita sociale. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1995 (solo il primo capitolo) (-) Wayne Brekhus (1998) Sociologia dell'inavvertito. Roma: Castelvecchi, 2018 (solo pp. 31-67). There is no handbook for this course. This is supposed to give you the chance to get familiar with primary literature, reading directly the work of various authors under examination (whose study is challenging but deeply rewarding). For this reason, regular class attendance is strongly recommended (but not required); lectures are intended to help you join the dots, make connections between perspectives that seem not to be connected but actually are, form a general picture, stimulate your creative processes as well as your idiosyncratic preferences in terms of sociological theory and empirical research.

Students are strongly encouraged to attend classes.

For those of you who will attend this course, the examination will consist of a midterm exam (which is written) and a final one (which is oral). The midterm exam covers content from the first part of the course and consists of 5 open-ended questions: the highest total score is 30, the minimum passing score is 18. The final, oral, exam covers material from the rest of the course. Your final grade is computed as follows: midterm score + final score ÷ 2. Students who do not take (or fail) the midterm exam, or students who want to improve their grade, can take a final oral exam on the entire program. For those of you who won’t able to attend class, the examination will consist of a single oral exam on the entire program.

(-) Readings' analysis; (-) Group discussions; (-) Guest speakers classes.