everything.study
SOC 377

Sociology of Youth

3 units

Fall 2026

Topics

  • Youth and childhood
  • Generations
  • Education and work
  • Families
  • Sexuality
  • Religion
  • Gender
  • Mental health
  • Technology

Readings

  • Postman, introduction and chapters 1–4 [title not specified].
    required
  • Heywood, chapter 2 [title not specified].
    required
  • Twenge. Generations, chapter 1.
    required
  • Morisette [as printed], chapter 2 [title not specified].
    required
  • Regnerus, chapter 2 [title not specified].
    required
  • Kurtz [title not specified].
    required
  • Kearney, pp. 42–71 [title not specified].
    required
  • Frietas [as printed], chapter 1 [title not specified].
    required
  • Pew Research and Smith readings [titles not specified; Canvas links].
    required
  • Reeves, pp. 1–44 [title not specified].
    required
  • “Facebook’s Dangerous Experiment on Teen Girls.” The Atlantic.
    required
  • “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” The Atlantic.
    required
  • “Phones at School Are a Disaster.” The Atlantic.
    required
  • Haidt. The Anxious Generation, chapter 1.
    required
Spring 2026

Topics

  • History of Youth, The Cultural World of Generations
  • Families & Education
  • Sexuality & Religion and Spirituality
  • Boy Crisis & Health
  • Youth and Technology
  • Describe the role “youth” plays in structuring social expectations and experiences
  • Describe major historical and contemporary sociological concepts and theories that apply to studies of youth
  • Discuss the impact of families, education, work, sexuality, peers, crime, religion, health, and technology on the lives of young people

Readings

  • Frietas, Donna. The End of Sex: How Hookup Culture Is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually
    unspecified
  • Kearney, Melissa S. The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started
    unspecified
  • Falling Behind. First Edition. University of Chicago Press, 2025
    unspecified
  • Postman, Neil. The Disappearance of Childhood. REP edition. New York: Vintage, 1994
    unspecified
  • Reeves, Richard V. Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to
    unspecified
  • Do about It. Brookings Inistitute Press, 2024
    unspecified
  • Regnerus, Mark. The Future of Christian Marriage. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2020
    unspecified
Sources