Social and Political Thought

Three credits · Undergraduate

This course introduces you to early modern approaches to thinking about the social world, including social contract theory, liberalism, political economy, scientific rationality, progressive history, colonialism, and human rights. We will consider how sociology and the social sciences either developed out of these early modern ideas or, in some cases, reacted against them. The course provides students with the intellectual foundations to engage more fully with contemporary debates in social and political thought. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits. Not offered 2026-2027.