Sociology of Religion - Undergraduate
Despite scholarly predictions that religion would decline in the face of modernization, religion plays a significant role in every single aspect of our lives. Religion shapes identity formation, social stratification, political transformation, and culture expression. For example, religion is deeply intertwined with race, ethnicity, gender, and indigeneity. The foundation of nations is shaped by religious people and their convictions. Religious groups mobilize and lobby governments to advocate for social change. Religion imbues life, especially suffering, with meaning. In this course, we will examine religious beliefs, practices, institutions, and movements, exploring their impact on some of the most pressing questions of our time.

Political Sociology - Undergraduate

Political Sociology is the study of power, politics, and society. Particularly, how political institutions and social forces shape one another. Throughout the course, we will not only explore politics from the top (governments, leaders, and policies), but also from below (ordinary people, everyday struggle, and grassroots mobilization). We will engage with some of the following questions: What is politics? Who has power, how do they get it, and how do they use it? What is the state and how does it regulate different people? How do social movements emerge and what are their political outcomes? How does class, race, gender, and religion shape the state and social movements? Through these explorations, students will acquire proficient knowledge of the central theories and debates that concern political sociologists.

Human Rights and Counterterrorism - Undergraduate
In the aftermath of 9/11, the international community declared terrorism the ultimate global threat, catapulting the war on terror and the expansion of counterterrorism measures. In the process, human rights are violated in the name of national security. In this course, we will explore the following questions: How is terrorism defined sociologically and legally? What is the war on terror? How did the terrorism industry emerge? How does counterterrorism violate human rights? What are the long-term impacts of the war on terror? Along with analyzing government policies and responses by the international community, we will focus on the people who are at the heart of these tensions, whose lives are transformed by the politics of human rights and counterterrorism. The material in this course will undoubtedly be difficult, but students will walk away with a richer sociological understanding of a problem that continues to animate global politics.

Sociology of Religion - Graduate
This graduate course explores the sociology of religion, with a specific focus on religious difference globally. While sociology often centers racial, class, gender, and sexual difference in the study of power, inequality and privilege, it has largely ignored the role of religion. This class is a corrective, thus, and centers religious difference and its intersections with questions of identity, conflict, politics, and freedom. The first part introduces the social scientific study of religion, focusing on the defining question of what constitutes religion. The second part focuses on religious difference, exploring topics that range from identity and groups to sectarianization and violence to islamophobia and antisemitism. The third and final part shifts the focus to the regulation of religious difference, exploring the role of the state, communities, and rights. Overall, the course equips students with theoretical and methodological tools to engage with contemporary debates and realities of religious difference globally.