SOC501 SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY I

Course Code:2320501
METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week):3 (3.00 - 0.00)
ECTS Credit:8.0
Department:Sociology
Language of Instruction:English
Level of Study:Graduate
Course Coordinator:Assoc.Prof.Dr. ÇAĞATAY TOPAL
Offered Semester:Fall and Spring Semesters.

Course Objectives

Students will comprehend the mystery of the social through the perspectives of classical social theorists and philosophers.


Course Content

The aim of this course is to make students familiar with concepts, issues and debates in the field of contemporary social and critical theory. It will examine key concepts such as representation, power, subjectivity, desire, signification, sexuality, the unconscious, and difference by way of examining major continental critical theories.


Course Learning Outcomes

1. Students will identify the assumptions of classical social theorists and philosophers on the concepts of the essence of life, human nature, history and society.

2. Students will trace the structuralist notions and poststructuralist paths in the works of classical social theorists and philosophers.

3. Students will locate “the social” at meta-theoretical, theoretical, methodological, and empirical levels by means of the perspectives of classical social theorists and philosophers.

4. Students will make sense of “social fact” by means of the perspectives of classical social theorists and philosophers.


Program Outcomes Matrix

Level of Contribution
#Program Outcomes0123
1To correlate sociology and other social sciences
2To interpret knowledge produced by society from a sociological perspective
3To renew and improve their accumulation by following up-to-date publications and research programs
4To be open to occupational novelties in order to understand social change
5To produce original solutions within and outside the discipline and in interdisciplinary levels
6To know and implement the ethics of sociological research
7To be aware of social, environmental, and economic effects in the areas where sociological approaches are appropriated
8To use and transfer the accumulation of sociological knowledge in an interdisciplinary way
9To understand social structures and dynamics by correlating the past, the present and the future
10To connect social theories of knowledge and social practices

0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution