Semester 1

Week 1: Foundations of Sociology (Units 1–2)

Focus: Introduction to foundational sociological concepts: systems, theories, institutions, methods, power, and inequality.

Lecture 1: Why Sociology Exists Why the discipline of sociology emerged and the core concepts of systems thinking. CFU for Lecture 1 Lecture 2: Sociological Theory The three major theoretical frameworks: Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionism. CFU for Lecture 2 Lecture 3: Institutions, Roles, and Social Order How social institutions, roles, and norms create and maintain social order. CFU for Lecture 3 Lecture 4: Methods, Evidence, and Ethics The methods and ethics sociologists use to study the social world. CFU for Lecture 4 Lecture 5: Power, Inequality, and Conflict The concepts of power, inequality, and conflict as central features of social systems. CFU for Lecture 5
Week 2: Foundations of Power (Unit 2)

Focus: What power is and how it operates

  • Power vs force
  • Authority, influence, legitimacy

Purpose: Introduce power as a structural property, not a moral judgment.

Week 3: Foundations of Systems (Unit 1)

Focus: System behavior and complexity

  • Nolinearity
  • Emergence
  • Unintended consequences

Purpose: Move beyond simple cause-and-effect explanations.

Week 4: Foundations of Power (Unit 2)

Focus: Power exercised through systems

  • Incentives
  • Rules and constraints
  • Metrics and classification

Purpose: Show how systems enact power without individuals acting directly.

Week 5: Systems & Power (Units 1–2) / Introduction to Tech Stack (Unit 3 begins)

Focus: Human systems and early technical orientation

  • Education, economic, and information systems
  • Why technical tools exist

Purpose: Begin layering technical context without replacing conceptual foundations.

Week 6: Power & Institutions (Unit 2) / Tech Stack Foundations (Unit 3)

Focus: Institutional and algorithmic power

  • Institutions and authority
  • Algorithms as decision systems
  • Hardware basics (CPU, GPU, memory, storage)

Purpose: Connect institutional power to technical infrastructure.

Week 7: Systems Mapping (Unit 1) / Tech Stack Context (Unit 3)

Focus: Mapping systems and dependencies

  • System diagrams
  • Bottlenecks and constraints
  • Local vs cloud computing

Purpose: Reinforce structure while demystifying computational environments.

Week 8: Power, Neutrality, and Design (Unit 2) / Applied AI Context (Unit 3)

Focus: Design choices and embedded assumptions

  • Neutrality myths
  • Where AI fits in data workflows

Purpose: Establish AI as a contextual tool, not an authority.

Week 9: Systems, Power, and Technology (Units 1–3)

Focus: Technology as a layered system

  • Hardware → software → interface → user
  • Constraints and tradeoffs

Purpose: Synthesize systems and power through technical stacks.

Week 10: Power in Technical Systems (Units 2–3)

Focus: Infrastructure and control

  • Centralized vs local systems
  • Data ownership
  • Energy, access, and cost

Purpose: Treat infrastructure choices as power decisions.

Week 11: Foundations Taper & Tech Stack Synthesis (Units 1–3)

Focus: Reviewing and integrating foundations

  • Systems, power, and tools as a single framework
  • Appropriate vs inappropriate uses of AI

Purpose: Reduce cognitive load before the conceptual pivot.

Week 12: The Lifeworld and Description

Focus: What the lifeworld is, the limits of objectivity, and the art of pure description.

Lecture 1: The Lifeworld CFU for Lecture 1 Lecture 2: Descriptive Phenomenology CFU for Lecture 2 Lecture 3: The Red Wheelbarrow as Method CFU for Lecture 3 Lab Activity 1 (Placeholder) Lab Activity 2 (Placeholder)
Week 13: Interpretation and Social Meaning

Focus: Moving from description to interpretation, understanding shared meaning, and the role of social categories.

Lecture 4: Interpretive Phenomenology CFU for Lecture 4 Lecture 5: Social Phenomenology & Intersubjectivity CFU for Lecture 5 Lecture 6: Typifications and Social Categories CFU for Lecture 6 Lab Activity 1 (Placeholder) Lab Activity 2 (Placeholder)
Week 14: Phenomenology, Power, and Research

Focus: Connecting phenomenology to systems of power and the practical task of research design.

Lecture 7: Modern Phenomenology & Power CFU for Lecture 7 Lecture 8: The New Phenomenologist CFU for Lecture 8 Lecture 9: From Phenomenology to Research CFU for Lecture 9 Lab Activity 1 (Placeholder) Lab Activity 2 (Placeholder)
Week 15: Social Data Science Process Overview (Unit 5)

Focus: The full research process

  1. Ask questions
  2. Gather data
  3. Clean
  4. Analyze
  5. Communicate

Purpose: Situate question formation within a larger disciplined process.

Week 16: DSFP Stage 1: Asking Good Questions (Unit 5)

Focus: Investigable vs curiosity questions

  • Variables and scope
  • Ethics as design

Purpose: Develop defensible research questions.

Week 17: Applied Question Design & Framing (Unit 5)

Focus:

  • Dear Data / Postcard Project
  • UN Sustainable Development Goals as lenses
  • Early proposal or thesis drafting

Purpose: Apply phenomenology to structured question formation.

Week 18: DSFP Stage 1 Synthesis & Lock-In (Unit 5)

Focus:

  • Refining and finalizing investigative questions
  • Reflection on limits and assumptions

Purpose: End Semester 1 with locked research questions, ready for execution in Semester 2.