Education and Society Concentration

The Education and Society concentration in Sociology gives Penn undergraduates the opportunity to engage the sociological imagination as they consider pertinent issues in education; from its role in stratification and cultural reproduction to its consideration as an engine of social mobility and a marker of privilege.  Through this analysis of education, students will be able to approach jobs in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary institutions with a critical understanding of the impact of these institutions on the populations they serve and don’t serve. Alternatively, students can leverage the academic training within this concentration to approach a wide array of careers related to educational policy. 

SOCI 0001: Poverty and Inequality (First-year seminar)
SOCI 0005: Sociology of Education (First-year seminar)
SOCI 1050: Social Stratification    
SOCI 2280: Sociology of Education    
SOCI 2281: Demography of Education
SOCI 2680: Contemporary Immigration in the U.S.    
SOCI 2690: Comparative and International Education - Focus on East Asian Education    
SOCI 2943: Global Urban Education    
SOCI 5450: Economic Development, Education, and Inequality in East Asia (Graduate course)

Courses outside of Sociology that can count toward the concentration:    
URBS 2020: Urban Education    
EDUC 2140: Education in American Culture    
EDUC 5538: Stereotype Threat, Impostor Phenomenon, and African Americans    
EDUC 5782: Sociology of Education
EDUC 5841: Access & Choice in American Higher Education    
EDUC 5940: US Immigration, Citizenship, and Education: Contextualizing Policy and Practice