Junior Tutorials

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get into a Junior Tutorial?
Submit your preferences using the junior tutorial lottery. The lottery is now open! Complete this form to enter the lottery.

What is a Junior Tutorial?
Junior Tutorials are small research seminars offered by members of the department. Enrollments for junior tutorials are capped at 10 students and topics vary from year to year. All tutorials are assigned by lottery. Every effort is made to assign students in one of their top two choices.

When should I take a Junior Tutorial?
Sociology concentrators should take the Junior Tutorial during their junior year unless they have extenuating circumstance (e.g. junior year study abroad, switching into the concentration during junior year, etc.). Schedule an advising appointment with a member of our advising team as soon as possible if one of these circumstances applies to you.

Can I take my Junior Tutorial during my Senior Year?
Yes, and this is a common occurrence for students with other commitments (junior year study abroad, double concentrators who must prioritize courses for their other concentration, etc.). However, students who take a junior tutorial during their senior year cannot write a senior thesis in Sociology.

How do I choose a Junior Tutorial?
As part of their junior tutorial, students design and conduct an independent research project. You should choose a tutorial that is topically related to your research interests.

Is there a prerequisite for Junior Tutorials?
Yes! Since you are required to design and implement independent research as part of your junior tutorial, you cannot take it without having completed SOCIOL 1128: Models of Social Science Research. In rare cases, students are allowed to take SOCIOL 1128 and their Junior Tutorial simultaneously with approval from the department. Schedule an advising appointment if you plan to take SOCIOL 1128 and your junior tutorial in the same semester.

What Junior Tutorials are available this year?
Junior Tutorials topics are listed on this website.

When will I hear back about my Junior Tutorial lottery results?
Students who complete the lottery by the priority deadline (Friday, March 27th, 2026 at 5pm!) will receive their placement results by the end of the day on Tuesday, March 31st, 2026.

Fall 2026 Junior Tutorials

SOCIOL 98JD: Stigma and Social Recognition
Isabel Jijon, Tuesday, 9:45am-11:45am

This class examines how stigma — how having a “spoiled identity” (Goffman 1963) — shapes the way people act, interact, and make sense of the world. We will ask questions like: how do individuals or groups become stigmatized? How do people experience, cope with, or resist this stigma? How is stigma tied to discrimination, or the unequal access to resources and opportunities? And how might we reduce or challenge stigma? How can we promote its opposite, social recognition? Together, we will unpack the concept of stigma by diving into case studies. We will discuss the stigmas associated with dirty work, polluted relationships, illness, disability, poverty, criminal records, and more. We will also analyze the ways stigma intersects with class, race, gender, and sexuality. Our approach will be both micro-sociological — looking at individuals and social interactions — as well as meso-sociological — studying organizations, institutions, cultural scripts, and power. During the semester, you will also conduct your own research on stigma and recognition. You will learn to use and apply qualitative methods, either ethnography, participant observation, in-depth interviews, textual analysis, or archival work. You will also receive individualized support as you prepare your final project. By the end of the course, you will have a clearer sense of the mechanisms by which stigma contributes to social inequalities.

SOCIOL 98WH: Community in Urban Context
Joey Wallerstein, Wednesday, 12-2pm

The notion of ‘community’ has long been central to the sociological study of cities and life within them. This course will familiarize students with what sociologists have written about the contours of urban community: what defines it, how it forms and persists, the functions it serves, and when it backfires. Through a mix of foundational and contemporary texts, the course will consider a number of the substantive issues that have historically shaped—and threatened—urban community, from social control to gentrification and city planning. During the semester, students will receive training in the use of ethnographic methods to study urban life and will conduct original research to answer questions of their choice about urban community (or an urban community).
 

Spring 2027 Junior Tutorials

SOCIOL 98DB: Health and Illness
Caitlin Daniel, Thursday, 12-2pm

Why do non-Hispanic Black babies represent one-third of all US births, but three-fourths of infant deaths? Why do we see body fat, but not social isolation, as a public health crisis? How can the pursuit of health be used to perpetuate social inequalities—and to contest them?

Addressing questions such as these, this junior tutorial introduces students to a sociological approach to health and illness. We will focus on four areas: 1) the social determinants and social distribution of health—how social conditions and positions produce disease for some and wellness for others; 2) the social construction of health and illness; 3) the social experience of illness, including how our responses to illness are structured by social factors, and 4) health as a meaningful social practice that shapes social action and organization far beyond the individual body. Posing a research question of their choosing, students will conduct an original research project using qualitative methods such as interviews, observations, or content analysis.