00905 - Sociology (O-Z)

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student: - possesses a basic knowledge of Sociology: its origins, its main paradigms and theories, its methods of analysis, and its objects of study; - possesses tools for analyzing and understanding contemporary social phenomena, such as globalization, which are also functional for reading and understanding specific social contexts.

Course contents

The aim of the class is to provide students with the tools to raise questions about the functioning of the societies in which we live and to provide the most robust and updated knowledge available to the discipline to answer these questions. In this sense, the proposed course understands sociology as an empirical discipline aimed at the study of social phenomena with the goal of describing and explaining them free of any normative intent.

The course is strongly empirically and theoretically oriented. On the one hand it aims to present the contribution to an empirically understanding and interpretation of reality and a continuous comparison of the forms assumed by social phenomena over time and space. On the other, it shows how to produce scientific explanations for the phenomena under observation.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Van Tubergen, F., Introduction to Sociology, Routledge, 2020 (assigned chapters for attending students, full text for non-attending students)
2. Giddens, A. - Sutton, P. W., Sociology, 9th edition, Cambridge, Polity Press (assigned chapters for attending students, full text for non-attending students)
3. Colombo, A. La solitudine di chi resta. La morte ai tempi del contagio, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2021
4. Colombo, A. (a cura di), Morire all’italiana. Pratiche, riti, credenze, Bologna, Il Mulino 2022 (assigned chapters for attending students, full text for non-attending students)

Teaching methods

The course has a traditional, lecture-based structure.

Students are encouraged to intervene with questions, concerns or observations during the course of the lecture.

The traditional lectures of the course may be combined with one or more seminars on topics and with speakers that will be indicated during the course.

Assessment methods

Attending students:

For attending students, the examination is conducted in two separate tests: the midterm and the final test.

The midterm will be held in the week of the semester break. The exam will cover the syllabus taken up to the class prior to the exam.

The final examination will be held in approximately the second or third week of December, with date, time and classroom to be announced. This test will only cover the program done from the midterm forward.

Both tests will involve multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Modalities will be indicated at the beginning of the course.

Date, time and classroom of both tests will be announced at the beginning of the course. These tests take place on a single date. Other dates outside of those indicated are not scheduled. Students who will not be present for one or both tests will have to take the exam as non-attending students.


Non-attending students:

The test consists of a single test with closed multiple-choice and open-ended questions on all chapters of all examination texts.

Teaching tools

The course involves the use of the Virtual Learning Environment Platform (virtual.unibo.it). All students are required to register, consult the platform periodically and take into account the directions contained therein. All materials necessary to follow the course will be uploaded to this platform, in particular:


- The detailed syllabus of the course lectures. Students are required to read the syllabus carefully before the start of the course and use it as a constant reference tool. The syllabus will be made available to coincide with the start of the course.


- Slides (The slides will contain only and exclusively additional materials shown in class, typically graphs and tables. They will not include either book content or lecture notes)


- Texts or websites for further study and which will be discussed in class and evaluated in the exam.


- Other materials, if any




Any written communications or requests to the teacher will be considered only and exclusively if sent from the institutional mailbox (xxx@studio.unibo.it ) to the teacher's institutional mailbox. Mails sent from personal boxes will not be considered and will not be answered.


However, the lecturer will not respond to emails containing questions whose answers are already in this document or in the F.A.Q. on the lecturer's website.

Office hours

See the website of Asher Daniel Colombo