SOC 235 Sociology of Emotions

Are feelings innate and universal or are they socially created and historically and culturally determined? Emotions are generally seen as individually and privately experienced, but are actually deeply social.  They are embedded in, constitutive of, and created by social interactions, social structures and institutions.  This course will examine the relatively new field of the Sociology of Emotions from a constructionist and interactionist perspective.  Our explorations will focus on contemporary American society, but will use examples from other times and cultures to illustrate the socially constructed, experienced, and expressed nature of emotions.