Steven Vallas

Explores diverse social phenomena, from how people try to look their best in face-to-face interactions; to how race, gender, and class shape identities and social conditions; to how industrial capitalism came to dominate the world. Offers students an opportunity to gain a grasp of key sociological theories and empirical research on topics such as social order, social conflict, and social change, as well as learn to identify social forces that shape human behavior, explain how these forces affect individuals and social groups, and make valid predictions about how they may shape future behavior or events.

Examines the ways in which work organizations powerfully shape individual and social life. Traces such influences with particular emphasis on how organizations differentially affect the distribution of job rewards across class, gender and racial/ethnic lines. Topics include the historical evolution of the management/worker relationship, job segregation by both race and gender, the impact of new technologies on social inequality, the relation between gender and professional careers, governmental efforts to ensure equal opportunity, and the impact of workplace transformation on racial and gender inequalities at work.

Analyzes the transformation of work since the advent of industrial capitalism. Emphasizes the organization and experience of work since World War II and the contemporary shifts underway in the wake of deindustrialization, the rise of service work, the emergence of the internet, the platform revolution, and the globalization of business organizations. Topics include the shifting nature of authority relations at work; changing forms of labor control; types of workplace culture in traditional and high-tech settings; and efforts to identify and reduce bias against women, minorities, and members of the LGBTQ community. Addresses dilemmas arising from the introduction of advanced technologies.