Urban Sociology in Theory and Practice
MIT OpenCourseWare's graduate seminar introduces core writings that founded and reshaped the field of urban sociology. Readings trace the major theoretical paradigms used to study cities, from the Chicago School's models of community to later work on social inequality, political power, socio-spatial change, and technological change. The course examines how the built environment shapes human behavior and how shifting theory has influenced social policy and planning practice. Materials include the syllabus, weekly reading lists drawn from foundational and contemporary urban scholars, and discussion questions used to structure graduate seminar sessions. There are no video lectures; the course is delivered as a full set of MIT course materials free to access online, with no certificate offered. It suits students wanting a rigorous grounding in how sociologists have theorized urban life across a century of scholarship.