What follows is a brief description of the course. The syllabus is not yet complete, and requires a dialogical introduction in any case. Any interested in inquiring about possibly taking the course, please see Professor Lucas' e-mail policy.

This course serves as an introduction to the field of social stratification and class analysis (strat for short). Among the many benefits students who complete this course will obtain, one is that they will be well-prepared to take orals in social stratification and class analysis. Students interested in taking orals in this area are encouraged to check my page of previous written prelims and to speak with me about the process of securing passage of the orals exam.

Substantively, strat is a field that marries an intense interest in theoretical claims to a commitment to the empirical adjudication of theoretical debates. To evaluate theories empirically has called analysts to employ tools systematically; many times, theoretical debates about the world find articulation in the language of methodological concerns. Yet, if one can attend to the technical issues without becoming lost in the wizardry, one can find at the center a substantive debate with potentially large implications for our understanding of inequality in society.

And what could be more important for our time? Why is it that some people are paid a great deal, while others scrape by on very little? What are the structural forces that allocate persons to these different positions in society? How much does one's parents' status determine one's own future? How are persons sorted into mating partnerships? How long do the effects of previous generations last? Can states do anything to alter the pattern of inequality or reduce its impact? I could go on listing questions, which is to say that, unfortunately, we will not be able to read the literature on every single question of interest to strat researchers. But, as even this smattering of questions suggests, the issues that occupy strat researchers concern the development of public policy; the functioning of economies and distribution of goods; the acquisition and wielding of political power; the stock of philosophical, religious, and ideological commitments; in short, the entire edifice of society and any effort to forge a better world for future generations. Hence, the stakes in play for strat research are vast, daunting--and humbling.