Department of Sociology and Anthropology
SOC 6800 Advanced Topics in Sociological Theory
Fall 2025
Prof. Mervyn Horgan
Seminar time/location: Thursdays 11.30-14.20 / TBC
Office/Drop-in hours: MCKN637 / TBC Email:mhorgan@uoguelph.ca

Course Description
Despite being debunked again and again, the idea that theory and practice are opposed stubbornly persists. At best, this idea assumes that thinking about the world and acting in the world are distinct activities, at worst, that thinking and doing are mutually exclusive. In this course we treat theorizing as a form of practical activity, something we do. When we theorize, we must move to understand our own place in the world, to make trouble with received wisdom, and to discern some order in the midst of the apparent chaos that is collective life. Nothing, then, is as practical as a good theory.
Our core task in this course, then, is not simply to learn about and apply theories. At the PhD level we learn how to engage in the endlessly productive and generative activity that is theorizing. We will engage with a wide range of readings, from those within the old-dead-white-guy sociological canon, and those that critique and destabilize foundational assumptions in social thought, and a whole lot in between. By the end of the course, at the very least, you will be able to demonstrate the practical import of good theory. If you are engaged and adventurous, you will also be able to competently, coherently, and confidently theorize.
Course Readings: at least 90% of readings will be freely available to you in fully-accessible formats through library e-reserves, websites, or links on the syllabus.
Course Evaluation may include: weekly writing exercizes; active, engaged and generous participation; presentations; proposals; peer review; essays

Please note: this outline is for information purposes only and may change at the Professor’s discretion. The final and full syllabus will be distributed in the first seminar on September 4, 2025.