This course is an introduction to the sociology of economic development and social, political, and cultural change. We will study the concepts, theories, historical processes, and issues regarding the interrelations and transformations of the social groups, economies, political systems, and cultures of developing societies – and their relationships with developed countries – over time. Thus, our focus will be on developing countries, our scope will be global and long-term, our perspective will be sociological but interdisciplinary, and our methodology will be historical-comparative. The primary questions we will address are: What is development? How do “developing societies” differ from “developed societies”? What are the relationships of “developing” and “developed” societies? How can we best approach an understanding of why the historical experiences of “developing” countries seem to differ so much from those of “developed” countries”? In the first half of the course, we will focus on understanding, largely through case studies, the main theories of development: modernization theory, dependency, world-system analysis, and neoliberalism. In the second half of the course, we will expand our empirical and theoretical understanding by examining development and globalization, gender, ethnicity, ecology, and global social movements. Note: Course formerly called “Sociology of International Development.”