SOC 440 - Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage

Americans love marriage. Most people will marry at some point in their lives and many will marry more than once. In fact, 40% of marriages involve a second or higher marriage for one or both spouses. At the same time, marriage rates have gone down, particularly for those with less education, and people are marrying later. In its place, more and more young adults are cohabiting, one-quarter by age 20 and three-quarters by age 30. Divorce rates remain relatively high, but there have been declines in the overall rate since the 1980s. Amidst these trends, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the country, and the proportion of same-sex cohabiting couples who were married jumped from 38% to 61%. This course will examine these trends as well as the decisions, relationships, and conflicts behind them. Much of the course will also be spent investigating topics of interest to class members. All students will conduct research on a topic of their choice and discussions will center on readings related to students’ research topics as well as the research process itself.

Prerequisites & Notes