Introduction to Sociology is an overview of the scientific study of human society, social behavior, and group dynamics. It introduces foundational thinkers — Auguste Comte (who coined the discipline), Émile Durkheim (social facts, anomie), Karl Marx (class conflict), Max Weber (stratification, bureaucracy), and C. Wright Mills (sociological imagination) — alongside the three core theoretical perspectives: functionalism (society as a stable, interconnected system), conflict theory (society shaped by inequality and power struggles), and symbolic interactionism (society constructed through everyday meaning-making). Students explore key concepts such as culture, norms, values, socialization, social stratification, deviance, and social mobility, as well as the role of major social institutions — family, education, religion, and government — in shaping individual lives and maintaining or challenging social order.
Entrepreneurship 1 (Learnwise: WFNEN 100 - Orientation Program in Entrepreneurship). This 10 credit module is designed for students of level one in all departments of the school of Governance. It is offered by the University of Rwanda in partnership with the Wadhwani Foundation by means of a blend of in-class teaching and e-learning methods through the link below:
Aims:
- Notions of social policy and planning;
- Social policy and social welfare in light of globalization;
Students should be able to:
- critically analyse a social policy and social welfare systems in the context of Rwanda, other developing countries and western countries;
- Demonstrate knowledge and values that support a critical, reflexive approach to social welfare and social policy;
- Demonstrate how learned theories, research results and policies can be applied and implemented at the community level.