I started doing a little research for this question. I took introduction to sociology when I was in college and we absolutely delved into serious issues in social stratification, and the second class in the major was Race, Class, and Gender, so I naturally assumed that every sociology major was like this. After a little investigation into the introductory sociology classes and the major curricular requirements across several top schools, it seems to vary a lot by school and particularly the college’s sociology department.
Some colleges seem to incorporate or focus their introductory sociology class(es) on a survey of sociological phenomena, including group differences, discrimination, prejudice, social stratification, social movements, social problems, etc., alongside the less-controversial issues like migration, secularization and religion, law, theory, social mobility, etc.
But it seems that a lot - maybe most? - colleges focus their introductory sociology classes differently, with more focus on sociological theory and much more general themes of sociology. For example, compare Columbia’s introductory sociology class (“The Social World”):
SOCI W1000 The Social World 3 pts. Identification of the distinctive elements of sociological perspectives on society. Readings confront classical and contemporary approaches with key social issues that include power and authority, culture and communication, poverty and discrimination, social change, and popular uses of sociological concepts.
to an excerpt from Amherst College’s intro sociology class description (“Self and Society: An Introduction to Sociology”)
The topics we will explore include: how group expectations shape individual behavior; how variations in the size, structure, and cohesion of groups help account for differences in individual behavior as well as differences in the patterns of interaction between groups; how groups, including societies as a whole, reproduce themselves; and why societies change.
Columbia’s emphasizes more of the ‘hot topics’ concepts through a sociological lens, whereas Amherst’s sounds more like a straightforward introduction to the basic tenets of sociological inquiry.
Haverford’s first-year sociology sequence is simply two semesters of Foundations in Social Theory:
This seminar provides an introduction to sociology, to the doing of sociology, through an examination of selected major works in the discipline. We use these works as exemplifications of how we might do social theory, not as texts to be criticized…Section 001 with Gould will highlight works by Marx and Weber (supplemented by a bit of Parsons, Hegel, etc.
I went to an HBCU and a women’s college, so it probably comes as no surprise that these issues were front and center in our intro sociology class, “The Social Imagination”:
The exploration of a scientific approach to social phenomena, including varieties and uniformities in culture, symbols, beliefs, socialization, family, religion, and government. Focus on social research, social issues and social change. Prerequisite to junior and senior level course in the department.
We didn’t even touch Weber and Marx in our intro sociology class; I learned the sociological theory when I was a bit further along in college (although interestingly, I did read Marx and Weber and some other sociological theorists in another first-year class).
So it looks like colleges vary in their approach to intro sociology. Each approach has its pros and cons - starting with the social issues and problems can draw students into the major before they are introduced to the heavy stuff, but it leaves students without a strong foundation of social theory and they may be disillusioned when they take a 200-level course and get something they didn’t expect. Starting with the heavier sociological theory may discourage some students who don’t realize that it gets (more) interesting later and may lead to fewer majors, but those majors have a stronger foundation with which to approach an analysis of social problems and other sociological topics later on when they do get to talk about them. It’s not all ‘well here’s my experience with X,’ but more ‘here’s what sociological theory and research has to say about X’.
Anyway, to answer this question, take a look at your course catalog and see what the description of the class looks like. If it’s more like Haverford’s and Amherst’s, the class is probably more foundational social theory, research, and methods, and you likely won’t talk too much about the issues you’re interested in until you take 300-level sociology classes. (That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the class, though, as learning the tools that sociologists use to discuss and study these issues can be really helpful in framing them later. I use them all the time.) If the description looks more like Columbia’s or Spelman’s, then chances are better that the class will cover those issues, albeit through the lens of a social scientist and not just to talk about how outraged you are about them.
As an additional note, though, many colleges and universities may have additional 100-level classes designed for non-majors that take the social-problems route and discuss those, while the majors may take a more theoretical route. For example, my undergrad has a 100-level political science course (Intro to Political Inquiry) that promises to cover “the disagreement and debate that lies behind major issues and institutions.” However, that’s not the first course for majors - that class is an introduction to national government in the United States. So look to see if your college has something like that, too.