NGO Education Survey

SCOY 31 Youth and Society

This course explores central features of children’s preschool, preadolescent, adolescent, and college peer cultures. We will discuss what it means to study youth from a sociological lens and research methods for doing so. Specific topics may include: historical views of childhood; how gender, socioeconomic class, race, ethnicity, and sexuality shape youth’s experiences; what it means to be “popular”; identity development; extended adolescence; the role of culture (through games, books, television, etc.) in youth’s lives.

SOCY 23 Social Movements

Social movements are collective attempts to promote or resist social change, from the way people live their lives, to how governments govern, to how economic systems distribute rewards. This course examines why and when social movements come about, the organizations and strategies they adopt, and the circumstances in which they are most impactful. We explore these issues by researching individual political movements and engaging larger theoretical explanations for their development.

SOCY 25 Capitalism, Prosperity and Crisis

Capitalism in the last five centuries generated great wealth and prosperity in Western societies. In the last few decades, capitalism assumed a global character affecting social and economic life of the vast majority of the people in the world. Yet, capitalism has also been plagued by economic decline and failures, causing massive human suffering. This course will study the nature of capitalism, sources of prosperity and crisis, inequality in distribution of economic and political power.

SOCY 25 Democracy and Democratization in Developing Countires

The road to democratization in most countries in recent years has been marked by large-scale social movements. This course will begin with an examination of various theories of democracy and democratization. It will specifically analyze the role of class, culture, ideology, and religion in the democratization process. Finally, we will apply the theories to the three cases of South Korea, Indonesia, and Iran, three countries with mixed successes.

SOCY 32 The Social Meanings of Home

This course is an exploration of the economic, cultural, social and political dynamics of "home" in contemporary U. S. society. The concept, "home" invariably invokes multiple and sometimes conflicting ideas-a physical dwelling, family, economic property, birthplace, nationality, environment, haven, etc. We speak of "home sweet home," "dream home," "home is where the heart is," "sweet home Alabama" "homeland," "there's no place like home," and "homies." In the course, we will consider the home as a social context that profoundly shapes our personal and collective identities, gender roles and interpersonal relationships, class status and divisions, racial-ethnic memberships and conflicts, plus values and political ideals. The course will emphasize the homestead as economic property and the implications of its location, design, artifacts and domestic lifestyles for the cultivation of model subjects, consumers or citizens. Theoretical, empirical and interpretative materials in the course may touch on subjects as varied as housing and home ownership, shopping and hyperconsumption, food and kitchen culture, family values and the modeling of marriage and family life, the home improvement industry, and home and self makeovers on reality television.

SOCY 34 Health Disparities

This course is an exploration of the economic, cultural, social and political dynamics of "home" in contemporary U. S. society. The concept, "home" invariably invokes multiple and sometimes conflicting ideas-a physical dwelling, family, economic property, birthplace, nationality, environment, haven, etc. We speak of "home sweet home," "dream home," "home is where the heart is," "sweet home Alabama" "homeland," "there's no place like home," and "homies." In the course, we will consider the home as a social context that profoundly shapes our personal and collective identities, gender roles and interpersonal relationships, class status and divisions, racial-ethnic memberships and conflicts, plus values and political ideals. The course will emphasize the homestead as economic property and the implications of its location, design, artifacts and domestic lifestyles for the cultivation of model subjects, consumers or citizens. Theoretical, empirical and interpretative materials in the course may touch on subjects as varied as housing and home ownership, shopping and hyperconsumption, food and kitchen culture, family values and the modeling of marriage and family life, the home improvement industry, and home and self makeovers on reality television.

SOCY 38 Status and Power in Social Interaction

How do our interactions with others cause and result from inequalities in society? This course explores how status and power dynamics shape social life, using theories and research from sociological social psychology. We will learn how status beliefs emerge from social differences in resources and power, and how they perpetuate inequalities over time by shaping our interpretations of events and our behavior and emotions toward others. We will also consider how these inequalities can be overcome.

SOCY 42 Racism in Asian America

This course first considers the migration histories and racial experiences of Asian American groups in comparison to other groups. By highlighting the contexts of global and transnational migration, this course identifies the many ways in which Asian American groups have been both excluded and differentially included in politics and racial discourse—whether as colonial subjects, exploited labor, transnational immigrants, or diasporic groups. Next, the course considers a variety of contemporary experiences of Asian Americans, as they manifest in the media, food, gender, family, pop culture, transnational adoption, affirmative action, multiracial solidarities and more!

SOCY Inequality and Social Justice

Social stratification refers to the unequal distribution of socially valued resources such as wealth, prestige, and power, across different groups in society. This course examines sociological research on the extent of these inequalities, how they are generated, and the consequences they bear. With an emphasis on historical and contemporary patterns of inequality in the United States, specific topics may include: wealth and income inequality; poverty; the intersection of class, race/ethnicity, and gender; educational attainment; and social change.