Course Criteria

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  • 4.00 Credits

    This course provides an overview of current theoretical and empirical approaches to the social and cultural study of sexuality. Sexuality is examined at the micro-level, including the sexual practices and sexual identities of individuals. There is also a macro-level focus on how sexuality is shaped within institutions and by the historical context. The first section of the course considers how sexuality can be understood as both biological and social. The next section examines the varieties of cultural meanings associated with sexuality through historical and cross-cultural comparisons. This is followed by a discussion of current political controversies related to sexual practices and identities, including sex education, teenage pregnancy, and gay and lesbian marriage.(4 credits)
  • 3.00 Credits

    An introduction to the sociocultural analysis of race and ethnic group membership and identity, in its various historical and geographical contexts, including that of the contemporary United States. The range of topics implicated in issues of race and ethnicity include: the reasons that group membership has remained an important factor in social life and the conditions under which such membership forms the basis of social and political mobilization; anthropological and sociological research on and arguments about 'race' and human biodiversity; issues such as affirmative action, immigration policy and multiculturalism and concepts such as assimilation, neo-colonialism, and split labor market are critically evaluated with attention to their ideological bases, explanatory power and policy implications; and comparative global formations of race and ethnicity in various parts of the world. This course has no prerequisite.(4 credits)
  • 3.00 Credits

    This course investigates the relationship between religion and society, and the social dimension of religious truth-claims. The central theme entails a cross-cultural study of religious influences on both social stability and change or revolution. In exploring this tension between religion and existing socioeconomic and political orders, we will consider examples such as religious movements, as well as the ritual life of both the individual's life cycle and wider social and political institutions. This course has no prerequisite.(4 credits)
  • 3.00 Credits

    This course examines the topics of human origins, human nature, evolution, and prehistory, emphasizing the interplay between biological and sociocultural aspects of human life. Readings will draw from accounts of primate social behavior, hominid evolution, and archaeology to investigate the foundations of our uniquely human form of adaptation through culture. This course has no prerequisite.(4 credits)
  • 3.00 Credits

    The course examines the sociocultural bases of both Western and non-Western medical and psychiatric systems. It focuses especially on different cultural assumptions about the nature and causes of illness and the institutional arrangements for the care of patients. The course will consider a variety of social scientific theoretical perspectives on the relationship between illness, medicine, and society. It will assess the degree to which non-Western medical systems may be compatible with and/or of benefit to Western medicine and psychiatry. This course has no prerequisite. (Not offered 2008-2009) (4 Credits)
  • 3.00 Credits

    This course analyzes the social causes and consequences of environmental change. We explore the relationship among production, consumption, population, technology, and environment. We ask: do the social benefits of economic growth outweigh environmental costs? Does population growth lead to environmental problems? Can technical "fixes" solve environmental problems? Are "indigenous" technologies superior to "western" technologies? We'll also analyze human responses to change: policy and regulation, "green" capitalism, environmental movements, and environmental countermovements. We ask, how can we shape our future? What alternatives are likely and possible? Will the U.S. experience ecotopia or ecocide in the years to come? Will the Third World become the First World's dumping ground or will sustainable development provide environmental equity? This course is cross-listed with Environmental Studies and has a prerequisite of either S/A 100 or ENVS 100.(4 credits)
  • 4.00 Credits

    Special topics in Sociology/Anthropology.(4 credits)
  • 3.00 Credits

    This course begins with a question: Does the poetic and literary imagination transcend its particular cultural context? Are there universally recognized themes or criteria for judging literature, or is all literature a reflection of what is going on in society at a particular historical moment? If there is a relationship between society and literature, we will need to explore it from at least two vantage points: What are the sociocultural bases of literature, and how might literature, in turn, influence society? The course may use different examples or sub-themes to address these issues. For example, do the criteria by which we judge "good" literature vary over time and across societies? Do the stories we tell in different societies look at society, human virtues or the environment in the same ways? To what degree do our stories, critique it or propose alternatives to social arrangements? We will discuss works (novels, plays, short stories or poetry) often acknowledged in the West to be "great literature" and look at how we establish this "canon." Yet, we will also look at children's literature, science fiction and other "pulp fiction" as equally telling sources of information about our aesthetic values and social arrangements. This course has no prerequisite. (Not offered 2008-2009) (4 Credits)
  • 3.00 Credits

    An investigation of the classical foundations of social thought and sociocultural theory in sociology/anthropology. The course will concentrate on the original works of authors such as Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Weber, Durkheim, Martineau, DuBois and other significant authors of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This course is required of all majors and minors in sociology/anthropology. Pre-requisite: S/A 100 and a S/A elective or by consent. No First Year students.(4 credits)
  • 1.00 - 4.00 Credits

    A general category used only in the evaluation of transfer credit. (1-4 credits)
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