Courses

An exploration of timely, often policy-oriented and/or interdisciplinary issues in sociology. A specific topic will be addressed each time the course is offered. Topics might include Principles of Population, Social Inequalities, and other topics. May be repeated with different topics. Prerequisite: one course in SOC or permission of instructor.

Spring Semester information

301A: Tps:Surveillance Capitalism and Social Control

This course explores how modern digital technologies are used to track, control, and modify human behavior. What does the new surveillance apparatus look like, and how does it work? Who built it, and to what ends? And crucially, what does this mean for the future of democracy and freedom in the 21st century? We will approach these timely and thought-provoking questions from a historical and interdisciplinary lens, shedding light on both the technical aspects of modern surveillance and its social implications. Topics of special consideration will include: the relationship between decarceration and "mass supervision"; the privatization of the Internet and the rise of "surveillance advertising"; digital surveillance in the workplace; the collusion between Big Tech and the national security state; and the tradeoff between privacy and convenience.

Fall Semester information

301A: Topics:Harm Reduction: HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C virus and the Opioid Epidemic

Should people with HIV/AIDS be legally required to wear a tattoo showing their status? You may be shocked that this question was ever seriously discussed by lawmakers in the United States. How has the stigma of HIV/AIDS and HCV affected the experience of people with it as well as public and health care responses? Has criminalizing substance use disorder (as we have done since the 1980s "Drug War") worked? What is harm reduction? How might a harm reduction approach be a better approach to these issues? This course will challenge you to think critically about these issues in a way that you have likely not considered before.

In this course, we will use a socio-cultural approach to understand HIV/AIDS, HCV, and the opioid epidemic with a specific focus on the United States. We will use a sociological and historical frame to explore the rise of patients and people who use drugs as activists/experts, the role of sexual and religious politics and moralism, and public health versus criminal approaches. The role of public sentiment in perpetuating stigma and discrimination towards these issues is a prevalent theme in the course. For example, how does race, class, gender, and sexual identity shape the changing meanings, experiences, and public/political responses? A course goal is for students to understand the role of how social structure and culture affect the construction of these issues.

We will also focus on the role of social movements, such as ACT UP in the 1980s regarding HIV/AIDS, that have affected change specifically amongst affected people. In this spirit, we will participate in social justice work around these topics. We will have national and local speakers join our class. This will also provide a glimpse into how non-profit organizations function and center the voices of people with lived experiences. Finally, we will sponsor an awareness campaign on campus for World AIDS Day in December.

301B: Topics:Sociology of Art

This course approaches art as a sociological subject. The course covers a wide range of topics related to art and civil society, from contexts of creativity to production and reception, in addition to marketing, interpretation, and politics. The syllabus is divided into three units. In Unit 1, we will examine how artworks are produced, evaluated, and exchanged in the traditional "art market." Unit 2 focuses on the objects and genres of art, developing our sociological mindfulness of exclusion and hierarchy in the art worlds. Digging deeper into the question of exclusion and hierarchy, Unit 3 asks how art can move us in so many creative ways. We will look at communities of artists traditionally marginalized by the mainstream art market. After taking this course, students are expected to be able to apply their sociological imagination to the art worlds, systematically analyze art as a social and political object, and engage in creative collective actions for social justice.