41 - 50 of 264 results for: SOC

What does mass incarceration have in common with ICE detention? What role do little-known legal doctrines from the previous century play in making courts inaccessible to survivors of sexual assault and trans people fighting discrimination? In this class we will answer those questions by examining how the seemingly objective nature of the law makes it a potent social tool to promote the interests of the powerful at the expense of the powerless while appearing neutral. This obfuscating power of the law has long been used to reinforce and perpetuate forms of social inequality. In this class we will analyze a few notable examples of such usage of the law and their role as pillars of current social inequality: We will examine how the high burden of proof courts have placed on complainants claiming gender discrimination has blocked most targets of such discrimination from seeking legal remedy; We will examine how redlining and mass incarceration have resulted in the current rates of racial inequality; and how immigration law has resulted in a seemingly objective yet deeply racist system of detention by ICE.

Poverty rates in Israel are high and have been relatively stable in recent decades, with about one fifth of all households (and a third of all children) living below the poverty line. In this class we will learn about poverty and inequality in Israel and we will compare with the US and other countries.nnIn the first few weeks of this class we will review basic theories of poverty and inequality and we will discuss how theories regarding poverty have changed over the years, from the "culture of poverty" to theories of welfare state regimes. We will also learn about various ways of measuring poverty, material hardship, and inequality, and we will review the methods and data used.nnIn the remaining weeks of the class we will turn to substantive topics such as gender, immigration, ethnicity/nationality, welfare policy, age, and health. Within each topic we will survey the debates within contemporary scholarship and we will compare Israel and the US. Examination of these issues will introduce students to some of the challenges that Israeli society faces today.

Can machine learning help businesses hire (or fire) the right people? Can data science be used to close the gender pay gap? In this class, we'll explore the promises and pitfalls of using contemporary data analytics to help organizations manage their human resources. In doing so, we'll carefully examine the cutting-edge tools used by people analysts, use formal perspectives of human organization to think through the possible consequences of implementing these solutions in a business, and reason critically about the societal and ethical implications of their proliferation. No background in data science, computer science, or advanced mathematics is assumed for this class.

Families are changing: Non-marital partnerships such as cohabitation are becoming more common, marriage is delayed and fertility is declining. In this class we will learn about how families are changing in Israel and we will compare with the US and other countries. Reading materials include general theories as well as research published in scholarly journals. nnAfter reviewing general theories and major scholarly debates concerning issues of family change, we will turn to specific family processes and compare Israel, the US and other countries. We will ask how family transitions may differ for different population groups and at different stages of the life course, and we will tie family processes to current theories of gender. nnWe will cover a wide range of topics, from marriage and marital dissolution to cohabitation, LAT and remarriage. We will also discuss changes in women's labor force participation and how it bears on fertility, parenthood and household division of labor. Within each substantive topic we will survey the debates within contemporary scholarship and we will compare Israel and the US

Family is often imagined as a private realm, but the state has historically played an important role in its regulation, particularly for low income families and racial minorities. How do government programs work to preserve some families while destabilizing others? This course examines the racial politics of state involvement in family life in 20th century America. We will look at how important state systems such as criminal justice, immigration, welfare, and foster care have shaped the legal possibilities for family life in America. The course incorporates sociological, historical, and legal scholarship to critically assess the structural influences shaping the experiences, choices, and legal possibilities for families of color.

Mental health is an increasingly hot topic in the media. Why are high school and college students struggling with more and more mental health issues? Why are rates of depression and anxiety increasing? What is the role of social media? How can people cope with the psychological consequences of a multi-year pandemic? These conversations often culminate in the belief that there is a 'mental health crisis' plaguing the 21st century. But mental health, like other social phenomena, is not experienced in a vacuum. How does social context shape individuals' psychological experience? How might sociologists think about the idea of a mental health crisis? This course will provide an introduction to the sociology of mental health and will give you the tools to think critically about narratives around wellbeing that you may hear in your own lives. You will learn how the line between health and illness ('normal' and 'crazy') is socially constructed, how social context influences subjective experience, and how people's responses to subjective experience can change (and have changed) over time. We will also delve into demographic patterns in mental health experiences and discuss the social stigma that surrounds mental illness, mental health treatment, and diagnosis. Throughout the course, we will discuss contemporary issues around mental health - such as social media and the COVID-19 pandemic - using our sociological lens to offer explanations and insights. You will learn through reading scientific articles and books, class discussions, group work, and an independent final project that will be presented to the class at the end of the term.

Gender and Technology historicizes the process through which technical skills and modern-day American computing technologies have been imbued with masculinist associations. We explore how social processes link technical expertise to gendered domains, and how ideas about gender are shaped in turn by the resulting technologies. Students explore how American gender roles from the 19th century to the present¿as they intersect with race, class, and sexuality¿are constructed with and through technologies in order to better understand the masculinist defaults of the tech industry in the Silicon Valley.

What does is mean for something to be 'natural', and why is a connection to nature so often seen as a good thing? Drawing on perspectives from sociology, psychology, anthropology, environmental studies, and popular culture, this course analyzes how the concepts of nature and naturalness contribute to the way we make sense of our social world, including based on race, gender, beauty, morality, and politics. Students will learn about the history of environmentalism, the sociology of bodies, the economics of consumption, and the social psychology of traditionalism. Through a combination of lectures, in-class discussions, written assignments, and group projects, students will be encouraged to interrogate their own relationships with nature in order to more intentionally act towards the natural world and towards other people. Throughout, the course will prioritize a sociological lens by considering the roles of social relationships, power, scientific evidence, and inequality in cultural conceptions of nature.

The central goal of this course is to promote an academic debate and knowledge exchange about social inequalities and poverty in Latin America, with an emphasis on Brazil, analyzing their impact on the scope of politics, the design of social policies and the interests of society. It is based on an analysis of Angus Deaton's work (Nobel Prize in Economics, 2015), that develops an economic-historical study and points out the great economic and social transformations that affect the process of evolution of social and health inequalities. Thus, what is proposed here is an analysis of the mutation of inequalities throughout the history of humanity. Deaton's relevant contribution is his approach to the process of overcoming inequalities and poverty over the last three centuries. His work demonstrates that, although the advances in terms of economic growth and quality of life have been extraordinary, there are inequalities between different regions and countries around the world. From this contextualization, the aim of this course is to discuss a contemporary approach to social development centered on the ideas of Amartya Sen (Nobel Prize in Economics, 1998), with a focus on capabilities. Sen's innovative perspective establishes that development should be centered on individuals¿ freedom of choice.