91 - 100 of 238 results for: SOC

From your daily cup(s) of coffee to the 'War on Drugs,' drugs touch the lives of most people. Yet, how societies deal with drug use and abuse change throughout time. In this course, we will look at drug use and abuse through a sociological lens, exploring how micro (personal), meso (interactional), and macro (structural) level forces underpin the meanings, experiences, and policies associated with drug use and abuse in the United States. Beyond this, we will examine how these forces contribute to persistent systems of inequality among different groups. This will not serve as a 'how to' course, but one in which you will be asked to critically examine the role of drugs and their effects on society. By the end of this course, students should be able to:

We are in a moment of great national attention and debate over the role of police in society, with some calling for greater funding and resources to support community policing efforts and others calling for the abolition of the institution in its entirety. In its current form, policing has infused a surprisingly wide variety of other social institutions, ranging from healthcare to education to technology. This course examines the social underpinnings of historical and modern-day policing. We will critically analyze the trends in policing practices in the US through time, and ask how - and to what effect - police have become enmeshed in the social fabric of American life. This class will expose you to some of the methods social scientists use to investigate society's most pressing issues and help you think critically about policing in America through reading, discussing, and critiquing both popular journalism and rigorous academic research. I hope this course challenges you to consider the implications of course content beyond the confines of the classroom, leaves you with novel ways of thinking about society, and helps you become a more aware, informed, and active citizen for your future. An additional goal is to help you build proficiency in your analytical skills. With the final project, you will have the opportunity to become a creator of knowledge by collecting and analyzing your own data.

Despite gains in recent years, women remain dramatically underrepresented in virtually all realms of the American political system. In this course, students will become familiar with the empirical patterns and trends, social and cultural debates, and policy issues concerning the role of gender in American politics. We will examine the gender gap in voting patterns and mass political participation, as well as strategies for increasing women¿s representation. Students will come to understand the effects of women¿s lack of parity, including policy attitudes, processes, and outcomes. Furthermore, we will explore gender inequality in politics through an intersectional lens of race, class, age, education, and sexuality.

Markets are inescapably entangled with questions of right and wrong. What counts as a fair price or a fair wage? Should people be able to sell their organs? Do companies have a responsibility to make sure algorithmic decisions don't perpetuate racism and misogyny? Even when market exchange seems coldly rational, it still embodies normative ideas about the right ways to value objects and people and to determine who gets what. In this course, we will study markets as social institutions permeated with moral meaning. We will explore how powerful actors work to institutionalize certain understandings of good and bad; unpack how particular moral visions materially benefit some groups of people more so than others; examine the ways people draw on notions of fairness to justify and contest the market's distribution of resources and opportunities; and consider who has agency to build markets according to different normative ideals. Most course readings are empirical research, so we will also critically discuss how social scientists use data and methods to build evidence about the way the world works.

TRIGGER WARNING: Over the past decade the issue of campus sexual assault and harassment has exploded into the public discourse. Multiple studies have reinforced the finding that between 20-25% of college women (and a similar proportion of students identifying as transgender and gender-nonconforming, as well as approximately 10% of male students) experience sexual assault carried out through force or while the victim was incapacitated during their time in college. Fraternities have been found to be associated with an increased risk of female sexual assault on campus. Vulnerable students and those from marginalized groups are often found to be at increased risk. This is also a significant problem in k12 education. Sexual harassment rates are even higher. Survivors have come forward across the country with harrowing stories of assault followed by what they describe as an insensitive or indifferent response from college administrators. These survivors have launched one of the most successful, and surprising, social movements in recent memory. As a result, the federal government under President Obama stepped up its civil rights enforcement in this area, with over 300 colleges and universities under investigation for allegedly mishandling student sexual assault complaints as of the end of that administration. At the same time, the Obama administration's heightened response led to a series of high-profile lawsuits by accused students who assert that they were falsely accused or subjected to mishandled investigations that lacked sufficient due process protections. The one thing that survivors and accused students appear to agree on is that colleges are not handling these matters appropriately and appeared to be more concerned with protection the institutional brand than with stopping rape or protecting student rights. Colleges have meanwhile complained of being whipsawed between survivors, accused students, interest groups, and enforcement authorities. In an about-face that many found shocking, the Trump Administration rescinded all of the Obama-era guidance on the subject of sexual harassment and has promulgated new proposed regulations that would offer significantly greater protection to accused students and to institutions and commensurately less protection to survivors. An increasingly partisan Congress has been unable to pass legislation addressing the issue. It is unclear whether or to what extent the incoming Biden Administration will move to withdraw or amend the DeVos regulations. Meanwhile in schools have moved toward adopting an uneven patchwork of policies in which some schools cover conduct (for example, off campus conduct) that DeVos excluded from the purview of Title IX under the ambit of "supplemental" conduct policies and procedures setting up policy confusion and inequalities for students of different schools. This course focuses on the legal, policy, and political issues surrounding sexual assault and harassment on college campuses. Each week we will read, dissect, compare and critique a set of readings that include social science, history, literature, legal, policy, journalism, and narrative explorations of the topic of campus sexual assault. We will explore the history of gender-based violence and the efforts to implement legal protections for survivors in the educational context. We will also study the basic legal frameworks governing campus assault, focusing on the relevant federal laws such as Title IX and the Clery Act. We will critically explore the ways that responses to this violence have varied by the race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other characteristics of parties and institutions. We will hear from guest speakers who are actively involved in shaping policy and advocating in this area, including lawyers, activists, journalists, and policymakers. This year we will also host special guest speaker Chanel Miller, author of the bestselling memoir Know My Name. The subject matter of this course is sensitive, and students are expected to treat the material with maturity. Much of the reading and subject matter may be upsetting and/or triggering for students who identify as survivors. There is no therapeutic component for this course, although supportive campus resources and Title IX staff are available for those who need them. Elements used in grading: Grades will be based on class attendance, class participation, and either several short reflection papers and a class presentation (section 01) or an independent research paper or project and class presentation (section 02). After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section 01 into section 02, which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Enrollment is by INSTRUCTOR PERMISSION. Access the consent form here https://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/21-22-Win-One-in-Five-LAW-7065-FEMGEN-143-SOC-188-SOC-288-Michele-Landis-Dauber-Emma-Tsurkov-Consent-Form.docx or email etsurkov@stanford.edu to request a form via email. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the class is full. Demand for the class is high and participation is capped at 18. The class usually fills quickly, so make sure to apply early. Cross-listed with the School of Law ( LAW 7065), Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies ( FEMGEN 143), and Sociology ( SOC 188/288). This course is being taught remotely over Zoom.

In the contemporary United States, supposedly race-neutral immigration laws have racially-unequal consequences. Immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and the Middle East are central to ongoing debates about who's includable, and who's excludable, from American society. These present-day dynamics mirror the historical forms of exclusion imposed on immigrants from places as diverse as China, Eastern Europe, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and much of Africa. These groups' varied experiences of exclusion underscore the long-time encoding of race into U.S. immigration policy and practice. Readings and discussions center on how immigration law has become racialized in its construction and in its enforcement over the last 150 years.

Prior arrangement required.

Work on a project of student's choice under supervision of a faculty member. Prior arrangement required.