printer friendly pageSOC 137: Global Inequality
Absolute world poverty has declined considerably in the last twenty years, but elites have gained disproportionately from the growth of the global economy, leading to serious concerns about inequality in several countries, as well as in global policy circles. This discussion-based seminar explores how global capitalism affects worldwide inequality. Topics include the evolution, causes, and structure of global inequality, the links between inequality and human development, and potential solutions to global inequality.
Last offered: Autumn 2017
SOC 137D: How We Live and Die: The Social Context of Health and Health Care
We are used to thinking about diseases and illnesses as biological problems that need medical solutions. For example, suppose that a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer. Their cancer has an immediate, biological cause (genetic mutation) that we point to, and their doctor has an immediate, medical treatment (chemotherapy) that we can employ. This is how we think about health and practice medicine: focusing on the immediate causes and symptoms for one individual. Sociologists, however, view these situations differently, instead considering the social contexts of these diseases and thinking about the health of populations rather than of individuals. For example, perhaps they grew up in a town whose drinking water was poisoned by a local chemical factory, and this greatly increased their risk of getting cancer. How did circumstances throughout their life - many outside their control - like their socioeconomic status, government policies and local politics, and their access to medical care affect their eventually getting cancer? In this course, we will introduce key concepts from the sociology of health and illness - including fundamental causes of disease, health disparities, social determinants of health, social stress, social capital, the social construction of illness, medicalization, health care delivery, the structure of health care systems, and public policy - to examine the social causes and contexts of disease and illness. How do social conditions affect our health? What even are "diseases" or "illnesses"? Who gets sick, and who stays sick? What is medicine and health care, and how do we decide who gets them? We will apply these theoretical concepts and frameworks to these questions to understand how health and illness are not only biological processes occurring within individuals but also social processes between people, groups, and institutions.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Eun, T. (PI)
SOC 141: Monitoring the Crisis (PSYCH 145A, PUBLPOL 141, SOC 241, URBANST 149)
A course devoted to understanding how people are faring as the country's health and economic crisis unfolds. The premise of the course is that, as important and valuable as surveys are, it's a capital mistake to presume that we know what needs to be asked and that fixed-response answers adequately convey the depth of what's happening. We introduce a new type of qualitative method that allows for discovery by capturing the voices of the people, learn what they're thinking and fearing, and understand the decisions they're making. Students are trained in immersive interviewing by completing actual interviews, coding and analyzing their field notes, and then writing reports describing what's happening across the country. These reports will be designed to find out who's hurting, why they're hurting, and how we can better respond to the crisis. Students interested should submit the following application:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfdOZsnpOCg4zTRbVny0ikxpZEd1AFEEJh3K9KjvINyfbWMGw/viewformnnThe course is open to students who have taken it in earlier quarters, with repeating students allowed to omit the training sessions and, in lieu of those sessions, complete additional field work and writing. Field work will include unique interviews with new participants each lab period, along with corresponding coding, analyses, and reports.
Last offered: Winter 2021
| UG Reqs: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
SOC 141P: Public Interest Tech: Case Studies (SOC 241P)
What does public interest technology look like in practice? Each week, a guest speaker will present a case study of their work to improve government and public systems through innovative methods, data-driven efforts, emerging technology, and human-centered design. Students will reflect on the practicalities, ethics, and best practices of public interest technology work.
Last offered: Spring 2021
| Repeatable
16 times
(up to 16 units total)
SOC 142: Sociology of Gender (FEMGEN 142, FEMGEN 242, SOC 242)
Male, female, woman, man, feminine, masculine. We all know what gender is, right? In this course, we will critically examine the idea of gender from a sociological perspective. For the first few weeks, we will tackle the big question 'What is gender?' To do this, we will begin by interrogating taken-for-granted ideas about the biological underpinnings of gender. We then dive into sociological conceptions of gender. In the latter portion of the course we will examine the ways gender operates and produces inequality within a variety of societal institutions, including the media, the family, the workplace, and the legal system. This class will expose you to some of the methods social scientists use to study gender and help you think critically about common sense understandings of gender through a look at both popular journalism and rigorous academic research. The emphasis of this class is to leave you with a long-lasting understanding of why the study of social problems, and especially those related to gender, matter.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-Gender, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Hummel, L. (PI)
SOC 145: Race and Ethnic Relations in the USA (CSRE 145, SOC 245)
(Graduate students register for 245.) Race and ethnic relations in the U.S. and elsewhere. The processes that render ethnic and racial boundary markers, such as skin color, language, and culture, salient in interaction situations. Why only some groups become targets of ethnic attacks. The social dynamics of ethnic hostility and ethnic/racial protest movements.
Last offered: Spring 2021
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul
SOC 146: Introduction to Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE 196C, EDUC 166C, ENGLISH 172D, PSYCH 155, TAPS 165)
Race and ethnicity are often taken for granted as naturally occurring, self-evident phenomena that must be navigated or overcome to understand and eradicate the (re)production of societal hierarchies across historical, geopolitical, and institutional contexts. In contrast, this transdisciplinary course seeks to track and trouble the historical and contemporary creation, dissolution, experiences, and stakes of various ethnoracial borders. Key topics include: empire, colonialism, capital/ism, im/migration, diaspora, ideology, identity, subjectivity, scientism, intersectionality, solidarity, resistance, reproduction, and transformation. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center for Public Service
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
Instructors:
Carpenter, C. (PI)
;
Romero, A. (PI)
;
Rosa, J. (PI)
...
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Instructors:
Carpenter, C. (PI)
;
Romero, A. (PI)
;
Rosa, J. (PI)
;
Wilson, S. (PI)
;
ward, O. (PI)
;
Carpenter, C. (TA)
;
Kimmel, A. (TA)
;
Romero, A. (TA)
;
Wilson, S. (TA)
;
ward, O. (TA)
SOC 147: Race and Ethnicity Around the World (CSRE 147A, SOC 247)
(Graduate students register for 247.) How have the definitions, categories, and consequences of race and ethnicity differed across time and place? This course offers a historical and sociological survey of racialized divisions around the globe. Case studies include: affirmative action policies, policies of segregation and ghettoization, countries with genocidal pasts, invisible minorities, and countries that refuse to count their citizens by race at all.
Last offered: Winter 2021
| UG Reqs: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
SOC 149: The Urban Underclass (CSRE 149A, SOC 249, URBANST 112)
(Graduate students register for 249.) Recent research and theory on the urban underclass, including evidence on the concentration of African Americans in urban ghettos, and the debate surrounding the causes of poverty in urban settings. Ethnic/racial conflict, residential segregation, and changes in the family structure of the urban poor.
Last offered: Spring 2022
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
SOC 151: From the Cradle to the Grave: How Demographic Processes Shape the Social World (SOC 251)
(Graduate students register for 251 and 5 units. Undergraduates register for 151 and 4 units.) Comparative analysis of historical, contemporary, and anticipated demographic change. Draws on case studies from around the world to explore the relationship between social structure and population dynamics. Introduces demographic measures, concepts and theory. Course combines lecture and seminar-style discussion.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
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