printer friendly pageSOC 14N: Inequality in American Society
An overview of the major forms of inequality in American society, their causes and consequences. Special attention will devoted to to public policy associated with inequality.
Last offered: Winter 2021
SOC 19N: The Immigrant Experience in Everyday Life (CHILATST 19N)
The seminar introduces students to major themes connected to the immigrant experience, including identity, education, assimilation, transnationalism, political membership, and intergroup relations. There will also be some attention given to research methodology. The seminar addresses these themes through reading ethnographies that document the everyday experience of immigrants and immigrant communities, broadly defined, in the United States. The course readings primarily come from more contemporary ethnographic research, but it will also include a sampling of ethnographies that examine the experience of previous waves of immigrants. Student participation will include in-class discussions of readings, short written responses to readings, and a final paper in which students draw on original ethnographic research that they conduct during the quarter. By the end of the quarter, students will be able to identify the social, political, and economic forces that shape the immigrant experience. More importantly, students will understand HOW these forces enter the immigrant experience in everyday life.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-EDP
Instructors:
Jimenez, T. (PI)
SOC 21D: Social Movements and the Internet
Over the past few decades, social movements have increasingly relied on social movement participants leveraging internet technologies in mobilization, coordination, and public outreach to assist in their movement goals. How have new online tools such as social media and digital connectivity changed the processes of contemporary social movements? This course uses a sociological perspective to examine the ways social movements have adapted to online technologies to critically think about how the internet has altered traditional forms of social movement mobilization. The first half of the course is an introduction and review of traditional social movement literatures, while the second half is focused on different contemporary social movements where the internet played an important role, including the Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ equality, feminism and the #MeToo movement, and most recently, the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Students will be encouraged to think about the ways in which social movement processes have been accelerated and/or changed due to the effects of online technologies.
Last offered: Summer 2021
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
SOC 31N: Social Networks
This Introductory Seminar reviews the history of social network studies, investigates how networks have changed over the past hundred years and asks how new technologies will impact them. We will draw from scholarly publications, popular culture and personal experience as ways to approach this central aspect of the human experience.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Granovetter, M. (PI)
SOC 37Q: Food Justice Now! Power and Politics in the Ways We Eat (CSRE 37Q, EARTHSYS 37Q)
Where does the food you eat come from? How does it get to your plate? Where does it go when you don't finish it? And why are those particular items on your plate in the first place? How and what we eat is a vastly overlooked part of everyday life, and yet comes with huge personal, societal, and environmental effects, both positive and (quite often) negative. But this isn't indicative of personal moral failings or ignorance - rather, the food system was designed this way. And it leaves many of us without choice or consent around what we put into our bodies and how our actions impact those around us, thereby exacerbating social and health inequities. This class will uncover the secret workings of the global food system and introduce students to movements and efforts towards creating a more just food future for all. We will center on the concept of 'food justice,' which includes all ideas and practices that strive to eliminate exploitation and oppression within and beyond the food system.
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Where does the food you eat come from? How does it get to your plate? Where does it go when you don't finish it? And why are those particular items on your plate in the first place? How and what we eat is a vastly overlooked part of everyday life, and yet comes with huge personal, societal, and environmental effects, both positive and (quite often) negative. But this isn't indicative of personal moral failings or ignorance - rather, the food system was designed this way. And it leaves many of us without choice or consent around what we put into our bodies and how our actions impact those around us, thereby exacerbating social and health inequities. This class will uncover the secret workings of the global food system and introduce students to movements and efforts towards creating a more just food future for all. We will center on the concept of 'food justice,' which includes all ideas and practices that strive to eliminate exploitation and oppression within and beyond the food system. This trajectory will take us through understandings of economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological life, both now and in the past, providing students with a unique opportunity to gain interdisciplinary knowledge of food systems. For instance, we will learn about how historical and modern-day activists and scholars draw on movements for economic, gender, racial, climate, and environmental justice, and explore the possibilities for both reformative and transformative food politics. Finally, because food production, consumption, and activism are all highly tangible practices, the class will engage in field trips to the Stanford O'Donohue Family Farm, Stanford Food Institute's Teaching Kitchen, and a local Bay Area farm to get hands-on experience with what it means to eat more ethically.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Ramirez, B. (PI)
SOC 64: Shaping America's Future: Exploring the Key Issues on Our Path to the 2024 Elections (COMM 159B, EDUC 64)
Join us for an immersive speaker series that delves into the core of American democracy. Prominent figures from a range of politic, business, foreign policy, academia, and media will analyze the implications of the 2024 elections and the challenges our nation faces. Led by James Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, explore topics such as harnessing the power of AI responsibly, addressing climate change at various levels, strengthening commitments to democracy and voting rights, safeguarding youth from the impacts of social media and technology on mental health, and ensuring accountability for wealth disparities. This series will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the elections and the broader American political landscape.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 1
Instructors:
Steyer, J. (PI)
SOC 103: Human and Planetary Health (MED 103, PUBLPOL 183, SUSTAIN 103)
Two of the biggest challenges humanity has to face ? promoting human health and halting environmental degradation ? are strongly linked. Gains in health metrics in the last century have coincided with dramatic and unsustainable planetary-level degradation of environmental and ecological systems. Now, climate change, pollution, and other challenges are threatening the health and survival of communities across the globe. In acknowledging complex interconnections between environment and health, this course highlights how we must use an interdisciplinary approach and systems thinking to develop comprehensive solutions. Through a survey of human & planetary health topics that engages guest speakers across Stanford and beyond, students will develop an understanding of interconnected environmental and health challenges, priority areas of action, and channels for impact. Students enrolling in just the lecture should enroll for 3 units. Students enrolling the lecture and weekly discussion sections should enroll for 4 units.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI, WAY-SMA
Instructors:
Abid, A. (PI)
;
Burke, K. (PI)
;
De Leo, G. (PI)
;
Luby, S. (PI)
;
Veidis, E. (PI)
;
Abid, A. (TA)
;
Gomez, L. (TA)
;
Lieu, B. (TA)
;
Martins, K. (TA)
;
Miller, R. (TA)
;
Spencer, R. (TA)
SOC 107E: Education and Inequality: Big Data for Large-Scale Problems (EDUC 107, EDUC 207, SOC 205)
In this course, students will use data from the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA) to study the patterns, causes, consequences, and remedies of educational inequality in the US. SEDA is based on 200 million test score records, administrative data, and census data from every public school, school district, and community in the US. The course will include lectures, discussion, and small group research projects using SEDA and other data.
Last offered: Autumn 2022
SOC 110: The Role of the Privileged in Reducing Inequality and Advancing Social Justice (SOC 212)
In an era of extreme inequality, more Americans are reckoning with and pushing back on systems that have perpetuated the extreme concentration of wealth and power that is held by this nation's white male elite. Such reckoning has led to mass confusion among the privileged about what their role is in advancing social justice. Is it about speaking up, supporting quietly in the background, or getting out of the way? How much income and wealth is enough, for themselves and their children? How do their responsibilities vary based on how many zeros are in theirs bank accounts? In what ways does big philanthropy reproduce inequality, and what alternatives exist? What additional responsibilities do those who have multiple types of privilege ? such as white men ? have in society? What can we learn from historical approaches to these questions (e.g., noblesse oblige), and from historical figures like Stanley Levinson (who was Dr. King's closest white friend and confidant during the civil rights
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In an era of extreme inequality, more Americans are reckoning with and pushing back on systems that have perpetuated the extreme concentration of wealth and power that is held by this nation's white male elite. Such reckoning has led to mass confusion among the privileged about what their role is in advancing social justice. Is it about speaking up, supporting quietly in the background, or getting out of the way? How much income and wealth is enough, for themselves and their children? How do their responsibilities vary based on how many zeros are in theirs bank accounts? In what ways does big philanthropy reproduce inequality, and what alternatives exist? What additional responsibilities do those who have multiple types of privilege ? such as white men ? have in society? What can we learn from historical approaches to these questions (e.g., noblesse oblige), and from historical figures like Stanley Levinson (who was Dr. King's closest white friend and confidant during the civil rights movement) and Hermann Kallenbach (who donated 4,000 acres of land to create a refuge where he lived with Gandhi and other leaders of the nonviolent resistance movement)? When we discuss these questions, we will not seek absolute answers. Instead, we will bring our lived experience and analysis to uncover insights together. Both those who identify as privileged and those who do not are welcome in this course.
SOC 111: State and Society in Korea (INTNLREL 143, SOC 211)
20th-century Korea from a comparative historical perspective. Colonialism, nationalism, development, state-society relations, democratization, and globalization with reference to the Korean experience.
Last offered: Winter 2023
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-SI
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