Global Arc

A survey of past and present perspectives on the origin, development and social consequences of capitalism, covering various aspects including classical political economy and sociology theories, long-term cycles, revolutions, state actors, the welfare state, imperialism, international trade, international finance, labor relations, consumerism, ecology, neoliberalism and the future of capitalism.

In this course, we focus not on ethnoracial groups, but on particular cases which illustrate how race is used as a means to divide, sort, and rank human beings. Readings include sociological, historical, and anthropological studies of ethnoracial dynamics in the U.S., Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. We examine key conceptual and epistemological issues in comparative research on race; and compare how different societies have constructed ethnoracial boundaries. We conclude by considering the possible future(s) of the U.S. racial order by discussing ethnoracial attitudes, multiraciality, immigration, and 'Latin Americanization.'

In this course, students will develop a broad understanding of how Japanese society functions today by focusing on several key institutions and social domains: politics, the economy, education, employment, family, media, and the larger population. This understanding of contemporary Japanese society (1980s-present) will come through reading of Japan scholars in a range of fields, reading recent media portrayals of Japan, attending lectures designed to supplement and extend the readings, engaging in classroom discussion based on student-generated questions, and writing a research paper on a topic of student's choice.

The American Dream is built around the idea that children born into poor families can enter the middle and upper classes as adults. Yet recent research shows that this process happens more often in some cities than others; for instance, poor children born in San Jose are three times as likely to enter the upper class as those born in Charlotte. What might be driving these geographic differences in opportunities for low-income youth? We will work together as a class to answer this question using new survey data. Students will learn the basics of statistical thinking and develop the computational skills needed to put these ideas into practice.

In this course, we'll examine the changing landscape of science from a sociological perspective. We'll explore professionalization, public participation in science, the erosion of professions, emerging forms of amateur science organizations, and factors that shape these new organizations. We will discuss cultural authority, boundary-work, the democratization of science, the nature expertise, and the role of networks, adjacent organizations, and identity in creating new science organizations. Although do-it-yourself biology will be an ongoing focus, we will also discuss case studies in medicine, journalism, art, technology, and other sciences.

Intellectuals--a group defined in various ways, but consisting at its core of those individuals occupationally specialized in the production of knowledge and ideas--play key parts in modern society. This seminar examines sociological research on intellectuals, with a particular focus on academic intellectuals in the human sciences.

This course seeks to expose students to the recent social science literature on contemporary immigration of black individuals from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa to the United States. In addition to gaining an understanding of the degree of diversity that exists within the black immigrant population, students will explore the long-term effects of contemporary black immigration on American society, with a particular focus on understanding the roles of race, selective migration, and culture in explaining disparate social outcomes between U.S.-born and foreign-born blacks in the United States.

This course seeks to expose students to the recent social science literature on contemporary immigration to the United States, its origins, adaptation patterns, and long-term effects on American society. The course will consist of lectures by the instructor combined with class discussion of assigned texts.

Students will be introduced to the practice of doing ethnographic fieldwork in the local community and to the reflective process of writing ethnography. Students will select a local field site within reach of their daily lives, engage in fieldwork and participant observation, write field notes, experiment with interpreting their data and discover their research question. In the readings and in class discussions we will talk about social explanation and interpretation, and focus on field notes and the process of writing ethnography. Field notes will be turned in weekly. A final paper based on field research is due at the end of the semester.

Introduction to social exclusion in modern Latin America. This course examines the historical development and structural roots of social exclusion in Latin America as well as demands for inclusion and government and civil society responses. Forms of social exclusion include those based on class, race, ethnicity and gender. The course emphasizes the context of democratization and neoliberalism in the region and a social environment of high income inequality and crime.