Significant aspects of the history of African Americans with particular emphasis on the evolution and development of black communities from slavery to the present. Interdisciplinary introduction to social, political, legal and economic roots of contemporary problems faced by blacks in the United States with applications to the lives of other racial and ethnic minorities in the Americas and in other societies.
AASP187
The New Jim Crow: African-Americans, Mass Incarceration and the Prison Industrial Complex
Students will examine the birth of the racial caste system following the abolition of slavery, the parallels between the racial hierarchy of the Jim Crow system and contemporary mass incarceration, and the rise of the prison industrial complex as a multi-billon business which thrives on the oppression of low-income populations and poor communities of color.
AASP211
Get Out: The Sunken Place of Race Relations in the Post-Racial Era
Prevailing thought suggests that we live in an era that is post-racial, particularly after the election of Barack Obama. Media often serves to drive our assessment of where our nation stands on issues like race, gender and sexuality. This course uses the film Get Out to delve into the production, evolution and significance of race in present day America. The course will engage multiple forms of media to investigate life in "Post-Racial" America, including but not limited to the role of stereotypes, interracial relationships, police-community relations, etc.
AASP230
Social (In)Justice and African-American Health and Well-Being
African Americans suffer worse outcomes than non-Hispanic whites on nearly every health measure and outcomes that link to overall well-being like depressive symptoms or homicides. Health disparities are experienced by other underrepresented minority groups, but because of the unique historic and current experiences of African Americans, the determinants and solutions to African American health disparities are unique. The premise of this course is that African American health disparities are due to social injustices perpetuated on the institutional level that have permeated the lived experiences of African Americans leading to racial disparities in health and well-being. As such, the solutions on the both policy, and community, level must have a social justice approach.
Exploration of the variety of past human societies and cultures through archaeology, from the emergence of anatomically modern humans to the more recent historical past.
ANTH260
Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology and Linguistics
Culture and social relationships in a wide variety of settings from small-scale to complex societies. An overview of how anthropology analyzes human behavior. Particular attention to the relationship between language and culture.
An overview of sexuality from an anthropological perspective, looking at aspects of sexuality within our own culture and in cultures around the world. Course topics include the biology and culture of sex, gender, physical attraction, sexual orientation, marriage and mating taboos, fertility control, sexually transmitted diseases, and commercial aspects of sex.
An overview of the growing field of global health including health care systems, medical practices, ideas about illness in cross-cultural contexts, issues of health development, global health inequity, and human rights issues. The course will focus on the history of global health, the critique of major international health agencies and their development paradigms, and the political economy of social inequalities and health.
Explore past, present, and future interactions between humans and climate. Discussions, methods-oriented activities, and case study analyses provide students a foundation for appreciating the role of anthropology in understanding, responding to, and preparing for climate change.
The impact of diseases on populations from prehistoric times through the present will be examined, along with public perceptions of disease, scientific breakthroughs on treatment and prevention, and the ways that politics and public health policies can enhance or impede the advancement of disease treatment. The natural history of disease, population structure, and immunity will be discussed. The class will address emerging and re-emerging diseases and the ways that first responders, researchers, and policy makers may affect the outcome of an outbreak.
Introduction to the administration of criminal justice in a democratic society, with emphasis on the theoretical and historical development of law enforcement. The principles of organization and administration for law enforcement; functions and specific activities; planning and research; public relations; personnel and training; inspection and control; direction; policy formulation.
What are the dimensions of violence in the United States and worldwide, and how has humanity responded to violence? Conflict is unfortunately resolved through violence in a number of settings. It ranges from interpersonal to international in its scope. This course investigates the strengths and weaknesses of a number of resolutions to reducing violence over the course of history using both state centered and informal control.
CCJS325
Slavery in the Twenty First Century: Combating Human Trafficking
What is human trafficking and how do we stop it? An introduction to the trafficking of human beings in its historical, legal, economic, political and social contexts. Scope of the global problem, different forms of human trafficking, and regional trends and practices. Roles of government, the international community and individual actors. Strategies to combat trafficking.
America, from its very origins as an independent nation, saw itself as the new Rome: its system of government is built on Roman precedents, its national buildings look as if they came from the Roman Forum, and its leisure activities take us to stadiums modeled on the Colosseum. America's relationship to Rome, however, raises its greatest anxiety: will America fall as Rome did? In 1776, the year of American independence, Edward Gibbon published his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; America has been thinking about the trajectory of its history alongside Rome's from the very beginning.
The Department of Economics enforces course prerequisites. Students who do not meet the course prerequisites will be administratively dropped from the course.
Prerequisite: MATH107 or MATH110; or must have math eligibility of MATH113 or higher.
Additional information: It is recommended that students complete ECON200 before taking ECON201.
Introduces economic models used to analyze economic behavior by individuals and firms and consequent market outcomes. Applies conceptual analysis to several policy issues and surveys a variety of specific topics within the broad scope of microeconomics.
Prerequisite: MATH107 or MATH110; or must have math eligibility of MATH113 or higher.
Recommended: ECON200.
Credit only granted for: ECON201 or ECON205.
An introduction to how market economies behave at the aggregate level. The determination of national income/output and the problems of unemployment inflation, will be examined, along with monetary and fiscal policy.
Investigation linking research in the brain science of learning and development, including the neural basis of academic skills, to achievement, disability, and broader applications to classroom learning. This course will focus on areas of education including language (spoken and written), conceptual change, numerical/quantitative processing, and social cognition as well as burgeoning areas of neuroscientific research in general cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and executive processing. These topics will be discussed with respect to typical and atypical development with some focus on developmental disabilities including autism, specific language impairment, reading and math impairment, and attention deficit disorders among others. This course will focus on both the theoretical perspectives and pragmatic issues of how evidence regarding brain development can or may be translated into useful or misleading information for educators, professionals, and parents/guardians of our children.
Central concepts related to parameters of human development, individual and social, which arise throughout the life span. Continuity and change within the developing individual.
An examination of changing fatherhood roles, health, and inequality in diverse families. Focus will be on masculinities and disparities among men by race and class; provider role expectations; and trauma and violence faced by men in contemporary society.
FMSC260
Couples, Marriage, and Families: Intimate Relationship Across the Life Course
Covers the different aspects of couple relationships and family life. This includes common problems in couple relationships, and resources to strengthen couple and family relationships. You will also learn about stages of relationships, theories of love and family, policy related to couples and family formation, and how research is conducted with couples and families. Together, we will discuss and explore issues that couples and families face in modern times and will consider how many of these issues have changed due to policy, technology, attitudes, and a variety of other societal factors that impact relationships in the 21st century. You will also learn important methods of strengthening current and future relationships.
For more information about this online class and requirements, click on this link and scroll down to the course.
Theories of child, spouse, and elder abuse in the family setting. Emphasis on historical, psychological, sociological and legal trends relating to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Introduction to methods for prevention and remediation.
For more information about this online class and requirements, click on this link and scroll down to the course.
The most critical issue facing the world today is the sustainability of both human and physical systems in the 21st century. This class uses the context of regions of the world to explore the 21st century issues of climate change, development, politics, economy, and demography. Each region will be used to highlight aspects of sustainability.
GEOG130
Development Geography: Environmental & Social Justice
The geography of economic, social, and environmental well-being and inequality. The course will provide an integrated perspective on the causes, interconnections, and consequences across time and space of, among others, globalization, climate change, poverty, employment, migration and urban growth, agricultural productivity, rural development, policies and international trade. Portraits of selected countries and regions will be developed.
Introduction to what geographers do and how they do it. Systematic study of issues regarding social and cultural systems from a global to a local scale. Looks at the distribution of these variables and answers the question "Why here, and not there"?
GEOG330
As the World Turns: Society and Sustainability in a Time of Great Change
Credit only granted for: GEOG330, GEOG360, or GEOG362.
Formerly: GEOG362.
Cultural geography course on society and sustainability. Culture is the basic building block that is key to sustainability of societies. Course will cover sustainability of societies on different scales, examining local, regional, and worldwide issues. Sustainability will be examined as a key element of environmental sustainability. How societies adjust to rapid world change will be examined as a positive and/or negative factor in sustainability.
A study of the major factors underlying international relations, the causes of conflict and cooperation among international actors, the role of international institutions, the interactions of domestic and foreign policies, and major issues in security, economy and the environment.
The United States from the end of the Civil War to the present. Economic, social, intellectual, and political developments. Rise of industry and emergence of the United States as a world power.
Restriction: Must not be in the Community Health program.
Using a global perspective, this course teaches students to be critical consumers of current and historical health communication interventions. It also provides students with the skills to develop media interventions that target specific and general populations. Students will discover the array of diverse media messages that influence the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
HLTH234H
(Perm Req)
Global Health Messages: Understanding Exposure & Impact
Restriction: Must not be in the Community Health program.
Using a global perspective, this course teaches students to be critical consumers of current and historical health communication interventions. It also provides students with the skills to develop media interventions that target specific and general populations. Students will discover the array of diverse media messages that influence the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
Restriction: Must not be in the Community Health program.
Examines the current and potential use of digital health and social media to influence public health. Provides an overview of knowledge, skills and terminology necessary to optimize the effectiveness of these technologies to contribute to the enhancement of individual and community health.
Sport will be related to such social problems as delinquency, segregation, collective behavior, and leisure; to social processes such as socialization, stratification, mobility, and social control; and to those familiar social institutions the family, the school, the church, the military, the economy, the polity, and the mass media.
Restriction: Must have earned a minimum of 45 credits.
An exploration of personality factors, including but not limited to motivation, aggression and emotion, as they affect sports participation and motor skill performance.
Restricted to students with a minimum of 45 credit or greater.
Environmental Justice will be explored in the context of the built environment. What unequal public built environmental threats exist? How can these threats be prevented or eliminated? Public schools, public parks, access to clean water, air pollution, tree coverage are among the built environments examined in the course.
How do we improve our decision making? Cognitive science demonstrates that self-knowledge isn't as easy as we think, and that there are numerous biases and fallacies that impact our decision-making in ways that are hard for us to be aware of. In this course you will learn what some of these are and how they have been discovered, and you will explore potential strategies for avoiding these fallacies and for making wiser choices.
The following courses may involve the use of animals. Students who are concerned about the use of animals in teaching have the responsibility to contact the instructor, prior to course enrollment, to determine whether animals are to be used in the course, whether class exercises involving animals are optional or required and what alternatives, if any, are available. The Department of Psychology enforces course prerequisites. Students who do not meet the course prerequisites will be administratively dropped from the course.
A basic introductory course intended to bring the student into contact with the major problems confronting psychology and the more important attempts at their solution.
The influence of social factors on the individual and on interpersonal behavior. Includes topics such as conformity, attitude change, personal perception, interpersonal attraction, and group behavior.
Why is there evil in the world? Are some born evil, or do social, environmental and cultural forces create evil? What makes otherwise good people do evil things? The scientific study of evil epitomizes the fundamental challenge that psychology faces in dissecting the role of biology (nature) and the social context (nurture).
Introduces fundamental concepts and theories of sociology. Guided by C. Wright Mills' "sociological imagination," the course promotes critical thinking; challenges conventional assumptions about culture politics, history, and psychology; and equips students with theoretical approaches and research methods to analyze various sociological topics, including family, work, education, religion, social movements, and issues related to class, gender, race, and ethnic inequalities.
Embark on an exploration of contemporary social issues and unravel the intricate ways in which these challenges are woven into the fabric of society. Develop a comprehensive understanding of societal organization and partake in a detailed study of selected social problems, with a specific emphasis on issues like social conflict and inequality. This course provides an insightful journey into the nuanced interplay between societal structure and prevalent challenges, fostering a heightened awareness of the dynamics shaping our social landscape.
Why do people do that? Sitting at the nexus of sociology and psychology, this course surveys the various ways in which sociologists have answered this question. We investigate individuals-for example, how they develop and understand themselves in relation to others, how they choose to present themselves to the world, and how they form thoughts and opinions. And we study larger units of analyses, from small groups to the broader society. Topics covered include socialization, identity formation, social influence, group processes, how social processes shape individual behavior, and how human behavior shapes society.
A broad-based overview of inequality in contemporary U.S. society, focusing on measuring patterns and trends over time. A series of learning modules familiarizes students with how inequality unfolds in relation to social stratification processes along the lines of race, gender, education and social class, income and wealth, and health.