2019-2020 Academic Catalog

Apr 20, 2024

2019-2020 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

SOC 281 - Cities and Social Change

This course explores themes - economic development, inequality, social movements, inclusive and exclusive cultural formations, and social control and surveillance - that together comprise a sociological toolkit for approaching broad questions about social justice, public culture, work, housing, crime and punishment, and service provision, both in the U.S. and across the globe. Drawing on readings from not only sociology but also urban planning, geography, history, and anthropology, we will trace how cities have shaped and been shaped by the ways humans and societies answer fundamental questions about how we should live together and why. Throughout the course, students will propose and write a term paper that develops original propositions about cities and social change and tests them through primary qualitative research (i.e., nonparticipant ethnography, interviewing, and/or historical/archival research). Capstone Seminar

Prerequisites: SOC 125 - Cities and Suburbs OR SOC 265 - Activism, Protest, and Social Movements OR Permission

Anticipated Terms Offered: Bi-annually