Social Sciences
Social Sciences
The distinguished American sociologist, David Riesman, who played a major role in the creation of the general education program in the social sciences at Chicago, once observed that it was only with a "marvelous hubris" that students were encouraged to range over such "large territory" in the social sciences. Indeed, since the 1940s, yearlong sequences designed to introduce students to different types of social scientific data and different forms of social sciences inquiry have become a permanent feature of the Chicago curriculum. Although considerable variety manifests itself in the way the social sciences courses in general education are organized, most of the sequences are informed, as Robert Redfield once suggested, by an attempt "to communicate the historical development of contemporary society" and by an effort "to convey some understanding of the scientific spirit as applied to social problems and the capacity to address oneself in that spirit to such a problem." By training students in the analysis of social phenomena through the development and use of interdisciplinary and comparative concepts, the courses also try to determine the characteristics common among many societies, thus enabling the individual to use both reason and special knowledge to confront rapid social change in the global world of the late twentieth century.
General Education Courses. The general education courses are divided into several sequences with individual sections: Social Sciences 101-102-103, 111-112-113, 121-122-123, 131-132-133, 141-142-143, and 151-152-153. All sequences are designed to present some of the main ideas, theories, and inquiries of the social sciences, and to show how they can enhance our understanding of central issues facing the world. Classical social-scientific texts and methodologies are given close attention in discussion and lecture settings.
In Social Sciences 101-102-103 and 121-122-123, issues and problems basic to human existence are studied in relation to the general themes of the conceptual foundations of political economy (autumn), theories of the individual and society (winter), and interpretations of culture (spring). Social Sciences 111-112-113 concentrates on various aspects of power, from the roles of markets and states to the social structures that determine individual, class, and gender inequalities. Social Sciences 131-132-133 examines the public role of empirical social science, using a combination of classic texts, quantitative data, and computer resources. These themes are developed through a detailed examination of a major empirical study and applied to a specific policy domain, such as education or urban policy. Social Sciences 141-142-143 draws from psychology, anthropology, and philosophy to consider how the human mind functions, focusing on rationality, learning, and language. Social Sciences 151-152-153 reads classical texts to investigate criteria for understanding and judging political, social, and economic institutions.
Collegiate Courses. The Social Sciences Collegiate Division also sponsors several civilization sequences in the general education program and offers specialized courses on the concentration level that offer a particularly interdisciplinary or comparative theoretical perspective and which may be of interest to students in a variety of concentration programs. The latter set of courses should also be considered as attractive possibilities for nonconcentration electives.
Courses
General Education Sequences
101-102-103. Wealth, Power, and Virtue. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. Drawing on classics of social thought and contemporary work in anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology, this sequence explores how the disciplines of the social sciences contribute to understanding human behavior and advancing human values. D. Levine, Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
101. Wealth, power, and virtue are commonly viewed as the fundamental ends of human action. What do we mean by these terms? How and why are they pursued? How do they relate to one another? How does thinking about them help us to understand the ways that societies get organized and change? Writings by Smith, Marx, Durkheim, and contemporary writers explore these questions as they ponder the dynamics of markets and the growth of specialization in modern society, suggesting issues to examine throughout the year.
102. PQ: SocSci 101. After examining wealth and markets in classical economic theory and various critiques of that theory, in this quarter we focus on power. How is power created? To what uses and abuses is it put? How does authority take form? We consult some theories that emphasize the make-up of individuals (Hobbes, Freud, and their successors) and others that emphasize social forces (Mead, Goffman, Mosca, Weber, and Foucault). We continue with studies of power dynamics in modern nations, and conclude by asking what virtues are specific to the political vocation.
103. PQ: SocSci 102. What do social scientists mean by concept of culture and how do they deploy it in historical and comparative projects? How are the pursuits of wealth, power, and virtue shaped by cultural patterns, such as those associated with religion? To approach these problems, the course explores the relationship between economic rationality and religious virtue, religious practice and the legal order, and social injustice and individual merit in contemporary higher education. Readings include social science classics (Weber and Burke), contemporary cultural anthropologies (Geertz and Brown), a U.S. Supreme Court case, and a current public policy study of university admissions (Bok and Bowen).
111-112-113. Power, Identity, and Resistance. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. G. Herrigel, Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
111. This quarter examines the contested relationship between individual choices and collective outcomes, in both markets and politics. Under scrutiny is the degree to which individual desires, wants, or preferences are satisfied, constrained, or created by such historically evolving institutions as the free market, state bureaucracy, and organizations of civil society. Also considered are the roles of values and culture in economic process, as well as the historical and cultural variability of the boundaries between the economy, society, and politics. Readings include classic works in political economy and its critique by Adam Smith, Schumpeter, Durkheim, Weber, Hayek, Marx, and Engels.
112. PQ: SocSci 111. In this quarter, we further probe the ideals and realities of modern liberal democratic societies by critically investigating the classical liberal emphasis on individuals and individualism, and the personal versus the political. Critics on both the Right and the Left have challenged the liberal conception of the self, and the Enlightenment visions of a progressive society of free, reasonable, or self-interested or self-determining citizens. By considering how the forces of authority, tradition, power, ideology, and repression variously function in such modern social institutions as constitutional parliamentary government, the educational system, and the criminal justice system, we explore how one's personal and political identity is constituted, and the challenges this poses to the liberal democratic system. Readings include texts by Hobbes, Locke, Bentham, Mill, Burke, Freud, Foucault, Virginia Woolf, John Dewey, Angela Davis, and Malcolm X.
113. PQ: SocSci 112. Spring quarter further explores the problems of power and identity in modern liberal societies via an extended critical consideration of some of the most significant and provocative demands for a more egalitarian society, demands that remain relevant today. The tactics of protest and resistance at work in the movement for Black Liberation, Women's Liberation, and even Animal Liberation illuminate the complexities, contingencies, and uncertainties of both the ideal of equality and the construction of one's personal and political identify, of self and other. Readings include texts by Rousseau, Marx, Engels, Nietzsche, Simone de Beauvoir, W. E. B. DuBois, George Chauncey, Angela Davis, and Peter Singer.
121-122-123. Self, Culture, and Society. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. M. Postone, B. Cohler, W. Sewell. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
121. In this quarter we explore the nature and development of modern society through an examination of theories of capitalism. The classic social theories of Smith, Marx, and Weber, along with contemporary ethnographic and historical works, serve as points of departure for considering the characterizing features of the modern world, with particular emphasis on its social-economic structure and issues of work, the texture of time, and economic globalization.
122. PQ: SocSci 121. In this quarter we focus on the relation of culture and social life. On the basis of readings from Durkheim, Lévi-Strauss, Todorov, Foucault, and other anthropologists and cultural theorists, we investigate how systems of meaning expressed through metaphors, symbols, rituals, and narratives constitute and articulate individual and social experience across a range of societies, including our own.
123. PQ: SocSci 122. In this quarter, we consider the questions of the social and cultural constitution of the person, with particular emphasis on issues of gender, through the study of psychoanalytic, historical, and anthropological approaches found in the works of Freud, Boddy, Hacking, Fanon, and others.
131-132-133. Democracy and Social Science. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. How do democratic societies use factual knowledge about themselves when crucial policy decisions are made? Is such knowledge possible? What are its limits? This course explores these questions by examining classic and contemporary points of view about ways of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about public policy issues. The course aims to provide the student with an introduction to the philosophy of social science inquiry, a sense of how that inquiry is conducted, and an understanding of how policy implications can be drawn responsibly from evidence provided by empirical social science. The course's objective is to convey both the promise and the pitfalls of social science and a sense of its uses and abuses. The sequence involves work of three kinds, takeup seriatim in the three quarters, as outlined in the course descriptions that follow. This year the sequence centers on key policy questions in education. We read works by authors such as James Coleman, John Dewey, Karl Marx, Karl Popper, Robert Putnam, J.-J. Rousseau, Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber and Michael Young. A. Abbott, T. Clark, Autumn; A. Bryk, J. Davis, Winter; C. Bidwell, L. Hedges, Spring.
131. In this quarter we read general texts on the role of knowledge in democratic societies and on the tension between technocracy or social engineering. The use of social science knowledge to inform and enlighten public discourse and policy making is also discussed.
132. PQ: SocSci 131. This quarter offers a detailed examination of one major piece of empirical social science research that addresses a contemporary public policy issue in the United States, complemented by hands on experience in analyzing data that pertain to this same policy issue.
133. PQ: SocSci 132. This quarter features a systematic exploration of the principal policy implications of this research and of consistencies and inconsistencies between its findings and the findings of other research evidence that can be brought to bear.
141-142-143. Mind. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. This sequence presents an introduction to the study of how people think and what people think. The course examines mental processes such as perception, memory, and judgment and the relationship between language and thought. The course focuses on the issue of what is innate versus what is learned, the development of thought in children, and the logic of causal, functional, and evolutionary explanations. One theme of the course is the problem of rationality vis-à-vis the canons that govern the language and thought of the "ideal scientist" and how those canons compare to the canons that govern ordinary language and thought, the language and thought of other cultures, and the language and thought of actual scientists. R. Shweder. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
151-152-153. Classics of Social and Political Thought. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. What is justice? What makes a good society? This sequence examines such problems as the conflicts between individual and common good; among morality, religion, and politics; and between liberty and equality. We read classic writings from Plato, Aristotle, and the Bible to the great critics of modernity: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, The Federalist, Tocqueville, Marx, Nietzsche, and Weber. Writing before our departmentalization of disciplines, they were at the same time sociologists, political scientists, economists, and moralists; they offer contrasting alternative conceptions of society and politics that underlie continuing controversies in the social sciences and in contemporary political life. R. Boyd, J. Elshtain, J. Kraemer, C. Larmore, R. Pippin, N. Tarcov. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
Collegiate Courses
202/309. Overview of Survey Methods. This course walks students through the many phases of survey research projects, with an emphasis on how choices made at each stage affect outcomes and options at other stages. The course covers a lot of ground--from writing grant proposals, to study design, sampling, questionnaire development, fielding a survey, data management, documentation and writing reports. Necessarily, no topic is covered in any depth. Rather, students are taught what the steps involved look like, what issues they must consider at each point, how the tasks fit together and affect results, and where they can find books and courses that do address each topic in particular detail. Experts from the University and NORC provide a number of guest lectures on key topics. Recommended as an introduction and guide to students pursuing an orderly survey methods sequence. Staff. Autumn, Winter.
204. International Relations: Perspectives on Conflict and Cooperation (=IntStd 294/374, PolSci 294/374, SocSci 204). PQ: Class limited to sixty students; preference given to students with third- or fourth-year standing. This course examines a number of competing approaches to the study of conflict and cooperation in the international system. Lectures by University faculty introduce key analytic concepts from several intellectual traditions (such as realism, liberalism, cultural theory, modernization theory, and social constructivism) and discuss their ability to explain war, alliances, revolutions, nationalism, cooperation, ethnic conflict, and other important international phenomena. C. Lipson. Autumn.
205. International Relations: Transnationalism in a Post-Colonial World (=IntStd 295/397, PolSci 295/397, SocSci 205). PQ: SocSci 204 strongly recommended. Class limited to sixty students; preference given to students with third- or fourth-year standing. Dominant conceptions in international relations privilege states by treating them as natural and exclusive actors in international relations; privilege the Western world by treating it as the center; and privilege the balance of power and deterrence by treating military force as the primary means of self-help in allegedly anarachical space beyond state frontiers. This course focuses on national and transnational civil society as the arena of action. We address a variety of topics that have transnational dimensions, such as nationalism, transnational identities generated by migration and refugee flows, environmentalism, human rights, cyberspace, and religious and internal wars. R. Khalidi. Winter.
206. Qualitative Methods in the Social Sciences (=Educ 343, HumDev 393, Psych 243, SocSci 206). This seminar explores the variety of qualitative methods used in social science study. Perspectives include field study such as the Chicago studies of social disorganization, "Grounded Theory," ethnography and study of culture, and narrative and life-story approaches to study of person and social life. Attention is devoted to issues of method such as reliability and validity, implications for philosophy of social science study, portrayal of both person and context or setting, and to both the complex interplay of observer and observed and "reflexivity" in human sciences. The requirement for the seminar is a paper that is related to some aspect of qualitative study in the human sciences. B. Cohler. Spring.
207. Augustine's Confessions: Ancient Autobiography and Contemporary Biography (=Fndmtl 211, Hum 227, RelHum 227, SocSci 207). A seminar class in which Augustine's Confessions and parts of Peter Brown's biography are read and discussed in depth. There are a few brief lectures, but our emphasis is on discussion of the readings. A. Carr. Winter.
217-218-219. Introduction to Linguistics I, II, III (=Anthro 270-1,-2-3/370-1,-2,-3, Ling 201-202-203/301-302-303, SocSci 217-218-219). PQ: Must be taken in sequence. This course is an introductory survey of methods, findings, and problems in areas of major interest within linguistics and of the relationship of linguistics to other disciplines. Topics include the biological basis of language, basic notions of syntax, semantics, pragmatics, basic syntactic typology of language, phonetics, phonology, morphology, language acquisition, linguistic variation, and linguistic change. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
220-221. Introduction to Islamic Civilization I, II (=NECiv 220-221, SocSci 220-221). This two-quarter sequence surveys the social, religious, and cultural institutions of the Islamic world, from Spain to India, and from the rise of Islam to early modern times.
220. Introduction to Islamic Civilization I. The first quarter (roughly 600 to 1100) concentrates on the career of the Prophet Muhammad; Qur'an and Hadith; the Caliphat; the development of Islamic legal, theological, and philosophical discourses; sectarian movements; and Arabic literature. W. Kadi. Autumn.
221. Introduction to Islamic Civilization II. The second quarter (roughly 1100 to 1800) concentrates on the intellectual and artistic achievements in the great Muslim kingdoms and empires, focusing on specific capital cities: Granada, Cairo, Samarkand, Herat, Isfahan, Istanbul, and Delhi. R. Dankoff. Winter.
223. Japanese Society and Culture (=Anthro 217, EALC 223, Japan 223, SocSci 223). This course deals with various topics related to the anthropology of Japan. The goal is not only to provide students with knowledge and analytical tools to understand Japan, but also to examine how Japan has been portrayed by Western anthropologists and sociologists. Dominant concepts and framework used in the past to analyze Japanese culture and behavior are first reviewed. Then specific topics are covered, such as self and identity, the family and socialization processes, social organizations and the work place, the position of women, ethnic minorities, immigration, and nationalism and transnationalism in Japan. Dominant analytical approaches are discussed in conjunction with detailed ethnographic works. T. Tsuda. Not offered 1999-2000; will be offered 2000-2001.
224. Rhetorical Theories of Legal and Political Reasoning (=Hum 214, Id/Met 324, LL/Soc 224, SocSci 224). This course uses Plato's Gorgias to raise the question of whether practical thinking is possible and considers responses to this question by such writers as Aristotle, Cicero, and Machiavelli. We study the methods and concepts that each writer uses to defend the cogency of legal, deliberative, or more generally political prudence against explicit or implicit charges that practical thinking is merely a knack or form of cleverness. W. Olmsted. Autumn.
225-226-227. Introduction to African Civilization I, II, III (=Anthro 207-208-209, SocSci 225-226-227; SocSci 226=Hist 101). This course sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This course presents the political, economic, social, and cultural development of sub-Saharan African communities and states from a variety of points from the precolonial past up to the present. The autumn quarter treats the social organization and political economy of several precolonial societies in southern, central, and eastern Africa. The winter quarter focuses on a comparative archaeological and ethnographic exploration of states and cities in East and West Africa, including an intensive examination of a stateless society in a modern postcolonial state (the Luo of Kenya). The spring quarter focuses on a single region (the Manden of West Africa), covering village social structure and political economy, precolonial trade and empire, Islam, European colonialism, and postcolonial society. A. Apter, Autumn; M. Dietler, I. Herbich, Winter; R. Austen, Spring.
229. Freud: Human Development and Personality (=HumDev 313, Psych 210, SocSci 229). PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. This course examines those of Freud's writings that are most relevant to the psychological study of normal personality and human development, rather than his clinical or psychiatric contributions. Attention focuses first on Freud's psychoanalytic method (observation and inference), and on his psychobiological and phenomenological models of mental functioning (cognitive, affect, and motivation). The course then concentrates on critically examining Freud's understanding of psychological development and its impact on personality and interpersonal relationships. Students have an opportunity to read extensively in Freud's works. D. Orlinsky. Autumn.
230-231-232. Introduction to the Civilization of South Asia I, II, III (=Anthro 240-241-242; SocSci 230-231-232; SoAsia 200-201-202; SoAsia 202=PolSci 260). PQ: Must be taken in sequence. Students who register for the third quarter of the sequence as PolSci 260 do not have to meet the prerequisites. This course fulfills the civilization studies requirement in general education. This sequence introduces students to important textual, institutional, and historical ideas that have constituted "civilization" in modern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Topics in the autumn quarter include representations of South Asia as a "Third World country"; Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah, and Ambedkar's visions of modernity; and India as a consumer society. Topics in the winter quarter include media representations of daily life both urban and rural through film and television. Topics in the spring quarter include the politics of religion and gender especially on matters of "civility." These include Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim debates about the nation, and about gender relations. Original sources include essays, speeches, fiction, film and television programs. R. Inden, Autumn, Winter; C. Breckenridge, Spring.
235-236-237. Introduction to the Civilizations of East Asia I, II, III (=EALC 108-109-110, Hist 151-152-153, SocSci 235-236-237). PQ: Must be taken in sequence. This course sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This is a three-quarter sequence on the civilizations of China, Japan, and Vietnam, with emphasis on major transformation in these cultures and societies from the Middle Ages to the present. This year's sequence focuses on Japan from 1600 to the present, China from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, and Korea from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. P. Duara, Autumn; J. Ketelaar, Winter; Staff, Spring.
238. Modern Psychotherapies (=Psych 251, SocSci 238). PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. This course introduces students to the nature and varieties of modern psychotherapies by extensive viewing and discussion of video-taped demonstration sessions. Diverse treatment approaches are studied, including client-centered, cognitive-behavioral, gestalt, inter-personal, and psychodynamic therapies. Couple and family therapy sessions may be viewed along with demonstrations of individual therapy with adults, adolescents, or children. Historical and conceptual models are presented to deepen the student's understanding of what is being viewed, although the main emphasis of the course is on experiential learning through observation and discussion. D. Orlinsky. Winter.
240-241-242. Introduction to Russian Civilization I, II, III (=Hist 139-140-141, SocSci 240-241-242). This course sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This three-quarter, interdisciplinary course studies geography, history, literature, economics, law, fine arts, religion, sociology, and agriculture, among other fields, to see how the civilization of Russia has developed and functioned since the ninth century. The first quarter covers the period up to 1700; the second, to 1917; and the third, since 1917. The course has a common lecture by a specialist in the field, usually on a topic about which little is written in English. Two weekly seminar meetings are devoted to discussions of the readings, which integrate the materials from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. The course attempts to inculcate an understanding of the separate elements of Russian civilization. Emphasis is placed on discovering indigenous elements of Russian civilization and how they have reacted to the pressures and impact of other civilizations, particularly Byzantine, Mongol-Tataric, and Western. The course also considers problems of the social sciences, such as the way in which the state has dominated society, stratification, patterns of legitimization of the social order, symbols of collective social and cultural identity, the degrees of pluralism in society, and the autonomy an individual has vis-à-vis the social order. Also examined are such problems as the role of the center in directing the periphery and its cultural, political, and economic order; the mechanisms of control over the flow of resources and the social surplus; and processes of innovation and modernization. R. Hellie, N. Ingham, Autumn; R. Hellie, Winter, Spring.
250/350. Anthropology of Olympic Sport (=Anthro 204/304, SocSci 250/350). This is a course in the anthropology of international organizations, pluricultural performances, intercultural negotiations, and globalization processes, using the Olympic Movement and Olympic Games as the primary examples. The main goal of the course is to provide a grasp of the institutions, political economies, and performance forms of the Olympics and related IGO, NGO, governmental, corporate, cultural, and scientific actors. Our main analytical purpose is to explore fieldwork methodologies and research programs for the "new" anthropology of global processes and transnational actors. J. MacAloon. Summer.
251. Urban Structure and Process (=Geog 227/327, SocSci 251, Sociol 227/361). This course reviews competing theories of urban development, especially their ability to explain the changing nature of cities under the impact of advanced industrialism. Analysis includes a consideration of emerging metropolitan regions, the microstructure of local neighborhoods, and the limitations of the past American experience as a way of developing urban policy both in this country and elsewhere. A. Abbott. Winter.
253. Social Welfare in the United States (=PubPol 253, SocSci 253). This course examines the evolution of social welfare provisions in American society. Special emphasis is placed on who is helped and who is not, in what forms, under what auspices, and with what goals. The changing nature of helping is analyzed with particular attention to the changing role of the state. Readings and discussion focus on provisions for the poor, for children and families, and for the mentally ill. Some comparisons are made with other industrialized countries. H. Richman. Not offered 1999-2000; will be offered 2000-2001.
256. Ethnosociology: Hindu (=Anthro 212/321, SocSci 256). PQ: Third-year standing. May be taken for either 100 units or 200 units. Continuing the discussions of materials in Anthro 212: Hindu, this course compares additional texts and recent ethnographies with the aim of developing social sciences appropriate for research in South Asia. M. Marriott. Autumn.
261-262-263. Introduction to Latin American Civilization I, II, III (=Anthro 232-1,-2,-3, Hist 161-162-163, LatAm 161-162-163/346-347-348, SocSci 261-262-263). This course sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. May be taken in sequence or individually. This three-quarter course sequence introduces students to the history and cultures of Latin America, including Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean Islands. The autumn quarter examines the origins of civilizations in Latin America with a focus on the political, social, and cultural features of the major pre-Columbian civilizations of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec. The quarter concludes with consideration of the Spanish and Portuguese conquest and the construction of colonial societies in Latin America. The winter quarter addresses the evolution of colonial societies, the wars of independence, and the emergence of Latin American nation-states in the changing international context of the nineteenth century. The spring quarter focuses on the twentieth century, with a special emphasis on the challenges of economic, political, and social development in the region. This course is offered in alternate years. Not offered 1999-2000; will be offered 2000-2001.
269. Medicine and the Law (=LL/Soc 269, NCD 269, PubPol 269, SocSci 269). An introductory investigation of the relations and conflicts between the law and the profession of medicine. After an initial segment involving informed consent and patient refusal, the course is divided into two parts. The first part follows the development of the "right to privacy" with particular emphasis on the legal precedents involving access to contraception and abortion; the second studies the termination of life sustaining treatment precedents from Quinlan to the Supreme Court physician-assisted suicide cases. Each class is divided into two parts: a discussion of the cases and an attempt to resolve a contemporary controversy involving the law as announced by the cases. A. Goldblatt. Spring.
273. Philosophy of Social Science and Democratic Practice (=PolSci 273, SocSci 273). This course provides an introduction to some of the most fundamental debates concerning the nature of social scientific explanation and its relationship to normative claims about the good or just society. Key issues to be addressed include the nature of political power; the viability of radical, deliberative democracy; the manufacture of consent; the ideology of work; and the social responsibility of social scientists to engage in critical opposition to prevailing political ideology. R. B. Schultz. Winter.
274. Fantasy and Frame in a Mass Society (=DivPSR 274, SocSci 274). PQ: General education social sciences sequence. This is a course on the psychology of popular or mass culture, but instead of the usual applied psychology approach, it builds upon the interplay between cultural and psychological factors. The particular focus is fantasy processes, taken as the locus of personal uniqueness and identity in one's emotional life, and their relation to the frames and screens within and upon which culture represents and mediates typical and shared forms of social reality to the individual. We use psychology of fantasy and sociology of art and culture in analyses of selected examples of mass culture, taking theory and interpretation together. P. Homans. Not offered 1999-2000; will be offered 2000-2001.
282-283. Problems in Gender Studies (=GendSt 101-102, Hum 228-229, SocSci 282-283; SocSci 282=Sociol 228). PQ: Second-year standing or higher. Completion of the general education requirement in social sciences or humanities, or the equivalent. May be taken in sequence or individually. This two-quarter interdisciplinary sequence is designed as an introduction to theories and critical practices in the study of feminism, gender, and sexuality. Both classic texts and recent conceptualizations of these contested fields are examined. Problems and cases from a variety of cultures and historical periods are considered, and the course pursues their differing implications in local, national, and global contexts. Both quarters also engage questions of aesthetics and representation, asking how stereotypes, generic conventions, and other modes of circulated fantasy have contributed to constraining and emancipating people through their gender or sexuality. K. Crawford, Staff, Autumn; L. Salzinger, Staff, Winter.
282. This course addresses the production of particularly gendered norms and practices. Using a variety of historical and theoretical materials, it addresses how sexual difference operates in the contexts of nation, race, and class formation, for example, and/or work, the family, migration, imperialism, and postcolonial relations.
283. This course focuses on histories and theories of sexuality: gay, lesbian, heterosexual, and otherwise. This exploration involves looking at a range of materials from anthropology to the law, and from practices of sex to practices of science.
290. History and the Russian Novel. Monday lectures present the historical, intellectual, and literary setting of each work. On Fridays the class discusses the novel of the week in the context of the Monday lectures. Depending upon availability, ten novels are chosen from Radischev, Journey; Gogol, Dead Souls; Turgenev, Fathers and Sons; Dostoievski, Crime and Punishment; Tolstoi, Ana Karenina; Belyi, Petersburg; Gladkov, Cement; Fadeev, The Rout; Sholohov, Virgin Soil Upturned; Erenburg, The Thaw; Solzhenitsyn, The First Circle; and Rybakov, Children of the Arbat. R. Hellie. Not offered 1999-2000; will be offered 2000-2001.
295. Readings in Social Sciences in a Foreign Language. PQ: At least one year of language. Students must individually make arrangements with appropriate instructors. Consent of instructor and senior adviser. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
297. Independent Study in the Social Sciences. PQ: Consent of instructor and senior adviser. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Staff. Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring.
299. B.A. Paper in Russian Civilization. PQ: Consent of instructor and concentration chair. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. This is a reading and research course for independent study related to B.A. research and B.A. paper preparation. Staff. Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring.
451-452 Survey Research Practicum. PQ: SocSci 202/309 is recommended, but not required, as a prerequisite to this course. Undergraduates may seek permission to enroll, but preference is given to graduate students. Students taking this two-quarter sequence will conduct a survey research project from start to finish. Work will include some form of qualitative development (key informant interviews, focus groups, participant observation or related methods), questionnaire design, sampling, data collection and data cleaning, data documentation, data analysis and writing a final report. The entire class produces a single report based on the class project. Studies are conducted for internal or external clients and so require substantial and consistent time commitment. Expect to spend 10-15 hours a week outside of class time, including weekend hours. Students must be willing to travel off-campus to conduct field work. Staff. Winter, Spring.