Society Culture and Thought

Course System Home All Areas of Study Society Culture and Thought

Select Filters and then click Apply to load new results

Term
Time & Day Offered
Level
Credits
Course Duration

Discrimination and Audit Studies — SOC4105.01

Instructor: Debbie Warnock
Credits: 4
In the first half of term, we will examine various definitions of discrimination, and methods of measuring discrimination, identifying advantages and pitfalls of each. We will read studies examining discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, social class, gender, sexual orientation, and criminal record. Students will research the ways in which Supreme Court cases have

Droughts Floods - an Economic Analysis of Natural Disasters — PEC2107.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Credits: 4
Extreme fluctuations in rainfall and temperature may bring about drought and flood conditions in a region, but, the experiences of these natural extremes are not similar for all regions of the world. Neither are their effects similar for all people living in an affected region. Why are the disaster experiences spatially different? Why are the disaster exposure effects unequal

Dying in Diaspora — SCT4108.01

Instructor: Emily Mitchell-Eaton
Credits: 4
This class examines geographies of death, dying, and mourning as experienced by migrants living in diaspora or exile. In it, we will map out the multiple mobilities of grief and death—the circulation of emotions, cadavers, toxins and cancers, and mourning relatives gathering to grieve—and the political, and imperial, factors that co-produce death and mobility—such as the U.S.

Early Christian and Sufi Mystics — LIT2579.01

Instructor: An Duplan
Days & Time: TU,FR 2:10pm-4:00pm
Credits: 4

Mystics––historically portrayed as passionate, dangerous, romantic, heretical, satanic––are a thorn in the side of organized religion. From the very beginnings of recorded human time, the presence and practice of mystics has been controversial. Sufi mystic al-Hallaj’s pronouncement that he was “the Truth” was received as blasphemy by the

Echoes of Africa: Subjectivities, Dreams and Impressions — HIS4112.01

Instructor: Maboula Soumahoro
Days & Time: TBA
Credits: 4

What is Africa? This is a significant intellectual question that this course will seek to explore. Can the continent be confined to its physical and geographical materiality? Is the African continent a discourse, a project, a memory, or a desire? Each developed, envisioned or expressed by its inhabitants as well as the members of its diaspora? Surveying

Ecologies and Ethics of the Soundscape — MS2113.01

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 4
What is a soundscape, and how does it matter to our daily lives, our environments, and the media we consume? The term soundscape refers to the range of sounds in a certain place and time, from a hospital’s array of beeping medical machines to the familiar noises of the places you call home. In this course, students will explore the concepts and creation of soundscapes in visual

Econometrics — PEC2282.01

Instructor: Emma Kast
Days & Time: WE 10:00am-11:50am & WE 2:10pm-4:00pm
Credits: 4

This course introduces students to econometric approaches to asking and answering questions about the economy relating to employment, health, and well-being. The primary aim of the course is to understand how economists analyze data to determine causal effect. We will analyze data sets to ask and answer socioeconomic questions such as: What factors affect a person’s

Economic Development — PEC4105.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Credits: 2
Much of economics is concerned with problems of development, as the essential object of the entire economic exercise is improvement in people’s material conditions of living and their quality of life. In this seminar we will examine the evolution in economic thinking about development—its nature, its causes, and the choice of strategies for facilitating the process of economic

Economic Inequality — PEC4124.01

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 4
This seminar is concerned with three key interrelated problems of studying economic inequality: [1] inequality of what? [2] how do inequality occur? and [3] why is equality undesirable?. The first is a question of description and measurement of the unevenness in people's access to resources and opportunities in a society, the second is that of explaining the

Economic Inequality — PEC4124.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Credits: 4
Economic inequality is not only a matter of uneven distribution of resources, income and wealth amongst people, but, more importantly, that of asymmetries in their access to options, opportunities and advantages. Why do some people have better quality of life than the others? Why do some people have better chances of achieving favorable outcomes in their life than the others?

Economic Inequality — PEC4124.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Credits: 4
The questions of inequality and distributive justice are central to any study of the economy. In this seminar, we will investigate the nature and sources of economic inequality, and explore various approaches to redistribution and distributive justice. Inequality can be examined as unevenness in the distribution of income and wealth in a population, as well as that of non

Economic Inequality — PEC4124.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Days & Time: MO,TH 3:40pm-5:30pm
Credits: 4

Economic inequality is often described in terms of uneven distribution of income and wealth. Yet, more importantly, it reflects uneven access to opportunities, advantages, and life chances. Why do some people enjoy a higher standard of living and better quality of life than others? Are such inequalities fair and

Economic Minds — PEC2281.01

Instructor: Emma Kast
Days & Time: MO,TH 10:00am-11:50am
Credits: 4

This course explores how ideas about the economy – from money, to labor, to distribution – have changed over time. We will focus on different schools of thought in economics, including mercantilism, physiocracy, classical political economy, the Austrian school, Post-Keynesianism, and neoclassical economics, placing these ideas in their global context. A central focus will be

Economics in the Postcolonial Context — PEC4107.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Days & Time: MO,TH 3:40pm-5:30pm
Credits: 4

How have economic histories and past structures shaped present-day realities? Why do patterns of inequality persist between the Global North and South? This course examines these questions by exploring the long-lasting economic effects of colonial encounters—not just on the economies of formerly

Economics of Growth and Technological Change — PEC4123.01

Instructor: Mohammad Moeini Feizabadi
Days & Time: TBA
Credits: 4
This course explores the tendencies and causes of economic growth in capitalism, with a focus on the role of technology. Students will investigate a variety of ways of understanding technology’s relation to economic growth, notable among these being four major paradigms and traditions in economic theory: Neoclassical, Schumpeterian, Endogenous Growth, and Marxian. Examining

Economics of Work and Employment — PEC4219.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Credits: 4
The seminar centers on fundamental questions concerning labor: Why do people work? What is the relationship between ‘work’ and ‘employment’? And how do the concerns of ‘nonwage work’—specifically care work within households—intersect with wage work within the labor market? These inquiries motivate our exploration. We will delve into established theories in labor economics and

Economy and Ecology — PEC2253.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Credits: 2
Simply put, economics deals with the material world, and ecology is concerned with the living world. How do the two worlds meet and interact? This seminar explores this intriguing question. This broad question can be analyzed in terms of more pointed queries: What are the feedbacks between the economic and the ecological systems? How do markets and incentives affect people’s

Economy and Ecology — PEC2253.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Credits: 2
This seminar will explore how human economies and natural ecosystems interact and evolve over time and space. We will examine the dynamics of human relationship with ‘nature’, and the response they evoke to environmental issues. We will ask: how is human behavior connected to changes in hydrological, nutrient or carbon cycles? How do changes in climate and hydrology bring about

Economy and Polity — PEC2252.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Credits: 4
Polity (Latin polītīa Greek polīteía) denotes citizenship and forms of government, while economy (Latin oeconomia  Greek oikonomíā) denotes how a nation’s resources are managed and organized. In this seminar, we will explore how resources are put to use in a country and how goods and services are produced, consumed and distributed amongst its people. We

Economy and Work — PEC2269.01) (cancelled 8/9/2023

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 4
Why do people work? How can we make sense of the relationship that workers have with their workplace? What determines the income they earn from work? And, how are the concerns of ‘nonremunerative work’ (especially care work carried in the realm of household) related to that of 'remunerative work' (carried in the realm of labor market)? This seminar is motivated by these

Education in Society: Purpose, Power and Possibility — SOC2111.02

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 2
“Education in Society: Purpose, Power and Possibility” comprises a series of interactive lectures, recorded for those unable to attend synchronously, and written assignments including an asynchronous discussion board to share your reactions to the lecture and reading materials. Additional information about this course will be forthcoming soon. This class meets once a week for

Education, Inc. — SOC4104.02

Instructor: Debbie Warnock
Credits: 2
In this course, we will examine the rise of market-based approaches to K-12 education reform in America. What are the theoretical arguments for implementing free market reforms in public schooling? What are examples of school choice policies and what are the consequences of these for students and families? How has the increased privatization and marketing of schools influenced

Embodied Love: An exploration in psychology and movement — DAN4422.02

Instructor: Elena Demyanenko Özge Savaş
Credits: 2
Join us in experimentation, research, data analysis, self-reflexivity, and play! This is a laboratory for participants of any discipline who are interested in exploring the fluidity of mind, body, consciousness, and action. A dreamlike space where you will learn to think, feel, and practice radical self-love despite uncertainty. “The search for love continues even in the face