A graduate program in Global Studies

Last updated: August 28, 2009 at 11:15 a.m.

Objectives

Graduate Program in Global Studies
As even casual attention to recent mass media outlets attests, the term "globalization" is widely used to refer to diverse—possibly even unconnected—processes in the economic, cultural, political, and environmental domains. What seems to characterize "global" phenomena such as climate change, transnational capital flow, and the internet, for example, is that their causes and effects ramify all across the earth, viewed both as a bio-physical totality and as a social space. In doing so, these and other global phenomena reveal unprecedented levels of interconnectedness that bring into play institutional agents and institutions that transcend local, national, and regional boundaries. The program in Global Studies is designed to provide students with analytical and methodological skills to investigate globalization both specifically and generally—specifically, by offering advanced training in one relevant academic concentration and independent research leading to a Master’s Thesis; and generally, by exposing students to a broad range of elective courses taught by faculty from the university’s School of Arts and Sciences, Heller School of Social Policy and Management, and International Business School. The program prepares students for a variety of professional and academic trajectories. For some students the MA degree will be an important credential for advancement in already-chosen career paths; for others the degree will be preparation for advanced professional degree programs in law, diplomacy, international health, etc.; and for others their Brandeis experience will be a stepping stone toward admission to the most selective doctoral programs.

How to Be Admitted to the Graduate Program

The general requirements for admission to the Graduate School, given in an earlier section of this Bulletin, apply to candidates for admission to this area of study. Candidates must also submit a personal statement that discusses their reasons for applying for this MA, and their academic training, career objectives, relevant experience, and current institutional affiliation (if any). A single sample of academic writing and two letters of recommendation are also required. Students are encouraged, though not required, to visit the campus and to talk to the director and others members of the faculty advisory committee.

Faculty Committee

Richard J. Parmentier, Director
(Anthropology)

David Engerman
(History)

Elizabeth Emma Ferry
(Anthropology)

Susan Holcombe
(Heller School)

Catherine Mann
(International Business School)

John Plotz
(English and American Literature)

Chandler Rosenberger
(Sociology)

Laurence Simon
(Heller School)

Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts

Program of Study
This graduate program involves a minimum of one academic year in residence at Brandeis in which students complete eight courses, including six semester-long courses and a master’s thesis, which counts as two courses. The curriculum includes three required and foundational courses, two electives in an area of concentration and one additional elective.  

Students must successfully complete eight semester courses, including:

A. Two core courses: GS 201a (Global Agents), GS 202b (Critical Global Issues).
B. One graduate-level course in methodology.
C. Two elective courses in one area of concentration.
D. One elective course in global studies
E. GS 204e (Master’s Thesis), which counts as two courses.

In consultation with the director, each student selects one area of concentration from the following:

Civil Society and Human Rights
Communications and Media
Culture and Globalization
Global and Regional Governance
Global Environment
Global Health
Immigration
Social Justice and Gender

Residence Requirement
The residence requirement for this program is one year of full-time study.

Master’s Thesis
The master’s thesis must be deposited electronically to the Robert D. Farber University Archives at Brandeis.

Global Economics Requirement
Although this program does not offer advanced training in global economics, it is essential that students have a solid grasp of the basics in this field. Students entering the program without a strong background in global economics will be required to take one elective course in this field, selected in consultation with the director.

Language Requirement
Knowledge of foreign languages, both written and oral, is important for understanding the complexity of other cultures, for functioning effectively in a non-Anglophone environment, and for accessing a broad range of primary sources and secondary literature. All Global Studies students must have advanced training in a foreign language, defined as at least one level beyond the undergraduate requirement at Brandeis. In cases where students lack sufficient language training, they can satisfy this requirement by an intensive summer course (either the semester before or after the residence year), by taking the corresponding course at Brandeis (as an additional course) or by private study and a qualifying language examination at the end of the second semester.

Courses of Instruction

(200 and above) Primarily for Graduate Students

GS 201a Global Agents
Enrollment limited to students in the Graduate Program in Global Studies.
A foundational seminar providing an introduction to the literature on globalization as well as a look at the key players in international affairs (UN, World Bank/IMF, TNCs, NGOs, and regional organizations). The objective of the course is to make a critical analysis of these organizations and to assess the research resources and databases they generate. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Rosenberger

GS 202b Critical Global Issues
This foundational seminar examines key issues from the primary area of concentration in the global studies program. The specific focus of the seminar will vary from year to year, reflecting the changing relevance of particular issues as well as the specific interests of the instructor. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Ferry

GS 204e Master' s Thesis
Staff

Global Studies: Methodology Courses

Students may choose from the following list of courses that deal with the methodology for the design and implementation of research projects. Other graduate courses from relevant disciplines dealing with research methods may be substituted with the permission of the director.

ANTH 202b Designing Anthropological Research
Survey of principal methodological issues in anthropological fieldwork and analysis, including research design, technologies of data collection, and ethnographic representation. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Jacobson

HIST 210a Historical Research: Methods and New Departures
Provides an introduction to research methods and the main current approaches (conceptual, methodological, thematic) in historical writing. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Binion

HS 306f Survey Design and Data Analysis for Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. This course may not be repeated for credit by students who took HS 259f section 7 in spring 2006.
An introduction to survey design and applied principles of data analysis in development. Topics covered include: research design (hypothesis formulation, model building, experimental research design), data collection (principles of survey design, definition and measurement of variables, cross-sectional and panel surveys, focus groups and pilot tests of surveys), and data analysis (statistical and social significance, univariate and bivariate analysis, multivariate analysis). Usually offered every year.
Mr. Godoy

POL 100b Political Science Methods: Research, Design, and Modes of Analysis
[ qr ss ]
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.
An introduction to nonstatistical research methods for analyzing political processes. Moves from selecting problems to composing a focused research question, examining relevant theory, conceptualizing variables, generating hypotheses, research design, research operations, and analysis. Uses examples from comparative, international, and American politics. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Kryder

POL 212a Graduate Seminar: Research Methods and Methodology
Familiarizes students with the major research techniques of a qualitative nature for political science and addresses central issues in the logic of inquiry in social science. Issues and techniques include the case study method, the comparative method, counterfactual, and research design. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Kryder

SOC 136b Historical and Comparative Sociology
[ ss ]
Explores the relationship between sociology and history through examples of scholarship from both disciplines. Using historical studies, the course pays close attention to each author's research strategy. Examines basic research questions, theoretical underpinnings and assumptions, and uses of evidence. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Hansen

SOC 181a Methods of Social Inquiry
[ qr ss ]
Introduces students to qualitative and quantitative approaches to social research. Throughout the course emphasis is on conceptual understanding, with hands-on applications and exercises. No statistical or mathematical background is necessary. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Cadge or Mr. Cunningham

SOC 183a Evaluation of Evidence
[ qr ss ]
Prerequisite: SOC 1a or 3a. Registration priority given to juniors and seniors. Focuses on gaining familiarity with basic tools for statistical analysis and the presentation of data, issues related to research design and construction, and the evaluation of evidence presented in quantitative models. No prior experience with statistics is assumed. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Cunningham

Global Studies Elective Courses

Each student must successfully complete two elective courses relevant to their chosen area of concentration. This coursework provides the basis for the student's research and writing of the Masters Thesis. (Note that the Heller School modules, courses indicated with an "f" after the course number, are half-semester courses; two such modules must be chosen to constitute one elective course.) Students may take graduate-level courses other than the ones listed below with the permission of the director.

AAAS 117a Communications and Social Change in Developing Nations
[ ss ]
Examines the role of communications and information systems within and between developed and underdeveloped nations. Addresses the larger perspective of global communications. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Nyangoni

AAAS 125b Caribbean Women and Globalization: Sexuality, Citizenship, Work
[ ss wi ]
Utilizing perspectives from sociology, anthropology, fiction, and music to examine the relationship between women's sexuality and conceptions of labor, citizenship, and sovereignty. The course considers these alongside conceptions of masculinity, contending feminisms, and the global perspective. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Smith

AAAS 126b Political Economy of the Third World
[ nw ss wi ]
Development of capitalism and different roles and functions assigned to all "Third Worlds," in the periphery as well as the center. Special attention will be paid to African and Afro-American peripheries. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Nyangoni

AAAS 134b Novel and Film of the African Diaspora
[ hum nw ]
Writers and filmmakers, who are usually examined separately under national or regional canonical categories such as "(North) American," "Latin American," "African," "British," or "Caribbean," are brought together here to examine transnational identities and investments in "authentic," "African," or "black" identities. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Smith

AAAS 163b Africa in World Politics
[ nw ss ]
Explores the impact of African states in world affairs; the African and Afro-Asian groups in the United Nations; relations with Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the Americas; the Afro-Asian movement; nonalignment; the Organization of African Unity; and Pan-Africanism. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Nyangoni

AAAS 170b Seminar: Political Economy of Developing Countries
[ ss ]
Offers analysis of political and economic issues in developing countries with special emphasis on the major explanations for underdevelopment and alternative strategies for development. Topics include colonialism, nationalism, developing countries in the international system, state-building, rural development, and gender perspectives on underdevelopment. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Nyangoni

AMST 140b The Asian American Experience
[ oc ss ]
Examines the political, economic, social, and contemporary issues related to Asians in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Topics include patterns of immigration and settlement, and individual, family, and community formation explored through history, literature, personal essays, films, and other popular media sources. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Davé

AMST 142b Love, Law, and Labor: Asian American Women and Literature
[ ss ]
Explores the intersection of ethnicity, race, class, gender, and sexualities in the lives and literatures of diverse Asian American women. Discusses the historical, social, political, and economic forces shaping those lives and how they are reflected in literature. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Davé

ANTH 108b History, Time, and Tradition
[ ss ]
Explores topics relating to the historical dimension of societies in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives: the cultural construction of the past, temporal and calendrical systems, the invention of tradition, ethnohistorical narrative, cultural memory and forgetting, historical monuments, and museums. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Parmentier

ANTH 112a African Art and Aesthetics
[ ca nw ss ]
The visual arts and aesthetics of sub-Saharan Africa and the African Diaspora, with attention to the spiritual, social, and cultural dimensions of art and performance. Special emphasis on the historical dynamism and cultural creativity of "tradition-based" and contemporary African artists. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Auslander

ANTH 114b Verbal Art and Cultural Performance
[ ss ]
Cross-cultural and interdisciplinary study of genres of verbal art and oral performance. Complex social uses of verbal arts in festival, drama, ritual, dance, carnival, and spectacle. Difficulty of reconstructing original context of narrative, oratory, poetry, and epic. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Parmentier

ANTH 127a Medicine, Body, and Culture
[ nw ss ]
Examines main areas of inquiry in medical anthropology, including medicine as a sociocultural construct, political and economic dimensions of suffering and health, patients and healers in comparative medical systems, and the medical construction of men's and women's bodies. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Lamb

ANTH 129b Global, Transnational, and Diasporic Communities
[ ss ]
Examines social and cultural dimensions of globalization from an anthropological perspective. Topics include the impact of global capitalism upon indigenous communities, global forms of popular culture and consumerism, transnational migration and diasporas, changing inequalities and gender systems, global sexual cultures, and the AIDS pandemic. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Ferry or Ms. Lamb

ANTH 130b Visuality and Culture
[ ss ]
Explores the nature of the visual image in sociocultural theory and in ethnographic representation. Topics include the history of ethnographic film, development of indigenous arts, visuality in popular culture and mass consumption, and film in postcolonial representation. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Schattschneider

ANTH 139b Language, Ethnicity, and Nationalism
[ ss ]
It is often assumed that language differences divide people, while a common language unites them. To what extent is this true? Taking cross-cultural and historical approaches, we examine the role of language in creating concepts of tribe, ethnicity, and nation. Explores what kinds of social groupings these terms might label, some ideologies connected with their use, and their relationship with communication systems. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. McIntosh

ANTH 144a The Anthropology of Gender
[ nw ss wi ]
Anthropology majors have priority for enrollment.
An examination of gender constructs, sexuality, and cultural systems from a comparative perspective. Topics include the division of labor, rituals of masculinity and femininity, the vexing question of the universality of women's subordination, cross-cultural perspectives on same-sex sexualities and transsexuality, the impact of globalization on systems, and the history of feminist anthropology. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Lamb or Ms. Schattschneider

ANTH 163b Production, Consumption, and Exchange
[ nw ss ]
Prerequisite: ANTH 1a or ECON 2a or permission of the instructor.
We read in newspapers and books and hear in everyday discussion about "the economy," an identifiably separate sphere of human life with its own rules and principles and its own scholarly discipline (economics). The class starts with the premise that this "commonsense" idea of the economy is only one among a number of possible perspectives on the ways people use resources to meet their basic and not-so-basic human needs. Using extensive cross-cultural case studies, looks at the satisfaction of these needs (which we might call economic activity) as they interact with other aspects of life: gender, kinship, ideas of morality and taste, spirit possession, politics, and so on. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Ferry

BIOL 134b Topics in Ecology
[ oc sn ]
Prerequisites: BIOL 23a or permission of the instructor. Topics may vary from year to year. Please consult the Course Schedule for topic and description. Course may be repeated once for credit with permission of the instructor.
Annually, a different aspect of the global biosphere is selected for analysis. In any year the focus may be on specific ecosystems (e.g., terrestrial, aquatic, tropical, arctic), populations, system modeling, restoration ecology, or other aspects of ecology. Usually offered every year.
Staff

COML 122b Writing Home and Abroad: Literature by Women of Color
[ hum nw ]
Examines literature (prose, poetry, and memoirs) written by women of color across a wide spectrum of geographical and cultural sites. Literature written within the confines of the "home country" in the vernacular, as well as in English in immigrant locales, is read. The intersections of race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and class as contained by the larger institutions of government, religion, nationalism, and sectarian politics are examined. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Singh

COML 165a Reading, Writing, and Teaching across Cultures
[ hum wi ]
Contemporary literary representations of literacy, schooling, and language from a cross-cultural perspective. Students also analyze their own educational trajectories and experiences with writing and reading. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hale

ENG 127b Migrating Bodies, Migrating Texts
[ hum ]
Beginning with the region's representation as a tabula rasa, examines the textual and visual constructions of the Caribbean as colony, homeland, backyard, paradise, and Babylon, and how the region's migrations have prompted ideas about evolution, hedonism, imperialism, nationalism, and diaspora. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Smith

ENG 155a Literature and Empire
[ hum ]
Explores ideas about the local, regional, national, international, and cosmopolitan in Empire-era "Greater Britain." What role does literature play in the global movement of British and "colonized" culture? Includes Emily Eden, R. D. Blackmore, Hardy, Flora Steel, Conrad, Woolf, Waugh, and E. M. Forster. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Plotz

FREN 165b Francophone Literatures and Cultures of Subsaharan Africa
[ hum nw ]
Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
Studies writing in French in Subsaharan Africa, with particular emphasis upon its cultural and historical contexts. Topics include Negritude, African languages, defining "tradition,' oral and written literature, Islam, film, and gender. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Hale

HIST 115a History of Comparative Race and Ethnic Relations
[ ss ]
Explores and understands the origin and nature of racial and ethnic differences in the United States, South Africa, and Brazil. Explores how theoreticians explain and account for differences, and how race and ethnicity relate to economic class and social institutions. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sundiata

HIST 179a Labor, Gender, and Exchange in the Atlantic World, 1600-1850
[ ss ]
An examination of the interaction of cultures in the Atlantic World against a backdrop of violence, conquest, and empire-building. Particular attention is paid to the structure and function of power relations, gender orders, labor systems, and exchange networks. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sreenivasan

HIST 215a World History
Designed to introduce students to the methods, sources, and writings about global and non-Western histories. Taught collectively by specialists in Latin American, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern history. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sreenivasan

HS 236a International Health Systems
Studies how global movements in dealing with health have shaped health systems, the emerging challenges developing countries are facing, and how these might affect health systems. Students will study the link between health and development, how health systems are organized, how health care is financed, and the role of public and private sectors in providing health care, regulation, and consumer behavior. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Gaumer or Mr. Nandakumar

HS 253f HIV/AIDS and Public Policy
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
This half-semester course is geared toward students with limited experience in HIV/AIDS as a public policy issue. In the first sessions, students learn the key perspectives to frame the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a policy issue, including an economic perspective, a social impact perspective, and a rights perspective. The second half of the course reviews lessons from the international experience in responding to the epidemic. Attention is given to sector-based interventions and necessary coordination between sectors for specific interventions to be effective. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Kaufman

HS 262f Culture, Power, and Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Students engage with constructs of cultural superiority, debate about modernization, and learn about what motivates individual and cultural change. Students are introduced to alternative theoretical approaches to culture and development and learn how to apply those theories to different historical contexts as well as contemporary situations. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Ready

HS 268f Law, Society, and the Shaping of Public Policy in Developing Countries
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Through a primer on law and legal institutions, examines the use of the legal order to solve problems of poverty, vulnerability, and environmental degradation in developing nations. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Russell-Einhorn

HS 269f Food Security and Nutrition
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Explores how international and national agencies define and measure food security and nutritional status and set goals for strategic interventions. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Lockwood

HS 276f World Health
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
A primer on major diseases and problems of health care in developing nations. Topics include descriptions of disease incidence and prevalence, including infectious, chronic, and mental disease; determinants of health, including culture and behavior; the roles of nutrition, education, and reproductive trends and poverty; demographic transitions, including aging and urbanization; the structure and financing of health systems; and the globalization of health. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Bhalotra

HS 283f Gender and Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Gender, as a social construct, is explored in diverse cultures and societies. Examines gender's major influence on the development process. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Espinosa or Ms. McSweeney

HS 285f Rights-Based Approach to Development I
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides a broad introduction to international human rights laws, mechanisms, and practices, including special protections for vulnerable groups and the key debates underpinning the rights-based approach to development and poverty. Also covers the international and regional institutions that exist to protect human rights. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Green

HS 286f Civil Society and Non Governmental Organizations
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
The phenomenal growth in non-governmental organizations throughout the world in the past two decades has transformed the delivery of development assistance and relationships between the north and south. Examines the nature of civil society, types of and relationships among NGOs, and NGO relationships with the state, multilateral and bilateral organizations, and community organizations.
Mr. Simon

HS 293f Religion and Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Explores the connections between religion and development from theoretical, activist (engaged religious), and practitioner (faith-based NGO) perspectives. Considers (1) basic social science perspectives on the connections of religious cosmology, beliefs, and practices to social and cultural identity, solidarity, and ideas about human dignity, social inequalities, and the desirability or inevitability of social change and (2) notions of religious obligations and the role of religion as a motivating force or barrier to social transformation and sustainable development. This module seeks to build a positive understanding of the potential contributions of religious forces, with attention to peace-building and economic-development activities. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Messer

HSSP 102a Global Perspectives on Health
[ ss ]
A primer on major issues in health care in developing nations. Topics include the natural history of disease and levels of prevention; epidemiological transitions; health disparities; and determinants of health including culture, social context, and behavior. Also covers: infectious and chronic disease incidence and prevalence; the role of nutrition, education, reproductive trends, and poverty; demographic transition including aging and urbanization; the structure and financing of health systems; and the globalization of health. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Bhalotra

POL 127a Ending Deadly Conflict
[ ss wi ]
Prerequisite: POL 127b or permission of the instructor.
Examines strategies for ending violent internal (primarily ethnic) conflicts, with emphasis on identifying conditions conducive to negotiated settlements. Case studies are examined in light of analytical literature. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Burg

POL 127b Seminar: Managing Ethnic Conflict
[ ss wi ]
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.
Comparative study of the sources and character of interethnic conflict, with emphasis on the processes by which groups become politicized, and the strategies and techniques for managing conflict in a democratic system. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Burg

POL 158b Comparative Perspectives on the Law and Politics of Group Rights
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: POL 11b or POL 14b.
The creation of new group rights for disadvantaged populations in democratic states through constitutional reform and affirmative action, and the legal and political dilemmas raised by efforts to implement these rights. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Klausen

POL 165a Seminar: Globalization and Governance in the Trading System
[ ss ]
Examines three tiers of governance in the trading system: the rules and authority of international agencies such as the World Trade Organization; the policymaking functions of national political institutions; and the role and influence of corporations, labor unions, citizen groups, and other private actors. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Chase

POL 172b Introduction to International Political Economy
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: POL 15a.
The politics and modern evolution of international economic relations, comprising trade, money, multinational productions, and development. Also the role of states and transnational actors in international markets and the global differentiation of power, and distribution of wealth. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Chase

POL 173a U.S. Foreign Economic Policy
[ oc ss wi ]
Presents the history and politics of the foreign economic policy in the United States. Emphasis is on political and economic considerations that influence the domestic actors and institutions involved in the formulation of policy. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Chase

POL 174b Seminar: Problems of National Security
[ ss ]
Analysis of the role and utility of military power in international politics. Selected case studies from the last fifty years. Selected topics on post-Cold War military issues, including the spread of weapons of mass destruction, collective approaches to coercion, and the role of U.S. military power in world stability. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Art

POL 214b Graduate Seminar: Selected Topics in World Politics
Provides graduate students an opportunity to engage in research and discussion of selected issues in the international dimensions of world politics. Each term it deals with a different topic in greater depth than is possible in the context of the program's field seminar in this area. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Art or Mr. Chase

SAS 110b South Asian Postcolonial Writers
[ hum nw ]
Looks at the shared history of colonialism, specifically British imperialism, for many countries and examines the postcolonial novel written in English. Works read include those from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Singh

SAS 140a We Who Are at Home Everywhere: Narratives from the South Asian Diaspora
[ hum ]
Looks at narratives from various locations of the South Asian Diaspora, while paying close attention to the emergence of an immigrant South Asian public culture. Examines novels, poetry, short stories, film, and music in order to further an understanding of South Asian immigrant culture. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Singh

SAS 170b South Asia in the Colonial Archive
[ hum ]
Looks at colonial constructions of gender and race through a historical and literary investigation of British colonialism in South Asia. Examines intersections and constructions of gender, race, class, and sexuality within the parameters of British colonialism. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Singh

SOC 120b Globalization and the Media
[ ss ]
Investigates the phenomenon of globalization as it relates to mass media. Topics addressed include the growth of transnational media organizations, the creation of audiences that transcend territorial groupings, the hybridization of cultural styles, and the consequences for local identities. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Miller

SOC 128a Religion and Globalization
[ ss ]
Examines the experience of religion as a social and individual identity. Looks into the social-psychology of religious resurgence movements (Islamic, Evangelical, and others) with special attention paid to the role and character of globalization and religious consciousness in the world today. Readings cover comparative classical and contemporary thought and research. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hayim

SOC 146a Mass Communication Theory
[ ss ]
An examination of key theories in mass communication, including mass culture, hegemony, the production of culture, and resistance. Themes discussed include the nature of media effects, the role of the audience, and the extent of diversity in the mass media. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Miller

SOC 189a Sociology of Body and Health
[ ss ]
Explores theoretical considerations of the body as a cultural phenomenon intersecting with health, healing, illness, disease, and medicine. Focuses on how gender, race, class, religion, and other dimensions of social organization shape individual experiences and opportunities for agency and resistance. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Shostak

SOC 193a Environment, Health, and Society
[ ss wi ]
This course draws on sociological perspectives to examine two key questions: (1) How does social organization enter into the production of environmental health and illness? and (2) How do scientists, regulators, social movement activists, and people affected by illness seek to understand, regulate, and intervene in relationships between the environment and human health? Usually offered every year.
Ms. Shostak