This course examines instances of organized collective action in social, historical, and empirical contexts, from the labor movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to the new social movements of today. We also explore various forms of unstructured protest, such as riots and demonstrations.

What can ethnography reveal about the nature of crime and the functioning of criminal justice institutions? What contributions has ethnography made to the study of crime? What place does ethnography occupy within the contemporary landscape of criminology? These questions serve as the point of departure for this reading-intensive seminar investigating classic and contemporary ethnographic texts addressing crime and criminal justice institutions.

We live in a financialized world dominated by financial actors, markets and institutions. From the Occupy Wall Street movement to ongoing debates about the power of big banks, finance has been seen as the culprit for the 2008 financial crisis, U.S. income and wealth inequality, and global instability. But what explains the rise of finance and how has finance gone global? How does global finance contribute to inequality within and across nations? We will tackle these questions by covering some of the recent sociological research on finance and financial globalization.

This course looks at the central concerns of consumer culture through the lens of race and ethnicity. Through exploring issues such as multicultural marketing and advertising, discrimination in e-commerce, consumer boycotts, and urban food deserts, students will gain theoretical and empirical insight on the ways that racial and ethnic boundaries shape, and are shaped by, consumption.

How can the social sciences benefit from remarkable advances in hardware and software that have unlocked new approaches to using text-as-data? This course interrogates the use of text-as-data from both social scientific and computational perspectives. Students will consider how meaning and context are theorized and how scale is achieved in the analysis of text by social scientists and computational experts.

In this critical survey of the main theoretical perspectives in contemporary sociology, we focus specifically on structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, critical theory, feminism, and postmodernism. Besides gaining familiarity with these alternative perspectives, we try to identify the main axes of theoretical dispute in sociology and discuss the problems of evaluating and resolving conflict between theories.

Drawing I is an introductory course designed for all students, regardless of their previous experience in art. The course emphasizes creative, expressive, and analytical approaches to translating visual experience. Students will work with a variety of traditional and experimental materials, and will hone their skills through guided in-class exercises, independent homework assignments, and regular feedback.

This hands-on interdisciplinary introduction to the tools and practices of 2D, 3D, and 4D art will include drawing, object making, and time-based exploration. Studio work is grounded in an embodied approach to process, and explores the relationship between perception and cognition. The course culminates with a final project which links conceptual exploration and personal expression to formal skill-building. Studio assignments will be supplemented with critiques, discussion, and collaboration, as well as study of relevant contemporary and historical artists.

This hands-on interdisciplinary introduction to the tools and practices of 2D, 3D, and 4D art will include drawing, object making, and time-based exploration. Studio work is grounded in an embodied approach to process, and explores the relationship between perception and cognition. The course culminates with a final project which links conceptual exploration and personal expression to formal skill-building. Studio assignments will be supplemented with critiques, discussion, and collaboration, as well as study of relevant contemporary and historical artists.

This course will explore how to integrate digital processes with traditional printmaking techniques. Students will learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and develop and create imagery through those programs. They will then use digital devices such as laser cutter, router and plotter to turn a digital file into a physical printing block. The final art form will be hand-printed work, utilizing relief printing, engraving on wood, collographs, and monoprinting. This course also covers print-based digital animation.