As interest and identification with Democratic Socialism grows in U.S. and across the globe, it remains unclear what the term refers to. Departing from versions that place the accent on socialism to address inequality through distributional reforms, this course investigates historical experiments in democratic socialism that normatively cast the economy and workplaces as sites of political decision-making. Doing so prioritizes the development of collective agency and has the consequence/potential of producing greater political and material equality among citizens.

The course offers an in-depth examination of democratization in Africa -- a radical transformation in the governance process for most African countries and a process which was part of the third wave democratization that swept the continent from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. It examines the factors behind the liberalization process, the actors involved, their values and culture, the issues, the institutions and the modes of transitions across the continent.

In recent years, scholarship on American politics has challenged the idea that our government has upheld and expanded basic democratic principles since the fall of Jim Crow. This scholarship notes a growing wealth gap since the 1970s and 1980s that has given rise to a "New Gilded Age." Along with this rising wealth gap, the United States has also endured rising incarceration rates, a shrinking middle class, an eroding public sphere, and charges that plutocracy -- or governance by the rich -- has overtaken American democracy.

Scientists are increasingly willing to take seriously hypotheses that say that the world is radically different than the way the world appears to be. They suggest that time does not exist, that we are part of a simulation, and that the world has 10^80 dimensions. In this class we will examine whether there is any difference between these hypotheses and more traditional radical philosophical hypotheses, like the hypothesis that the external world does not exist. We will ask whether we should we take any of these hypotheses -- scientific or philosophical -- seriously, and if not, why not.

This course focuses on the relationship between minds and bodies, and the nature of mental phenomena. We will consider how typically mental features such as thoughts, sensations, emotions and consciousness can emerge out of the seemingly unthinking, unfeeling, grey matter of the brain. We will consider some historical responses to these issues but will focus on insights provided by contemporary philosophy and sciences of the mind, including neuroscience.

This course is an introduction to ethical issues surrounding the collection and use of data in society. Case studies illustrate beneficial and novel uses of data, while highlighting serious problems that may arise as a result of automation, feedback loops, misinformation, the loss of privacy, the concentration of power, and biases of race, gender, and class. We study principles that guide practices of data collection, storage, analysis, and application.

This seminar explores historical, cultural, and environmental aspects of Chinese food. Topics include: the relationship between food and local, national identity; the connections of food production and consumption processes within and beyond China; the impacts of culinary decisions by consumers on the well-being of local farmers, workers, and non-human actors.

The recession of 2008 has drawn scholars to the subject of long-term capitalist transformation around the globe. Examining the phenomenon that is 'global capitalism,' they have studied its effects on markets, structures of government, and increasingly, the environment. A global approach, however, is inadequate for understanding the particular lifeworlds shaped by capitalism at the local and regional levels.

This course introduces the changes in Chinese women's lives-and the changes in shared social ideas about what women should do and be-from the late 19th century to the present, a time of profound change on the Chinese mainland. The central question animating the course is this: when we foreground gender as a category of analysis, how does history look different? The course is organized chronologically. Course materials include a textbook to introduce broad themes, scholarly monographs and articles, primary sources from the 19th and 20th centuries, visual and material artifacts, and films.

This course introduces the changes in Chinese women's lives-and the changes in shared social ideas about what women should do and be-from the late 19th century to the present, a time of profound change on the Chinese mainland. The central question animating the course is this: when we foreground gender as a category of analysis, how does history look different? The course is organized chronologically. Course materials include a textbook to introduce broad themes, scholarly monographs and articles, primary sources from the 19th and 20th centuries, visual and material artifacts, and films.