This course takes students through the design, fielding, and reporting of a real social science project. Topically, we will focus on the many ways students use the Internet at Mount Holyoke and how this affects academic, social, and communal outcomes. There will be theoretical and empirical secondary readings, but these will be focused on advancing the hands on project. The majority of the class work will be creating and fielding the social survey, the results of which will ultimately be turned into an academic paper and a professionally-focused analytic report.

Social networks are much more than the people you know on Facebook and Twitter. They affect everything from political beliefs to health outcomes to professional success. This course asks, 'What are social networks?' and examines their impact on contemporary life. Students will develop the analytical skills to understand the formation, evolution, and significance of different relationship structures and the way they shape individuals' lives.

This course uses a sociological framework to examine the structure of modern industrial societies. To identify central trends in society and culture, this course covers several basic topics -- such as social inequality and the social construction of meaning -- that have appeared repeatedly in the works of major social thinkers.

This course uses a sociological framework to examine the structure of modern industrial societies. To identify central trends in society and culture, this course covers several basic topics -- such as social inequality and the social construction of meaning -- that have appeared repeatedly in the works of major social thinkers.

By the 1980s, after the failure of Marxist revolutions, scholars and politicians declared that history and with it, the age of revolution was over. From now on, they said, all states will move toward the model of market capitalism. But the last decade of the 20th century and the first fifteen years of the 21st century have shown that history, and with it, revolution, is far from over. We will look at the American and Russian revolutions, at Nazism, the Iranian revolution of 1979, Eastern Europe in 1989, the 'colored revolutions,' and the Arab Spring.

This course aims at expansion of students' vocabulary and improvement of both writing and speaking skills.The course is intended for students who have completed at least four semesters of Russian or the equivalent. Heritage learners of Russian (those who speak the language) will also benefit from the course. With a strong emphasis on integrating vocabulary in context, this course aims to help students advance their lexicon and grammar, increase fluency, and overcome speaking inhibitions. We will read and discuss a variety of texts including short stories, films, and articles.

Since its creation at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Soviet Union dominated the minds of Western foreign policymakers. None of the West's policies in the Middle East, the Third World, Europe, or China after World War II can be understood without the study of Soviet foreign policy. We will examine the development of Soviet foreign policy since 1917 and, following the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the role played by Russia and Russia and the former Soviet republics in the far more complex and multipolar 'New World Order.' What should U.S.

Anna Karenina (1873) is one of a series of important works Tolstoy wrote pondering love, death, the nature of happiness, and the foundations of family life. Our reading of Anna Karenina will be the centerpiece of this course which will also include works ranging from Childhood (1852) to The Kreutzer Sonata (1889), which shocked and repelled readers with its unsparing depictions of human sexuality and murderous jealousy. Film versions of works will be screened.

Continuation of Russian 101. A four-skills course, with increasing emphasis on reading and writing, that completes the study of basic grammar. Major topics include: predicting conjugation patterns, unprefixed and prefixed verbs of motion, complex sentences, time expressions, and strategies of vocabulary building. Students watch Russian films, read and discuss authentic texts.

Travel literature has always been a precious source for the study of culture, politics, arts and, last but not least, people. From Tacitus to Marco Polo, from Stendhal to Camilo Jose Cela, we will read and discuss authors who traveled for political, personal, and recreational reasons. We will also pay special attention to tales of emigration and immigration in the third millennium.