(Offered as BLST 298 [D], POSC 298 [G], and SOCI 298) Studies of the Black experience have tied the African Diaspora to the formation of the modern world-system and the proliferation of global capitalism. Since the sixteenth century, the conscription and the exploitation of Black labor and human capital have been essential to each cycle of accumulation that has sustained capitalism.
(Offered as AMST 260 and SOCI 260.) Whereas capital, culture, and commerce flow freely in contemporary capitalism, labor does not. Walls--physical, legal and cultural--aim to keep certain people in and “others” out. In this course we explore the sociological forces behind cross-border labor flows and the parallel reality of immigrant life. We focus specifically on the experience of Latinos in the United States.
This course examines the use and control of mood-altering drugs in the United States today. Specifically, we look at two important sets of issues: first, the increasing use of prescription drugs to deal with a growing range of human moods and thoughts; second, the ongoing “war” against drugs like marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. By juxtaposing these two, we will reflect on the contradictions of drug use and drug control in America. On the one hand, we take a more punitive approach to the control of currently illegal drugs like marijuana than any other west
This course will consider various ways that class matters in the United States. Historical accounts will be used in conjunction with sociological theories to discuss the formation of classes, including the formation of discourses and myths of class, in American society. Class will then serve as a lens to examine the origins and characteristics of social stratification and inequality in the U.S.
(Offered as SOCI 230 and ASLC 230.) East Asia has been booming, economically—first Japan, then Korea and Taiwan, and now China. In this course, we will study both what made the economic boom in these countries possible and what social issues have arisen in each country because of the particular social system that arose through its process of economic development. In particular, we will consider patterns of social inequality.
Independent Reading Course.
Fall and spring semesters. The Department.
A half course designed for intermediate-level students who wish to develop their fluency, pronunciation, oral comprehension, and writing skills. We will study and discuss Russian films of various genres. Two hours per week.
Requisite: RUSS 301 or consent of the instructor. Spring semester. Senior Lecturer Babyonyshev.
(Offered as RUSS 246, ARHA 246, and EUST 256.) This course will offer a comparative overview of how visual art developed in the Soviet Union, the United States, and the “two Germanys” within the intellectual and political climate that defined the Cold War (1947-1991). By considering how the conditions of artistic production and reception differed—and also sometimes converged—under democratic capitalism in the West and state socialism in the East, we will gain new perspectives on the intersection of art and ideology in the postwar period.
Russia was launched on a unique path by the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917: it was intended to become the first Communist society in history. The Cultural Revolution that followed sought to remake institutions and even persons in the name of realizing a classless society. This utopian project came up against the actual history of the twentieth century not just in Russia but internationally: world wars, the collapse of empires, and the victory of “capitalism” over “communism.” Much of the best Russian literature and film of the twentieth century
