Sociological perspectives on educational issues; social class differences in school achievement, the crisis in educational credentials, school reform movements, the erosion of public support for education, schools, and jobs. (Gen.Ed. SB, U)

Contact department for description.

Introduction to demography. Population size, distribution, and composition; their change through fertility, mortality, and migration. The social and economic determinants and consequences of population trends.

Not available at this time

A four credit honors seminar for senior STPEC students who have completed STPEC 391H with a grade of C or better. Seminar topic changes each semester. See SPIRE schedule, contact department, or see STPEC Program web-site
(www.umass.edu/stpec) for current description.

The Sociology of Love looks at a subject that we all take for granted, but none of us understand. Love is both a physiological state and a socially constructed experience. We will examine the major bio-chemical, psychological, and sociological theories that have attempted to explain the causes and nature of love and attraction. We will also look at the social construction of love through Western history, as well as in other cultures, and at the complex relationships that exist between love, "courtship", marriage, and sexuality.

Course description not available at this time.

Labor movements and systems in various countries. Combines individual country-studies with a cross-national topical approach.

This course introduces analytical and theoretical tools used to make sense of visual culture. Topics include the relationship between real-life vision and looking at images, persuasive images, images as evidence.

This course examines how media forms present images of the future; course activities integrate each student's General Education courses, Communication courses, and social experiences on campus to critically examine the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability as it pertains to living in the future. How we synthesize images from our experiences and apply these filters to conceptualizing the Information Society is key.