SOC 187 A-Z - (BH) Special Topics

Semester Hours: 3

Fall, Spring

The course deals with innovative topics.

Current Special Topics

SOC 187H - Sociology of Hip-hop

This course explores the cultural reach of Hip Hop music. Once a small genre of urban music localized to New York City’s disc jockey culture in the1980s, Hip Hop has grown into one of the most listened to and copied genres in the world, while also being one of the most emblematic expressions of American capitalist desire. From Blues, Jazz, and Gospel, to Rock and Roll and Funk, this course will trace the ancestral lineage of Hip Hop music, and its influence on American culture, trends, youth movements, politics and social deviance. Hip Hop music began as a reflection of exclusivity, but rapidly came to define what we eat, what we wear, and most importantly, how we interact with others.

SOC 187L - Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in the United States

There are large racial and ethnic health disparities in the United States and many similar countries around the world. Focusing on the United States, this course explores the patterns of racial and ethnic disparities in health and the social sources driving these persistent gaps in health. More specifically, this course examines racial and ethnic disparities in health between White and non-White populations and social forces linked to ongoing gaps in health, such as socioeconomic status, neighborhoods, segregation, interactions with the healthcare system, and racial discrimination. This course will also discuss some of the challenges related to the study of racial and ethnic disparities in health.

SOC 187M - Work and Citizenship

Contemporary globalization has transformed the nature of work, the role of nation-states and notions of citizenship. It has changed the social, economic, cultural, and political environment and the nature of global interaction. Time, space, distances, boundaries and borders, work relations are being continuously redefined. In this capstone seminar, sociology majors will draw upon their theoretical knowledge and methodological skills to examine the transformations ushered by globalization, liberalization and deregulation and how it modifies the nature of work, state responsibility, and citizenship. We will discuss concepts, perspectives, policies, and practices that enhance our understanding of critical connections between globalization, work, and citizenship. We will also address the role of intersectionality in shaping inequalities in work and citizenship and the modes of contestation and agency that people engage in at local and global level to the forces of globalization.

SOC 187N - Sociology of Memory

What role does memory play in our everyday lives? How does memory shape our environment and affect our actions and interactions? This course shows students what is special about using a sociological lens to investigate memory. We’ll study conceptualizations of collective memory and explore remembering, forgetting, mis-remembering, and conflicts over memories. We’ll ask how memory shapes culture, group formation, identity, power and politics. We’ll consider the processes by which we share memory, contest memory, commodify memory, and invest memory in objects. Finally, we’ll gain practice working in this field by analyzing data collected using archival, oral historical, visual and other sociological methods.

Prerequisite(s)/Course Notes:
May be repeated for credit when topics vary. As individual subjects are selected, each is assigned a letter (A-Z) which is affixed to the course number. Specific titles and course descriptions for special topics courses are available in the online class schedule.

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