Course Description and Objectives

This sociology class is designed to understand how social forces shape our behavior and what our role is in influencing the society’s structure. In the process, we will cover the science of sociology and its relevance to everyday life. During the course, the students will be introduced to the basic concept of sociological imagination, mindfulness, and principles of sociological reasoning. Many societal issues will be examined through the practice of classical theories and sociological perspectives. As we journey through the course, the students will become more familiar with the nature of sociology, social construction of reality, micro and macro sociological analysis, and concepts such as: culture, socialization, social structures, self and society, stratification, gender inequality, sociology of health and medicine, love, marriage, and divorce. In this course, we will: a) create an environment that encourages active participation and group interaction in the learning process; b) actively encourage critical thinking through mindfulness and sociological imagination; c) use interactive techniques in the teaching and learning process to develop a deeper understanding of social-psychological reasoning, and d) we will assess and evaluate your work and give timely feedback.

Required Texts

James M. Henslin.2021. Sociology:  A Down to Earth Approach

Reading Packet

Grading

Exams- 66%

Course project- 24%

Class participation and Group workshops- 24%

Quiz- 10%

Description

This course may be used to fulfill the social and behavioral sciences component of the university core curriculum and addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, empirical and quantitative skills, and social responsibility.

Overview

How are our individual choices shaped by society? How do our choices help shape society? These are two primary questions we will address in Introduction to the Study of Society. The sociological imagination will be one of our primary tools as we explore society and our place within it. Since we are studying society and therefore ourselves, opportunities to use our sociological imaginations are all around us – in everything from our everyday interaction to global events.

The first part of the course explores some of the ways sociologists view society, and also how we study the social world. In addition, we will examine culture, socialization, and the construction of reality.

The second part of the course focuses on inequalities. Stratification takes many forms; we will explore social class, race and gender. During these segments we will pay particular attention to inequalities within the institutions of families and education.

The primary objectives for this course are:

• To become familiar with major concepts, theories and methodologies of In other words, you will know how to answer the question “What is sociology?”
• To learn several different theories of understanding society and be able to apply them.
• To continue to develop and hone critical thinking skills by participating in class discussions and other group activities and completing writing assignments that require analysis and synthesis.
• To develop your sociological imagination.

Required Texts and Material

• Conley, Dalton. 2020. You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist, Core 7^th New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
• You May Ask Yourself InQuisitive. (Included with LTA, or you can purchase access separately.)
• Additional readings posted on Canvas.

Books available at the Co-op on Guadalupe. You may also purchase or rent your books from other vendors.

REQUIREMENTS

Students are expected to keep up with the required readings, attend lectures and discussion sections, take notes in class, and participate in group discussions and exercises. You will have three exams that together constitute 45% of your final grade. Attendance and active participation in your discussion section is required and will account for 15% of your final grade.

GRADING POLICY

Exams 45% (3 at 15% each)

Short papers 30% (3 at 10% each)

InQuizitive  10%

Attendance and participation 15%

Description:

This course is designed to introduce students to the sociological study of society. Sociology is the systematic study of social interaction, social organizations, and social institutions. The course will introduce basic sociological concepts such as the relationship between the individual and society, the social construction of reality, and the causes and consequences of social inequality. We will examine major topics in sociological research, including but not limited to inequality, mobility, race and ethnicity, gender, family, punishment and social control, sexuality, and education. We will cover different methods sociologists use to understand the relationship between individuals and society. The course is focused on the U.S. context, but global forces will be considered as well. Class format is primarily lecture-based, but students will participate in weekly discussion groups as well. The overall goal of this class is to equip students with the analytic tools to understand structural factors that shape social life. 

Required Readings:

All readings will be made available in a packet and/or on Blackboard.

Attendance Policy:

Students are allowed three (3) absences during the semester. These absences are intended to cover unexpected events such as illnesses or family emergencies. If students miss more than three classes, their semester grades will be reduced by one percentage point for each absence beyond the three allowed. The two exceptions to this policy are religious holy days and military service, both of which require advance written notice. For details, please refer to UT-Austin Academic Policies and Procedures: http://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/academic-policies-and-procedures/attendance/

Grading Policy:

Midterm Exam: 20%

Final Exam: 30%

Research Essay: 30%

Pop Quizzes: 10%

Class Participation/Discussion Groups: 10%

Course Description

The principal objective of Physical Activity in Society is to understand the way in which people are physically active in a social context. We will examine how physical activity is influenced by social forces including cultural, economic, historical, and demographic factors. The course examines physical activity on both the individual and population levels to better understand the benefits and barriers to physical activity in society.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Analyze contemporary issues in physical activity from a variety of disciplinary and professional perspectives.

Understand physical activity on both the personal/individual level as well as the population level.

Critically evaluate (and convey through writing) the assumptions, motives, and evidence that individuals and groups use in discussing physical activity.

Course Assignments and Evaluation

Activity Selection (5%):  Choose a physical activity of any kind to research this semester. Choose a physical activity you currently participate in. Explain why you chose your activity through the assignment in Canvas.

Physical Activity Journal (20%):  An integral part of this class is two physical activity journal assignments. You will collect data and analyze materials in a physical activity of your choice - sports, dance, exercise, walking, gardening, cycling, etc.

Reading Discussions (15%):  Each week you will participate in discussions about the weekly readings via Canvas. Discussion posts are due every Friday.

Exams (25%):  There will be two non-cumulative open-book exams covering lecture and the readings.

Annotated Bibliography (5%):  An annotated bibliography is due prior to your final paper.

Final Project (30%):  The semester’s work will culminate in a project wherein you combine your physical activity journal with scholarly sources to describe how your physical activity functions in society.

Extra Credit:  Participating in the Physical Activity Across the World (PAAtW) discussions each week will earn you extra credit toward your final course grade.

Description

This course will explore when, why, and how people bear children around the world. We will look at the social factors associated with declining fertility, voluntary childlessness, unplanned fertility, non-marital and teen childbearing, delayed parenting and infertility, assisted reproduction, surrogacy, maternal and infant mortality/morbidity, population control, family planning, and government support for families. Throughout the course, you will develop your sociological imagination by learning how to connect what happens in individual’s lives to broader, demographic trends that transform the economic and political landscape of societies worldwide.

In an ideal world, all people would have the freedom to decide whether, when, and how to have and raise children. Needless to say, we do not live in an ideal world. In this course, we examine how, and to what effect, social forces act on people’s reproductive lives and decision making. Our goal will be to analyze the politics of reproduction by drawing on readings, films, discussions, group work, and assignments. We will familiarize ourselves with concepts like reproductive governance, stratified reproduction, and reproductive labor, and study cases from the U.S. and around the world as we apply these concepts to real-life situations that range from the one-child policy to migrant domestic workers, from surrogacy to disability. Through the class, we will attempt to answer the following questions: What is reproduction—is it just childbearing and rearing, or is it more than that? How do the pressures on people’s reproductive lives vary by social positions of race, gender, sexuality, class, and nation? And finally, can reproduction serve as a lens through which to understand our society and ourselves?

Required Texts and Readings

There are no texts required to purchase for this class. Required readings will be posted on Canvas or are available through the UT Library. Many of our readings come from the compilation Reproduction and Society, edited by Carole Joffe and Jennifer Reich (2015), which is available as an E-Book through the UT library. You may wish to download the book in its entirety to use throughout the semester.

Grading Policy

Class time will include lectures, discussion, and classroom exercises. Students will be evaluated on class participation, which will include discussions, short in-class responses, and (if necessary) quizzes. I encourage you to express your opinions, ask questions, and present outside information to boost your participation grade. Exams will be essay questions, covering both the readings, films, and materials presented in class. The final is not cumulative. Finally, students are required to complete a final paper on a relevant topic.

Grade composition:    

Exams (2) 60%  

Final paper 30%

Class participation 10 %

Description forthcoming.  Contact the instructor for more information about this course.

Course Description:

This is a course designed for undergraduate students to learn about the function and current manifestations of the American criminal legal system (“CLS”).  It will provide an introduction to the components and procedures of the CLS, paying close attention to how the system differentially operates on the basis of gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, and social class.  This course is designed to give students a broad picture of how the CLS operates beginning with a broad overview of its current breadth and complexity.  We will study the various components of the criminal legal system, like policing, courts, incarceration, post-incarceration, and collateral consequences of incarceration.  We will finish with an exploration of how we may move forward in the wake of mass incarceration with alternatives to punishment and opportunities for change.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand the development, breadth, function of the CLS and understand how race, class, and gender impact its development and maintenance.
• Critically read social science and other texts in order to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of evidence provided by authors.
• Develop sociological frameworks about punishment.
• Participate in class discussions and learn effective communication skills.
• Use evidence from social science publications to build arguments in original written materials. 

“All the particles of the world are in love and looking for lovers.” --Rumi

 OBJECTIVES

Course Description

Sociology 308L examines the spiritual, social, cultural, and psychological perspectives regarding the ideas of love and intimacy. The first part of the course will examine unconditional love and its characteristics, the presence of love, and the nature of being. The second portion will emphasize the historical, social, and psychological dimensions of love. The course will offer insights to understand how love and intimacy interact with rapid social, economic, and cultural change, and how the subsequent change transformed the social world and the meaning of love both in the West and in the Middle East. As we journey through this course, you will become familiar with: the aspects of self and identity; differentiation in the context of love in the modern age; the family and the individual; the impact of industrialization on private lives and the public order; race and gender communication. We will also explore the intercultural aspect of love and intimacy in the United States, personal choice and arranged marriages in Asia and the Middle East. During the course, students are required to engage in paired-learning exercises or group workshops to assess and interpret the information on patterns of relationships. These workshops are also designed to further display a clear and critical understanding of the theories, ideas, and concepts through written, oral, and visual communication. These activities are similarly aimed to cultivate teamwork and collaborative decision-making in the learning process. This course brings some of the current research and thinking, not only from the social perspective, but also from a wide variety of intellectual disciplines.

Readings: Course Packet

Ekhart Tolle. 2004. Power of Now.         

Course Evaluation

1)    A Research Paper and presentation  26%

2)    Two exams 50% (each exam counts 25%).

3)    Quizzes 8%.

4)    Class participation/group workshops 16%. 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The principle objective of H S 301/SOC 308S is to offer students a broad overview of health and society from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. We will examine how social forces influence health and disease in U.S. society, including cultural, economic, and demographic considerations. We will explore why rates of disease vary among different populations and how cultural and structural inequalities shape access to healthcare and affect morbidity and mortality. How do economic factors, politics, public perceptions of morality, and historical biases against specific populations shape our modern-day understandings and experiences of health and illness? We will also examine how social forces shape the very definitions of health, illness, and disease categories, and thereby medical diagnoses and treatments. We will consider the social consequences of the commodification of healthcare and how new technologies are transforming our current healthcare system and the nature of the patient/physicianrelationship. Our course readings and discussions will help us address current bioethical controversies that continue to influence our beliefs about health and illness and shape our very understandings about human rights and personhood. This course is built around lectures (including guest lectures), class discussion, and film screenings and discussion.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Analyze contemporary health issues from a variety of disciplinary and professional perspectives.

• Explain how social location, the media, and economic forces shape health behaviors and outcomes.

• Explain how social and cultural factors shape contemporary understandings and experiences of health and illness and death and dying in the U.S.

• Critically evaluate the assumptions, motives, and evidence that individuals and groups use to make specific claims about health and illness.

COURSE MATERIALS

Gawande, Atul. 2014. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. New York:Metropolitan.

Marmot, Michael. 2005. The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity. New York: Holt.

Course readings also include scholarly articles, book chapters, and other required readings available on Canvas.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION

This course is organized in a lecture format, but it is greatly enhanced by your participation. For variety’s sake, I will often incorporate short video-clips, group activities, and/or writing exercises in our class session. We will also spend considerable time each week discussing the readings and our own experiences, interests, and knowledge in this area. Please remember that discussions will only be as rich as you all make them, so it is essential that everyone come prepared to speak about the readings thoughtfully and critically. Your final evaluation for the course will be broken down as follows:

Attendance and Preparedness (10%)

Students are expected to attend class, read assignments before each class, and actively participate in classroom discussions during the week. Eight times during the semester the instructor will have students sign in on a class roster or complete a group assignment in the first few minutes of class. Students will be granted one unexcused absence with no penalty. If you have a university-related conflict or medical or family emergency that prevents you from attending class, alert your TA (providing relevant documentation) and you will not be penalized for a particular absence, but you must contact your TA in advance of missing class. NOTE: Tardiness will adversely affect your grade; students who arrive late risk missing this activity or sign-in sheet and will not be allowed to receive credit for the day.

Reading responses (10%)

Students are expected to keep up with the reading for the class. Six times during the course of the semester, I will pose a reading question on the course Canvas page relevant to recent reading. The questions will be posted on Sunday evening and students are expected to write a reading response of one page, double-spaced (between 250 and 350 words) and upload a copy to the Canvas page by 5pm on the Thursday that they are due. Responses will be graded as meets/exceeds expectations (100), meets minimum expectations (70), no credit (0). See course schedule for Reading Responses (marked RR).

Exams (60%)

Two exams (worth 30% each) will be given to assess your level of mastery of the course material, including assigned readings, lectures (including guest lectures), and in-class films and other media presentations. . Both exams will be a combination of multiple choice, true-false, fill-in-theblank, short answer, or short essay items.

Essay (20%)

Students are required to write one of two essay assignments offered during the term. The paper will be approximately 5 pages in length (not to exceed 6 double-spaced pages), and will answer a specific prompt related to course topics. Specific assignments will be posted to Canvas on the dates indicated below. Papers are due in class; electronic submissions of papers will NOT be  accepted. Due dates are firm. Five points will be deducted each day the paper is late, but papers will not be accepted if they are more than five days late. Late papers cannot be emailed or posted to Canvas, so it a student’s responsibility to submit a hard copy of his/her paper to the appropriate TA.

Description:

The course will offer students an overview of sustainability as something human beings must strive to create in an era of global warming and ever greater social inequalities; both between countries and within countries.   The focus of the course will revolve around the core issues of sustainability: what does sustainability mean?  Why do we need to remake human societies in more sustainable ways?  And what does social equity have to do with sustainability?  One of the problems we have in teaching about sustainability today is our focus on two of the "E's" without much attention to the third. We talk mostly about Environment, secondly about Economy, and then tend to pay short shrift to Equity.  This course will address all three, but put a greater focus on Equity than is usual.  The course will be taught from a social sciences perspective, which approaches human relationships with the natural world (Environment) in the context of their relationships with each other (Environment and Equity).  Global warming (environment) is main reason we are talking about Sustainability today, but global warming is both cause and effect of our economies and inequalities.

Required Texts

Carolan, Micheal,  Society and the Environment; Pragmatic Solutions to Ecological Issues. Westview Press, 2013.

Grading Policy

There will be three multiple choice tests and one group project.  Each will count 25% of the grade.

Description

In this course, we will examine the interplay between society, health, and happiness, drawing upon findings from a variety of fields, including psychology, sociology, neuroscience, and economics. Topics include the nature and measurement of happiness, the relationship between health and happiness, the social or collective dimensions of health and happiness, and the relationship between money and individual well-being. Students will also engage with practical lessons from the scientific study of happiness and human flourishing by applying insights from research to their own lives.

Required Texts

The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner

The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

A Wonderful Life by Frank Martela

Grading Policy

Reading questions (30%)

Quiz (30%)

Happiness project (20%)

Class participation (20%)

Description:

This course presents a general overview of the statistical methods used in the social sciences. While it’s important that you gain an understanding of the mathematical concepts behind the statistical analyses, it is of even greater importance that you leave this course with a conceptual and rational understanding of today’s most commonly used (and useful) statistical methods.

Truth claims made with statistics are abundant and often have the quality of facts in U.S. social and political life. Unfortunately, because many people do not understand the statistics undergirding these claims, they receive less scrutiny than they deserve. It is my primary goal to ensure that students learn the basic statistical literacy they need to be smart consumers of information. Our increasing reliance on statistics to understand the social world means that statistical and analytic skills are marketable skills. In fact statistics is one of very few classes that sociology majors take that provides them with concretely marketable skills. I believe that giving undergraduates a solid understanding of statistics is a way of democratizing knowledge and its production. In teaching statistics my goals are:

•   To demystify statistics so that every student can be a smart consumer of quantitative information.

•  To teach students to think sociologically with and about quantitative information.

•  To provide students with a solid foundation of quantitative and computing skills that could serve

   as assets in subsequent employment and academic settings.

• To demonstrate to students that learning statistics has practical applications outside of the classroom in everyday life.

Texts:

TBD

Grading and Reqirement:

I will use a non-competitive grading scale. In other words, the grade you receive will not depend on how well others have performed in class. You can earn a maximum of 115 points in this class. Your grade will be based on your mastery of each of the required tasks in the class. The grading scale for the final course grade is as follows: 115-94=A; 90-93=A-; 87-89=B+; 83-86=B; 80-82-B-; 77-79=C+; 73-76=C; 70-72=C-; 67- 69=D+; 63-66=D; 60-62=D-; 59 & below=F.

I do not give incomplete and will not change the final grade for whatever reason. You have plenty of opportunities to do well in this class. Use them.

If you receive a final grade of A- or higher, I will write a personal recommendation for you in the future, stating that you have significant quantitative and computing skills.

Description:

This course presents a general overview of the statistical methods used in the social sciences. While it’s important that you gain an understanding of the mathematical concepts behind the statistical analyses, it is of even greater importance that you leave this course with a conceptual and rational understanding of today’s most commonly used (and useful) statistical methods.

Truth claims made with statistics are abundant and often have the quality of facts in U.S. social and political life. Unfortunately, because many people do not understand the statistics undergirding these claims, they receive less scrutiny than they deserve. It is my primary goal to ensure that students learn the basic statistical literacy they need to be smart consumers of information. Our increasing reliance on statistics to understand the social world means that statistical and analytic skills are marketable skills. In fact statistics is one of very few classes that sociology majors take that provides them with concretely marketable skills. I believe that giving undergraduates a solid understanding of statistics is a way of democratizing knowledge and its production. In teaching statistics my goals are:

•   To demystify statistics so that every student can be a smart consumer of quantitative information.

•  To teach students to think sociologically with and about quantitative information.

•  To provide students with a solid foundation of quantitative and computing skills that could serve

   as assets in subsequent employment and academic settings.

• To demonstrate to students that learning statistics has practical applications outside of the classroom in everyday life.

Texts:

TBD

Grading and Reqirement:

I will use a non-competitive grading scale. In other words, the grade you receive will not depend on how well others have performed in class. You can earn a maximum of 115 points in this class. Your grade will be based on your mastery of each of the required tasks in the class. The grading scale for the final course grade is as follows: 115-94=A; 90-93=A-; 87-89=B+; 83-86=B; 80-82-B-; 77-79=C+; 73-76=C; 70-72=C-; 67- 69=D+; 63-66=D; 60-62=D-; 59 & below=F.

I do not give incomplete and will not change the final grade for whatever reason. You have plenty of opportunities to do well in this class. Use them.

If you receive a final grade of A- or higher, I will write a personal recommendation for you in the future, stating that you have significant quantitative and computing skills.

Description

Sociologists use statistics (numbers) to describe and analyze social dynamics for topics including, but certainly not limited to, culture, education, the family, inequality, policing and incarceration, social movements, health, politics, and religion – in short, to better understand the large and complex social world around us. This course introduces students to these statistical methods.

We will cover two types of statistics: 1) descriptive statistics, which describe important characteristics of data in a sample, and 2) inferential statistics, which use data from a sample to make informed guesses about important characteristics of a broader population. You will also be introduced to and practice using statistical computing software.

By the end of this course, you will:

1. Have a basic understanding of common statistical methods used in sociology and the social sciences.
2. Be prepared for more advanced courses, independent study, and a quantitative Bachelor’s thesis in the field of sociology.
3. Evaluate statistical claims and evidence, understanding the strengths and limitations of quantitative methods.
4. Program, interpret, and visualize statistical analysis in the statistical computing program Stata.

The benefits of learnings statistics go well beyond your future coursework in sociology, however. By learning statistics, you will become a more informed consumer of the dizzying variety of ways we all encounter them in everyday life – ranging from politics to public health to sports. Learning statistics could also help you get a job. Employers across many industries and occupations value quantitative reasoning ability and experience with statistical computing. You will gain both in this course!

Quantitative Reasoning Flag

This course carries the Quantitative Reasoning flag. Quantitative Reasoning courses are designed to equip you with skills that are necessary for understanding the types of quantitative arguments you will regularly encounter in your adult and professional life. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your use of quantitative skills to analyze real-world problems.

Required Texts and  Readings

TBD

Grading Policy

Standard grading scale (A-F), based on attendance in lecture and lab sessions, problem sets, quizzes/ tests, and written assignments.

Description

Sociologists use statistics (numbers) to describe and analyze social dynamics for topics including, but certainly not limited to, culture, education, the family, inequality, policing and incarceration, social movements, health, politics, and religion – in short, to better understand the large and complex social world around us. This course introduces students to these statistical methods.

We will cover two types of statistics: 1) descriptive statistics, which describe important characteristics of data in a sample, and 2) inferential statistics, which use data from a sample to make informed guesses about important characteristics of a broader population. You will also be introduced to and practice using statistical computing software.

By the end of this course, you will:

1. Have a basic understanding of common statistical methods used in sociology and the social sciences.
2. Be prepared for more advanced courses, independent study, and a quantitative Bachelor’s thesis in the field of sociology.
3. Evaluate statistical claims and evidence, understanding the strengths and limitations of quantitative methods.
4. Program, interpret, and visualize statistical analysis in the statistical computing program Stata.

The benefits of learnings statistics go well beyond your future coursework in sociology, however. By learning statistics, you will become a more informed consumer of the dizzying variety of ways we all encounter them in everyday life – ranging from politics to public health to sports. Learning statistics could also help you get a job. Employers across many industries and occupations value quantitative reasoning ability and experience with statistical computing. You will gain both in this course!

Quantitative Reasoning Flag

This course carries the Quantitative Reasoning flag. Quantitative Reasoning courses are designed to equip you with skills that are necessary for understanding the types of quantitative arguments you will regularly encounter in your adult and professional life. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your use of quantitative skills to analyze real-world problems.

Required Texts and  Readings

TBD

Grading Policy

Standard grading scale (A-F), based on attendance in lecture and lab sessions, problem sets, quizzes/ tests, and written assignments.

Description:

This is an introductory course in statistics for undergraduates covering descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics involves organizing and summarizing important characteristics of the data.  Statistical inference involves making informed guesses about unknown characteristics of a population based on known characteristics of a sample. This course aims to equip students with the necessary skills for understanding and using a range of statistical techniques that can be applied to real-world problems.

Required Text:

1. Stinerock (2018) Statistics with R: A Beginner’s Guide. Sage Publications ISBN-978-1-4739-2490-1

Course Requirement:

Exams: There will be three in-class examinations graded on a 100-point scale.  Roughly 70% to 80% of the points on the examinations are accounted for by problems requiring the student to work toward a solution, with the remainder accounted for by true/false and short answer questions.  Examinations will be based entirely on topics covered in lectures. In-class examinations are non-cumulative; they cover only the material since the previous exam. Students must take all exams to pass the course. Make up exams will be given only in the case of documented emergencies or illness.

Homework: There will be four homework assignments worth a total of 200 points. Homework problems are designed to enhance learning of key concepts and applied statistical methods. Homework must be received in class no later than the dates indicated. Students can receive extra credit by completing optional computer exercises.

In-Class Assessments: There will be approximately 20 in-class exercises carried out at various points during the course to assess understanding of current topics. These will count 100 points towards the total grade.

This course has several objectives. First, students will learn to step beyond their personal understandings of cancer to cultivate a more sociological and analytical approach to understanding this complex disease. By the end of the term, students will be able understand the cultural and structural forces that shape the occurrence, treatment, and experience of cancer in the U.S. The second goal of this course is to develop students’ writing skills. Through various writing assignments, students will cultivate an effective argumentative writing style as they critically evaluate cancer research and the social factors that influence how the disease is understood, treated, and depicted in popular culture. Students will spend considerable time honing their own writing, learning about the importance of revisions as they engage in rigorous edits of their peers’ work. The peer review process not only familiarizes students with basic editing skills, but also encourages collaboration and teamwork. Finally, by acting as a codiscussant once during the term, students will gain experience and confidence leading a discussion on a course topic of their choice.

COURSE MATERIALS

Course materials include various articles and book chapters and video links, most of which are available on Canvas. Please note that I reserve the right to remove, add or substitute assigned materials. There are also two required books for the course.

• Mukherjee, Siddhartha. 2010. The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Kalanithi, Paul. 2016. When Breath Becomes Air. New York: Random House.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION

To successfully complete this course, you must read all assigned texts before each class, attend and participate regularly, co-facilitate a discussion once during the term, complete and submit assignments on time, and present on your research topic at the end of the semester.

Attendance (5%)

Attendance is mandatory in a discussion-based, writing intensive class. You can miss two classes without penalty during the term. Absences #3, #4 will result in a 10-point deduction from this portion of your grade and a loss of participation points for the day. For absences #5 and beyond, I will deduct 10 points from your final course grade for each additional absence.

Participation (20%)

Students are expected to have read all assigned readings before each class period and participate actively and respectfully in class. Students are also required to regularly respond to blog-post prompts on our discussion board. There will be a total of 16 prompts posted, and you will need to 3 thoughtfully respond to at least 12 prompts during the semester. It is also a good idea to write your own questions on the readings. Come to class willing to share your questions and actively participate in our discussions.

Leading Discussion (10%)

Students will be asked to co-facilitate a discussion once during the semester. I will pass around a sign-up sheet on 1/28 so you have plenty of time to plan with your co-discussant. I will also discuss my evaluation guidelines in advance so that you are aware of my expectations. Your attendance on the date you are leading discussion is MANDATORY.

Paper #1 (10%)

Students will write a 2-3 page (double-spaced) short paper. 

Paper #2 First draft (15%)

Students will write a 5-page paper (double-spaced) that applies course concepts and theories to an analysis of a specific social or cultural issue relating to cancer research or treatment.

Peer Review Reports (5%) Students will provide peer-review feedback for Paper #2. This will entail providing marginal comments and also writing a one-page peer review report for two or three of your studentcolleagues. I will distribute detailed guidelines about this process.

Paper #2 Revised Draft (20%)

After receiving my feedback, you will revise Paper #2 and resubmit it.

Paper # 3 (15%)

Students will write a 5-page paper (double-spaced) that applies course concepts and theories to a social or cultural issue relating to the experience of cancer.

Overall semester averages will earn the following letter grades:

• 93-100: A
• 90-92.9: A
• 87-89.9: B+
• 83-86.9: B
• 80-82.9: B
• 77-79.9: C+
• 73-76.9: C
• 70-72.9: C
• 67-69.9: D+
• 63-66.9: D
• 60-62.9: D-
• 0-59.9: F

Description

This course offers a hands on experience on ethnographic fieldwork. We will learn about ethnography as a craft, read a few exemplary works, and then launch ourselves into the fascinating, complicated, exhilarating task of conducting observations and interviews. Take this class if you are willing to “get dirty” in real research – i.e. if you are willing to spend time observing/talking to others.

Required Texts and  Readings

Desmond, ON THE FIRELINE

Lareau, UNEQUAL CHILDHOODS

Auyero, INVISIBLE IN AUSTIN

Weiss, LEARNING FROM OTHERS

Emerson, WRITING ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDNOTES

Lareau, LISTENING TO PEOPLE

Grading Policy

3 SETS OF FIELDNOTES

2 INTERVIEWS

2 BOOK REPORTS

Description

Consumption is at the same time an economic, political and cultural phenomenon. During the twentieth-century and the beginning of the twenty first, in many parts of the world the promise of extending mass-consumption became a central part of political discourses about the rights and benefits of citizens. In Latin America, the goal of achieving a vibrant internal consumer market was conflated by many with the idea of development, progress, and modernity. Conceptually, consumers have been seen alternatively as the sovereigns of markets, as victims of manipulation, or as a locus of resistance and expression. In this course, we will study the place of consumption in social, economic, and political relations in Latin America. We will read recent literature from various disciplines (sociology, history, anthropology, etc.) on consumer culture in the region, with a special focus on Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Brazil. We will deal with a variety of topics and consumption goods, including consumer policies, popular consumption, advertising, neoliberal consumption, middle class consumer culture, home appliances, jeans and tupperware.

Grading 

Students are expected to attend all classes and complete all assigned work, are responsible for ensuring they are properly registered in all their courses, and that they have officially dropped any courses which they do not plan to include in their program. All written work will be graded on the quality of content as well as writing skills. 

Your grade will be calculated as follows: 

First Exam: 25% 

Paper: 25% 

Second Exam: 30% 

Class participation and forum responses: 20% 

Description: Welcome to The Demography of Crime and Punishment. This course is an interdisciplinary exploration of crime and punishment in the United States. In this course, we will review broad patterns in crime and punishment, followed by an analysis of the social, political, and economic forces shaping what constitutes a crime and socially acceptable forms of punishment. In addition to examining broad patterns in crime and punishment, we consider qualitative accounts of community residents living in hyper-enforced spaces. In so doing, we consider how policies, practices, and institutions shape the lived experience of residents who encounter state surveillance on a daily basis. The content of the course will be contextualized in pressing issues facing American society, including mass incarceration, mass deportations, and police killings. While we review these contemporary issues, we also consider how the present is shaped by past policy choices and debates. We will end the course by discussing political resistance to solving social problems through criminal legal interventions. After completing this class, students will be able to critically think, talk, and write about criminal legal issues in the U.S.

Description:
This course is designed to explore the broad history of how race has shaped the development
of science in the United States from the 1800s to the present, including medical treatments,
diagnostic criteria, technological developments, and business ventures. We will examine how
people of color suffered experimental practices that furthered medical science in particular (such
as birth control experiments in Puerto Rico), and through a reading of defunct theories of
inherent racial difference, we will examine how an obsessive focus on biological ideas of race
stunted scientific progress. Moreover, we will examine how ideas built on racial difference
shaped how Americans viewed their bodies and science (such as how the early weight loss
industry targeted white Americans). Finally, we will discuss the reemergence of old ideas about
racial difference through industries such as genetic ancestry testing and pharmaceutical use of
racialized medicine.

Required Texts
Fatal Invention by Dorothy Roberts
The Social Life of DNA by Alondra Nelson
Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings
Medical Bondage by Deirdre Cooper Owens

Grading Policy
Students will be graded based on short weekly response papers that evaluate their critical
understanding of that week’s texts, a mid-term research paper on a relevant topic of their choice
where they will be given in-depth feedback on their writing and analysis in preparation for a final
term paper and an accompanying in-class presentation.

Course Description

This course examines patterns of health and illness in the US and their possible causes.  By focusing on societal structures and demographic trends, the course is able to uncover the ways in which American society and social interactions shape health outcomes across the adult population.  Some attention in the course is also devoted to the healthcare system in the US and the ways in which it leads to certain population health outcomes.  The course is designed with experiential learning in mind, thus it requires students to undertake projects that help them better understand how health outcomes are patterned in the community around UT Austin.

Experiential Learning Component

A major focus of the course is engaging students through experiential learning.  Although the course will contain lectures, much of it will rely on the students to generate content and engage in academic activity outside of the classroom.  The main portions of this part of the class revolve around three activities: a group research project; presentation and discussion of an article related to the course content; and engagement in a simulation of a historic moment in the health history of the United States.  Through these active learning mechanisms, the hope is that students will gain much more from the class than a class that engages them primarily through lectures.

Description

Sociologists empirically study and develop theories about the human social experience. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) play an important role in how we experience our lives. Alarms wake us up. Chemotherapy can help rid bodies of cancer. Cars allow us to move around more efficiently than on foot or by horse and buggy. Birth control pills allow women to prevent pregnancies. In this course we will use sociology lens to gain a deeper appreciation for the persistent challenges in STEM fields. Specifically, we will critically assess power differentials in terms of gender identity, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, and SES as they relate to various STEM fields. To do this, we’ll:

1. Discuss how history, social forces, and social institutions work in concert to shape individuals and how individuals shape society;
2. Understand that what we view as “objective reality” is often constructed and maintained through social interactions;
3. Begin to understand the value of research-based information in interpretations of complex social problems;
4. Become familiar with the research methods used by sociologists, and be able to identify reliable research and findings;
5. Discuss broad trends that influence rates, trends, and decisions made by individuals who have constrained choices;
6. Use sociology to better explain patterns and issues in STEM

Sociology of STEM is a critical and sociological exploration of STEM. The focus is on understanding the inequalities that exist and persist in the fields of STEM. We will use a sociology lens to explore, for example, sexual harassment of women in science, and read about the treatment of women in entry, lab, and executive positions, despite years of "progress" toward social and occupational equity. Students will explore what an equitable social and work environment would look like given research-based, sociology literature. Students will also produce a sociology-based diversity plan for a STEM organization/company, complete with actionable steps. The diversity plan can take the form of a handbook or class presentation, but is a project that will be submitted, reviewed by the instructor and peers, and revised several times as we discuss new material and related topics in the class.

Required Texts, Online Publications, Articles, and Books (selected chapters) (Complementary videos, new articles, podcasts, and TedTalks will also be used)

Sheibinger, Londa. 2001. Has Feminism Changed Science? Tong, Joyce. Scientific Pioneers: Women Succeeding in Science.

Hanson, Sandra L. Swimming Against the Tide: Minority Women in Science. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009.

Sexual Harassment in Academic Science, Engineering, and Medicine, https://www.nationalacademies.org/our- work/sexual-harassment-in-academia.

Hanson, Sandra L. Lost Talent: Women in the Sciences. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996. Perez, Caroline Criado . 2019. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.

Sandra L. Hanson and Malgorzata Krywult-Albanska “Access to STEM for Women in Poland and the U.S.” International Journal of Science Education 42 (6) (2020).

Rainey, K., Dancy, M., Mickelson, R. et al. Race and gender differences in how sense of belonging influences decisions to major in STEM. IJ STEM Ed 5, 10 (2018).

Hanson, Sandra L. “STEM Experiences among Latinos and Asian Americans in the U.S.: Generational Change.” Asian Journal of Humanities and the Social Science 6 (4) (August 2018).

Slaton, Amy. 2013. ASEE Annual Conference. Paper ID #7526 Body? What Body? Considering Ability and Disability in STEM Disciplines file:///Users/lynetteosborne/Desktop/WhatBody_final.pdf

Hanson, Sandra L. and Yu Tao. ‘Engineering the Future: African Americans in Doctoral Engineering Programs.” Pp 57-87 in J. Slaughter, Y. Tao, and W. Pearson Jr, Changing the Face of Engineering. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press (2015).

Shifrer, Dana. 2016. Problematizing Perceptions of STEM Potential: Differences by Cognitive Disability Status in High School and Postsecondary Educational Outcomes. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World

Hanson, Sandra L. “Race, Sex, and Perceptions of Asian Americans in Science: Insights from a Survey on Science Experiences of Young Asian Americans.” Race, Gender, and Class 21: 288311 (2014).

Mary Frank Fox, Diana Roldan Rueda, Gerhard Sonnert, Amanda Nabors, and Sarah Bartel. 2021. Publications about Women, Science, and Engineering: Use of Sex and Gender in Titles over a Forty-six-year Period. Science, Technology, & Human Values 1-41.

Hanson, Sandra L. “STEM Degrees and Occupations among Latinos: An Examination of Racial/Ethnic and Gender Variation.” Race, Gender and Class 20 (1-2): 214-31 (2013).

Twine, France Winddance. 2018. Technology's Invisible Women: Black Geek Girls in Silicon Valley and the Failure of Diversity Initiatives. International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 58-79

Hanson, Sandra L. and Emily Gilbert. “Family, Gender, and Science Experiences: The Perspective of Young Asian Americans.” Race, Gender and Class 19 (3-4): 326-347 (2012).

Hanson, Sandra L. ‘Science for All? The Intersection of Gender, Race, and Science.” International Journal of Science in Society 3(2): 113-36. (2012).

Description

The goal of this course is to ask some fundamental questions about the relationship between education and society. To answer these questions, we will take an in-depth look at the structures, practices, social contexts, and outcomes of schooling. We will examine the purpose and role of schools, explore the linkages between schools and social stratification, discuss how various schooling outcomes are produced, and consider sociological perspectives on contemporary educational inequality and reform. You will have many opportunities to reflect upon your own educational experience and worldview, while also thinking critically about how various social forces have come to shape your schooling experiences, and how these experiences may differ from that of your peers, as well as that of other young adults around the country.

Readings

The Structure of Schooling: Readings in the Sociology of Education, 3rd Edition. Both new and used copies, as well as ebook and rental options, are available online.

Additional readings will be available on Canvas.

Performance Assessment

Your final course grade will be determined as follows:

Participation................ 5%

Reading Quizzes.......... 10%

Discussion leader........ 3%

Discussion questions... 2%

Discussion responses.. 10%

Discussion.................... 15%

Reflection paper 1....... 15%

Reflection paper 2....... 15%

Reflection Papers........ 30%

Exam 1......................... 20%

Exam 2......................... 20%

Exams.......................... 40%

Grading Scale

Course Description

Why have Jews been disliked, mistrusted or hated for so long? How, if at all, does judeophobia differ from other types of xenophobia or racism? In which societies have we historically seen intense mistrust and demonization of Jews? Where do we see it today? And where do we see the opposite “Jewcentric” phenomenon: philosemitism, and what some refer to as an encroaching judaization?

In this upper-­‐level undergraduate course, we tackle these and related questions. We identify distinct types of judeophobia/antisemitism over 2,500 years, identifying when and where new and discrete layers of antisemitic ideas developed and flourished. Although our primary focus is on antisemitism in contemporary and historical Christian and Muslim societies, we begin in the antisemitic bedrock— Ancient Greece and Rome. We also look at antisemitism in peripheral societies which have had few Jews. Finally, we consider judeophobic “self-­‐hatred” among Jews themselves and, perhaps most disturbing (though sociologists shouldn’t find this surprising), we look at the repeated role of intellectual elites—including those who consider themselves progressive—in generating and justifying new forms of judeophobia, and in so doing, perpetuating this ancient hatred.

Course Requirements

Final grade will use UT’s standard range (A, A‐, B+, B, B‐, C+, C, C-­, D+, D, D-­, and F) and is based on performance in the following assignments.

1. Two in-­‐class exams, scheduled on the Wednesday classes of weeks 8 and 15. Each is worth 30% of the total course
2. Either a paper or collaborative project: 30%
   • Paper: I’ll hand out a list of questions after the first
   • Collaborative project: Up to three people can collaborate on a It must be scholarly but can also use alternative media. All projects must have my approval and each member of the team will sign a declaration attesting to which parts of the project they contributed to, and roughly how much.
3. Class participation: general class discussion plus contributions to weekly “Antisemitism in the news” and the class facebook page (10%)

Required Readings From (among others):

Peter Schafer's Judeophobia

Robert Wistrich's A Lethal Obsession

Excerpts from Laqngmuir ("Towards a Definition of Anti-Semitism")

Phyllis Goldstein (2012) A Convenient Hatred: The history of Antisemitism. Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation

Bernard Lewis (1984) The Jews of Islam. Princeton University Press

Andrew G. Bostom (2009) The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism. Prometheus Books

Walter Laqueur (2006) The Changing Face of Anti-­‐Semitism. Oxford University

Alan Steinweis (2006) Studying the Jew: Scholarly Antisemitism in Nazi Germany. Harvard University Press

Sander Gilman (1991) The Jews Body. Routledge

Sander Gilman (1986) Jewish Self-­‐Hatred: Anti-­‐Semitism and the Hidden Language of the Jews. The Johns Hopkins University Press (section of “The linguistics of anti-­‐Semitism”) 

Wistrich’s A Lethal Obsession

Andrea Nüsse (1998) Muslim Palestine: The Ideology of Hamas

David Hirsh (2007) “Anti-­‐Zionism and Antisemitism: Cosmopolitan ” (http://eprints.gold.ac.uk/2061/)

Robert Michael (2005) A Concise History of American Antisemitism. Rowman and Littlefield

Garfinkle’s (2009) Jewcentricity. John Wiley and Sons

Grading Scale

Description:

This course provides a broad introductory survey to Africa from a sociological perspective. Bridging classical macro and micro-sociological approaches, it has two principal aims: to deepen our understanding of Africa and African societies; and to help enrich sociological thought by incorporating Africa – long ignored – into the sociological mainstream.

The course is divided into three sections. The first addresses the problem of representation. How do we learn about Africa? How has the tension between Philo-Africans, those who romanticize Africa, and those driven to improve life on the “Dark Continent”, affected what we claim to know about Africa? How do Africans themselves feel and think about Africa? What are “authentic” African cultural forms and behavior?

The second section deals with political structure. By this we refer not only to the formal structure of African states and political authority, but also to constraints on states’ ability to project their formal authority. Some of these constraints are internal, related to specific countries’ ethnic and geographic characteristics. Others are external, stemming from African states’ embeddedness in global or transnational authority structures.

Having identified those constraints, the third and major section of the course deals with three key institutions that, either in addition to the state or in response to its failures, affect life on the ground. These three are: the extended family, religious institutions, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). We will describe the key features and functions of each of these, document how they have changed over the last few decades, how they are likely to change in the near future, and outline the debates about how they should change (if at all).

The course is designed for upper-level undergraduates. Course reading will draw on both academic and popular non-fiction.

Readings: 

The coursepack will include chapters from:

Barley, Nigel. 1983. The Innocent Anthropologist: Notes from a Mud Hut. Penguin Books.

Herbst, Jeffrey. 2000. States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control. Princeton University Press

Maren, Michael. 1997. The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity. New York: Free Press.

Olivier, Roland. 1991. The African Experience: Major Themes in African History from Earliest Times to the Present. New York: HarperCollins.

Trinitapoli, Jenny and Alexander Weinreb. 2012. Religion and AIDS in Africa. Oxford University Press

van de Walle, Nicholas. 2001. African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979-99. Cambridge University Press

wa Thiongo, Ngugi. 1986. Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. London: Heinemann

Articles in leading academic journals (mainly sociological) will also be assigned. These include:

Dodoo, Francis, and Nicola Beisel. 2005. “Africa in American Sociology: Invisibility, Opportunity, and Obligation.” Social Forces 84(1): 595-600

Frye, Margaret. 2012. “Bright Futures in Malawi’s New Dawn: Educational Aspirations as Assertions of Identity.” American Journal of Sociology, 117(6), pp. 1565-1624

Manglos, Nicolette and Alexander Weinreb. 2013. “Religion and interest in politics in sub-Saharan Africa” Social Forces 92 (1): 195-219

Swidler, Ann, and Susan Cotts Watkins. 2009. “‘Teach a Man to Fish’: The Sustainability Doctrine and Its Social Consequences.” World Development 37 (7): 1182–1196

Tavory, Iddo, and Ann Swidler. 2009. “Condom Semiotics: Meaning and Condom Use in Rural Malawi.” American Sociological Review 74 (2): 171–189

Trinitapoli, Jenny, and Sara Yeatman. 2011. “Uncertainty and Fertility in a Generalized AIDS Epidemic.” American Sociological Review 76 (6): 935-954

Weinreb, Alexander A. 2006. “The Limitations of Stranger-Interviewers in Rural Kenya.” American Sociological Review 71 (6): 1014-1039

Weinreb, Alexander A. 2001. “First politics, then culture: Accounting for ethnic differences in demographic behavior in Kenya.”  Population and Development Review 27 (3): 437-467

Grading Policy:

The final course grade will be based on:

• A single written assignment/research paper (40% each) due by the end of the semester
• two exams (25% each)
• class participation (10%)

In each case, students will receive a +/- letter grade, based on the following performance levels:

Description

This course will introduce the students to different aspects of creative insights, human consciousness, social processes, and the ‘invention of reality’.  The class will bring the intellectual abilities and intuitive inclinations together as a complementary process. We’ll pursue and encourage elements of mindfulness, intuition, and creativity at the individual, organizational, societal, and environmental levels.  The course will draw upon a wide range of sources- lectures, group discussions, books, articles, artistic films, documentaries–in order to better understand and appreciate the interconnectedness and interrelationship between ‘inner’ (personal) and the other (‘social’) reality. The media will be presented as technical methods of representation of "social reality" and socio-cultural phenomena. No technical aspects will be emphasized.

Required Texts

A selection of articles will be, prepared in a packet.

Michael Schwalbe. 2007. The Sociologically Examined Life: Pieces of the Conversation.

Otis Carney. 2002. Wars R’ Us: Taking Action for Peace.

Paulo Coelho. 1995. The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream   

Joseph Campbell. 2004. Pathways to Bliss: Mythological and Personal  Transformation                                   

Mitch Albon. Tuesday with Morrie.

 Grading Policy             

20%  Short essays / Journal entries

20% Group Workshops and class participation

10%  Written Critiques of student paper

10% Oral Presentation

10% Final assessment

30% Final course project

Description

This course will focus on the social antecedents and consequences of mental health and illness with respect to key variables reflecting individuals’ social experiences: gender, race/ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, marital status, and age. We will combine sociological, psychological, epidemiological, and biological approaches to understand how the social aspects of mental health and illness interact with individual processes. At the end of this course you will be able (1) to apply a sociological perspective to mental illness as a social phenomenon, and (2) to understand the social etiology of and social inequality in mental health

Required Texts (the Dean’s Office will not accept “Course Packet” or “TBA”)

Textbook: William C. Cockerham. (2016). Sociology of Mental Disorder, 10/E. Pearson.

Available at UT library as an e-book: https://search.lib.utexas.edu/permalink/01UTAU_INST/apl7st/cdi_askewsholts_vlebooks_9781317211594

Required articles will be posted on Canvas in advance.

• “Madness Through the Ages”
• “Working class growing pains”
• “Minority Stress and Mental Health in Gay Men”
• “Responses to discrimination and psychiatric disorders among Black, Hispanic, female, and lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals”

Grading Policy

Exam 1                                    25%

Exam 2                                    20%

Exam 3                                    15%

Course project                        30%

Participation in Discussions   10%

Extra credit opportunity up to 2%

Description

In this course we will analyze the family as a social institution, using sociological perspectives. Studying the family can be tricky in that we all have our own experiences being part of families. It is important, then, to go beyond our own experiences to explore both the private aspects of the family as well as public aspects of the family using various kinds of empirical data. Shifting definitions of the family provide a starting point for an exploration of the history of “the family”. Specific topics include parental and child roles; gender, race and social class as stratification systems which influence families; how the family intersects with, is shaped by, and shapes other social institutions, with particular attention to the economy and the world of work as well as state and social policies; and cohabitation, divorce and step families as three important changes in the US family over the last several decades.

Questions we will address include:

• What is the definition of family? (Why is this a complicated question?)
• What social-structural forces shape family processes?
• How is the family a gendered institution?
• How does government attempt to shape families? Support families?

Required Texts

Cohen, Philip N. 2018. The Family; Diversity, Inequality, and Social Change, 2nd edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. You also need access to InQuisitive, which comes with the textbook. If you purchase a hard copy, there will be an access code inside.

Coontz, Stephanie. 2006. Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage. New York: Penguin.

Edin, Kathryn J. and H. Luke Shaefer. 2016. $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America. New York: Mariner Books. Lareau, Annette. 2011. Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race and Family Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Additional readings will be posted to our Canvas course site.

I. Course Rationale

Since the 1940s, US control of the Southwest border has remained a major challenge in immigration policy. Border control has become one of the most debated topics in the country, including in federal and state legislative bodies. Annually thousands of unauthorized migrants cross the US-Mexico border into the United States to participate in US labor markets and in other social institutions. A consequence of unauthorized immigration and of the implementation of border control measures for deterrence has been the deaths of hundreds of migrants annually. Over the years, the deaths have added up into the thousands. The social effects of border control and the occurrence of migrant deaths have become sociological topics investigated by sociologists and other researchers to increase our knowledge and understanding of international migration and the effects of border policies.

 II.  Course Aims and Objectives

Aims

 This course is designed to provide a sociological understanding of border control and migrant deaths at the US-Mexico border. Of particular importance for the course is research knowledge concerning border control policies and patterns of migrant deaths.

 Specific Learning Objectives

• Gain information and understanding of the development and effects of US border control policies concerning the following: border control campaigns, social and public perceptions of the border, migrant death patterns in border areas, government plans to redirect migration, ethics of border control, human rights and critical perspectives related to migrant deaths, bureaucratic ideology in border control, migrant death forensics, smuggling, community responses to migrant deaths, recent research on border control and migrant deaths.
• Review and discuss different approaches and measures for border control. 

• Review and analyze government statistical reports concerning annual migrant apprehensions at the border and annual counts of migrant deaths in border sectors. 

• Develop an awareness of the significance of border control for the development of US immigration policy. 

• Review major impacts of US border control measures for local communities. 

Cultural Diversity Objective: 

“This course carries the flag for Cultural Diversity in the United States. Cultural Diversity courses are designed to increase your familiarity with the variety and richness of the American cultural experience. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one U.S. cultural group that has experienced persistent marginalization.” . .

 “Ideally, the Cultural Diversity Flag will challenge students to explore the beliefs and practices of an underrepresented group in relation to their own cultural experiences so that they engage in an active process of self-reflection.” 

III. Format and Procedures

The course is designed with the expectation that it will follow an intertwined format of lectures and class discussions.  A key expectation is that students will come to class prepared to discuss thematic issues covered in the class, or at least come to class with a curious and critical predisposition to become intellectually engaged in the class. All students are expect to contribute to class discussion, with a high regard for an open academic dialogue, which values respect for the ideas, opinions, and views of others. Class attendance is assumed and expected, and highly encouraged.

Students will have an opportunity to evaluate qualities of the course, including the instructor.  The purpose of the student evaluations is to provide feedback to help improve the teaching experience.

IV.  Assumptions

My assumptions about the nature of immigration in U.S. society is that it a) follows an historical course, b) flows from the interaction between human agency and social structures, c) takes normal paths of social division and degrees of accommodation and social incorporation, d) is partly affected by social constructions regarding different national-origin groups, and e) has its most profound significance within the dynamics of social reproduction (constant remaking of societies). 

V. Course Requirements

1. Class attendance and participation policy

Class attendance is required but not graded. I will assume that all students enrolled in the course attend all class meetings, and thus are informed of all class matters stated in class. Please try to arrive in class on time.  Also, you should review previous lecture notes and bring questions to class about points you did not clearly understand—including points from the assigned readings.  Please be attentive in class (turn off phones or set to vibration). You are greatly encouraged to participate in class discussion, and to do so in a manner that respects the rights of others to also participate.  If you have a problem hearing the lectures and discussion, or viewing class presentations, please let the instructor know immediately. 

Religious Holidays

UT Austin policy requires that you notify course instructors at least 14 days in advance if you plan to be absent due to a religious holiday. You will be given an opportunity to make up activities (exams, assignments, etc.) that you miss because of your absence due to a religious holiday.  You will be given a reasonable time to make up an exam or assignment after your absence. 

2. Course Readings/Materials 

a) Required books

Dunn, Timothy J. (D)  2009.  Blockading the Border and Human Rights: The El Paso Operation that Remade Immigration Enforcement. Austin: University of Texas Press.

De Leon, Jason. (DL) 2015.  The Land of Open Graves:  Living and Dying in the Migrant Trail.  Oakland: University of California Press.

b) Websites to review:

Migration Policy Institute: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/

Pew Hispanic Center: http://pewhispanic.org/

UC-Davis Migration News: http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Immigration Statistics): http://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/

Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/

Population Reference Bureau: http://www.prb.org/

 3. Assignments, Assessments, Evaluation, Dates

a) The course contains three exams and a paper requirement. The exams will consist of multiple-choice items. All exams have to be taken on the dates specified; the only exceptions to this rule are cases involving an emergency and authorization by UT Austin.  In such exceptional cases, essay makeup exams for the first two regular exams have to be taken within a week after the originally designated dates in the specified sociology room for makeups. In the rare possibility that a student needs to take a makeup for the third exam, arrangements with have to be made with the instructor. Makeup exams will consist of essay questions only. Students who miss a scheduled exam must alert the instructor beforehand and consult with the instructor regarding the makeup.  There is no procedure for making up the Final Exam outside of cases that are of a true exceptional and unusual personal pressing situation. Students have to take all exams on the dates and times specified.  Exams cannot be taken earlier or later than the dates and times specified.

 The paper requirement is a research brief of 1,350 words (5 pages) on a class-related border/migration topic for which at least three (3) research journal publications are consulted and cited in the text, and listed in the Reference section of the paper.  The motive for the paper is to give the student an opportunity to read research journal publications. Grading of the paper will include checking for a) the required number of words (1,450), b) the three required journal sources, and c) the adequacy and strength of the presentation in the paper.

 4. Use of Canvas:  Canvas will be used to help manage the course and to pursue interaction with students.  Canvas will be used to make announcements, distribute information, communicate with students, and post grades.  Students are encouraged to use Canvas to communicate and share relevant comments and information.  Please check your Canvas site regularly to look for communications from the instructor or from other students in the class.  Support for using Canvas can be obtained from the following websites:  https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/633028/pages/welcome-to-canvas; http://guides.instructure.com/m/4212

 VI.  Grading

 a) Three exams of 50 multiple-choice items (worth 100 points each).

• 100 points per exam x 3 exams = 300 points

 b) Paper requirement worth 50 points

Total possible points = 350

 c) Letter grades based on 350 possible cumulative points:

 A = 325-350     A- = 315-324

B+= 304-323    B  = 290-303    B-= 280-289

C+= 269-279    C  = 255-268    C-= 245-254

D+= 234-244    D  = 220-233    D-= 210-219

F  = 209 or fewer points

Description:

In this course we will explore the social context of food. Topics will include food and identity, social class and culture.  We will also investigate who plans, purchases, and prepares food for our families, including discussion of the recent debates about the value of a home-cooked meal.  We will take a tour through the alphabet soup of government assistance for the hungry, including SNAP, WIC and NSLP.  Finally, we examine food production and policies in the US. 

This course carries the Writing Flag. Writing Flag courses are designed to give students experience with writing in an academic discipline. In this class, you can expect to write regularly during the semester, complete substantial writing projects, and receive feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. You will also have the opportunity to revise one or more assignments, and you may be asked to read and discuss your peers’ work. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your written work. Writing Flag classes meet the Core Communications objectives of Critical Thinking, Communication, Teamwork, and Personal Responsibility, established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Readings will include:

Nestle, Marion. 201313.  Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health

Pilcher, Jeffrey.  2012.  Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food

 Pollan,  Michael.  2006.  The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.

Grading:

Portfolio 25%

     A series of short assignments including research article analyses, video analyses, discussion synthesis

Papers 30%

     Food diary analysis

    Literature review

Peer review 10%

Group Presentation  15%

   Groups will research, present findings and lead discussion

Participation 10%

Class synthesis assignment 10%

     Drawing on the themes from the class and current research, explore possibilities for improving food policy

Description:

Building the Sustainable City is an interdisciplinary course that examines why we have to create  more sustainable living environments, what we are presently doing to rebuild American cities in more sustainable ways, and where we need to go in the future.  The course adopts the strong definition of sustainability to include the connections between economy, equity, and environment.   80% of the population lives in urban areas today, the vast majority of economic activity occurs in them, and most environmental problems are related to urbanization and industrialization.  Understanding how to build a sustainable city, then, is the key to building a sustainable society.  This course will focus on energy use, transportation policy, housing, and food production/distribution in the city.  Social equity issues will be integrated into all four themes, as all four are both cause and effect of social inequalities. 

The course links our academic understanding of sustainability with “real world”, on-the-ground people doing sustainability today by letting you work with some of the organizations in Austin in a Service Learning project. The last two weeks of April we will have no class, and instead you will use that time to work with a community organization of your choice, on a project related to sustainability. Your final paper is a write-up of that project  

Text:

Girardet, Herbert; Cities People Planet. Wiley and Sons, 2008.

Grading System

Your grade is computed based on 3 essays of 3-4 pages, typed, double spaced, each worth 25% of grade. The final 25% will come from your project write-up.

Description

This course is designed as an introduction to the sociology of crime. Drawing on a variety of theories and methodologies, the goal of the course is to learn how to think and write critically about crime, criminal justice, and social inequality. We will explore theories of crime and ask: What is crime? Who defines crime? How is it defined? Who benefits from these definitions? Our core work will focus on how society defines and responds to crime in varied social contexts and across individuals’ identities. First, we will focus on crime, policing, and security apparatuses in neighborhoods and schools, exploring policies and theories such as Stop, Question, and Frisk; the school-to-prison pipeline; and the carceral continuum in schools. The second portion of the course focuses on the intersection of crime and race, ethnicity, immigration, and gender by exploring mass-incarceration, criminalization of immigrants, and sexual violence. The course is empirically grounded in American history and politics and incorporates works from theoretical, quantitative, and ethnographic sociology, news media, documentaries, and blogs.

Required Texts

Required texts for this course include a series of book chapters, journal articles, public opinion news articles, and podcasts. Students will read several chapters from Crime, Justice, and Society: An Introduction to Criminology 4th edition by Ronald J. Berger, Marvin D. Free, Jr., Melissa Deller, and Patrick K. O'Brien. The course also includes selected chapters from the following books:

• The Philadelphia Negro by W.E.B. DuBois
• Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique Morris
• Unequal City : Race, Schools, and Perceptions of Injustice by Carla Shedd
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America's Largest Criminal Court by Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve
• Imprisoning America: The Social Effects of Mass Incarceration by Western, Patillo, and Weiman
• Punishing Immigrants: Policy, Politics, and Injustice by Kubrin, Zatz, and Martinez

Other Required Readings

The class will also be required to read the following articles/ op-eds:

• Hagan—Defining Crime: An Issue of Morality
• Becker—Becoming a Marijuana User
• Dulio—The Coming of the Superpredators
• Singer and Drakulich—Crime and Safety in Suburbia
• Muhammad—Throughline: American Policing [NPR INTERVIEW]
• Wilson and Kelling—Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety
• Rios, Prieto, Ibarra—Mano Suave-Mano Dura: Legitimacy Policing and Latino Stop-and-Frisk.
• Ray—George Floyd’s Murder is the Twenty-first Century Emmett Till Moment: How Sociological Research Informs Police Reform
• Ripley—How America Outlawed Adolescence: At least 22 states make it a crime to disturb school in ways that teenagers are wired to do. Why did this happen?
• Turney and Haskins—Parental Incarceration and Children’s Well-being: Findings from the Fragile families and Child Well-being Study
• At Liberty: The Myth of the “Bad” Immigrant [Podcast]
• Núñez--Collateral Subjects: The Normalization of Surveillance for Mexican Americans on the Border
• Robinson—The Lavender Scare in Homonormative Times: Policing, Hyper-incarceration and LGBTQ Youth Homelessness

Grading Policy

Flexibility is built into the assignments to support student success in this course. Students’ lowest three weekly quiz grades will be dropped. Students have to complete three of five writing response essays. If they complete more than three, their lowest graded writing assignment is dropped. If students miss a smaller assignment or don’t do as well on earlier assignments, their grade will not be impacted significantly. Consequently, the final grades are firm, and no additional curve is available.

Description

This course is in two parts. The first is an overview of the current criminal justice and how the various components work.  The second part focuses on the dysfunctions and inefficiencies of the American criminal justice system and what can be done to effectively reform it to reduce recidivism, enhance public safety and reduce costs.

Required Texts

Nichole Hendrix, Experiencing Criminal Justice, William Kelly, The Future of Crime and Punishment

Grading Policy

Four exams that are a combination of multiple choice and short answer.  Each exam is equally weighted (25%). 

Description

This course is in two parts. The first is an overview of the current criminal justice and how the various components work.  The second part focuses on the dysfunctions and inefficiencies of the American criminal justice system and what can be done to effectively reform it to reduce recidivism, enhance public safety and reduce costs.

Required Texts

Nichole Hendrix, Experiencing Criminal Justice, William Kelly, The Future of Crime and Punishment

Grading Policy

Four exams that are a combination of multiple choice and short answer.  Each exam is equally weighted (25%). 

The purpose of this course is to teach basic research skills. You can use these skills in a wide variety of settings, not just the ivory towers of academia. Specifically, students will learn 1) basic research approaches, 2) how to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches and 3) how to apply social science methods to a research problem.

To achieve these goals this course takes a "hands on" approach. This means that often class time will involve your active participation. It is essential that you come to class (and labs) having read the assigned material.

Required Texts

Text – The Art and Science of Social Research. Published by W.W. Norton, second edition

Course Requirements and Grades are calculated as a weighted average of grades on assignments, papers, and exams.

3 Exams  (~40%) No make-up exams except in extreme circumstances. Make ups may be 100% essay.

Analysis paper (20%)

Review Paper (20%)

Assignments (20%)-- There will be ~7 assignments.

All assignments should be word processed unless instructed otherwise.

Note: All late assignments will receive a grade of 0. If you need to miss lab, you may turn in assignments to the TA early. Papers are due at the beginning of the class meeting on the day they are due. Papers that are not turned in on time will be penalized 10 points per partial day late, beginning at noon the day the paper is due.

Note also: Class attendance is required. Excessive absences (> 15% or 4 class meetings) will result in a lower grade.

A=930-1000; A-900-929; B+=870-899; B=830-869; B-=800-829; C+=770-799; C=730-769; C-700-729; D+=670-699; D=630-669; D-=600-629; F < 60.

Description

In this course, we will investigate questions central to the study of social life with a substantive focus on the American Criminal Legal system. Using a hands-on approach, we will explore how to examine and communicate core sociological concepts, methods, and explanations. Like ethnographers, we will observe – and record – contemporary social life. Like survey methodologists, we will design and implement a survey. Like historians, we will examine archival materials.

As in other sociology classes, you will be asked to analyze and interpret the evidence you collect. This class requires you to make a commitment to using – and thinking about – the methods of social science research.  This course will devote significant substantive and empirical attention to the causes and consequences of criminal legal contact.  We will also engage with community organizations to implement a study of people exiting correctional facilities and re-entering the community.

Course Objectives

When you have completed this course, you will be able to:

• Articulate a theoretically-oriented research question
• Identify ethical and unethical methodologies
• Observe and record contemporary social life
• Design and implement a survey
• Examine archival materials
• Analyze and interpret evidence
• Evaluate the validity, reliability, and generalizability of different types of data and methods
• Communicate core sociological concepts, methods, and explanations

Course Organization

This course is designed to promote an experiential and interactive learning environment. The course will involve a combination of lectures, lab/discussion sections, guided field study (i.e., field trips), and opportunities to apply and communicate learned concepts (i.e., assignments/field projects). A significant amount of classroom time is reserved to introduce students to the methods of inquiry used by social scientists and to discuss contemporary research on the criminal legal system. Students are required to practice sociological methods as part of the course. No prior experience is necessary although instructor approval is required.  Those acutely impacted by or who have prior experience with the criminal legal system are encouraged to enroll.

Completion Requirements

To successfully complete this course, you must do the following:

• Read assigned texts
• Complete and submit assignments/field projects, each worth 8%.
• Assignment 1: Constructing a bibliography
• Assignment 2: Field notes
• Assignment 3: Analysis of qualitative data
• Assignment 4: In-class experiment
• Assignment 5: Analysis of quantitative data
• Assignment 6: Survey design
• Assignment 7: In-class survey
• Assignment 8: Statistical analysis
• Assignment 9: Exploring secondary data sources
• Assignment 10: Content analysis
• Take in-class quizzes and actively contribute to lab/discussion sections worth 20%. Your participation grade will be based on your contributions to the classroom environment.

Grading Scheme

Individual assignments, quizzes, and exams will be graded as appropriate. For example, the bus ethnography will be evaluated as adequate (check), exceeds expectations (check plus), or insufficient (check minus). Those grades will be translated into point totals. Adequate = 85/100; Exceeds Expectations = 100/100; Insufficient = 70/100.

Final grades will be assigned based on the percentage of total points awarded. Each assignment, quiz, or exam will be weighted in proportion to its percentage of the total grade (as outlined above). Final grades will be assigned based on the following scoring scheme:

• 93 – 100% of total points awarded A 4.0
• 90 – 92% A- 3.7
• 88 – 89% B+ 3.3
• 83 – 87% B 3.0
• 80 – 82% B- 2.7
• 78 – 79% C+ 2.3
• 73 – 77% C 2.0
• 70 – 72% C- 1.7
• 68 – 69% D+ 1.3
• 63 – 67% D 1.0
• 62 or less F 0.0

This course may be used to fulfill three hours of the communication component of the university core curriculum and addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, teamwork, and personal responsibility.

Course Materials

• Kahn, Shamus and Dana R. Fisher. 2014. The Practice of Research: How Social Scientists Answer Their Questions. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Western, Bruce.  2018.  Homeward.  New York:  Russell Sage Foundation.
• Additional readings will be available as links through the course webpage: https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/#.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course offers an introductory and intensive overview of research methods in the social
sciences.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

● Describe common methods of social science inquiry
● Understand the linkage between research question and research design
● Explore major debates about research methods, social science, and ethics in research
● Evaluate social scientific evidence and research
● Critically consume news reports, political rhetoric, and public discussion about the social world and social scientific research

TEXTBOOK

This class is designed so that students who view/attend lecture, review lecture notes, complete
online quizzes, and utilize provided study guides can succeed. All relevant material will be
covered in lecture and assigned readings; there is no required textbook . For those that would
like to have an additional resource that has extra examples and more detailed explanation of
concepts covered in class, I recommend the following text:

Dixon, Jeffrey C., Royce Singleton, and Bruce C. Straits. 2019. The Process of Social Research.
Second edition. New York: Oxford University Press. (ISBN: 9780190876654)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

50% Research Proposal: The research proposal is a semester-long, independent assignment aimed at having you combine your personal interests, quantitative reasoning skills, and writing. The research proposal is broken into 7 graded components which, combined, make up your grade for the Research Proposal assignment.

25% Perusall Contributions: Perusall is an online platform that 1) requires students to complete assigned readings/watched videos 2) allows students to ask questions and teach one another through responses and annotations, and 3) eliminates the need for multiple-choice tests on course material. You will have 5 Perusal responses over the course of the semester that will contribute to 25% of your overall course grade. Perusal assignments will be posted as the semester progresses and will remain open until the end of semester. See here for more info on Perusall and Perusall assignments .

15% Evaluating Research Assignment: This assignment requires you to combine skills and concepts covered this semester to:

1. summarize and describe two research articles,
2. critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each study, and
3. think through your own research interest(s) and how you might go about answering a research question of your choice both quantitatively and qualitatively.

10% Research Ethics Assignment: In this assignment, you will learn about and be quizzed on research ethics through an online Human Subjects Research (HSR) training portal. This is a pass/fail assignment. Your course grade will be determined roughly according to the percentages detailed above, though I reserve the right to reward students for improvement throughout the course. This course is not graded on a curve. Grades posted to Canvas during the semester are raw scores and do not take into account the appropriate weights based on each assignment’s percentage contribution to your final grade.

Spanning what are known as “qualitative” and “quantitative” approaches, the course covers basic principles in a few main areas: the meaning of variables, understanding causation, study design, basic sampling, and modes and methods in data collection. Throughout, we draw on examples from published studies in sociology and other social sciences, looking at how other researchers have navigated commonplace methodological pitfalls.

By the end of the course, students should be able to both critically evaluate the methodological underpinnings of much social research. They should also be able to construct their own study, on paper at least, without falling into the most common and destructive traps. We also hope that this course will make students more skilled consumers of information in the real world. People are enveloped in data and arguments based in data. It is important to know how to evaluate the quality of those data. Engaged citizenship demands it.

Requirements:

1 exam, 7 assignments 

Spanning what are known as “qualitative” and “quantitative” approaches, the course covers basic principles in a few main areas: the meaning of variables, understanding causation, study design, basic sampling, and modes and methods in data collection. Throughout, we draw on examples from published studies in sociology and other social sciences, looking at how other researchers have navigated commonplace methodological pitfalls.

By the end of the course, students should be able to both critically evaluate the methodological underpinnings of much social research. They should also be able to construct their own study, on paper at least, without falling into the most common and destructive traps. We also hope that this course will make students more skilled consumers of information in the real world. People are enveloped in data and arguments based in data. It is important to know how to evaluate the quality of those data. Engaged citizenship demands it.

Requirements:

1 exam, 7 assignments 

Description

Access to reproductive care is the most significant indicator of social inequality. The rights to have
children, or not, and parent are deeply stratified across societies. And childhood inequalities have
persistent, life-long health effects. In this course we will examine reproductive outcomes for women in
order to study social justice.

Reproductive justice is defined “as the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” Our working definition of reproduction justice for this course encompasses the processes of becoming pregnant and giving birth, the right to give birth to a child with disabilities, the right to prenatal care, neonatal care, and child care. Taking our cue from reproductive justice activists and scholars, our class readings and discussions will consider the complete physical and mental well-being of women, children, and their families which can potentially be achieved when they have the economic, social and political power, and resources to make healthy decisions about their sexuality, and reproduction.

Reproductive justice is not always achieved because resources are unevenly distributed, based on race, gender, sexuality, abilities/ disabilities, citizenship, and social class. As a result, developing and developed nations are racked with social inequality when it comes to reproductive matters.

From slavery, access to birth control, stratified reproduction, sex selective abortions, and new reproductive technologies, this course will focus on difficult topics; but, no answers will be provided. The expectation is that you will learn, and answer for yourself what you mean by reproductive justice, and how you think it can be achieved. My aim is that we will emerge at the end of the semester with an open mind regarding women’s and children’s health, and a more complicated understanding of what reproductive justice means. You will, hopefully, take the term reproductive justice into your own linguistic repertoire, and from there, attempt to make it a part of your worldview, and everyday life.

Readings

- Readings are on Canvas (marked with asterix), or online and accessible through our library
resources (links provided).
- Please purchase from Amazon.com Ritu Menon and Kamala Bashin’s Borders and Boundaries:
Women in India’s Partition. 1998 or 2000 version.

Course expectations and grading

Attendance Policy
Attendance will be taken every time we meet; you may miss up with 2 classes without affecting your
grade. After that, every class you miss drops your grade by ½ a grade, until you earn an F.

Participation: 5%
I encourage active participation in class. By participation I do not want you to monopolize discussion,
but make remarks that draw people into talking about the issues you want to discuss. Respectful
disagreement is an excellent way to learn.

Current events discussion: 5%
My hope is that you are up on current events, and read newspapers/ listen to the radio and otherwise
keep up with happenings around the world. Current news is filled with reproductive politics. As part of
your course grade please bring in news items (a photcopy/ print-out, or direct our attention to the suitable website) that are relevant to the course. We will start each day with a 5-10 minute discussion on current developments in reproductive justice matters not just in the U.S., but also in other parts of the world (in previous classes we talked about the Zika virus, the criminalization of miscarriage in Guatemala, etc).

Take home exams (two): 30% each
I encourage group work on exams. Please share notes, develop outlines together, and learn from each
other. However, each of you will write up your answers individually and turn in individuals exams.
Please indicate on your exams who you’ve worked with.

Life History: 30%
Please conduct one life history with an older person or a friend. Summarize the person’s thoughts, and
experiences. In the second section of your paper provide an introspection on your own reproductive
ideals for yourself. In the third section compare and contrast your thoughts to the person you’ve spoken with, and think through what might influence these differences. Up to 8 double spaced pages.

Description:

Crimes, trials, evidence, juries, sentences, lawsuits – you hear a lot about issues with which the legal system concerns itself. But people in the legal system are not the only ones who consider these issues. This course will look at courts, legal actors, and legal policies through the lens of social science, especially social psychology.  The goal of the course will be to learn about existing research on law-related topics. A sample of areas to be covered include: predicting dangerousness, eyewitness testimony, mental health issues in the law (such as competence to stand trial and the insanity defense), children in the law, and jury decision-making on verdicts in criminal and civil cases.  Students enrolling should have taken at least one introductory sociology or psychology course.

Texts:

This course has one required textbook (Greene & Heilbrun, “Wrightsman’s Psychology and the Legal System”); attendance is not mandatory but is gauged through for-credit activities that occur during some class sessions. This course has an “Ethics and Leadership” Flag.

Grading and Requirements:

Exams, a short paper, and small in-class activities.

Description

This course is an introduction to social gerontology. We will focus on the sociological, demographic, epidemiological, and psychological perspectives on aging in the United States. We’ll adopt a lifelong view of human development and place a particular emphasis on life-course processes affecting health and well-being in later life. We’ll also emphasize the diversity of aging experiences by gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and marital status. Throughout the course, we’ll focus on the distinction between within-individual life-course developmental processes (“age effects”) and historical differences among birth cohorts (“cohort effects”).

Required Texts (the Dean’s Office will not accept “Course Packet” or “TBA”)

Textbook: “Aging and the Life Course: An Introduction to Social Gerontology” (5th edition) by Jill Quadagno (available from the campus bookstore)

Additional required readings to be posted on Canvas:

• “Facts and Fiction about an Aging America”
• “The Influence of a Sense of Time on Human Development”
• “Beyond the Hedonic Treadmill”
• “Economic and Social Implications of the Demographic Transition”
• “Emotions, Morbidity, and Mortality”
• “A Life Course Approach to Chronic Disease Epidemiology”
• “Black Death, White Death”
• “Good Grief”
• “Parents, Adult Children, and Immortality”
• “Aging and Family Life: A Decade Review”
• “Ageism in the American Workplace”
• “Redefining Retirement”
• “Policies and Politics for an Aging America”
• “Sick Out of Luck: The Uninsured in America”
• “Golden Years? Poverty among Older Americans”

Grading Policy

Assignment 1  0-20 points      20% of the final grade

Assignment 2  0-15 points      15% of the final grade

Assignment 3  0-15 points      15% of the final grade

Exam 1            0-25 points      25% of the final grade

Exam 2            0-20 points      20% of the final grade

Quiz                0-5 points        5% of the final grade

TOTAL             0-100 points   

This course will introduce students to the sociological study of race and ethnicity. It is designed to help students understand and learn to interrogate the origins and social production of race and racial inequality and how both continue to shape the world that we all live in. Topics will range from the multiplicative origins of the idea of race and racial classification to the breadth and depth of racial inequality and how even racial inequality is stratified further by skin shade to theories and speculations about the future of racial demographic change. This is an upper division course that has been designed to be collaborative and student led. Although I offer a scaffolding for the course and will serve as a guide and moderator, the specific directions of the learning will rely heavily on student input.

This course carries the flag for Cultural Diversity in the United States. The purpose of the Cultural Diversity in the United States Flag is for students to explore in depth the shared practices and beliefs of one or more underrepresented cultural groups subject to persistent marginalization. In addition to learning about these diverse groups in relation to their specific contexts, students should engage in an active process of critical reflection. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one underrepresented cultural group in the U.S.

You must have completed 60 hours of coursework to enroll in this course.

Attendance Policy

I encourage you all to attend class each day. I do not track attendance; however, studies show that class attendance is highly correlated with grades so it is in your best interest to log on every day.

Course Materials

I will provide all of your readings through Canvas. Please pay attention to page numbers! Videos listed on the syllabus are available online through the library website with your UT login. SYLLABUS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITH FAIR NOTICE

Assignments and Grading (all assignments will have a Canvas submission portal; please do not email them to us)

Late Work and Makeup Policy

I understand that sometimes things happen, particularly in the middle of a global pandemic. If you need to makeup an assignment, contact us as soon as possible and we will try to make accommodations.

Grading Scale

Course Description

This course allows students to examine deviant behavior and its control. Topics include theoretical perspectives, changing societal conceptions of deviance, deviant behavior and identity, and the dynamics of control agencies.

By the end of a successfully completed term, students will be able to:

• define deviance and understand the difference between formal and informal deviance;
• explain how ideas about what counts as deviance change over time and how these changes are reflected in society;
• explain and apply the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist approaches to deviance;
• understand the concepts of social control and normative compliance; and
• explain how formal social control depends upon informal social

This course is also designed to teach and/or improve the following skills:

• critical thinking
• professional/academic writing
• comprehension and synthesis of challenging materials

Reading Materials:

• Inderbitzin, Bates, & 2020. Deviance and Social Control: A Sociological Perspective, 3rd Ed. Sage Publishing. ISBN: 9781544395777 (Either the eBook, paperback, or hardback version of the 3rded. is fine)
• Additional readings are available on Canvas under Pages

Grading

Attendance (10% of total grade)

On several occasions throughout the semester I will take attendance by asking a question(s) during class. Completion of the collected question will earn credit. Failure to complete the collected question will earn no credit. Attend the synchronous class regularly and for the whole class period for the best opportunity to earn attendance points. Everyone gets a free day; however, missing additional days are the student’s responsibility and points will be deducted accordingly without discussion or negotiation.

Writing Assignments (30% of total grade)

On several occasions throughout the semester we will be engaging in activities in class to help solidify knowledge. Students who complete and upload the assignment before class on the assigned day will earn points. There are no make-ups, early, or late opportunities to earn these points so make sure to attend class regularly. If you miss an ICA day, either by choice (e.g., dentist appointment, a shift at work) or by circumstance (e.g., joined the class late, illness, missed flight), use it as your free day. Late assignments are accepted for reduced credit. No explanation or permission needed.

Writing Flag – Book Review

For students who are taking Deviance as a Writing Flag, you’ll be reading a sociology book of your choice, and writing a professional book review. Drafts will be due throughout the semester to hone writing and critical thinking skills. The specific instructions will be provided and discussed in class.

Quizzes (20% of total grade)

Quizzes over the assigned content will be administered during the first 5-ish minutes of each class meeting that a new chapter begins. One quiz score will be dropped, the rest will count for credit. If you miss class or arrive late on a quiz day, please use that as your dropped score. Late quizzes are permitted for knowledge assessment only, not for credit.

Exams (40% of total grade)

Exams will take place on Tuesday of the assigned week and will be available from 8a-8pCT. The structure for the exams is Multiple Choice. Exams will be taken on Canvas using Proctorio Lockdown so please make sure to download the extension from the Secure Exam Proctor (Proctorio) link on the Control Panel in Canvas. Late exams will be scheduled ONLY in the case of an emergency and under the following circumstances: 1) you email must me at least 24 hours prior to the exam AND 2) valid documentation must be provided to support your emergency request. Late exams will be essay format. Note that weddings, family vacations, work, and the like are not valid excuses for missing an exam.

Grading Scale

100-90 = A, 89-88 = B+, 87-80 = B, 79-78 = C+, 77-70 = C, 69-68 = D+, 67-60 = D, below 59 = F

Course Description

This course allows students to examine deviant behavior and its control. Topics include theoretical perspectives, changing societal conceptions of deviance, deviant behavior and identity, and the dynamics of control agencies.

By the end of a successfully completed term, students will be able to:

• define deviance and understand the difference between formal and informal deviance;
• explain how ideas about what counts as deviance change over time and how these changes are reflected in society;
• explain and apply the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist approaches to deviance;
• understand the concepts of social control and normative compliance; and
• explain how formal social control depends upon informal social

This course is also designed to teach and/or improve the following skills:

• critical thinking
• professional/academic writing
• comprehension and synthesis of challenging materials

Reading Materials:

• Inderbitzin, Bates, & 2020. Deviance and Social Control: A Sociological Perspective, 3rd Ed. Sage Publishing. ISBN: 9781544395777 (Either the eBook, paperback, or hardback version of the 3rded. is fine)
• Additional readings are available on Canvas under Pages

Grading

Attendance (10% of total grade)

On several occasions throughout the semester I will take attendance by asking a question(s) during class. Completion of the collected question will earn credit. Failure to complete the collected question will earn no credit. Attend the synchronous class regularly and for the whole class period for the best opportunity to earn attendance points. Everyone gets a free day; however, missing additional days are the student’s responsibility and points will be deducted accordingly without discussion or negotiation.

Writing Assignments (30% of total grade)

On several occasions throughout the semester we will be engaging in activities in class to help solidify knowledge. Students who complete and upload the assignment before class on the assigned day will earn points. There are no make-ups, early, or late opportunities to earn these points so make sure to attend class regularly. If you miss an ICA day, either by choice (e.g., dentist appointment, a shift at work) or by circumstance (e.g., joined the class late, illness, missed flight), use it as your free day. Late assignments are accepted for reduced credit. No explanation or permission needed.

Quizzes (20% of total grade)

Quizzes over the assigned content will be administered during the first 5-ish minutes of each class meeting that a new chapter begins. One quiz score will be dropped, the rest will count for credit. If you miss class or arrive late on a quiz day, please use that as your dropped score. Late quizzes are permitted for knowledge assessment only, not for credit.

Exams (40% of total grade)

Exams will take place on Tuesday of the assigned week and will be available from 8a-8pCT. The structure for the exams is Multiple Choice. Exams will be taken on Canvas using Proctorio Lockdown so please make sure to download the extension from the Secure Exam Proctor (Proctorio) link on the Control Panel in Canvas. Late exams will be scheduled ONLY in the case of an emergency and under the following circumstances: 1) you email must me at least 24 hours prior to the exam AND 2) valid documentation must be provided to support your emergency request. Late exams will be essay format. Note that weddings, family vacations, work, and the like are not valid excuses for missing an exam.

Grading Scale

100-90 = A, 89-88 = B+, 87-80 = B, 79-78 = C+, 77-70 = C, 69-68 = D+, 67-60 = D, below 59 = F

Course Objectives

Population studies or demography is an interdisciplinary field, encompassing the study of the size, distribution, and composition of human populations, and the processes of fertility, mortality, and migration through which populations’ change. These processes are closely connected to many of the pressing problems facing contemporary societies. For instance, the funding of health care in developed countries is a major issue because of population aging and declining fertility. Civil unrest in parts of Africa and the Middle East are, in part, a function of persistently high fertility rates. These processes are also important drivers of many contemporary environmental problems. Finally, a grasp of population processes is important for a deeper understanding of the population explosion in urban areas and the higher transmission and impact of AIDS in the developing world.

This course provides an overview of the field of population studies. A sociological approach is emphasized, but economic, geographic, anthropological, and biological perspectives will also be used. Attention will be given to a) the demographic concepts needed to objectively evaluate population issues and b) the substantive content of the population issues. Emphasis will be given to evaluating the evidence regarding debates on population topics.

Reading Materials

Required text:

• Population and Society: An Introduction to Demography, 2nd edition Dudley Poston and Leon Bouvier. Cambridge University Press: New York.
• On-line Readings: There are a number of short reading assignments, marked with an [Readings]. These readings can be found in Readings folder in the Course Document section of the class Canvas site and should be read prior to class period. http://canvas.utexas.edu

To access the class home page, go to this link and log into the Canvas system with your UT EID. You will find a link to this course under the heading “My Courses”. All course material will be posted on this web page, including announcements and grades. In addition, readings can be accessed through this web page.

Course Requirements

You are expected to complete all readings for the day's class before coming to class. Read as actively as possible. Class time will be an opportunity to discuss and further explore the readings, so it is essential that everyone comes prepared to participate. Our class periods will be more productive and enjoyable when we all begin with the same materials.

There will be TWO examinations during the semester, each worth 25% of your final grade. The exams will draw from both readings and class discussions. The exams are not cumulative. Each will include multiple choice and short answer questions. Make-up examinations will not be administered except in extreme circumstances and only if I am notified beforehand. All make-up examinations are 100% essay.

You must also complete THREE written assignments. The assignments—on mortality , fertility, and migration—are designed to familiarize you with demographic data on the web, give you an overview of your country of choice, and help you identify your country’s population angle that most interests you. Each assignment is worth 15% of your final grade.

The final 5% of your grade is based on attendance/class participation. I expect you to show up and engage (i.e., not text, sleep, or read the newspaper) with classmates, the TA, and me in the class.

• Exam 1 - 25%
• Exam 2 - 25%
• Fertility Analysis Assignment - 15%
• Mortality Analysis Assignment - 15%
• Migration Analysis Assignment – 15%
• Attendance - 5%

Regarding all class assignments and examinations, students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. Since such dishonesty harms the individual, other students, and the integrity of the University, all policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced. For more information on University policies, see www.utexas.edu/depts/dps/sjs.

The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. To determine if you qualify, please contact the Dean of Students at 471-6259. If they certify your needs, I will work with you to make appropriate arrangements.

Grading

Grading will reflect each individual's mastery of the material, without comparison to other students on a "curve". It is my hope that you will work with others to optimize your learning experience.

• A (94-100): Excellent grasp of subject matter; provides relevant details and examples; draws clear and interesting connections, exceptionally original, coherent and well‐organized; explains concepts clearly; ideas clearly written/stated, outstanding classroom participation.
• A- (90-93): Very good grasp of subject matter; provides relevant details and examples; draws clear connections; explains concepts clearly; ideas clearly written/stated.
• B+ (87-89): Good grasp of some elements above, others need work. B (83-86) Satisfactory grasp of some elements above.
• B- (80-82): Uneven, spotty grasp of the elements above.
• C+ (77-79): Limited grasp of the above.
• C (73-76): Poor grasp of the above.
• C- (70-72): Very poor grasp of the above.
• D (60-69): Limited evidence of grasp of material, having done readings, attended class, or completed assignments.
• F (0 – 59): Insignificant evidence of having done readings, attended class, or completing assignments

Description:

The course introduces students to some of the main sociological theories and theorists since the late 19th century. The main focus of the class (about two thirds of the semester) will be on three classic authors: Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. In the last part of the semester, we will cover selected sociological theorists from the second half of the twentieth century, including Alfred Schutz, Erving Goffman, Pierre Bourdieu, Bruno Latour and Dorothy Smith. My goal is to introduce you to interesting and imaginative authors that took great pains to answer tough questions about society. Some readings will be more difficult than others, some will be more fun than others, and you will be more interested in some readings over others. But all of them will be worth your effort, as they will provide you with a solid grounding in the core theories that have informed sociological thinking since its beginnings. However, of course not everything about theory is reading; a great deal of your work will be thinking “theoretically”. I think that theories are a bit like play dough. They have a defined shape, but they can also be stretched, reshaped, and combined with other pieces. The final shape will not always satisfy you, but you can always start over. So, our goal will be to understand the theories by “playing” with them and relating them to what we usually call the “real world” (although ‘one’s world’ is not the same as the ‘real world’). Eventually, I hope you will discover how powerful and useful sociological theories can be to help you answer some of the toughest questions about societies.

Readings:

 Most readings will be in a course packet, in addition to two or three books TBA.

Grading (tentative)

Exams (60%)

Paper (25%)

Class participation and forum posts (15%)

Course description: The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to some of the more important theoretical foundations of the discipline of sociology and to current debates in modern social theory. The first part of the course covers select classical theorists. The second part provides a glimpse at important works in social theory on the periphery of the discipline. The third and final part presents central works from two leading social theorists of the late twentieth century. Throughout the course, the main topics of interest are the rise and transformation of modern society, the changing relationship between the individual and social institutions, the role of social structures and agency in social theory, the role of moral and instrumental action in agency theory, the challenge of critical theory to the social sciences, and contemporary attempts at a critical and multidimensional theory of society.

This course challenges students to think theoretically and critically about society and its material and cultural production. The readings for the course are difficult but not inaccessible. This course will be fruitful if, and only if, students make a serious commitment to do the reading and to attend class. If this commitment is made, the social world might never look and feel quite the same—At least this is my goal and I aim to deliver.

Requirements: Course evaluations will be based on three exams. The first exam is worth 40% of your grade. The second exam is worth 30% of your grade. The third exam is worth 30% of your grade.

Required readings: All of the readings and lecture power points can be found on CANVAS. You may want to purchase your own copy of Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (any edition will do) and Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents (any edition will do). We will read these two books in their entirety.

This is the second half of the graduate statistics sequence in the Department of Sociology. The course is designed to accomplish two goals. First, the course aims to broaden students’ knowledge of statistical reasoning, statistical methods, and computer programming using the statistical software Stata. Second, the course will to teach students how to make sociological sense of quantitative data. The course is not introductory. It assumes introductory knowledge of techniques such as tabular analysis, linear regression, and multiple regression. I will however review multiple regression models in the first few weeks of class. By the end of the course, you should have a clear idea of how to make sociological sense out of a body of quantitative data through an understanding of multivariate regression, missing data, categorical dependent variables, and the logic of causal inference.

Description

This is a course in statistical methods for longitudinal data analysis. We will cover two main areas: multilevel models for change models applied to data collected on the same subjects over time (repeated measures/panel data), and methods for modeling event occurrences over time (i.e., event-history analysis). Multilevel models for change (i.e., growth curve models) are appropriate for understanding between-individual heterogeneity in change over time in a continuous dependent variable. We will also consider latent growth models from the structural equation modeling (SEM) perspective, non-linear and generalized linear growth curve models, and latent trajectory models. Event history analysis (i.e., survival analysis, hazard rate models, etc.) is a set of techniques for modeling transitions from one status (or state) to another. We will focus on discrete-time and continuous-time models that make few assumptions regarding time dependence of the hazard, such as the discrete-time logit, the piecewise constant exponential, the Cox proportional hazard model, and flexible parametric models. We will also consider frailty and shared frailty models as well as discrete and continuous-time multilevel hazard models. This is an applied course that consists of applying the techniques learned in class to specific examples. Prior experience with a statistical package is required. We will use two main statistical packages (Stata and R) in this course.

Course Outline and Readings

Readings. The readings are selected from required text. Handouts containing supplementary reading material will be posted to Canvas.

Required Text

J.D. Singer, and J.B. Willett (2003) Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis: Modeling Change and Event Occurrence. New York: Oxford University Press.

Outline

1. Introduction to Longitudinal Data (week 1). Ch. 1.
2. An Introduction to Longitudinal Data on Change (week 2). Ch. 2-3.
3. Multilevel Models for Change (week 3). Ch. 4.
4. Treatments of Time, Time-varying Covariates, and Centering (week 4). Ch. 5
5. Nonlinearity and Discontinuous Change (week 5). Ch. 6.
6. Error Covariance Structures of Multilevel Models (week 6). Ch. 7.
7. Structural Equation Models and Latent Growth Curve Models (week 7). Ch. 8.
8. Events and Event Occurrence Data (week 8). Ch. 9-10.
9. Discrete-Time Hazard Models and Extensions (week 9). Ch. 11-12.
10. Continuous-Time Hazard Models (week 10). Ch. 13.
11. Piecewise Constant Hazard Rate Models (week 11). (Handout)
12. The Cox Proportional Hazards Model (week 12). Ch. 14.
13. Extending the Cox Model (week 13) Ch. 16.
14. Unobserved Heterogeneity and Other Topics (week 14).

Grading Policy

Assignments. There will be 5 assignments covering the course material. The assignments will contain short problems and questions on conceptual issues. These must be turned in on or before the dates indicated. Homework will be based on data sets from the readings and other sources that I will make available to you. NOTE: MS/Ph.D. students in the SDS program are encouraged to complete the extra-credit problems to satisfy the accreditation requirements of this program.

This course is an in-depth analysis of ethnographic research methods in sociology.  The goals of this course are: (1) to examine the theory and epistemology of ethnographic methods, (2) to explore the strengths and limitations of ethnographic research methods; (3) to familiarize students with classic and contemporary ethnographies; and (4) to develop skills to design and conduct ethnographic research.

Description

This seminar offers you the opportunity to learn more about trends in behavior and theories about family change. Specific topics include the rising age at marriage, increases in non-marital cohabitation, divorce trends and differentials, non-marital fertility, families, health, and well-being, social processes contributing to family inequality, intergenerational relationships and work and families. The course also considers analytical approaches for studying families and households.

Required Texts and Readings

Each week we will read and discuss 5-7 journal articles or book sections.

Grading Policy

Class participation (30%).  To help you get the most out of this seminar, you and your peers will lead class discussion. I will provide a reading list, some (hopefully) thought provoking questions, and occasionally a question or comment during class.  Obviously, this means that coming to class prepared (having completed assigned readings and considered how they are interrelated) is essential, even for those not leading the class discussion.  Skimming the articles 1 or 2 hours before class does not constitute preparation.  Weekly attendance is required.  I will provide students feedback on their participation at the midpoint of the semester.

Research Paper (Proposal) (60%). In addition to class participation, you will complete a proposal for research in the broadly defined area of family demography.  Data analysis is not required for this assignment, but a description of how you will empirically investigate your research question is necessary. The hope is that this will serve as a start to a publishable paper and/or the acquisition of outside funding. A one-page single-spaced prospectus is due on March 6. The proposal is due Wednesday May 7. These are hard deadlines.

Proposal Presentation (10%) You will give a 20-30 minute presentation on your research proposal at the end of the semester.

Description

The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the field of demography. We cover the basic processes of the field--mortality, fertility, migration, and population distribution, along with several sub-fields. The two main goals of this course are to 1) introduce students to both classic and current literature in the field of social demography and 2) teach students to critically assess the major theories associated with population change.  By the end of the semester, students should also know general trends in global population development and have an appreciation of the inter-related nature of migration, fertility, mortality, and age structure. Note that, for those of you who plan a career in social demography, this course provides only a starting point.

Readings

Students should keep abreast of developments in the literature by reading the leading journals (Demography, Population and Development Review, Population Studies, Population Bulletin, Population Research and Policy Review, and Demographic Research).

Description

This course is intended to introduce social science graduate students to the main types of demographic and social data, and prepare them to successfully collect their own data. Although it will not be the sole focus, there will be a special focus on collecting data in low and middle income countries.

We will look at surveys and other instruments that are commonly used to collect demographic data. For each, we will look at the indicators that are commonly collected using those instruments. We will consider what constitutes high quality data and what impacts data quality. Data quality can be affected by the research design (e.g. prospective longitudinal data are threatened by attrition), the instrument (e.g. how to phrase questions on a household survey questionnaire) or with the indicator (e.g. whether or not to rely on parental reports of children’s heights). We will also try to build several “skills” needed for demographic data collection—sampling, preventing and analyzing attrition, writing survey questions, designing a form, interviewing, and survey management. The discussion and development of these skills will be woven throughout the course.  To stimulate discussion about the topics covered in the class, we will look at existing data collection projects.

Required Texts

The readings consist of book chapters and articles.  They are too numerous to list here.  They will be made available through the canvas site.

Grading Policy

15% class participation

45% assignments

15% draft of background & survey form due at mid-term

25% final project

The final project is to design a study for which you would have to collect data. Your project will include:

1) 7 - 10 page paper that includes

1. Background about the research questions
2. How you will choose the sample
3. How you will manage the survey/data
4. How you will recruit the surveyors/staff
5. How you will train the surveyors/staff
6. Justification of the question wording, questionnaire formatting & survey/data management decisions

2) A survey form

3) Survey manual that you would give to interviewers

The focus of this training seminar is professional socialization—how to succeed in graduate school and construct a rewarding career path. This seminar includes a range of related readings and in-class discussion.

Description

This course focuses on some of the major concepts and general approaches in contemporary sociological inquiry. It will take the form of class discussion; everybody should come having done the readings and prepared to talk about them. The texts below can be purchased at the University Co-Op bookstore – or elsewhere – on Guadalupe Street. But the library has many of them in electronic form also.

Required Readings

Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.

Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, New York: Vintage Books, 1979.

Erving Goffman, Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, New York: Anchor Books, 1959.

Arlie Hochschild, Commercialization of Intimate Life: Notes from Home and Work, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.

Steven Lukes, Power: A Radical View, Palgrave MacMillan, 2004.

Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.

Charles Tilly, Durable Inequality, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.

Ann Swidler, Talk of Love: How Culture Matters, Chicago: University of Chicago Press,      2003.

The rest of the material is available on canvas under files or can be found on jstor through UT Library.

Grading Policy

The final grade will be determined i) class participation (10 percent); ii) four one-page memos that should be submitted the morning of the class by 10 AM (10 percent each); iii) a short presentation of the readings of the week (10 percent); and iii) a final 10-page paper due the last day of class (40 percent). The memo should discuss issues, problems, or questions arising from the week’s reading – things that you should also bring up in class. The final paper should address an empirical question of your choosing whose treatment will involve addressing perspectives, readings, issues, or concepts from the class. You should meet with me at least twice in the course of the semester, so that we can talk about your paper. Plus and minus grades will be used in the determination for the final course grade. Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 512-471-6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd.

Course Description:  The course is devoted to the study of women’s movements from a comparative perspective. We consider forms of feminism, agendas, modes of organization, the challenges that women face in different cultures and the interaction between local/national movements and the international discourse of women’s rights.  We examine women’s movements within their national and regional contexts with attention to structures of national power, or political fields, which include the state, political parties and social movements. We ask whether women’s movements have addressed a core set of issues and how the issues have varied with time and place. We also consider transnational or global movements and linkages between women’s movements and other movements such as nationalism.

In the course of discussing substantive issues addressed in each reading, we consider the methodology used by different authors and compare the advantages and limitations of comparative-historical research, surveys, interviews, participant observation, and other methods in the sociology of women’s movements. Students can choose to write a paper or a research proposal as a step towards their future research. A research proposal should specify not only the question to be investigated but also the research method. Students may choose to focus their own work in the seminar on a given country or on intra-region and international comparisons.

Course Requirements:  The course meets once a week and attendance is required. The course grade is based upon the following:  Position Papers/Critiques of Readings 20%, a take home essay 40 % and a Research Proposal 40%.

Required Texts:

Books:

• Basu, Amrita, Women’s Movements in the Global Era: The Power of Local Feminisms. 2^nd Westview Press. 2017. Electronic version at UT.
• Cameron, Deborah. Feminism: A brief Introduction to the Ideas, Debates and Politics of the Movement. Chicago Univ Press, 2019.
• Ferree, Myra Marx, Varieties of Feminism: German Gender Politics in Global Perspective.  Stanford University Press, 2012.  Electronic version at UT.
• Frazer, Nancy, 2020. Fortunes of Feminism: From State Managed Capitalism to Neo-Liberal Crisis.
• Tripp, Aili Mari, Seeking Legitimacy: Why Arab Autocracies Adopt Women’s Rights. Cambridge University Press, 2019. Electronic version at UT.

Articles:

• Herr, Ranjoo Seodu, “Reclaiming Third World Feminism: or Why Transnational Feminism Needs Third World Feminisms.” Meridians, Vol 12, No. 1, 2014: 1-30.
• Kandiyoti, Deniz. “Bargaining with Patriarchy,” Gender and Society. Vol 2, No. 3, 1988: 274-290.
• Ray, R. and A.C. Korteweg, “Women’s Movements in the Third World: Identity, Mobilization, and Autonomy,” Annual Review of Sociology, 1999, 25: 47-71.
• Charrad, Mounira M. “Gender in the Middle East: Islam, States, Agency. ” Annual Review of Sociology. Vol 37, 2011: 417-37.
• Nussbaum, Martha. “Women’s Progress and Women’s Human Rights.” Human Rights Quarterly3 (2016): 589–622.
• Charrad, Mounira M. “Women Ally with the Devil” Ch. 3 in States and Women’s Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, UC Press, 2001.Electronic version at UT.
• Charrad, Mounira M. & Rita Stephan, 2020. “The Power of Presence: Professional Women Leaders and Family Law Reform in Morocco.” Mounira M. Charrad & Rita Stephan. Social Politics.

Recommended:

• Delap, Lucy. 2020. Feminisms: A Global History. University of Chicago Press.
• Paxton, Pamela and Melanie M. Hughes, Women, Politics and Power: A Global Perspective, Pine Forge, 2007.
• Ferree, Myra Marx and Aila Mari Tripp, Global Feminism: Transnational Women’s Activism, Organizing, and Human Rights New York U Press, 2006.

Journals to Consult

AJS, ASR, Theory and Society, Sociological Forum, Sociological Theory, Social Politics, Gender and Society, Women’s Studies International Forum, Signs.

Note:  Scholars in the field will be invited as our guest lecturers to tell us about their research. The dates for their visit to the seminar are to be announced. The syllabus will be revised to reflect their availability and other changes we make in the course of the semester. Please watch for updates on Canvas.

Description

This interdisciplinary graduate seminar examines the growing inequality in the U.S. and around the world. We start with a survey on the recent trends of economic inequality and proceed to an extensive investigation on the various developments that generate these outcomes. We conclude the seminar with potential ways to theorize inequality and future research directions.

Required Texts and Readings

Most reading materials are available on the web (e.g. JSTOR). Two books are assigned to this seminar:

• Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald, and Dustin Avent-Holt. Relational inequalities: An organizational approach. Oxford University Press, USA, 2019.
• Lin, Ken-Hou, and Megan Tobias Neely. Divested: Inequality in the Age of Finance. Oxford University Press, USA, 2020

The required readings may be adjusted.

Grading Policy

SOC 397D • Publishing Papers in Sociology (unique #46380)

Special Emphasis:

JHSB Graduate Student Editorial Board

Publishing & reviewing on sociology of health and illness

Professor Debra Umberson

Wednesdays 12-2:30, Main Building 1703
Office hours: Wednesdays 2:30-3:30

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed for graduate students with an interest in publishing and reviewing research in the area of sociology of health and illness. This course addresses: (1) how to write and publish an article in an academic journal, (2) the review process and instruction on how to review articles for scholarly journals, and (3) special topics related to the editorial process.

Goals:

1. Deepen substantive expertise with immersion in the most recent cutting edge research in medical sociology.
2. Engage in critical and constructive discussion of the field of medical sociology.
3. Develop skills and knowledge to facilitate the successful submission of a research article for editorial review and publication. Learn what reviewers are looking for in a research article.
4. Develop skills that qualify you to evaluate and review articles for scholarly journals.  
5. Learn about the editorial process involved in publishing research articles in Journal of Health & Social Behavior (JHSB).
6. Help to shape and improve JHSB as a print and online mechanism for disseminating cutting edge research on the sociology of health.

This course may be taken for a grade, pass/fail, or by audit. Please contact the instructor if you would like to have additional information: umberson@prc.utexas.edu

MISSION STATEMENT OF JHSB

The Journal of Health and Social Behavior is a medical sociology journal that publishes empirical and theoretical articles that apply sociological concepts and methods to the understanding of health and illness and the organization of medicine and health care. Its editorial policy favors manuscripts that are grounded in important theoretical issues in medical sociology or the sociology of mental health and that advance our theoretical understanding of the processes by which social factors and human health are interrelated.

JHSB GRAD STUDENT EDITORIAL BOARD

Individual Editorial Assignments

• Web/Pod Editor
• Podcast Editor
• Graphics Editor
• Policy Brief Editor
• Social Media Editor
• Abstracts Editor
• Teaching Contents Editor
• Copy Editor
• Editor In Chief

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Final grades will be based on:

• Weekly participation and journal development: 25%
• Editorial reviews: 25%
• Research paper: 50%

Weekly participation and journal development:

• Journal development. Share responsibility for one of JHSB’s major online or print areas, such as development of policy briefs, abstracting, graphics and images, teaching resources, web development, media coverage, development of social media, strategizing for reduced review time and increasing journal visibility and impact. 
• Participate in weekly editorial board meetings. Participate in editorial discussions and observe decision-making and revision processes.

Editorial reviews:

• Prepare reviews of article submissions to supplement those of experts in the field. Students should expect to review 4 to 5 articles over the course the semester (approximately one article every two to three weeks).

Prepare a research paper for editorial review:

• Prepare your own paper for editorial review. This can be a new paper or a paper that has already been reviewed by a journal. The goal is to revise your paper, submit it for publication, and to have your article accepted for publication. The course is designed to demystify the review process and convey the ingredients for success in publishing your work. You will be benefit from editorial review (by your classmates) and concrete suggestions for revising your paper.

FRIENDLY REMINDERS

• Deadlines. The course functions as both an academic seminar and as a working editorial board. We will often be working under tight deadline pressure and we will often disagree about the appropriate course of action.
• Confidentiality. What happens in seminar, stays in seminar -- students must keep authors’ names, reviewers’ names and other identifying information strictly confidential.
• Grading. You will be evaluated on the basis of your overall contributions to the seminar and to JHSB. You may take the course on a pass/fail or letter-grade basis.
• Attendance. You are expected to attend each weekly meeting. 

SOC 397D • Publishing Papers in Sociology (unique #46380)

Special Emphasis:

JHSB Graduate Student Editorial Board

Publishing & reviewing on sociology of health and illness

Professor Debra Umberson

Wednesdays 12-2:30, Main Building 1703
Office hours: Wednesdays 2:30-3:30

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed for graduate students with an interest in publishing and reviewing research in the area of sociology of health and illness. This course addresses: (1) how to write and publish an article in an academic journal, (2) the review process and instruction on how to review articles for scholarly journals, and (3) special topics related to the editorial process.

Goals:

1. Deepen substantive expertise with immersion in the most recent cutting edge research in medical sociology.
2. Engage in critical and constructive discussion of the field of medical sociology.
3. Develop skills and knowledge to facilitate the successful submission of a research article for editorial review and publication. Learn what reviewers are looking for in a research article.
4. Develop skills that qualify you to evaluate and review articles for scholarly journals.  
5. Learn about the editorial process involved in publishing research articles in Journal of Health & Social Behavior (JHSB).
6. Help to shape and improve JHSB as a print and online mechanism for disseminating cutting edge research on the sociology of health.

This course may be taken for a grade, pass/fail, or by audit. Please contact the instructor if you would like to have additional information: umberson@prc.utexas.edu

MISSION STATEMENT OF JHSB

The Journal of Health and Social Behavior is a medical sociology journal that publishes empirical and theoretical articles that apply sociological concepts and methods to the understanding of health and illness and the organization of medicine and health care. Its editorial policy favors manuscripts that are grounded in important theoretical issues in medical sociology or the sociology of mental health and that advance our theoretical understanding of the processes by which social factors and human health are interrelated.

JHSB GRAD STUDENT EDITORIAL BOARD

Individual Editorial Assignments

• Web/Pod Editor
• Podcast Editor
• Graphics Editor
• Policy Brief Editor
• Social Media Editor
• Abstracts Editor
• Teaching Contents Editor
• Copy Editor
• Editor In Chief

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Final grades will be based on:

• Weekly participation and journal development: 25%
• Editorial reviews: 25%
• Research paper: 50%

Weekly participation and journal development:

• Journal development. Share responsibility for one of JHSB’s major online or print areas, such as development of policy briefs, abstracting, graphics and images, teaching resources, web development, media coverage, development of social media, strategizing for reduced review time and increasing journal visibility and impact. 
• Participate in weekly editorial board meetings. Participate in editorial discussions and observe decision-making and revision processes.

Editorial reviews:

• Prepare reviews of article submissions to supplement those of experts in the field. Students should expect to review 4 to 5 articles over the course the semester (approximately one article every two to three weeks).

Prepare a research paper for editorial review:

• Prepare your own paper for editorial review. This can be a new paper or a paper that has already been reviewed by a journal. The goal is to revise your paper, submit it for publication, and to have your article accepted for publication. The course is designed to demystify the review process and convey the ingredients for success in publishing your work. You will be benefit from editorial review (by your classmates) and concrete suggestions for revising your paper.

FRIENDLY REMINDERS

• Deadlines. The course functions as both an academic seminar and as a working editorial board. We will often be working under tight deadline pressure and we will often disagree about the appropriate course of action.
• Confidentiality. What happens in seminar, stays in seminar -- students must keep authors’ names, reviewers’ names and other identifying information strictly confidential.
• Grading. You will be evaluated on the basis of your overall contributions to the seminar and to JHSB. You may take the course on a pass/fail or letter-grade basis.
• Attendance. You are expected to attend each weekly meeting. 

This seminar was created after much feedback from previous Honors students and faculty supervisors. The idea is to provide structure, instruction and assistance throughout your double semester thesis project, as well as to enable you to interact and support one another.  Seminar participation should not increase your overall workload, but it will help you become more efficient in your research and writing.

Goals for the seminar:

• Teaching research skills relevant to writing an Honors Thesis
• Providing resources, information, and assistance to Honors students
• Creating a venue for discussion of Honors-related topics and concerns
• Facilitating regular communication between students, advisors, and faculty
• Creating a sense of community among Sociology Honors students

Required Texts (the Dean’s Office will not accept “Course Packet” or “TBA”)

Peter Elbow, Vernacular Eloquence: What Speech Can Bring to Writing

Eviatar Zerubavel, The Clockwork Muse

Grading Policy

Requirements are active class participation and completion of writing projects.

I do not use the +/- grading system. Grades are A, B, C, D, or F.