Global Social Theory

This course introduces students to key questions and concepts in the social sciences. Over the semester, students engage with the wide variety of texts—by authors from around the world—that together comprise global social theory. The focus is on learning how to read these texts carefully with an eye toward using them to analyze the contemporary world. In particular, the class asks students to explore the following questions: What does it mean to understand humans as thoroughly social, cultural, and historical creatures? How do humans create, maintain, and transform their social worlds? How are forms of social difference (e.g. race, class, ethnicity, language, citizenship, gender, sexuality, etc.) produced and how do they shape our experiences? In what sense is the contemporary world shaped by particular pasts? What historical transformations lie on the horizon? 3 hr./wk.; 3 cr.