DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HISTORY

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS FOR

FALL SEMESTER 2002

Anthropology

Economics

History

Political Science

Sociology

ANTHROPOLOGY

The study of the culture and social institutions of human societies with special emphasis upon the many small-scale societies that make up the majority of the people of the world. Attention is given to marriage and family life, patterns of equality and inequality, collective violence and war, religion, and the impact of globalization upon the diversity of the world's peoples.

An exploration of terrorism that will include creation of identity and perceptions of "the other"; the process of globalization and its impact; Theories of political violence and various "weapons of the weak". Terrorism will be viewed as cultural conflict and examined via anthropological concepts and historical studies. Violence in the Middle East will be studied to understand terrorism as a political strategy.

ECONOMICS

Introductory survey of modern economics. The course offers a basic working vocabulary in economics and relies on a minimal amount of mathematical expression for students with no previous exposure to the field. Among the central concepts broached are: markets and regulation, trade and tariffs, fiscal and monetary policy, distribution and redistribution.

Problems of consumer behavior and demand, the allocation of resources of production, factor pricing and market conduct under pure competition, imperfect competition, oligopoly and monopoly.

A comprehensive introduction to macroeconomics. The concept of national income analysis, the theory of determination of income and employment, problems of fiscal and monetary policy and aspects of international trade activity.

Survey of the history of economic thinking from mercantilism to J.M. Keynes and beyond

The theory of international trade: comparative advantages and factor endowment, the gains from trade, economic integration, evolution and analysis of commercial policy of the United States,

Capitalist and planned economics, comparison of alternative systems in terms of economic goals, theories of economic organization and development processes.

HISTORY

Survey of the various cultures of the ancient world form the beginning of civilization in the Near East, India, China, Africa and Central America to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West.

A survey of the development of the modern world from the end of the Middle Ages to the end of the American Revolution.

This course seeks to equip history majors with the proper tools to "do" history and to acquaint them with the various approaches and methods that historians take in writing history. Hence, it is reading and writing intensive. The subject matter of the course this semester is Race and Sex-- the interplay between race and sex in American history and the ways in which race, gender, and sexuality converge. Among the topics we will explore are: the origins of racial stereotypes, anti-miscegenation laws, sex across the color line, coerced sex, and lynching.

The history of the American colonies from 1450 to the Revolutionary War and the subsequent problems of creating an American union.

The course examines the social, cultural, religious and political contexts of women's experiences and the construction of gender systems in Europe, from about 30,000 BCE to the 16th century CE.

Cultural, social and political developments in the role of women from colonial times through the present day, including comparisons based on gender, race, region, class, education and era.

Survey of Chinese and Japanese cultural history, including the impacts of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, culminating in an examination of 20th century China and Japan.

A detailed consideration of the outbreak and course of the Second World War, wartime diplomacy and the onset of the Cold War after 1945. Discussion of developments in Europe and Asia.

A history of Russia from Peter the Great to Putin. (Cross listed with POLS 3321.31)

A study of the development of Britain and the Empire-Commonwealth since 1688.

An exploration of the beliefs, understandings of, and conflicts over the supernatural from Antiquity through the Early Modern Witch Craze

Introduction to modern Japanese culture and history begins with Tokugawa Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration. Japanese culture is emphasized as the setting for important political developments. Visual arts are used in class as a key to understanding Japanese ability to adapt and synthesize knowledge from abroad.

Available to well-motivated students, this interdisciplinary course takes up an important societal or global question, requires broad reading and encourages active participation in discussion and debate. The topic and professor will change each time the course is offered. (Cross listed with POLS 4500 & SOCI 4500)

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Structure and function of American national government; roles of interest groups and political parties, voting behavior, powers of president, Congress, bureaucracy and federal judiciary.

Analysis and comparison of contemporary political institutions and processes of selected countries.

Theories and problems of international politics and foreign policy.

Analysis of the major works of significant political theorists from Plato to the modern world, with emphasis on relevance to contemporary political problems. (Cross listed with PHIL 2205.31)

Methods of research: research design, development of testing instruments and sample collection and analysis of data and preparation of reports. (Cross listed with SOCI 2230)

Organization, political leadership and procedures of each house of Congress; the committee system; proposed congressional reforms.

Structure of criminal justice system; roles of police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges; proposed reforms.

Structure of the federal judiciary; selection of judges; influences on judicial decisions; impact of and compliance with decisions.

Analysis of Supreme Court decisions concerning speech, press, religion, rights of women, racial discrimination and affirmative action.

Russian Political institutions and domestic policies. The role of the Communist Party, relationship between theory and practice in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. (Cross listed with HIST 3345)

Analysis of three types of low-intensity, or sub-conventional warfare: terrorism and the coup d'etat; the relation between these types of violence and the political ends they are meant to obtain; the responses of various regimes to counter these forms of violence.

Available to well-motivated students, this interdisciplinary course takes up an important societal or global question, requires broad reading and encourages active participation in discussion and debate. The topic and professor will change each time the course is offered. (Cross listed with HIST 4500 & SOCI 4500)

SOCIOLOGY

An introduction to sociology that explores: society and culture, groups and organizations, socialization, deviance, social stratification, race and ethnicity, the family and education.

An introduction to the methods of social research: research design, development of testing instruments and sample collection and analysis of data and preparation of reports. (Prerequisite: SOCI 1201 Introduction to Sociology.) (Cross listed with POLS 2250)

Examines the historical and sociological roots of critical social problems such as poverty, racism, sexism, and crime.

A critical study of the classical theories of society as exemplified in the work of sociologists such as Marx, Durkheim, Weber and Simmel. The course examines the historical development of sociology as a specific field of inquiry.

The social and cultural aspects of drug use in American society. Emphasis on the causes and consequences of past and present control strategies.

Examines the social causes and consequences of individual and group violence: murder, sexual violence, riots, and paramilitary aggression.

An analysis of differentiation and stratification on the basis of gender. How definitions of femininity and masculinity are socially created, the relation between sexuality and gender. How gender stratification organizes culture, institutions and social control.

The social functions of religion, institutions and ideologies; the impact of religious problems associated with secularization of religion; economic and political dimensions of religious change and new religious movements.

The study of how organizations affect people, what they look like, what current thinking is that they should look like, and how they can be changed to get there. The course examines the strengths and weaknesses of existing organizational theories, models and concepts and analyzes organizations in the context of the fundamental and persistent tensions that characterize all organizational efforts.

Available to well-motivated students, this interdisciplinary course takes up an important societal or global question, requires broad reading and encourages active participation in discussion and debate. The topic and professor will change each time the course is offered. (Cross listed with HIST 4500 & POLS 4500)

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