Social and Behavioral Sciences Concentration

This course is an introduction to the sub-discipline of sociocultural anthropology, which is the study of contemporary human cultures and societies. The course introduces the basic terminology and theoretical perspectives anthropologists use to understand the ways that humans organize themselves and the cultural logic through which they think about the world and their social relations. Course material covers a wide variety of cultural contexts, both familiar and unfamiliar, to help students understand the cultural logic of the beliefs and social practices of others and critically examine the cultural logics and assumptions of their own culture.

This course is an introduction to how the field of Medical Anthropology uses theoretical models, ethnographic research techniques, and writing from Cultural Anthropology to investigate the way that ideas about illness and things related to "medicine," "medical" procedures, and medical practitioners vary cross-culturally and intersect with relations of power both within societies and in cross-cultural encounters. Medical Anthropology is a relatively new field within Anthropology that can draw on Cultural, Biological, or Applied Anthropology. The basic premise of Medical Anthropology is that illness and suffering take place within complex social, cultural, and environmental systems that must be understood holistically, taking into consideration peoples' ideas about the body, mental states, economic relations, kinship, gender, sexuality, the supernatural, and other aspects of culture. This course will focus on the areas of Medical Anthropology that mainly consider how cultural ideas shape the way that people experience illness and "medicine" differently, their relations to different types of practitioners (doctors, shamans, others), ways that illnesses are categorized according to "folk" understandings, how illness can emanate from and express other social problems, and how even "biomedicine" contains within it certain cultural assumptions and ritual practices that stem from "western" culture and are therefore not culturally-neutral. It also explores other "niedical" processes that are not necessarily about illness such as reproductive technology, but that do involve ideas about the body, marriage, kinship, personhood, and so forth.

In this course we examine “education” by looking beyond the typical setting of the school. Instead, we will consider education in the context of learning and culture. As scholars in history and anthropology have shown during recent decades, learning can be found in classrooms, families, churches, and public places. Learning can be thought of broadly as the process by which people acquire knowledge, attitudes, values, and skills. We will study the past as a deeply constitutive force in the present. Historians call this approach cultural history, anthropologists call it historical ethnography. Specific topics will include prominent and influential theories of pedagogy and learning, as well as the historical and cultural dynamics of race and ethnicity in learning. Throughout the course, we will keep the long history of education reform in mind – including contemporary initiatives. The course is modeled as an intensive reading and writing seminar in which students will be expected to complete an original research paper testing or applying principles discussed in class.

The Americas were populated for millennia before European colonization transformed the hemisphere and the lives of its first inhabitants. Descendants of these first inhabitants live in many parts of North America – including Orange County, California. This seminar explores the histories and cultures of select Native American peoples from Canada, Mexico, and the United States during selected eras, from before colonization and into the contemporary period. Through reading current and classic scholarship on Native Americans, along with writing a research essay on a topic of the students’ choosing, students will acquire an understanding of the historical and cultural processes that have defined Native American lives. 

This course engages students in a critical examination of contemporary urban experiences with a focus on peoples living in the margins of large, dense urban communities, both inside and outside of North America. The course will address questions surrounding how the articulation of global and local markets affects the expression of traditional and modern identities, how underground or informal economies shape the creation of urban street life, and how children and adults actively pursue meaningful family life in contexts of extreme poverty. Readings will focus on cities in the Pacific basin.

The objectives of this course are to introduce students to the theories and empirical research currently addressing the neuronal basis of human behavior. This combination lecture/seminar-based course, including bioinformatics research projects, will provide introductions to the basic concepts of brain neuroanatomy and biochemistry, molecular neurogenetics, evolutionary psychology, and human genomics, with readings and discussions from selected books, reviews and research articles. Emphasis will be placed on how disruptions of typical brain function, resulting in disorders such as autism, Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, and depression, can reveal how the brain mediates our most fundamental experiences.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

This course examines the modern theories of the market system, demand and production, and the interactions between consumers and firms under various market conditions. Students learn how market forces determine prices, resource allocation, and income distribution. Students are also introduced to public policy evaluation and welfare economics.

This course introduces the factors that determine national income, employment, unemployment, inflation, and economic growth. The course also examines the tools of monetary and fiscal policy available to policy makers and the effects of policy on the economy.

In this course, students are introduced to the analysis of financial assets and institutions. The course emphasizes modern asset pricing theory and the role of financial intermediaries, and their regulation in the financial system. Topics covered include net present value calculations, asset pricing theories, financial derivatives, the efficient market theory, the term structure of interest rates, and banking.

This course is an introduction to the design and implementation of public finance in high-income countries as well as in developing economies. Topics include the role and size of the public sector, rationale for public sector interventions (such as market failure and distributional concerns), issues of tax compliance and enforcement, tax reform, public expenditure policy (such as social protection programs), fiscal balance and deficit financing, fiscal decentralization and intergovernmental fiscal relations. Students will apply these theories in order to critically evaluate current policy issues in areas of education, health care, environment, and welfare reform.

This upper division course combines theory and policy application in studying environmental issues from an economist’s perspective. Major topics include theoretical and applied modeling of economy-environment relations, causes and consequences of market failure affecting environmental services, design and evaluation of environmental policy instruments, and the political economy of environmental policy. Students will learn to identify the economic components of an environmental issue, analyze the effects of human economic activity on the environment, and to present and discuss the pros and cons of various environmental policies.

This course provides a survey of economic principles within both microeconomics and macroeconomics. It introduces students to the basic economic concepts that are fundamental to understanding economic observations in daily life, such as supply, demand, price, market equilibrium, national income, unemployment, inflation, economic growth, international trade, and so on. Through discussions of contemporary economic issues and policies, students will learn how households and firms make decisions under certain economic systems, how individual markets and the national and international economy operate, and how government policies affect economic outcomes.

The course is an historical and cross-cultural examination of women's issues.  The approach is multidisciplinary and draws on the humanities, social sciences, life/physical sciences, and other fields of study. The course is based on research that views women from their own perspectives rather than from the points of view of what men have traditionally studied, claimed, or written about women.  The course examines historical and intellectual roots in worldwide movements for social change and equality.   The course also offers a holistic approach to the study of fundamental issues of sex and gender how they have been reflected in culture and history, how they shape social, political, economic and institutional organization as well as personal experience and perception, and how they interact with issues of race, ethnicity, and class.

This course provides a survey of China’s economic development under the centrally planned socialist system since 1949, and the on-going economic reform since 1978. China’s role in regional economic growth and its economic relationship with the world economy are also be addressed.

This course offers students the opportunity to study the work and processes of the United Nations system. The goal of this course is to build on previous knowledge in pursuing a more advanced understanding of what, how and why the United Nations system does what it does. Special focus is given to the work of the United Nations in the areas of: International Peace and Security, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and Development. 

What is democracy? Why is democracy desirable? Is ti desirable? How has democracy evolved over time? What causes countries to democratize -- does democracy come from within a country or from global influences? How do countries transition to democracy? Is democracy better suited to some peoples than others? How does democracy vary across world regions? Who benefits from it, and who loses? What are the alternatives?

This course addresses these and other questions in a comparative context. Students are expected to leave the course with a critical, nuanced view of democracy as well as knowledge of both democratic and non-democratic countries. We will keep tabs on elections from around the world as we examine key theories related to democracy. Above all, I want students to understand more fully why we have democracy and why people fight to create it, but also to recognize its shortcomings. Democracy is not the only thing that matters in politics, but it matters a great deal. I hope this course encourages you to value democracy and consider how to contribute to its strength in wherever you find yourself.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

This course is about the way that Latin American immigration to the US, and often their return back to Latin America, affects the communities, families, racial identities, and even sex lives of both immigrants and the people they leave behind. The course will draw on readings primarily from Anthropologists and Sociologists who see immigration, not as a linear process of arrival and eventual integration, but as a transnational process of the movement of people, money, culture, and politics back and forth across borders in complex ways that affect both the US and Latin America. Thus, while the course will cover the overall historical trends of Latino immigration to the US, changing demographics, the effects of US immigration laws on immigrants and their families, and the overall economic and political trends in Latin America that explain why people migrate, the real focus of the course is on the effects of these overall trends on communities and families in both the US and Latin America as illustrated through ethnographically rich case studies based on participant observation with migrants, return migrants, and members of the sending communities.

This course investigates the economic performance and development of the economies of Pacific Asia; covering Japan, Asian NIEs (Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore), ASEAN-4 (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines), China and Vietnam. Through this class, students will gain factual knowledge on the economic characteristics of and policies on these economies’ structural change, economic growth, and development; and the economic relationship among these economies as well as between this region and the world economy in the era of globalization. The emphasis of this course is on the application of proper economic analytical tools to examine the effectiveness of various development strategies and policies on each economy’s development process. The applicability of the development experiences of these economies to other developing countries will also be briefly discussed.

How do we create a vibrant social-economy that gives opportunity to all, especially in a region where sustained growth and equality have long been elusive goals? In the last three decades, millions of Latin Americans have risen out of dire poverty, much of the region overthrew military dictatorships, and Latin American commodities have expanded into vast new markets (especially Chinese). Nevertheless, the promises of ending poverty, sustained growth, and governments that work for the best interest of the majority of Latin Americans have been maddeningly elusive. Arguments for revolution or authoritarianism are again on the rise and Latin America may be a bellwether for the world. For example, the region's policymakers have been among the first to experiment with the possible "limits" or extremes of economic policy, such as communism and central planning, or neoliberalism and unregulated markets. In addition, there is no other region in the world that can compare to Latin America's mix of 1) enormous natural resources relative to small population; 2) inequality in multiracial societies; and 3) high levels of violence without formal warfare. The elite of Latin America, like almost everywhere, have no intention of creating egalitarian societies if it means a reduction in their own resources. Therefore, across these diverse societies, "development" is utopian in its ultimate imagined manifestations. For this reason, cultural studies and anthropology are not excluded, but students will mostly read texts by economists and political scientists.

Central America is often known as a region of rich cultural heritage but also a legacy of vast inequalities and forms of violent repression and rebellion. The purpose of this course is to understand the cultural, political, and economic factors that have led to this particular situation. We begin by looking at the process of conquest and colonization in shaping new societies and social structures, then explore the socio-economic processes that set the stage for many of the conflicts and problems that Central America faces today, and finally we explore the current situation in Central America as it relates to changing ideas about gender and the role of women, racism and race mixing, immigration and exile, and forms of violence caused by over 30 years of civil war and economic upheaval. 

This course introduces students to the basic histories, social structures, cultures, and current issues facing indigenous peoples in Central and South America. It explores how indigenous communities and identities have been formed, from the conquest and through today, examining a range of processes and events, such as colonialism, integration into the global economy, racism and racial hierarchies, civil wars, indigenous social movements, and migration and exile. It also examines the responses of indigenous peoples to these processes and events, looking specifically at topics such as retreat, revolution, and political activism. The goal of the course is to understand indigenous peoples as products of complex processes through which communities, identities and inequalities are produced.  

This course uses ethnographic case studies to understand how sex, gender, and sexuality are socially constructed in different societies around the world and how these social constructions generate different identities, social categories, and relations of power. The course uses analytical tools of Anthropology to understand the cultural logic behind practices and beliefs that are informed by culturally specific sex/gender/sexuality systems; how those cultural logics and practices are related to relations of power between individuals; how they become embedded in institutions of the state that affect the way rights are distributed and often violated; and what happens when they come into contact through various types of transnational movements of people and ideas. The course will also expose students to debates about how we use these understandings of the cultural logics of gendered practices and ideologies in order to address specific examples of gender/sexuality discrimination, gender violence, and international human rights discourse and policies.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

The study of American trade politics occupies a special place in the history of political science and policy studies. It has contributed to new insights into the role of economic groups in American politics, the creative and often independent role of state and public officials in the national policy process and the impact of international structures and processes on domestic politics and policymaking. This course examines the formation of American trade policy since World War II, when the United States assumed the mantle of global leadership and embarked on a world historic project designed to create an open international trading system. Organized around an exploration of state-society relationships at the intersection of international and domestic economies, the course seeks to answer an interrelated set of questions: who defines America’s national trade interest; under what conditions do they define it; and where does their power come from?

This course introduces students to one of the major issues of the world economy: the process of economic development. It provides an understanding of the causes and consequences of underdevelopment and poverty in developing economies and attempts to explore possible means to overcome obstacles to development. Topics covered include: economic growth, sources of growth (capital formation, population and human capital, technology), economic structural change, income distribution, institutional factors, development strategies, government policies, international trade, foreign aid, foreign investment, and debt crisis. 

This course provides an introduction to international economic concepts and contemporary issues related to international trade and international finance. It illustrates the philosophical foundations and historical context of various theories of trade and finance and their applications to trade policies and trade relations. Other areas examined include balance of payment, determination of exchange rate, foreign investment, multinational enterprises, financial market internationalization, international economic policies, and international economic organizations. Emphasis is on the critical evaluation of and debates on current trade policies and other international economic issues, such as North-South trade relations, free trade vs. protectionism, and international resources movement.

What is the state?  How is it organized?  How do different countries select leaders, where is power located, who rules, and who is excluded?  Under what conditions do people obey the state, resist it, or transform it?  Which societal configurations challenge state control?  How do states gain the legitimacy to rule?

INTS/POLI 365, State - Society Relations in Comparative Context, provides students with a conceptual understanding of the composition of states in diverse societal contexts.  The course begins with a discussion of regimes, leading to the first assignment, in which students assess the regime of a country of their choice.  The second part of the course is concerned with defining the state and understanding its institutions.  This will motivate the second assignment, in which students will design what they feel to be an ideal institutional configuration for their country.  The third part of the course pushes back, looking at societies and how they undermine your designs.  Your third paper will consider resistance from various societal forces.  You will then assemble and revise your three papers to form a broader paper on state / society relations.

Students will develop a heightened understanding of democratic and non-democratic regimes, how electoral systems turn votes into seats, the tradeoffs in different systems, and how these systems interact with a myriad of societal forces that may resist the state (sometimes for good reason).

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

This course engages students in an examination of how indigenous peoples of Oceania have been deeply engaged in global cultural, political, and economic processes since the time of their earliest encounters with representatives of the West. This class incorporates classic and contemporary studies from Anthropology and Pacific History together with the voices and views from islander writers and artists. Social science perspectives are helpful for understanding natural and cultural environments, cultural history and change, language issues, and current socioeconomic and educational issues facing the Islands today. Writers and artists can show how islanders are active in shaping their views of themselves, and the larger political-economic processes in which they participate. By combining these two points of view, the class will examine the tensions between cultural traditions and globalization and how we, as outsiders and as islanders, come to know and empathize with the peoples of Oceania.

This course examines anthropological and sociological perspectives of race and ethnicity. Drawing on studies from many different parts of the world, the course explores the nature of ethnic identity, the cultural construction and social meaning of race, the dynamics of race relations and ethnic stratification, and current theories of ethnic conflict and minority rights. The aim of this course is to develop the theoretical tools for comparing the politics of identity and cultural and racial difference cross-culturally and to be able to think critically about our own common sense understandings of race and ethnic relations.

The goal of this class is to understand the particular forms of violence that exist in Latin America, the causes of these forms of violence, and how they are connected to particular local and national histories, cultural ideologies, and social structures. It is also the goal of this class to understand the meaning of violence: that is, how do people in Latin America make sense of the violence around them? How do they justify and/or condemn it? How is violence sometimes used as a way to make meaning, to protest inequality and impunity, and to assert subjectivity? The course will be based primarily on ethnographic case studies of different forms of violence (structural, institutional, state-sponsored, intra-familial, vigilante, armed resistance, etc.) that look at its socio-economic-political context but also its cultural meaning to the perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. The rationale of the course is that it is by understanding the meaning of violence, the context within which it is carried out, and its cultural logic, that we are best equipped to begin to address it. 

In PUBLIC POLICY, students will learn what public policy is and who makes it. The course focuses upon the policy process, structure, and context of policy-making. Special attention is paid to the institutional and non-institutional actors who make policy and the rules, strategies, culture, and resources that affect the making of policy. The course culminates in the writing of a policy brief that affects problems in the local area. The policy brief allows the students to understand the practical side of public policy-making.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

For the first time in history, more people live in cities than in rural areas. Cities are the epicenter of many great things, such as entertainment, the arts, parks and recreation, museums, medical care, and employment. They also have more than their fair share of problems, such as crime, poverty, racism, and homelessness. This course examines theories about who governs cities and why and how cities are governed. The course focuses upon the policies that address urban problems. It pays special attention to political institutions, machine politics, informal actors who influence politics, the role of the national and state governments in city politics, and the politics of racial and ethnic minorities in cities. Power, race, and participation are three dominant themes that run throughout this class. Through this course, students will also better understand how culture, demographics, and politics affect California cities. They will devise solutions to major problems in one of the state’s urban areas. Even though this course focuses upon American cities, the lessons learned in it allow students to understand and examine cities throughout the world.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

The objectives of this course are to introduce students to the theories and empirical research currently addressing the neuronal basis of human behavior. This combination lecture/seminar-based course, including bioinformatics research projects, will provide introductions to the basic concepts of brain neuroanatomy and biochemistry, molecular neurogenetics, evolutionary psychology, and human genomics, with readings and discussions from selected books, reviews and research articles. Emphasis will be placed on how disruptions of typical brain function, resulting in disorders such as autism, Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, and depression, can reveal how the brain mediates our most fundamental experiences.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.

Social psychology may be defined as the influence of actual, imagined, or implied others on individual cognition, emotion, and behavior. Course content progresses from intra-psychic to interpersonal topics to small-group processes. Students learn and evaluate social psychological research methodology and think critically about course topics and presented research. They also learn to apply theories and concepts to real-world situations as appropriate.

This course provides an overview of the growing field of positive psychology, which is the scientific investigation of positive experiences, positive character strengths, positive relationships, and the institutions and practices that facilitate their development. Consideration will be given to conflicting viewpoints and their respective empirical support, including the benefits of balancing positive with negative emotions, the measurement and development of happiness, and the implications of deliberately attempting to increase it.

This course provides an introduction to a wide variety of psychological disorders and their treatments. Definitions of “abnormality” and methods of disorder assessment are examined. Different perspectives on the causes of disorders as well as their treatments are compared and contrasted. Topics include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and personality disorders. Upon successful completion of the course, students will have a greater understanding of how psychological disorders are discussed both in professional circles and in the lay media.

This course provides an overview of the principal theories of personality and human behavior. A wide range of perspectives on personality are presented and evaluated. Students investigate and evaluate various measures of personality assessment and different methods of researching personality. Basic principles of personality structure and personality development are covered. On completion of the course, students will be able to recognize, critique, compare and contrast various theoretical perspectives on personality, as well as apply these theories to real-world situations.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the specialization of developmental psychology. Principles of lifespan development will be discussed and applied to all stages of development, from conception to death. Special emphasis will be placed on biological, cognitive, and psychosocial domains of development. Throughout the course, the influence of contextual factors, such as culture and historical time, will be considered, as well as the utility of a multidisciplinary approach to the study of human development. Practical applications of course material to “real world” examples will also be emphasized.

In this course, psychological research methods will be introduced, applied, and critiqued to test the universality of psychological theories developed in North America. Specifically, students will be challenged to critically evaluate the nature of human difference between and within social groups in order to understand and utilize cultural variations as well as to gain insights into and re-examine one’s own culture. Topics will include cultural variations and similarities in perception, cognition, identity, socio-emotional development, health behaviors, and emotional regulation. Diverse cultures and cultural change will also be examined with an emphasis on the east-west contrast.

This course examines how the development of children’s cognitive competence and academic achievement from early childhood to emerging adulthood interface with relevant social educational environments, such as the home, school, and culture/society. This course draws material from social psychology, human development, and educational research. Throughout the course, students will also discuss and debate enduring and current, sometimes controversial, issues in education in order to demonstrate how psychological science can be applied.

The course will provide an overview of the growing field of Sport Psychology, which involves applying psychological science to sports. Topics will cover how sport psychologists assist athletes and teams in setting and achieving sports, fitness, and exercise goals. Topics will also include theoretical foundations of behavior, psychological interventions for performance problems, adherence and maintenance of gains, and the impaired athlete.

This course is an introduction to the primary research methods used by social scientists. Fundamental orientations and approaches that underlie social science research will be introduced. Students will learn various qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection, data analysis, and results reporting. Emphasis in this course is on students putting these methods into practice by developing real-world research questions and engaging in hands-on research activities.

This seminar is designed to explore the dynamics and interplay of race, socioeconomic status and political and economic interest groups in impacting the differential access, use and outcomes of some groups and countries regarding natural resources and the natural environment. Specifically, the course will focus on how racial/ethnic, economic, cultural and country background impact individual and group access to a healthy and productive natural environment and supporting resources. We will explore alternatives for increasing environmental justice and issues related to access and to increasing the quality of life for disadvantaged groups. Global environmental issues that highlight the questions of justice and injustice also will be examined. An important broad goal of the course will be to integrate social concern for the natural environment with increasing consciousness of race/ethnic, class, gender and country disparities in issues of environmental equity and justice.

This course is intended to provide a basic knowledge of regression analysis relevant for carrying out empirical work in the social sciences. Regression analysis is the application of statistical methods to testing social science theories/hypotheses using data. The Classical Linear Regression Model is the main focus of the course. Students will gain experience in collecting data from various sources, analyzing data through regression and statistical analysis, interpreting results and writing research papers.

This course is an overview of the fundamentals of experimental research methods. This course provides the tools for students to understand a variety of experimental research designs and the accompanying descriptive and inferential statistics used to evaluate the data obtained from those designs (which include chi-square, t-tests, analysis of variance, etc.). Students will gain experience in designing and conducting experiments, analyzing data, interpreting results, and writing research reports.

This course is an introduction to the primary Qualitative Research Methods as they are used in the Social Sciences such as content analysis, interviewing, participant observation, and case studies. The course will introduce students to the main epistemologies and worldviews of qualitative methods, explore what kinds of questions about social behavior qualitative methods are used to answer, discuss ethical issues related to qualitative research and writing, and engage in the application of various qualitative methods to a research question designed by students. Students will also learn how to construct a literature review and write a research report using qualitative research design.

This course introduces students to traditional and contemporary principles, theories, models and research on leadership across cultures and sub-cultures within various societies. It will examine leadership from an interdisciplinary perspective, thereby drawing upon theories and research in psychology, political science, anthropology and women studies. The course will also examine leadership in practice through the exploration of a variety of leaders, leadership styles and challenges for diverse gender and racial/ethnic groups in various societies. Students will also learn about and have a basis for reflecting on and assessing their leadership skills, styles and what it means to be a leader in an increasing diverse and global world.

This course introduces students to major classical, contemporary, critical, and post-modern sociological theories and theorists. Students obtain both a conceptual foundation and historical perspective of sociological theories. In addition they become familiar with various themes associated with sociological theories. The application and linkage of theory with contemporary social issues and social science research is also a feature of this course.

This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the state of social movements and social change in 20th Century. Students become familiar with the history of the field, recent developments and its current status. Case studies of social movements and social change may be analyzed cross-nationally. Students also examine empirical studies and theoretical frameworks associated with social movements and social change.

This course provides an overview of schooling, its purpose, and function in historical and contemporary societies. It introduces theoretical and methodological perspectives for understanding the purpose, structure, and function of educational systems in various societies. Students examine, discuss, and debate multiple perspectives regarding the roles, purposes, and outcomes of schooling, and they conduct an in-depth study of a major issue regarding schooling in different societies. A focus on cultural issues such as ableism, racism, sexism, and inequality in education is also offered.

This course examines the many facets of inequality and rankings that exist among various groups and organizations in different societies, as well as methods of assessing inequality. Students engage in cross-cultural comparisons to explore global stratification and inequality between countries and produce a project that entails a cross-cultural, comparative analysis.

This course is aimed at understanding different theoretical approaches to studying gender, sexuality, identity, sexism, exchanges of women, patriarchy, labor, otherness, oppression, and theoretical change. In addition it will cover more abstract interrogations of theoretical assumptions within explicative frameworks of post-modernism, post-structuralism, social constructivism, post-colonialism, materialism, transnational feminism and also critical and queer theoretical frameworks. Different feminist perspectives will be covered such as liberal, Marxist, radical, standpoint, etc. Special attention will be given to the exploration of power relations and other forms of inequality. We will also spend significant time engaging with feminist/ queer critiques of knowledge production, notions of perspective, representation, identity, and objectivity.

This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of social disparities in health, with an emphasis on sociological contributions to the area. Students will examine the social determinants of health and health inequities in various country contexts. Links between health outcomes and social factors—such as the social identities we inhabit (social class, gender, race), the relationships we have, and the places where we live, work, and play—will be identified and examined. Theoretical explanations for the relationships between these social factors and health disparities will be critically explored, along with possible policy solutions for achieving health equity. In particular, this course emphasizes the importance of examining multiple levels of social life, from individual behaviors to social relationships to public policy, for understanding the causes and consequences of health disparities. This course satisfies the upper-level writing requirement for graduation.

This course satisfies the Upper-Level Writing Requirement

The body is at once material and symbolic and exists at the intersection of multiple discourses. It is an object of regulation and control, a site of meaning creation, the location of contentious political struggle, a place where power operates, and situated within contextual time, space and place. In this seminar, we will draw on interdisciplinary sources and use a range of theoretical traditions to consider ways in which the body is constituted by these discourses.

Body and embodiment studies encourage and enhance theory, research, and scholarship on a wide range of embodied dynamics.  These “body dynamics” are understood through micro and macro sociological analysis of the political, social and individual bodies. Themes and topics included are: human and non-human bodies, bioethics, morphology, anatomy, body fluids, biotechnology, genetics; but also theories of embodiment, virtual bodies, productivity of bodies, changing bodies, bodies and inequality, bodily meanings, bodies and identity, the natural environment and bodies, deviant bodies, abjection, and more.

How are we situated to the body? What is a subject, object or abject? How are distinctions made between the normal and pathological? Are bodies subordinate to the mind? How are bodies commodified? How are bodies categorized and constituted by discourses of race, class, gender, sexuality, ableism, and more?

All SUA students participate in a Capstone research project during their senior (fourth) year, consisting of three courses. Capstone 390 is usually taken in the fall semester, Capstone 400 during the winter block, and Capstone 450 during the spring semester. This research project is intended to be a culminating experience, drawing upon the skills and expertise that they have developed during their career at SUA. Each student works with a faculty mentor to develop and carry out a research project related to their chosen Concentration. Students meet regularly with their Capstone mentor for support and feedback. All Capstone work must meet the criteria set in the Undergraduate Capstone Policy as well as standards set by the individual Concentration.

Beginning in academic year 2026/2027, the credit value and grading basis for Capstone courses will change. Until and including academic year 2025/2026, Capstone 390 will remain a 1-unit course graded on a P/NP basis.

All SUA students participate in a Capstone research project during their senior (fourth) year, consisting of three courses. Capstone 390 is usually taken in the fall semester, Capstone 400 during the winter block, and Capstone 450 during the spring semester. This research project is intended to be a culminating experience, drawing upon the skills and expertise that they have developed during their career at SUA. Each student works with a faculty mentor to develop and carry out a research project related to their chosen Concentration. Students meet regularly with their Capstone mentor for support and feedback. All Capstone work must meet the criteria set in the Undergraduate Capstone Policy as well as standards set by the individual Concentration.

Beginning in academic year 2026/2027, the credit value and grading basis for Capstone courses will change. Until and including academic year 2025/2026, Capstone 400 will remain a 4-unit course. Capstone 400 may not be taken on a P/NP basis.

All SUA students participate in a Capstone research project during their senior (fourth) year, consisting of three courses. Capstone 390 is usually taken in the fall semester, Capstone 400 during the winter block, and Capstone 450 during the spring semester. This research project is intended to be a culminating experience, drawing upon the skills and expertise that they have developed during their career at SUA. Each student works with a faculty mentor to develop and carry out a research project related to their chosen Concentration. Students meet regularly with their Capstone mentor for support and feedback. All Capstone work must meet the criteria set in the Undergraduate Capstone Policy as well as standards set by the individual Concentration.

Beginning in academic year 2026/2027, the credit value and grading basis for Capstone courses will change. Until and including academic year 2025/2026, Capstone 450 will remain a 4-unit course. Capstone 400 may not be taken on a P/NP basis.