Chelle Jones

This course is designed to help students develop a critical framework for thinking and writing about intersectional issues related to sexuality, sex, gender identity and gender expression. The course takes a broad view of examining queer and transgender issues from sociopolitical, legal, psychological, biological, cultural, ethical, philosophical and historical frameworks. We look at the fields of queer theory and LGBTQ+ studies out of which some of the most innovative and challenging developments in modern cultural studies are arising. Additionally, we examine the ways in which society interacts with queer and transgender identities in a number of spheres, including politics, health care, the arts, the sciences and more. This counts toward the introductory and diversity and globalization requirements for the major. This course paired with any other 0.5 unit/4 semester hour GSS course counts toward the social science diversification requirement. No prerequisite.

From our vantage point in the 21st century, we perceive that the nature and fate of American society are increasingly connected to the nature and fate of society in other parts of the world. But what is "society," and how does it change over time? How, exactly, does society shape the human experience and human behavior in the United States and elsewhere? And how can we understand the ties that bind society "here" to society "there"? Sociology crystallized in the 19th century to address big questions like these in light of the profound uncertainty and human suffering that accompanied the rise of industrial capitalism, rapid urbanization and the consolidation of the centralized bureaucratic state. This course introduces students to the discipline by revisiting the work of early sociologists and then using the analytical lenses they developed to examine concrete cases of social change and globalization. Students may take only one introductory-level course. This counts toward the foundation requirement for the major. No prerequisites. Offered every year.

Popular conceptions of globalization often allude to the growing magnitude of global flows and the stunning rapidity with which capital, commodities, culture, information, and people now cross national borders. From this characterization, one might conclude that national borders and indeed nation-states themselves are becoming increasingly porous and irrelevant as sources or sites of social regulation and control. This course examines the material reality of border regions and movement across them as a means of interrogating these assumptions and exposing how globalization rescales and reconfigures power differentials in human society but does not eliminate them. It scrutinizes technological, economic, political, and ideological forces that facilitate border crossings for some groups of people under particular circumstances and then explores the seemingly contradictory tendency toward border fortification. Topics include regional trade integration and political economy of border regions, the global sex trade and illegal trafficking of economic migrants, global civil society and sanctuary movements, paramilitary and vigilante border patrols, and the technology of surveillance. This course includes a required off-campus experiential component at the U.S.-Mexico border that takes place during the first week of spring break. Prerequisite: 100-level sociology course or permission of instructor. Offered every other year.

Social life is saturated by sexuality in unstable and disjointed ways. From advertisements that promote the use of sexual enhancement pharmaceuticals to laws restricting access to safe and healthy sexual encounters, the sociocultural framing of sexuality is unequal and often illogical. This course examines sexualities as they are constructed, experienced and regulated across multiple social contexts and institutions. We explore the social history of sexuality and the evolution of its framing in contemporary society; lived experiences of those labeled or identifying as sexual minorities; privileges associated with hegemonic sexual identity categories; the ongoing sociopolitical regulation of sexual bodies, communities and desires; and the history of social activism centered on sexual minorities. Prerequisite: 100-level sociology course.

This course focuses on learning to use qualitative methods to answer questions about social life. We discuss individual and group interviews, observational techniques and content analysis of documents and visual images. Students practice using these techniques by carrying out a semester-long research project using these methods. We also discuss the "nuts and bolts" of designing a research project, writing research proposals, collecting data, analyzing data and writing up qualitative research. Finally, we contextualize this practical instruction with discussions of research ethics, issues of reliability and validity in qualitative research, the relationship between qualitative methods and theory-building, and the place of qualitative methods in the discipline of sociology. This counts toward the methods requirement for the major. Prerequisite: SOCY 271 or LGLS 371. Sophomore standing. Offered every two years.