Sociology

This course provides an overview of the traditional media and the newer technology-oriented media in Korea. The course is divided into three main parts: examining the role of the traditional media in the social and political development and change of the Korean society; examining the influence of the newer media such as the Internet and social media that have brought about further changes in Korean society; and examining the content and Influence of the Korean entertainment media. The first part of the course starts by examining the general media landscape and then looks at the various factors in the development of Korean media. Since the development of Korean media is closely linked with various social and political factors in the development of democracy in Korean society, a critical aspect of is and understanding of Korean political history. We watch the movies “Peppermint Candy”and “Tae Guk Gi: Brotherhood of War” to this effect. Factors that affect the characteristics of Korean newspapers are examined in the first part of the course. In the second part of the course, we examine the extent of the influence of traditional media such as newspapers and broadcasting and compare it with the influence of newer forms of media that are being offered through the Internet such as Blogs, SNS, youtube videos, and podcasts. We try to understand the influence of these newer media in changing the Korean political and social culture. The third and last part, we look at the Korean media audience and try to understand the “Korean Wave”(Hanryu, Hallyu) not just in Asian countries but also around the world.

This course investigates how concepts of childhood and youth came about (and are constantly reinvented) in the context of particular social and economic conditions. This course considers how the lives of children and young people today have been shaped by historical and global contexts, and by different national, cultural, religious, social, and economic circumstances. It explores the histories of children and young people at work, at play, and in education, and how these histories shape childhood and youth in different global contexts today.

This course examines key ideas and concepts in criminology, including definitions of crime, criminological theories of crime causation, the consequences of crime, research methods used in criminology, and the ethics of conducting criminological research.

This course examines sociological and anthropological perspectives on the nature of the social. It considers questions such as: what is the social; what is the relation between the individual and society; how is the social lived and experienced; and wow do we understand the everyday. It examines the social as idea, concept and experience through themes such as biography and selfhood, identity and difference, power and freedom, nature and culture, and state and nation.

Students discuss the relationship between far right politics and liberal democracy. Focusing on Europe, students examine questions such as: How do far right mobilizations reflect wider structural forms of marginalization in society? Are mainstream political actors complicit in the normalization of exclusionary populist discourse? Does structural racism and other forms of discrimination/domination provide opportunities to far right actors? At the end of the seminar, students work in groups on ideas for counter-measures and present these as a project.

This is a highly interactive elective seminar course encouraging maximum student participation and leadership. Grounded in the concept of praxis (learning by doing, education for use), the course explores the nature of influence, legitimate and non-coercive methods of influence, and different ways of exercising that influence. Ranging from the academic and philosophical to the practical and personal, the course considers forms, methods, and networks of influence, weighs questions related to messaging, visibility, and the power of example, as well as offering training on how to give a successful speech, how to go on television with no time to prepare, how to exercise influence in organizations, and how to create your own persona as an influencer.