Sociology

This course provides the tools to understand the intersection between religion, media, entertainment, and popular culture in the context of processes generally described as globalization. The course focuses on the formations of contemporary religious communities in various parts of the world, so as to highlight the differences between several religious traditions, the socio-political contexts in which they thrive, and the various means through which these religions are channeled to their audiences and adherents. The focus on media and popular culture includes anthropological understandings of religion, such as the effects that film, music, radio, and social media have in the shaping of power relations between groups of people. 

This course unravels many of our unquestioned assumptions around the world of work. It examines work as a domain of human activity, a site of meaning-making, a source of identity, a form of dispossession, and a mechanism for social and economic differentiation. Students use theoretical perspectives from sociology, anthropology, political economy, ecological economics, and feminist thought to explore debates around the role of work in human cultures and societies, as well as work as a site of exploitation, class-formation, inequality, and resistance.

This course consists of two components: lectures on qualitative and quantitative research methods and research groups to engage in research exercises (from developing a research proposal to conducting pilot and/or main studies). The options vary from year to year and focus on a variety of contemporary South African themes which are linked to substantive topics covered in the second semester. The lectures provide an introductory course in research methods to equip students to conduct their research exercises. The research group meetings deal with substantive, methodological and theoretical issues related to the research proposal and offer personal supervision for research exercises.

This course explores the complex and influential connections between food, culture, self, place, and taste. Across the world, food is increasingly on the agenda, in relation to many themes: health, economy, politics, climate, famine, and obesity. There is an increased need for humanistic approaches to the understanding of how tradition, history, and cross-cultural practices influence people's eating and food choices. The course provides students with humanities-based insights into a wide array of aspects of food culture, including lifestyle; food politics; identity and the body; food and media; urban gardening; food taboos; food security; commensality; the globalization of taste; and the history of the chef.

Physical and mental disability social work is the new course field of the social work. With the deepening understanding of the global society towards disabilities, the support and construction of the services have been affected too. The course topics include: how to dissipate the work and cooperate among national responsibility, family responsibility, and social responsibility; how to construct the support system and deliver the services to support the disabled people and for the diversity of their house life; what contributes to the difference between the legally defined disabled people and the actual situation of their disabilities; the power shift between the oriented and individual oriented disabilities; how to pave the way from ability to power; how to transform from service to construction of a friendly environment; how demands are decided, by whom they are decided, and the strategies they used from needing to satisfy the needs. Assessment: participation/discussion (30%), midterm reports (30%), final exam (30%), attendance (10%).

The course introduces students to the fundamental principles of intercultural competence and ethnographic research. It proposes to develop perception and appreciation of different cultural perspectives and values. It prepares students to carry out an ethnographic project. It also guides and prepares students for the challenges of intercultural experiences and of conflict resolution by developing practical tools to be applied in a diverse cultural environment.