Sociology

Eating is a natural necessity for almost all human beings. Food, however, does more than just help humans survive and grow. It can become a political tool, a marker of social class and gender, and a mirror of significant cultural differences. On a more individual scale, it can be related to personal identity, habits, and health. As the perspective in this course is sociological and semiotical, the course looks at food both as a source of embodied experience, and as a language that can be decoded. It is a symbolic system that reflects the everyday habits of humans, norms of societies, as well as deeper, internalized meanings. Food thus becomes a lens through which the course analyzes different cultures in a new light. The course asks questions such as: What is the place of origin of our food? How did our food get to us? How does food configure and change relations among people? During comparisons and practical workshops, the course traces the histories of some of the most significant meals of the Czech Republic (and former Austro-Hungarian empire). Their transformations help the course to understand the social changes that took place in Central Europe from a different perspective. Questions such as gender relations, families, political economy, health (obesity, anorexia, bio food), ecology, and the nation-state are discussed. Students read academic articles that react on these questions in various national and ethnic contexts. The course includes workshops where students try to cook a Central European meal and discuss it with a Czech chef, as well a field trip to the local Beer Brewery to learn about the process of beer making and the cultural aspect of its local consumption.

This course explores Shanghai and facilitates students' personal experience in the city as well as China. Students use their own first-hand observations, coupled with broad-based readings in a range of social science areas, to reach an understanding about Shanghai and the rapid pace of China’s modernization. The course values empirical experiences. By fieldwork as well as observation, students see the city through their own eyes. The reflection over first hand empirical experiences are included in the assignments, presentations and final work. Students critically argue their empirical experiences by making comparison between Shanghai and other cities, by looking into the cultural or institutional background of their observation.

This course examines central concepts and theoretical perspectives of sociology and provides and introduction to sociological perspectives. Topics include culture, socialization, and self-formation; deviant behavior and crime; social performance, gender roles, and family; social inequality and class; power, politics, government, and state; labor and social division of labor; and religion and society.

This course examines the criminogenic consequences of globalization in its economic, political and cultural dimensions. It introduces a number of key concepts in sociology, criminology, and human rights. It looks at whether and how globalization may bring various risks and new harms which challenge our conventional understanding of the problem of crime and justice.

This introductory course covers some of the most familiar and important themes in medical anthropology. The literature focuses on classic texts dealing with issues such as classification of illness, uncertainties, bodies, subjectivities, identities, narratives, medicines, symbolic healing, patients and therapeutic journeys, lay and expert knowledge, medical practices, technologies and infrastructures. The course introduces the field of medical anthropology as part of the overall study of culture and society.