Sociology

The course provides a study of theories of human development and social functioning at the individual, family, small group, community, organizational, and societal levels, with application in explaining complex interactions between individuals and the social environment. The course covers human development in infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, with respect to the developmental scientific knowledge base regarding opportunities and vulnerabilities present during the different stages of the life cycle and the biopsychosocial and cultural factors that can influence individual development—values, beliefs, worldviews, and identities. 

This course promotes debates on how gender has become an international social marker for the conception of public policies around the world. In this sense, the course thinks critically through the perspective of gender inequality and sexual diversity in different social contexts. The discussions start with a general introduction of the field of gender and sexualities in sociology to provide a capacity to integrate gender in previous sociological knowledge. Subsequently, it introduces traditional social markers (such as class, race, ethnicity). Each session is then based on a specific topic, based on a specific bibliography, for students to prepare, in different groups, an exposition for the class. This initial discussion has the objective of promoting the debate and stimulate the discussion among the students according to their experiences and their academic interests.

Students pursue an area of study in their major which is not available in the normal framework of the Undergraduate Study Abroad Program. Applicants for such study are expected to develop a sound rationale for their individual research project which requires faculty guidance and must reflect an intensive research project. This course is supervised one hour weekly for the duration of the 11 week semester.

This course examines the roles of women in politics from the nineteenth century to the present from an interdisciplinary perspective. Topics include the historical evolution of relative problems, the political behavior of women and their absence in politics, women's place in the workforce, and education. The course also explores French and American feminism, women's suffrage in France, homosexual theories and practices, sexism and homophobia, and the debate over parity, universalism, and communism.

This course explores key global challenges, including the climate emergency, decolonialization, racism in education, displacement, and migration. The course gives students the means to understand and design proposals (or strategies) to address these challenges. This course takes an exploratory and multidisciplinary look at what is known about climate change and will also examine the inter-relationship between climate change and other key issues. The course provides students the opportunity to creatively explore the role of education in developing hopeful proposals for responding to these challenges and for imagining social, political, and economic alternatives that promote environmental, social, and epistemic justice.

This course provides a study of the principle theories of human rights and the role of human rights in democratic societies. It looks at the challenges of guaranteeing human rights in different cultural contexts, the function of human rights in the constitutional order, and issues regarding justice of law, the legitimacy of power, and rights-based theories.