Sociology

This course combines anthropological approaches with interdisciplinary theories to understand experiences of mobilities and immobilities shaped by race, gender, sexuality, citizenship and class.

The theme of ‘community’ is not one that can be pinned down in any straightforward and simplistic way but requires attention to multiple dimensions. This course uses empirical studies and perspectives from a range of international studies to examine the nature of change and significance through which communities and ‘community’ can be read. The experience of changing community life will analyze some enduring themes such as: belonging, identity, mobility, construction of community, and social ties. Another key objective of this course is to explore historical and contemporary attempts to engage communities (community sector) through policies of development and support.

This course explores how literature, cinema, history, biology, anatomy, pathology, catastrophic events, and cultural diversity have been shaped and driven by teeth, the face, and the human smile. Using the "smile" and “teeth” as focal points, a host of different relations with society will be explored to create a critical understanding around ambiguous issues such as the concept of beauty, the changing nature of health, and the relationship between the “natural” and the “artificial”. Additionally, by using active learning as a vector, students broaden their perspectives and enhance their collaborative, innovative, and self-directed spirits. Thus, by examining the history and current understanding of the "smile" and "teeth", the course illuminates the relationships between science, technology, and everyday life in a cross-cultural context. How can a smile impact a society?

This course introduces the basic principles of the sociological approach to the study of international reality: concepts of structure, interaction, subjectivity and social action. Topics include the main processes of international social transformation, especially globalization, information society, new forms of human mobility, international public opinion and transnational social movements.

This course explores the relation between art and activism as a way of engaging critically with issues such as coloniality, gender inequality, xenophobia, and exploitative labour practices. Students study the work of leading practitioners and theorists in the field of politically-engaged art, with a focus on how dialogue and provocation afford a variety of ways of calling power relations into question through participatory practice and/or collaboration as a process of co-creation.

The course considers the current theoretical conceptualizations of issues such as group decision making, performance, collaborative learning and intergroup conflict. Students look at the ways in which psychological theories relating to groups can be used to better understand and address issues across a range of applied settings, including the workplace and roles criminology graduates may enter. 

This course focuses on the interdisciplinary studies fields of public and global health, especially the contribution made to them by social sciences like political economy and medical sociology. The course addresses how our health is shaped by factors such as class, gender, race, profit-seeking behavior, climate change, and technology; it also questions what constitutes "medicine" and what role it plays in society, and how health policy shapes and is shaped by these considerations.

This course provides an overview of what characterizes the field of the sociology of consumption, both in terms of the different main theoretical perspectives (e.g. consumer culture theory and practice theories), in terms of the multiplicity of themes (e.g. political consumption and media-consumption), and in terms of current discussions (e.g. representation of materiality). Students make a theoretical and empirically based analysis of a current consumption phenomenon of their choice.

This course delves into the shadows of the criminal underworld and explore the complexities of global crime. It is structured into three parts. The first section introduces the foundational theories, concepts, and terminology in global crime and justice. It covers the growing importance of knowledge production beyond traditional Anglo-American bases of power and how colonialism has shaped our understanding of the crime. In the second part, the course delves deeper into responses to global crime, from the controversial death penalty for drug trafficking to the rising militarization of borders. Students investigate how vulnerable populations can become ensnared within these complex frameworks. It untangles the complex and interwoven nature of global crimes through an in-depth study of trafficking in its many forms (human, wildlife, diamonds and antiques). This course investigates how global crimes can blur the boundaries between victims and offenders and shape borders through policing responses. Finally, it investigate state crimes, online ‘sleuthing’, and the phenomenon of ‘true crime’ consumption to illustrate how key social changes such as globalization, technology and media influence crime policing, perception and victims. Global crime offers a multidisciplinary, critical and comparative perspective in criminology.

This course introduces the major social changes occurring in global society and their impact on individual and collective identities. Students examine the role of identity, the value of coexistence with people of different ethnicities, races, ideologies, and religions, as well as the importance of dialogue in times of conflict, ideological polarization, and war. Texts and images within art, literature, philosophy, religion and economics are studied. Emphasis is placed on cultural theories, concepts, and methodologies and to understand society through a cultural lens.