Sociology

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The objectives include: Critical Analysis: Train students to critically analyze how culture and social structures both shape and are shaped by the physical environment. Spatial Awareness: Help students understand the spatial dimensions of social phenomena, exploring how territories impact social interactions and cultural expressions. Cultural Appreciation: Foster an appreciation for cultural diversity by examining how different cultures manifest within specific territories, and how cultural practices are influenced by geographic locations. Research Skills: Develop research skills by teaching students how to investigate and analyze the relationships between social structures, culture, and territory through empirical studies and literature reviews. Globalization Impact: Explore the effects of globalization on local cultures and identities. Emphasize how global forces interact with and sometimes challenge local customs and territorial boundaries, fostering critical thinking. 

This course focuses specifically on the spatial and cultural dimensions of contemporary life. It begins by exploring the historical development of the discipline and its intersections with other social sciences, then moves toward a more focused examination of how territory and culture interact within the context of consumer society. Particular attention is devoted to understanding how consumption shapes and is shaped by both physical and digital environments. Consumer culture is not approached merely as an economic phenomenon, but as a complex system of practices and meanings that contribute to the production of social identities, symbolic landscapes, and territorial imaginaries. From shopping malls and theme parks to social media platforms and algorithmically curated spaces, students investigate how consumption environments function as sites of cultural production and negotiation. Throughout the course, students engage with theoretical perspectives and empirical case studies that highlight the interplay between material culture, globalization, prosumption, and the hybridization of space. The physical and the digital are not treated as separate spheres, but as interconnected and co-constructed domains that define how individuals navigate, appropriate, and give meaning to their social worlds. By combining lectures, seminar discussions, and multimedia materials, the course fosters a critical understanding of how contemporary spatial practices reflect broader cultural transformations. In doing so, it encourages students to reflect on the ways in which space and culture co-evolve in the context of late modernity, shaping both inclusion and exclusion, identity and belonging.

This course examines the dynamics, roles and politics of culture, art and creative agency in the reproduction and transformation of society. It focuses on the ways art and artists respond to, dismantle and reimagine beyond the discursive and institutional formations that construct difference as ‘problematic’, and the injustices they give rise to. This is an empirically and practice-based course that interrogates the relationships and tensions between knowledge, aesthetics and pedagogy through examination of ground-breaking works of art and scholarship across a range of pressing social justice issues and national contexts. It is interdisciplinary, convening readings from sociology, anthropology, art history and social movement studies. Course materials are gathered across theoretical traditions of feminism, Black, indigenous and queer studies, as well as post-colonial and decolonial studies. There is no ‘textbook’ or singular approach to this area of study. Coursework requires equal measures of weekly scholarly and weekly arts-based work: it involves a variety of exercises using a range of visual art techniques, and students are welcome to experiment with sonic and performative practices for the final project. Completing work on a weekly basis is essential.

This course provides a historical-conceptual understanding of campesino movements in Latin America and the contexts of the geographies in which they arise. The course is guided by three key units including land, territory, and life, each of which provides a sophisticated understanding through reading theory, lecture, group work,
presentations, as well as through hands-on learning in the field with campesinos in Mexico City. 

This course examines controversial issues related to educational policies in multicultural societies. Students explore global case studies, engage with theories of equality and justice, and critically analyze how these issues intersect with multicultural education policy. Topics include religious symbols in public schools, affirmative action, language rights, and many other issues central to multicultural education. Students debate, reflect, and develop their own policy proposals to address real-world equity challenges.  

It is relatively easy to identify what we know about ourselves, others, our surroundings, or a given situation. But what are the processes through which we acquire and/or construct knowledge with which we operate as social actors? To answer this question, the course explores various sources of a) sociological theory and b) empirical social research on what certain groups of people know (also what they believe, what they doubt or reject) and how they know it. Cognition is discussed in a broad sense as social, cultural, mental, embodied, relational, and emotional.

This course examines gender in the global context. It focuses on gender relations as a subject of economic thought and analysis and explores the ways in which contemporary gendered patterns of employment, production, distribution and exchange have been shaped historically and institutionally.

This course questions the most generalized binary oppositions (State versus indigenous people, government versus community, etc.) that are loaded with moral values ​​(“bad” State versus “good” people) through readings and reflections that provide a complex understanding of the relationships between law, right, State, indigeneity and anthropology. The class becomes familiar with the history and institutionalisation of the rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants by analyzing case studies that show the possibilities and limitations of new legislation at national and international level.  The course also examines the difference between multiculturalism and interculturality through different intercultural projects. 

This is a practical course covering the theory and practice of volunteering. The course focuses on understanding the minimum content for participating in community service and focusing on the practice of social service activities. Students learn how to plan and practice volunteer community service. Volunteer confirmation and volunteer diary must be submitted. 

Political sociology includes the study of the state, political institutions, social movements, nationalism, international relations, and many other areas. Given the broadness of the subfield, no two political sociology syllabi are alike. This course studies three main topics: the state, war, and democracy.  

The course begins with classical theory of the state and an introduction to some theories of state formation. It then proceedsto classic texts on war, as well as a recent synthesis of the sociology of war. Finally, the course concludes with a study of democracy, the readings of which span the Enlightenment to the late 20th century.  

Based on these texts, the class should begin to grasp a set of conceptual and theoretical tools that can help them understand how the world works today. What is society’s relationship with the state? How did modern states come into being? Why do wars break out? Are wars rational? Are they inevitable? What is the nature of democracy? Is it a system of government with continuing relevance? Is it worth defending?  

Building on the theoretical constructs and skills of earlier courses, students are introduced to Community Development from a political economy of welfare perspective. This course uses youth development and contemporary issues as a lens for learning about community assessment and intervention strategies. The course provides the basic concepts, theory, processes and skills required for culturally appropriate assessment of systems and situations at community level, and community development as a strategy of interaction within a framework of youth and youth development in South and Southern Africa. Course entry requirements: At least second-year status.