Sociology

This course makes connections between national and international policies and discourses on migration, asylum, race and ethnicity, and the experiences of the people whose lives are affected by them. The main context is Ireland, but it also includes perspectives and experiences from Europe and beyond, connecting Ireland to a broader world.

This course provides undergraduate students with basic knowledge of how to conduct empirical research on international relations (IR). The course is organized into two sections. The first section introduces academic writing skills, instructing on how to formulate research questions; implement literature reviews, and prepare an appropriate research design. Given the emerging challenges of artificial intelligence (AI), the class also discusses how to use and avoid the misuse of AI in academic writing. The second section illustrates how to use a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys and interviews.  

This course systematically explores family change and family policy. It covers the definition, functions, and theories of the family, analyzes the transformation of family structures from traditional to modern forms, and compares family models and policies in East Asia, Europe, and China. The course delves into issues such as marriage systems, intergenerational care, and gender roles, while also addressing social problems like family poverty and violence. Against the backdrop of the digital age, the course evaluates the effectiveness of family policies, envisions the future of family policies from a global perspective, and cultivates students' analytical and problem-solving skills.

This course offers an in-depth exploration of human sensibilities, tastes, and desires through an interdisciplinary lens, incorporating readings from cultural studies, anthropology, history, literature, journalism, and critical theory. In its earlier iterations, the course focused primarily on the concept of " beauty," not merely as an object but as a site for examining the politics surrounding its definitions and manifestations. In this revised version, the course integrates a critical analysis of new media's role and its profound impact on human conditions and social life. We live in an age saturated with media that function as powerful tools for producing, disseminating, and consuming the information, images, and ideas that shape both the tangible and intangible aspects of culture. The emergence of new media has transformed how we connect with one another, communicate, and interact as members of society. The course begins by delving into a recent viral phenomenon: the intersection of fandom culture and K-democracy, offering a compelling case study on how media reshapes collective identity and social activism. The course is divided into four sections: Section 1 Fandom Culture and K-democracy, Section 2 The Girl and Beauty: Conformity, Recalcitrance, and Negotiation, Section 3 Ethnic Markers and Aesthetic Standards, and Section 4 Back to K-culture and Politics of Beauty.

This seminar examines American cities over the past 150 years through major theoretical traditions and empirical themes. It explores housing markets, racial segregation, immigration, suburbanization, gentrification, policing, gender, finance, education, and urban politics. Throughout, it maintains a comparative lens, juxtaposing American patterns with European experiences. The course has two goals. First, to familiarize students with major theoretical frameworks in urban sociology, building a conceptual toolkit for analyzing cities. Second, to develop critical analytical skills through engagement with classic texts and contemporary research.

This course introduces key concepts and analytical tools for understanding science and technology as social enterprises. Students examine classical philosophical debates—such as the demarcation problem—and analyze how social systems, institutional norms, and cultural contexts shape the work of scientists and engineers.  

The course explores motivations and incentives that drive knowledge production, as well as the collaborative and competitive structures that organize research. Building on this foundation, the course asks practical questions about how to promote science and technology through effective governance, economic analysis, and policy design.  

A distinctive feature of this course is its applied project structure. Students take on two roles over the semester: first, acting as a funding agency by drafting Requests for Proposals (RFPs) on pressing science policy issues; second, acting as policy researchers by responding to a peer’s RFP with a complete policy study.  

This process mirrors real-world science policy cycles, from setting priorities to producing actionable recommendations, and will push students to think both strategically and analytically. By the end of the course, students will have a critical understanding of how science and technology are constructed, organized, and sustained, as well as hands-on experience in research design, policy analysis, and communication skills directly transferable to real-world science policy work. 

This survey course examines innovation holistically, encouraging students to question the status quo and critically examine both the positive and negative impacts of innovation. 

Innovation is often hailed as the ultimate solution to many challenges, ranging from economic growth to technological advancement. However, this enthusiastic embrace of innovation frequently overlooks its significant negative effects on individuals, society, politics, and the environment. While innovation has propelled societies forward in many areas, it has also created new problems, often exacerbating inequalities and producing unforeseen consequences. 

Through lectures and debates on current case studies—such as climate change, the brain drain from poorer countries to developed nations, and the impact of artificial intelligence on individuals and society—students will explore the multifaceted nature of innovation and develop principles for a more inclusive and responsible approach. This course challenges students to think critically about who benefits from innovation and who may be disadvantaged, prompting consideration of ethical, social, and environmental dimensions alongside economic and technological ones. By engaging with diverse perspectives, students gain an appreciation for the complexity of innovation and the importance of a balanced approach. 

This is a special topics course that explores the history of popular music: its significant performers, recordings, performances, and cultural identity, with the focus on the decades of the 1970s and 1980s, the two decades that shaped the "visual era" in pop. Through watching and interpreting videos, students understand the aspects, causes, and effects of these social phenomena. 

This is not a music course, per se, but we will listen to and watch a lot of audio/video material as we consider the effects of popular music on contemporary history, culture, and society. Reading assignments will introduce the distinct musical styles, performers, and works that comprise each genre and a certain time period. While the previous course "Cultural Sociology" offered in Spring 2025 emphasized the social and cultural roles of popular music, this course focuses more on visual, commercial, technological and global aspects, which parallel the social circumstances of the era. 

No prior familiarity with pop music is necessary or assumed, but "Cultural Sociology" (SOCI446) is highly encouraged and recommended. However, all are welcome to enroll if they are willing to put in time and effort. 

This course explores the dynamic landscape of global social movements, taking Berlin as a focal point and lens to analyze broader international trends. Students engage with theories and case studies that illustrate how social movements emerge, evolve, and impact societies, especially in contexts marked by globalization, migration, and socio-political change. Berlin’s rich history as a hub for activism provides an ideal backdrop for examining the intersections of local and transnational movements. During the semester, students explore the complex historical and contemporary dynamics of social movements in and beyond Germany. Presenting different approaches of studies of collective action, the course provides a comprehensive understanding of the multiple contemporary social movements shaping our contemporary world, and it will highlight their contribution for the democratization of the world in which we currently live. Each class will connect a theoretical discussion on collective action with a case of a specific social movement, especially with cases from Berlin history with global entangled connections. The first section of the course is composed of theoretical texts with three different approaches to social movements: contentious politics, new social movements and dynamics approach. From the understanding of these perspectives, the students are able to navigate the different analyses discussed in the following sections and the case studies throughout the course. Next, the class focuses on the ways global social movements produce resistance, concrete utopias and position themselves in anticolonial and postcolonial struggles. By discussing these concepts, the students gain an understanding of social movements as an entry point to apprehend a society in a more comprehensive way. The third part of the course focuses on discussions of contemporary social movements and what their studies bring to understanding political action, their possibilities, their limits, their contributions to democratization in Germany and around the world. Students discuss the cases of feminism, climate justice, queer and trans liberation, housing and other social movements. Throughout the course, students are able to develop critical thinking skills, gain historical knowledge, and engage in interdisciplinary analysis on social movements. By examining the German colonial past, anti-colonial resistance movements, and decolonial theories, students gain a comprehensive understanding of the complexities surrounding this area of studies and the struggles for social justice and democratization in and beyond the Berlin context.

This course explores the diverse cultures, practices, and geographies of activism with a focus on France and Paris. Through lectures, workshops, site visits, and films, students engage with the ways individuals and collectives resist systems of domination, claim rights, and imagine alternative futures. It examines the theories and practices that shape activism, ranging from ecological and feminist struggles to LGBTQIA+ movements, artistic interventions, and festive forms of protest. By combining conceptual readings with experiential learning, the course emphasizes both critical reflection and direct engagement. Students map sites of power and resistance, participate in workshops, analyze cultural artifacts, and debate pressing issues of social justice. Throughout, they develop tools to understand activism not only as political action but also as a cultural practice that reshapes identities, communities, and public space.