Sociology

The course explores everyday relationships and their sociological significance for contemporary debates on family, personal life, and kinship; as well as illuminating the importance of relationships in all aspects of everyday life,  provides theoretical frameworks and empirical materials to allow students to explore for themselves how personal relationships are played out through all aspects of everyday life, and explore and critique different relationships through different institutions and practices.

This course provides basic knowledge of the culture of the Viking Age, such as it is presented in contemporary sources and in interpretations and applications from the past two centuries with a special focus on how this culture has gained considerable importance then and in modern times, in the Viking homelands, and the surrounding world. The course provides skills in interpreting, understanding and discussing certain contemporary sources both written (Old Norse literature, rune inscriptions, chronicles) and archaeological, and to analyze the nature of Viking culture's depiction in high and popular culture in fiction, film, media, monuments and cultural-political contexts with a certain emphasis on its relationship with the romantic tradition. The course highlights how the modern spread of Viking culture has been marked by academic and political disagreements.

This course immerses students in a global examination of the rise of far-right movements, employing mixed methods to explore radicalization, narratives, and mobilization strategies. The comparative perspective encompasses cases in both Latin America and Europe. Participants gain practical experience in qualitative data collection and analysis techniques, as well as skills in database construction and discourse analysis. The course culminates in the drafting of a research publication, fostering the development of rigorous academic skills.

This course introduces contemporary media and popular culture in South Korea along with relevant issues. A primary emphasis will be placed on the ways in which the media express and mediate Korean popular culture. Students learn theoretical concepts and ideas that enable them to understand Korean media and “read” Korean popular culture from academic perspectives. The topics include ownership, diversity, economics, policy, globalization, multiculturalism, Korean Wave, K-pop, film, journalism, broadcasting, among others. Students undertake group research projects and discuss their work in class. 

This course examines cultural (textual and visual) productions about minority identities in Paris. The city has always attracted immigrants and refugees who, in turn, influence its cultural and political landscape. After a brief historical survey, the course focuses on the contemporary period with special emphasis on the legacy of World War II, colonialism, and postcolonial immigration. It explores tensions between marginalization and integration, French universalism and multiculturalism, and competing memories of traumatic histories. Through films, literature, art works, media, weekly site visits, and critical essays, students reflect on what it means to be “the other” in Paris. Through the class, students gain awareness of local and global perspectives, by enhancing their intercultural understanding of languages, cultures, and histories of local societies and the global issues to which these relate. Students also develop an aesthetic inquiry and creative expression by engaging with artistic or creative objects in different media and from different of cultural traditions. Finally, this class allows students to explore and engage with difference by thinking critically about cultural and social difference; students identify and understand power structures that determine hierarchies and inequalities that can relate to race, ethnicity, gender, nationhood, religion, or class.
 

How do social divisions and differences shape our identities, actions, and life-chances? This course provides an introduction to key debates in contemporary sociology, examining the forces that drive social stratification and the construction of social identity. In this course, students gain a critical understanding of current research and analysis in the study of social inequalities around class, race, and gender, exploring how sociology helps us to address topical real-world issues. The course centers on the ways in which power relations, patterns of social stratification and inequality, and diverse identities are shaped in contemporary societies – focusing on structural divisions, social movements, and everyday experiences and identities in different international contexts.

This course introduces students to two ways of making sense of public health. The first is by exploring some of the key sites that are central to the making of public health. The second is through acknowledging that whilst public health (and its sidekick, epidemiology, the study of health across populations) sounds like it would be about actually existing people, it is often about people at the aggregate. In other words, statistics. This course takes a different approach: students study the observable behavior and attitudes of actually existing people—whether in the present or the past. This course introduces students to some key research methodologies in the social sciences and humanities-doing fieldwork, using archives, and unlocking the mysteries of university libraries in order to enable students to understand and master key concepts in the anthropology, history, and social science of life, death, and illness as part of the practice of medicine; to familiarize students provide students with key debates in the anthropology, history, and social science of life, death, and illness; to familiarize students with how medical understandings of life, death, and illness have changed over time; to familiarize students with how medical practice and understanding of life, death, and illness differ across cultures.

This course aims to reflect on ideology, the construction of identities, and the representations of facts and languages ​​that emerge in hegemonic neoliberal discourses (focusing on multiple areas of society: health, culture, interpersonal relationships, labor relations, digital communications, etc.) It also seeks to develop critical intercultural competence, focusing on a key question: what is culture? Clichés, cultural misunderstandings, stereotypes, and prejudices surrounding identities are examined. This course is taught in Spanish and a minimum level of B2 Spanish language background is required.

This course examines the ideas, policies, and practices surrounding education and learning with children and young people outside of formal school-based settings. The couse looks at diverse approaches to informal education, including youth work, play work, social action, social pedagogy, and educational work in other settings such as museums, libraries, science centers, and outdoors. What these approaches have in common is a child-centered or youth-centered ethos; a holistic approach to learning; a central focus on anti-oppressive practice; and a high value placed on respectful and trusting relationships between learners and staff. The course considers what out-of-school practices offer to children and young people, reflects on the vital role of informal educators in such settings, and discusses how policy can support and/or create challenging conditions for learning out of school.

This course focuses on the experiences of children and young people living in "troubled times." Through consideration of case studies - for example, the lives of child soldiers or the case of unaccompanied child migrants – students explore the ways in which adversity and crises, such as armed conflict, affect the everyday lives, education, and mental and physical health of children and young people. Students consider how well normative theories of childhood enable us to understand the lives of children and young people. Particular attention is paid to children and young people's vulnerability in such situations and their need of protection, as well as their agency: their ability to shape their lives and those of their communities in incredibly difficult situations.