Sociology

What is the state’s final frontier? How and why have governments around the world been vested with the authority to manage the most intimate aspects of our existence: from the food we eat to our sexual behavior? What has the impact of this encroachment been on our sense of self? Engaging with these questions from an historical perspective provides a critical lens for re-evaluating our own relationship to society and the state, as well as furnishing a context for considering the extent to which we are ever fundamentally “free” to possess our own bodies. Exploring the birth of “surveillance society” enables us to reflect upon – and challenge – the inherited assumptions which underpin our reliance on government and our aspirations for personal autonomy. This course ranges from the formation of the modern state in Europe and the techonologies it developed for managing populations, to global health surveillance and recent biomedical advances which have resulted in progressively interventionist governmental measures, with profound social, political and ethical implications. Topics include: surveillance; “medical police” and state-sponsored interventions in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe; the invention of the “population” as a collective body; colonialism and the global exportation of ideas about what is “normal”; “healthy citizens”: the coercive state and the democratization of society; and, finally, the limits of public health in the twenty-first century.

In this course, students gain a broad understanding of the roots and character of the international trade in illicit drugs, and the difficulties in restricting its strength and influence. The course goes over the origins and history of the global drugs trade, relationships between the international drugs trade, globalization, and capitalism. Students learn about the spatial distribution and general economics of the drugs trade globally and the social harm to populations of this trade. They gain knowledge on the efforts to regulate, control, and eradicate the international trade, and evaluation of those efforts.

This course surveys the development and outcome of social movements in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong during the postwar era. It focuses on the common themes that connect these five countries/regions, such as democratization, environmental protect, labor, student and youth activism, and gender and LGBT issues.   

This course further enables students to understand the relationship between the media and social change, so as to use of knowledge of communication and journalism in a better way. 

In this course, students study contemporary issues of diversity and equality advocacy. Students explore the kinds of social movements and collective activism that have driven, shaped, or challenged human rights internationally, taking a bottom-up approach. Case studies are used for in-depth exploration of tensions between equality and diversity and to examine the forms, functions, and outcomes of collective action in relation to the cases considered. 

This course examines the constitution and mutual entanglements of selected religions and cultures originating and thriving in varied regional contexts. It focuses on highlighting the symbolic (visual, aural) expressivity of religions via ritual, myth, and rational speculation and its impact on high and popular cultures.

This course uses Berlin as a case study to analyze the origins of hate discourses and the so-called "gender ideology" by integrating key concepts of queer theory and gender studies into the discussions to explore the cultural politics of emotions and affect. Questions posed include why has Berlin become one of the foremost LGBTQIA+ capitals in the world? What social and political challenges does the Berlin queer community face, such as the emergence of a new wave of far-right movements? Students examine the evolution of a contemporary, multicultural, and artistic queer Berlin. Topics include the 1920s, the rise of fascism and Nazi atrocities, the division of Germany, and its different approaches to sexual liberation movements. The course considers the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the Reunification of Germany and the 1990s to understand today's vast and diverse queer scene. It explores recent theoretical advancements in critical queer and gender studies, complemented by workshops and cultural excursions, covering topics such as body politics, queer diaspora and migration, and critical solidarity.

This course examines various environmental challenges in contemporary societies from a sociological perspective. Recognizing that environmental problems are often intricately connected with the conditions of societies that they are situated in, it explores the processes underlying social and environmental changes as well as the consequences that those processes may entail at national, regional, and global levels. Substantive topics to be covered include limits of growth and development, sustainable production and consumption, climate change and global governance, and environmental movement.

The history of the Jewish people in East Germany has become a focus of interest in the last few years. This seminar focuses on the perspective of Jewish returners, both prominent and not and focuses on a series of questions and topics: The catastrophe of the Holocaust causes a great many questions about the various lifestyles of East German Jews: What persuaded them after the Holocaust to return to Germany? Which hopes and expectations did this new community have? And to what extent did return to Germany mean the immigration into a socialist utopia, which was a reaction to the atrocities of the past and promised a future and foothold for returnees? But with hope and expectations often comes disappointment: How was the East German antisemitism, both private and occasionally also public, experienced, and what did it mean for returnees; how did they perceive East German evasion surrounding discussion of and responsibility for the Holocaust? The course explores these themes through autobiographical texts and scientific secondary literature.

Did you know that you will benefit in the economy if you know a great deal about the challenges of cultivating pinot noir? You will benefit even more from understanding why this matters. Sociology is, as Pierre Bourdieu once said, a “martial art” that gives you the tools to fight for yourself in an unequal capitalist world. We will also talk about markets and how they shape people like you. Do they shape the way you think and act? Is it possible or perhaps even likely that you would have a different self if you participated in a different market? What are alternative markets like? Can we learn from them? In what ways is our capitalist market culture changing? Will the future workplace be a neoliberal nightmare in which you’re an independent contractor directed and controlled by algorithms, or will we instead see a post-work world in which the boring stuff is automated and we can focus on creative and social activities that enrich our private and communal lives? These and other questions will be addressed in this math-free course on the complex interactions between cultural and economic forces that shape our worlds.