ISSUES IN AMERICAN SOCIETY

概要

This course will take students on a journey through American history, from the first Native encounters with Europeans (natives helped English colonists brew alcoholic beverages in 1585) to our tumultuous present (US Supreme Court’s Dobbs case in 2022 overturning Roe), covering a range of topics and issues relevant to crime, science, media, art, health, civil liberties, civil rights, women and family. The class is lecture driven, but students are also encouraged to participate actively in discussion and presentation. There will be required readings every week, in addition to primary source texts that should be read closely for class discussions and paper assignments. At the end of each meeting (except during the first and last weeks), students must summarize the text prior to our class and write down their reflection at the end of each class. While the lectures and discussions will take place in classroom settings, assignments will be posted on Moodle.

目標

1. To analyze the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and other axes of identity within social issues. 2. To comprehend the historical, cultural, and structural factors contributing to social issues in the United States. 3. To identify and assess the role of privilege, power dynamics, and systemic oppression in perpetuating social inequalities. 4. To evaluate the impact of social policies and systems on marginalized communities and individuals. 5. To explore diverse perspectives and methodologies for addressing social issues, including activism, policy advocacy, and community organizing. 6. To cultivate critical thinking skills through the examination of empirical evidence, ethical considerations, and competing narratives. 7. To develop communication skills for articulating informed perspectives on complex social issues and engaging in constructive dialogue.

授業外の学習

Please refer to course objectives & evaluation (assessment methods). Some of the possible questions to be asked when reading texts include, but are not limited to: 1. To what extent can the sociological imagination, as originally conceived by C. Wright Mills, adequately account for and analyze the impacts of rapidly evolving social, technological, and global forces shaping contemporary societies and individual experiences? 2. What specific factors contribute to the high rate of juvenile involvement in arson in the United States compared to other industrialized countries? 3. To what extent do the various philosophical perspectives on the cognitive capabilities, self-awareness, and ability to experience suffering of different animal species provide a coherent framework for determining their relative moral status and corresponding rights? 4. To what extent should there be regulations or restrictions on the $12 billion per year industry of marketing and advertising to children, given the concerns about its potential negative impacts on child health, values, and family dynamics? 5. How can the criteria used by grant organizations and wealthy patrons to determine which artistic projects receive funding be made more objective and less susceptible to potential censorship based on subjective notions of "appropriateness"? 6. How did the cultural and historical role of alcohol in the United States contribute to the challenges in addressing alcohol abuse and alcoholism? 7. To what extent have negative stereotypes, discrimination, and backlash against American Muslims, especially in the aftermath of 9/11, undermined the principles of religious freedom and equal protection that are supposed to be guaranteed in the United States? 8. To what extent has the implementation of affirmative action policies in the United States truly achieved the goal of providing equal opportunity to historically disadvantaged groups, versus fueling a backlash by being perceived as unfair "preferential treatment" or "reverse discrimination"? 9. To what extent have the expanding array of reproductive choices enabled by modern technologies, combined with evolving societal concepts around reproductive freedoms and rights, fundamentally reshaped traditional notions of family structure and procreation in the United States? 10. How did the transition from extended to nuclear families during industrialization and urbanization in the 19th century lead to a shift in the primary purpose and practice of adoption, from accommodating the interests of adopters to prioritizing the needs of adopted children?

所要時間: 190 minutes