Spring 2023

Analysis of race and the economic, political, gender, and social dimensions of contemporary Los Angeles including topics such as residential segregation, economic inequality, and city politics.

Exploration of the major social, political, economic, religious, and philosophical disagreements that exist between scholars, leaders, and citizens concerning today's most serious environmental issues and problems. Not available for credit to environmental studies majors and minors.

U.S. motion pictures as both a response to and comment upon major events, problems, and themes in 20th century America.

An examination of how the shifting norms, discourses and representations of gender and sexuality have rocked American society during the last 150 years

Basic concepts of world affairs for non-majors. Development ofcompetency to understand and critically evaluate global relationsand international events, stressing empirical approaches. Not available for major credit.

Historical background and responses to the Holocaust, withspecial emphasis on ethical implications.

Investigates how food and food traditions create and cross religious and social conflicts between Jews, Christians and Muslims by exploring faith, practice, thought and ethics.

Discourse patterns among diverse social groups in institutional and interpersonal settings; interrelationships among language practices and gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity; social structures and cultural values as reflected in language policies and practices.

Interaction between law and politics; overview of the American legal system; value conflicts and public policy questions which arise within it.

Overview of human rights controversies across the globe. Introduction to techniques of analysis for social issues, interdisciplinary research methods, and interpretation of complex political problems.

Examination of the historical continuities and disjunctions between "spiritual but not religious" Americans; the relationship between spirituality, politics and social change, and the role of media.

Examination of the immigrant experience in the United States. Comparative analysis of social context of migration, formation of immigrant communities, and social integration of immigrants.

The peculiarity of the "modern" Western family system in historical and cross-cultural perspective; focus on the "postmodern" family crisis in the United States.

Science and technology change society and how we understand ourselves. In turn, social struggles influence science. We will explore the interplay between these forces.

Sociological and demographic concepts focusing on the causes of disease, health and wellness. Empirical analysis of population composition and its connection to health.

The influence of sustainability science on public policy and vice versa in the context of social/ethical theories, analytical methods and solutions.