Spring 2025

Critical approaches to social and cultural changes stemming from disruptive innovations in the arts, science, technology, communications, new media, politics and business. Open only to Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation students.

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.

An introduction to cultures and people in the Americas; the social, historical, economic and cultural formations that together make up the Latino/a American imaginary.

Introduction to American studies and ethnic studies. Provides an overview of major theories, concepts, and issues.

Examines the socio-historical and political imperatives of multi-disciplinary scholarship foundational to the study of African Americans.

History, political-economy and aesthetics of the African Diaspora with emphasis on Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.

Archaeology as the means of investigating our shared human past, from the origins of humanity to the foundations of current civilization.

The effects of globalization on social life in diverse communities, approaching related issues from an ethnographic perspective. Gateway course for the Global Studies Major.

Introduces students to anthropological inquiry into human relationships with the environment and provides foundational training in qualitative research methods to investigate environmental issues.

Concepts of social anthropology, using filmic representations of societies throughout the world. Gateway course for the Anthropology major.

Pre-Columbian culture from early hunters to the Spanish conquest in major geographical areas of Mexico, Central America, Peru or the United States.

A seminar forum on Maya culture from the earliest form to thepresent; problems of origins, classic florescence, systemscollapse, conquests, persistance, and transformation today.

Indigenous peoples of North America: major cultural themes, contemporary issues, language revitalization, native sovereignty, environmental issues, decolonization.

Introduction to folklore as a discipline, including folklore research methods and theory. Core course for the minor in Folklore and Popular Culture.

The comparative analysis of genocide in different cultures and historical moments as well as different cultural responses to it, including human rights and humanitarianism.

Youth gang dynamics and their effects on institutions. Comparative analysis of Asian, African, and Mexican American gangs.

History and cultures of the ancient empires of southwest Asia, from Cyrus the Great to the establishment of Islam.

Analysis of historical change; social and political theory and revolutionary thought; introduction to competing images of future states of affairs; the continuing process of change. Students may not take this course on a P/NP basis.

Advanced-level introduction to China and its relations with the wider world in historic and contemporary perspective.

Analyze misinformation and disinformation on digital platforms using library research methodologies and applying information literacy principles. Examine how technology creates and disseminates information in society.

Gateway to the majors and minors in environmental studies. Provides students with an overview of how government agencies and societal institutions address (or fail to address) the interrelated social and scientific aspects of environmental problems and policies.

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.

How psychologists study thinking, memory, emotions, personality, and behavior, and how people change in these throughout adulthood to old age.

Explore social and behavioral foundations of health, longevity, and medicine, in the context of an increasingly diverse and long-lived population.

Individual and collective human action as it shapes and is shaped by economic organizations, political institutions, and broad social and cultural settings. (Satisfies GE-C, Social Analysis) Open only to Freshmen.

The causes and consequences of social phenomena; quantitative and qualitative methods of the social sciences; how people behave and influence the world through cultural forms. Offered by a professional school.

Achievements of the near East, Greece, and Rome with emphasis on the development of ideas, arts, and institutions which have influenced modern man.

Surveys the social, economic and political lives of Africans since the imposition of European colonial rule in the late nineteenth century.

Examines the origins of the idea of race and how this idea influenced the development of the United States from the colonial period to the present day.

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

Historical analysis of Fascism, focusing on fascist movements and ideas in twentieth-century Italy and Germany and their spread around Europe and the world.

Comparison of national and international differences in health status as influenced by cultural practices and lifestyles within geographic, economic, and political environments.

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.

Comprehensive introduction to contending theoretical and analytical approaches; development of critical, evaluative, cognitive, and analytical competencies regarding historical and contemporary issues.

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

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.

Major developments and issues in Arab-Israeli conflict from late Ottoman period to the present.

Explores business-government-society interaction. Examines how diverse interests and identities (social class, race, nationality and gender) affect the conduct and organization of business.

Modern political ideologies; their assumptions, perceptions, and prescriptions regarding political stability and social injustice:anarchism, communism, socialism, liberalism, conservatism, and fascism.

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

Review of legal and ethical traditions of citizenship withemphasis on the latter; consideration of implications for currentpractice of public policy-making and management.

The urban context for planning and policy decisions. Socioeconomic, physical and spatial structure of cities; and the underlying demographic, economic and social processes that drive their ongoing transformation.

Scientific perspective of close relationships: intimate relationships, friendships and others, evolutionary and biological bases of attraction and love, historical, social , cultural influences. Prerequisite: PSYC 100. (Duplicates credit in PSYC 359)

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

Basic concepts of sociology with special reference to group life,social institutions, and social processes.

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

Migration policies worldwide are negotiated by different stakeholders and create different contexts of reception that differently impact the everyday lives and livelihoods of migrants.

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

Historical and contemporary approaches to sociological theory; analysis of conceptual frameworks applied to the study of society and social interaction.

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

Introduction to the complex relationship between human development and natural hazards, which are increasingly causing damage and displacement to human populations throughout the world.