Teaching

Sociology 321: Contemporary Studies of Race & Ethnicity Workshop

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2020
The Contemporary Studies of Race & Ethnicity (CSRE) workshop's purpose is to provide a forum to disseminate knowledge and facilitate dialogue among graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars working on or interested in research about contemporary studies related to race & ethnicity. Though the Sociology department hosts the workshop, we seek to bring scholars together across disciplines to explore topics such as ethno-racial hierarchies, racial attitudes, and intergroup relations, as well as the role of race in institutions, politics, and everyday life. The workshop will foster... Read more about Sociology 321: Contemporary Studies of Race & Ethnicity Workshop

African & African American Studies 150X: Race, Racism, and American Politics

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2018
This course takes up the questions of whether, how much (if at all), and why racial group identity and racism influence American political discourse, behavior and policy-making regarding issues of importance to African American communities. The course will also consider the future of debates within African American political thought and politics in the coming post-Obama era. The focus will be primarily on the post World War II era, especially the post-Civil Rights period to the present day. Among the topics we will address are: Obama and the racial divide in America, the rise of the Tea Party... Read more about African & African American Studies 150X: Race, Racism, and American Politics

Sociology 296A: Proseminar on Inequality & Social Policy I

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2017
The first doctoral seminar in the Inequality and Social Policy three-course sequence, this course considers the effects of policies and institutions in creating or reducing inequality in the U.S. and other advanced democracies, we well as the reciprocal effects of inequality on political activity and policy choices.

African & African American Studies 11: Introduction to African Studies

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2016
This course introduces students to the general outlines of African archeology, history and geography, as well as key concepts in the study of African health, social life , economic situation, arts, and politics. Our aim is to give students a fundamental vocabulary and interdisciplinary methodology for the study of Africa. Throughout, we assume that Africa is not a unique isolate but a continent bubbling with internal diversity, historical change, and cultural connections beyond its shores. The course is open to all students who are interested in exploring various dimensions of African life... Read more about African & African American Studies 11: Introduction to African Studies

African & African American Studies 16: Sociology of the Black Community

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2015

This course examines issues of race, class, gender, and identity in the Afro-American community. Topics of special emphasis include the contemporary situation of the black family, class stratification and the conditions and prospects of the modern black middle class, black feminist thought, black educational performance, and the dynamics of race. Our objective is to arrive at a deeper sociological analysis and appreciation of the changing life experiences awaiting African Americans.

Sociology 248: Race, Politics, and Social Inequality

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2014
Examines intersection of race, public will, and policy-making. Reviews theories of race-making and racial inequality, dynamics of public opinion, and effects of a racialized public sphere on social policy. Focuses on the welfare state, the criminal justice system, and the dynamics of a multiethnic society.

Sociology 183: Race and Ethnic Relations

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2013

Focuses on ethno-racial distinctions as they have played out in the US, particularly in the period from post-World War II to the present. The specific topics covered include the concept of race itself, whiteness and white identity, sociological theories of racial and ethnic stratification, immigration and immigration politics, processes of assimilation, new and changing ethno-racial identities, and racial attitudes. In the process of addressing these large and cross-cutting topics we will also take up a host of related issues dealing with such matters as income and wealth...

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African & African American Studies 147: Racial Identity, Politics, and Public Policy

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2012
This course examines how race and perceived racial difference affect political discourse, mobilization, representation, and political outcomes. We will examine the fate of policies such as affirmative action and welfare reform, and the prospects for multiracial coalition politics. We will also consider the role of elected representatives, the media, and the traditional racial divide in affecting political outcomes of importance to African Americans and to other communities of color.

Sociology 98B: Race and Crime

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2009
New research on how and why criminal justice policy in the US has such a powerfully differential negative impact on African American communities.

Sociology 185: Race and Crime in America

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2008
Examines sociological thinking and research on race and crime. General theories of involvement in crime and deviance will be discussed with special attention to issues of youth gangs, to impact of poverty and of racial residential segregation on involvement in crime, and the impact of high rates of incarceration on minority communities. The course will address the tightly interconnected politics of race and crime as well the role the media plays in fostering fear of crime and racial stereotypes. Finally, the course will engage the major public policy questions raised by the now historic high... Read more about Sociology 185: Race and Crime in America

African & African American Studies 146: Black America in Transition

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2008
This course examines how changes in communities, the economy, and culture are remaking the African American experience. We will examine processes of neighborhood change and segregation as well as the impact of immigration on black communities. Gender dynamics will be a topic of attention. The course will also closely examine changing class stratification, dynamics and tensions in the black community. All of these will be set in a context of evolving group cultural expression and responses to societal racism.

Afro-American Studies 196Z: Race, Segregation and Inequality

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2001
Examines the changing status of African-Americans in the post-civil rights era from a variety of social science perspectives. The focus is on major scholarly assessments of the status of Blacks. Among the focal points of inquiry will be: race-based economic inequality; processes of racial residential segregation; and racial prejudice and bias in politics and everyday interaction. Although focused on contemporary issues and research, the course draws on foundational approaches developed by Du Bois, Johnson, and Drake and Cayton in their pioneering assessments of the status of Blacks.

Afro-American Studies 143: African-Americans and a New Racial Divide

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2000
This course directly engages the debate over racism in post-civil rights America. It provides a contemporary assessment of whether, how much, and why racial dynamics influence education, the economy, politics, and broader social relations. Special attention is devoted to matters of general intellectual and cultural trends as well as to the hard politics of the welfare reform, the criminal justice system, and the HIV/AIDs epidemic in Black communities. It seeks a critical assessment of the future of African-Americans in the post-civil rights, post-affirmative action U.S.