The Logic of Cultural Comparison

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2012

In the context of recent theoretical advances in cultural sociology, the course considers how culture can be systematically compared across populations. While carrying out independent empirical studies, students will navigate the central problems associated with comparative cultural research: defining and measuring cultural phenomena, identifying appropriate units of cultural variation, understanding between- and within-unit heterogeneity, and demonstrating culture’s causal effects.