ANTH-B 190
BECOMING MODERN
Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species didn’t create the modern world, but his ideas were a featured voice in the chorus of change. After the book’s publication, people begin to see how the world had changed, and how it would continue to change, and that the hierarchies of nature and race and class where power flowed in a fixed chain on down, were false. This modern point of view required people to critically examine what they thought then knew and what they used to be told. Judging the information we’re getting and the conclusions drawn from it is a critical task. But how do we know that the evidence is correct, or that the conclusions are valid? Can we even tell if the person trying to convince us is mistaken or outright lying? By the end of this course, you’ll hopefully have an appreciation for how science is used to sort truth from fiction and what it takes to settle a debate in science. You will also better understand the reason why correct theories may be rejected for decades before being accepted, while others that have been proved as false as possible within the realm of science hang on for just as long.
CULTURE OF AFRICAN AMERICANS
The primary objective of this course is to provide non-anthropology majors with a comprehensive overview of African American culture. This is accomplished through the use of anthropological, historical, and historical resources which describe the familial, economical, religious, educational, and political dynamics of African American culture. An examination of the origins of African American culture is also discussed through an emphasis on African American cultural history. The description of these major components of African American culture is provided in order to develop a better understanding of the contemporary social issues affecting African Americans. Specific African American associated social issues include cultural assimilation, affirmative action, criminal justice issues, and health problems.
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY
This course provides insights into social and cultural processes as they are affected by the evolving dominance of technological developments and the scientific knowledge which supports those developments. Simultaneously, this course in turn examines how societal structures and cultural values influence ways in which technologies are created, ways in which scientific activities are enacted, and how the package of science and technology is understood and communicated by people. Anthropology as a social science both uses and provides important critiques on how the scientific method, science in general, and technological developments are socioculturally constructed and cybernetically feed back into larger sociocultural contexts. Students will learn to read, interpret, and critically analyze a variety of historical, sociocultural, quantitative, and qualitative materials dealing with scientific research, its contexts, and its repercussions.
SOCIAL WORLDS OF CHILDREN
How do social ideas of what children are, what children need, and what children mean affect the experience of being a child? In this interdisciplinary course we will use readings from sociology, history, demography and anthropology to explore the on-going social and historical construction of children and childhood. Attention to the role of adults in constructing the social worlds of children will be balanced by new research in the sociology of childhood which focuses on children as social actors who not only experience the social worlds constructed by adults, but actively participate in their making. The ideal of childhood as a space and time of innocence, play, and learning constructed in 17th and 18th century Europe is today, as then, a stark contrast to the lived experience of most children in the world today. This course will take a global perspective on the topic of childhood. This course has four main objectives. (1) This course is designed to help you develop your critical thinking skills. In class discussions and written assignments related to readings and films you will have regular opportunities to analyze arguments, ask questions, and develop your own point of view. (2) Using historical and contemporary sources we will explore the diverse ways in which childhood has been constructed across time and space focusing on the construction of the ideal of childhood innocence in the 17th century. (3) We will explore the lives of children “at risk” and the effects of this Western ideal in the lives of these children. (4) We will consider the emergent understanding of children “as risk” by looking at the problems of child soldiers, child witches, and “youth” culture. Questions about children and childhood are also at the center of contemporary social theory. Thinking about the lives of children requires that we think about questions of human agency, the practices involved in the construction and dissemination of ideas and norms, the relationship between nature and nurture, and the proper role of cultural relativism.
SPORTS, PLAY, AND GAMES
Ever wonder how why the culture of soccer is so different around the world? How do sports, games, and play influence culture? This course will examine the rituals and rules embedded in the everyday sports, games, and play – focusing on themes of: violence, racism, gender, power, sex, and war. The course will consist of playing games, attending events, watching videos, lecture, discussion, creating games, etc. We will discuss: jocks, gamers, cheerleaders, body-builders, MMORPGs, hooligans, tailgaters, and more – to examine human behavior, social institutions, and the culture of games, sports, and play.
BUS-B 190
INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Business organizations play an important role in our lives. We interact with businesses in a variety of ways, including as employees, consumers, and investors. One form of business organization—corporations—wield enormous power. Given the pervasiveness of business in our lives, one intention of this class is to help you make greater sense of the world in which you live and enable you to make better informed decisions. In particular, W100 introduces you to a wide range of management issues. This will help to prepare you for other business classes that you may take and for your career. Or, for nonbusiness students, it will give you a useful overview of key business issues and the context within which businesses operate. Also this class may help you choose your career by making you aware of key features of: business trends, business ownership, business management, management of human resources, marketing, and managing financial resources.
CJUS-B 190
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE HIP-HOP PLAYLIST
This course will introduce students to the main components of the criminal justice system
through the lens of hip-hop music. In this class, students will explore the historical development
of hip-hop music and the interconnectedness this music genre has to criminological theory and
the criminal justice system. This class will also examine how hip-hop showcases the lived
experiences of criminals and victims. Finally, students will explore hip-hop’s critique of criminal
justice policies, programs, and racial disparities.
CRIME AND THE MEDIA!
Have you ever wondered whether what you see about crime in the media is accurate? Do Criminal Minds, Orange is the New Black, and Law and Order: SVU resemble real FBI, corrections, courtroom, and policing? This course will examine the criminal justice system through a media lens, including, but not limited to: offenders, victims, policing, courts, and corrections portrayals; the impact on general public perceptions relating to criminal justice policy; and a comparison of old vs. new media in relation to availability of crime news stories, myths, and realities. Emphasis will be placed on social construction, myths, issues, and reality of crime media in the U.S. Students also will explore how to prepare for college, what skills are needed to thrive in higher education, and learn about all IUSB has to offer!
COGS-B 190
HOW THE MIND WORKS
What exactly is the human mind? How does it relate to the human brain? How does it make possible human behaviors, such as perception, learning, remembering, physical movement, social cooperation, and even loving? In this course, we will investigate such questions through the lens of cognitive science. We will also consider implications of mind-related inquiry. For example: Can the right program running on a sufficiently powerful computer be considered a mind? Should ‘smart drugs’ and brain implants be used by those with ‘healthy minds’ in order to augment mental performance? What happens when an intelligent lethal weapon is deployed for warfare, while humans are completely ‘removed from the loop’ which determines its actions?
HSC-B 190
DISABILITIES RELATED TO COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY
Introduction to behavioral and social aspects of communication disorders. There will be an emphasis on human perception of disabilities and the experiences of individuals with communication disorders. Also discussed are the potential influences of popular media in shaping the thinking of the public with regard to persons with communication disabilities or differences.
FLINT WATER CRISIS: WHAT THE EYES DO NOT SEE
Students will examine the Flint Water Crisis through the lens of public health and learn about the behaviors and actions that led to this public health crisis. We will examine the impact, practices, and policies in our local communities to understand the diverse impacts of lead in water and the living environment. Students will examine the Flint Water Crisis through the lens of public health and learn about the behaviors and actions that led to this public health crisis. We will examine the impact, practices, and policies in our local communities to understand the diverse impacts of lead in water and the living environment.
PALC-B 190
INTRODUCTION TO PALLIATIVE CARE
This course introduces students from diverse disciplines to the interdisciplinary field of Palliative and Supportive care, which improves the quality of life for people of all ages with serious illnesses. Students will be introduced to the philosophy under which a variety of professionals work in teams, creating systems that serve the needs of diverse people, eliminating disparities, and improving health and social outcomes. It may be taken as part of a Minor in Palliative and Supportive Care.
POLS-B 190
ABUSE OF NUMBERS IN POLITICS
Mark Twain is often credited with having claimed “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” This course will examine how social scientists, politicians, advocacy groups and political commentators use statistics to support arguments; the course does not presume that all statistics are lies, but will work to develop the critical tools to evaluate when statistics are well researched and fairly presented–and when not. This is not a course in statistics and does not require special math skills, but will examine how numbers are used in the social sciences and politics.
INTRODUCING GLOBALIZATION
This course offers an analysis of globalization that addresses what is happening to us personally as well as economically amidst the market-led processes of global integration. The focus is on the ways macro-economic reforms such as free trade agreements and privatization initiatives have come together with much more micro innovations in how personal behavior is organized by market forces such as rethinking education as a personal investment practice, for example. Mediating between these macro and micro scales of capitalist transformation are a wide array of other market-based mechanisms that are examined in the course, ranging from bond risk ratings to the market metrics shaping FICO scores, to personalized medicine and online mapping. Tracing these developments with an awareness of their material geographic variation and unevenness, the course offers an alternative to economistic assumptions about choice-maximizing behavior on a ‘level playing field’. It explores instead the complex uneven development dynamics of globalization in ways that allow students to see how their own personal perspectives on these dynamics are at once outcomes and enablers of economic and social change. By doing so, the course aims at enabling students to be more engaged participants in the ongoing debates over the direction these dynamics should take.
MEDIA, FRAMING AND POLITICS
In 2013, a public opinion poll found that only twenty-‐eight percent of over four thousand
respondents felt that journalists contributed “a lot” to society. This is reflective of a trend in which mass media, although present in most citizens’ everyday lives, is widely distrusted and even despised. This is particularly true in the case of American national politics, where media has played an influential “fourth branch” role with regard to checks and balances. With the onset of cable news and the rising influence of outlets such as talk radio and internet blogs, the political media has grown increasingly partisan, encouraging what scholars have called “narrowcasting”—a situation where citizens expose themselves to self-‐selected, and ideologically-‐pleasing, sources of news. At the same time, largely internet-‐based new media have reshaped the political landscape. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and other social networking sites are ubiquitous in discussions of politics. They have affected political dialogue, election campaigning, reporting, and democracy. Such new technologies bring citizens closer to politics and provide new outlets for engaging the political process. Regardless of the form of media one chooses to engage, all sources are contributing frames, or perspectives on political developments—this may include at times, basic partisan frames, but goes much further than this surface-‐level analysis. The course will discuss the role of media framing, the power of the media to set the political agenda, and the role of citizens in both evaluating and engaging various forms of media.
PSY-B 190
CROSS-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT (also MULTI-CULTURAL LIFESPAN DEV.)
This course provides an introduction to the complex nature of human development from a multicultural perspective. This course will focus on three domains of development: physical, cognitive, and social as an ongoing set of interrelated processes across the lifespan. By critically examining developmental similarities and differences between cultures, you will develop the capacity to evaluate and appreciate the relative contributions of both nature (as indicated by similarities) and nurture (as indicated by differences). This will lead to an increased awareness of the impact of individuals’ real-world settings as well as biological constraints on human development. From this understanding, you will gain the capacity to think more critically about your own development as well as the development of those relying on you as nurtures. In addition, you will be better able to relate and apply concepts to what you observe and experience in an expanding multicultural society.
DEATH AND LIFE LESSONS
This course focuses on death and end-of-life issues within a variety of perspectives, including historical, biomedical, multicultural, and religious theories. Existential issues related to the human significance of death for individuals and community will be addressed. Students will be introduced to a basic overview of laws and ethics regarding end-of-life issues, and participate in group discussions using critical thinking skills acquired in class. Guest speakers will include professionals working in funeral preparation, hospice, and grief and bereavement programs.
INTELLIGENCE & SOCIETY (Also IQ AND SOCIETY)
The course will focus on the ways that intelligence is conceptualized in the United States. This will include folk, academic, and institutional perspectives on intelligence. We will focus on the psychological perspective, but we will also discuss how different conceptions of intelligence create different institutional responses in our schools, workplace, and in our political discourse. We will also consider the fundamental inequalities in financial resources between dark skinned peoples and light skinned peoples. How one perceives these differences to have been created changes how one might reasonably address the phenomenon.
POKER: BEHAVIORAL, CLINICAL, COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL CONCEPTS
This course will utilize poker as a means of illustrating numerous concepts related to various fields of psychology (clinical, social), general sciences (behavioral and cognitive), as well as law and statistics. At the conclusion of the course, the student will understand the relative value of how various disciplines can be used to understand how poker playing affects the individual and how social institutions affect poker players and social groups.
PSYCHOLOGY OF PARENTING
In this course on parenting, we will learn about basic parenting processes using academic texts as well as self-help parenting manuals. We will explore theories and research on parenting from an interdisciplinary perspective as well as considering how this information should inform public policy. Last, we will focus on parenting images in the world at large by using films, popular comics, and other everyday media to better understand parenting theory and how society views parenting. You do NOT need to be a parent to take this course!
SOCIAL JUSTICE
This class will explore social justice issues, asking what role psychological research, theory, and practice have played. Students will select one of three social justice streams: HIV/AIDS, globalization, and youth oriented interventions. In addition to lecture/discussion, students will get involved with a community organization and keep bi-weekly blogs about what they have learned.
SOC-B 190
CONFLICT & CONFLICT RESOLUTION
This course is an introduction to learning practical skills for understanding and resolving personal and group conflicts. It looks at the causes of conflict and its dynamics. The role of crucial factors such as communication, culture, gender and power in conflict and conflict resolution will be examined. Students will also be introduced to different methods of conflict resolution such as conflict transformation, negotiation and mediation.
EVERYDAY LEADERSHIP
This course is designed to develop insight into social institutions and human nature by examining the moral and ethical issues of everyday leadership. Throughout the semester students will analyze the different standards for leadership while conceptualizing preconceived notions of leaders and followers. Students will look at complex societal issues and distinguish between power and authority in an effort to learn the attitudes, behavior and skills needed for effective everyday leadership.
GLOBALIZATION AND IMMIGRATION
Globalization and immigration are two of the most important issues of our time. We live in a more interconnected world than at any other time in history. We have the technology to move money, companies, cultures, ideas, and people across national borders astonishing fast. This process impacts all of us both positively and negatively and in different ways. What does the future hold for you, your family, your community, Indiana, and the United States, as we learn how to live in a globalized world? This class seeks to examine this question, as well as address the little-known realities of globalization, as well as commonly held myths of immigration. We will examine how the individual, the institutions they inhabit, and the societies they populate, all adjust and compete for a place at the table in this new world order.
GLOBALIZATION OF SOCIAL LIFE
The world is getting smaller, and in some cases at least, scarier. Globalization is the term given to the ever closer cultural, political and economic connections that span the globe. We will explore these connections and look at what they mean for the various social problems facing the planet, including: 1) Inequality and the search for social justice; 2) Violence and the search for social harmony; and 3) Environment and the search for societal sustainability. We will also probe possible interventions to make a positive difference while seeking build a more equitable, peaceful, and sustainable world. To analyze our changing planet we will draw on the social science disciplines of anthropology, sociology, geography, political science and economics. We will also consider the insights and background offered by psychology, history and ecology.
HUMAN-ANIMAL INTERACTION
This course will explore peoples’ relationships with animals and the various roles that animals play in human societies. We will consider people’s interactions with a wide range of species, but our primary focus will be on the role of domestic animals in human lives and societies. A significant portion of the course addresses people’s relationships with pets, and treatment and interactions with animals used for food. In short, we will explore why there are “some (animals) we love, some we hate, some we eat” (Herzog 2010). Additional topics include differences and similarities between human and nonhuman animals, historical and cultural variations in human-animal relations, debates over animal rights and treatment, and the impact of human-animal relations on the welfare of animals, humans, and society. This is an interdisciplinary course that will include perspectives from a range of fields, including sociology, psychology, history, anthropology, and zoology. The course is taught as a seminar, so students will be expected to take an active role, reading, discussing, and writing about course topics.
HUMAN RIGHTS
This course serves as an introduction to the theoretical and sociological foundations of human rights in various civilizations and cultures. While surveying the legitimacy of human rights within both Western and non-Western traditions, students will critically examine the meaning and relevance of contemporary human rights issues including torture, political repression, genocide, refugees, minority, children and women’s rights, and war crimes.
IDEOLOGY, IDENTITY & RITUAL
This course will explore the interconnectedness of ideology, identity and ritual in the making of the self in society. We will begin by investigating the concept of ideology from two different perspectives, the psychological and the socio-cultural. The comparison of these two perspectives will allow us to then explore the processes of socialization and the developmental sequences that assist in the formation of the individual’s identity within a given society. Since ritual behaviors are intrinsically tied to this process, we will dissect a range of ritualistic behavior and explore the social significance of each.
MAKING SENSE OF COLLEGE LIFE
Have you ever wondered how colleges and universities operate beyond the day-to-day life of students taking classes and participating in campus activities? Have you ever stopped to think about how researchers in sociology, anthropology, history, and economics make sense of college life? Have you read a novel or watched a movie about college life and wondered where such images of university life came from, since they were so different from your own experiences? In this course, we’ll take a behind-the-scenes look at college life, and life at IUSB in particular, from the perspectives of various individuals, units and groups on campus. We will learn about how scholars in different disciplines make sense of everything from residence hall life to college athletics. We will also study depictions of colleges/universities in film and in fiction to get other perspectives on campus life.
MAKING SENSE OF HIV/AIDS
This course is inspired by the fact that, despite our wishes, the HIV/AIDS crisis is not over. A sociological analyses of HIV/AIDS can lead to deeper understandings of how we might better respond to the social dilemmas, fundamental human behaviors, and ethical questions related to the epidemic. We explore the links between institutional, group (community), and personal experiences of the epidemic. Sometimes, this is a story about the ways that dominant institutions that many of us take for granted (i.e. government, health care, medicine, science, media, education) have mobilized for or against the interests of the groups most devastated by HIV. The Politics of HIV/AIDS provides a survey of the historical, epidemiological, medical, cultural, sociological, psychological, legal and political aspects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Among the topics addressed are the: historical links between sexuality, disease, and stigma; multiple conceptualizations and meanings of HIV/AIDS; ways in which race, class, gender, age, and sexualities shape institutional and social; responses to the crises; ethical dilemmas surrounding public health policies and legal matters; values, actions, and policies of social institutions charged with responding to the issue.
MEDICAL CARE: WHO DECIDES?
This is a first level course designed to provoke interest in the “big picture” within which medicine as we know it has come to be, and some of the issues in how it is changing from the points of view of the different “players”: patients, physicians, and other medical professionals, government and public health policies, and the historians, sociologists, economists and anthropologists who study the past and present and how the “everyday people” fit into this picture and effect it. Think of this course as very interdisciplinary – drawing from a variety of writing – academic, investigative reporting and essayists and even websites and blogs. This is not a “medical course”, but a course about medicine and the issues that it brings into our everyday conversations and ways of thinking about health, society and the self.
THE NATIVE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN NORTH AMERICA
The course will look at how encounters between various European groups (e.g., Spanish, French, English, Dutch) led to differing outcomes with different native groups. The topic involves history, archeology, cultural anthropology, and sociology.
NEW AND UNUSUAL RELIGIONS
Examines the emergence and existence of religious groups that differ significantly from more mainstream traditions such as Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Relying on historical accounts of these groups, students will learn to analyze them using social research methods. Some of the groups to be examined may include the Amish, Heaven’s Gate, Scientology, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, The Way International, and the Unification Church. The focus of the class will be on understanding the history of these groups in light of their relationship with society and with the more established religions of their day, as well as exploring questions of who joins these groups and why. Students will be introduced to sociological theories of religion as well as controversies surrounding these groups such as brainwashing and deprogramming.
SOCIAL PROBLEMS THROUGH FILM
This course will examine some of the major social and economic problems in the US today. Course materials will frame these problems primarily through an institutional approach, however that approach will be contrasted with the individual schools of thought. Institutional and individualistic theoretical approaches will be contrasted and utilized to examine current issues in the US today, such as inequality, war, racism, and homophobia. Inevitably, this course will expose students to controversial issues. This course requires students to be open and critically engaged in understanding the problems of our society, their causes and their solutions.
SOCIAL WORLDS OF CHILDREN
How do social ideas of what children are, what children need, and what children mean affect the experience of being a child? In this interdisciplinary course we will use readings from sociology, history, demography and anthropology to explore the on-going social and historical construction of children and childhood. Attention to the role of adults in constructing the social worlds of children will be balance by new research in the sociology of childhood which focuses on children as social actors who not only experience the social worlds constructed by adults, but actively participate in their making.
WORK IN THE NEW ECONOMY
This course will examine some of the major trends at work in the new economy. Books will focus on four major issues: the growth of the service economy, the globalization of work, the remaking of American labor movement, and the balance between work and family. The course has two main goals. The first is to help students develop a deeper understanding of the social, economic, historical, and political forces underlying the social institution of work in the 21st century. We will investigate how individuals create social structures through their interactions at work and how those social structures, in turn, shape human behavior inside and outside of the workplace. The second goal of this course is to encourage students to engage in critical thinking. Class discussions, films, lectures, and writing assignments will encourage students to raise questions, analyze arguments, and construct alternative viewpoints about work in the new economy.
YOUTH IN TODAY’S SOCIETY
This is a course about youth in the contemporary United States. We will spend time examining the lives of older youth (middle schoolers, teenagers, and young adults) rather than younger children, although the questions we raise throughout the semester can apply to children of all ages. Our approach to studying youth focuses on historical and cultural interpretations of youth cultures in the United States, as well as the social institutions that inform individual and group experiences of youth.
SUST-B 190
THE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
In this course, students will be introduced to systems thinking and begin to examine the foundations of sustainability. Sustainability is generally characterized as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It requires the integration of natural scientific understanding of the foundations of sustainability and the threat of environmental degradation, with social and behavioral scientific understanding of the social, economic, cultural and political factors driving the human contributions to the problem, as well as to its solution. It also draws upon the historical perspective, ethical sensibility, and creative imagination of the arts and humanities to help understand what led us to this point and to map out alternative futures.
WGS-B 190
COMING TO AMERICA: RACE, GENDER AND IMMIGRATION
This course will examine how immigrants have shaped America and how the immigration experience alters their own gender, racial, and class identity. Much of the recent debate about immigrants and asylum seekers has perpetuated negative stereotypes and portrayed immigration as an “unprecedented problem.” This course will provide historical context and analyze how our current rhetoric is deeply rooted in 19th and 20th century conversations about what it means to be American and who should be allowed to immigrate.