Sustainability

This course is a fast-paced, multimedia introduction to historical and contemporary social problems in the U.S. utilizing an intersectional framework. Over the course of the semester, we will socially diagnose problems relating to: poverty; environmental issues; education; the carceral state; race and racism; gender inequality; and sexualities. For each social problem we analyze, we will address the following four questions: What is the problem?  What makes it a social problem? What causes the problem? How can we imagine a more just society and mobilize social change to achieve it?

Current social problems such as economic, racial, and gender inequalities; social deviance and crime; population, environmental, energy, and health problems. SOC 5 Social Problems (3) (GS)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course is designed to introduce students to the main societal issues facing humanity at the present time and in the foreseeable future. Although the course examines a number of social issues in the United States (such as crime and poverty), the course generally takes an international and inter-cultural perspective. The primary social issues that affect individuals and their children today are global, rather than national, in scope. For this reason, globalization is a recurring theme in the course. Discussion and questions are encouraged in all sections. This course meets a General Education requirement in the Social and Behavioral Sciences.