Tricia Ryan

Description

American society and powerfully structured by inequalities based on gender, race, and class, but we are often oblivious to the ways in which these forces constantly work in our lives. From a sociological perspective, gender, race, and class intersect to structure individuals and groups’ life advantages and disadvantages. This course is designed to reveal how they do so in institutional arenas such as work, politics, the family,education, health and health care, the criminal justice system, and more. We will also discuss how institutionalized inequalities also operate at interpersonal and internalized levels, and the differing effects these different forms of racism, sexism, and classism may have. Over the course of the class, we will use many examples of popular culture,  both “high brow” and “low brow” to demonstrate the ways in which discourses surrounding race, gender, and class permeate all aspects of society. The goal of this course is to learn how to apply a sociological perspective to analyze how individual and group life chances are shaped by broader structures of privilege and disadvantage based on gender, race, and class. While this course is lecture based, discussion is a large component of the course, so be prepared to respectfully debate and discuss often controversial topics. 

Course Description

Sex and Violence are two highly charged topics. How we address sex, violence, and the relationship between sex and violence changes based on who is doing the speaking and the context in which we speak. We often speak of sex and violence as social behaviors to be controlled and avoided. However, our culture, especially our popular culture, portrays sex as a casual expression of love and violence as a sign of power. In this course, we will both break down the meanings of sex and violence in popular culture and use sociological insights to analyze popular culture in such a way it sheds light on beliefs, norms, and processes. Students will learn to become critical and reflective viewers of popular culture by analyzing the larger forces and belief systems that shape cultural representations.  A key focus of this course concerns the ways in which cultural depictions reflect, reproduce, or challenge social inequalities of class, race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality

In this course, we ask: How are sex and violence represented in popular culture? By examining the representation of sex and violence in television, film, the ―news,‖ short stories, video games, music, and the art, we investigate how realistic this representation is, and what impact does this representation have on the larger society. What are the ethics of these representations and how they exploit or reflect common values of contemporary popular culture!

This course provides an overview of sociological framings of sex and violence. We will discuss the differences between gender and sex as well as how the two are uniquely intertwined and both are important when we link sex to violence. It explores realistic and hyper-realistic representation of sex and love, violence and war in the popular culture. It then examines their ethical implications and the extent to which popular culture promotes or exploits their meanings. The course covers sociological approach to sexuality, violence and culture by examining concepts, assumptions, methods and implications in respect to a range of cases.

Students will analyze issues in a cultural context and use the disciplines of history, communication and sociology for an in-depth analysis of the topics. This course will consist primarily of the following: (1) interactive lectures; (2) analytical research and writing; (3) audiovisual materials; (4) small group exercises to promote constructive dialogues; and (5) an open forum for students to freely express their views.

Description

American society and powerfully structured by inequalities based on gender, race, and class, but we are often oblivious to the ways in which these forces constantly work in our lives. From a sociological perspective, gender, race, and class intersect to structure individuals and groups’ life advantages and disadvantages. This course is designed to reveal how they do so in institutional arenas such as work, politics, the family,education, health and health care, the criminal justice system, and more. We will also discuss how institutionalized inequalities also operate at interpersonal and internalized levels, and the differing effects these different forms of racism, sexism, and classism may have. Over the course of the class, we will use many examples of popular culture,  both “high brow” and “low brow” to demonstrate the ways in which discourses surrounding race, gender, and class permeate all aspects of society. The goal of this course is to learn how to apply a sociological perspective to analyze how individual and group life chances are shaped by broader structures of privilege and disadvantage based on gender, race, and class. While this course is lecture based, discussion is a large component of the course, so be prepared to respectfully debate and discuss often controversial topics. 

Description

American society and powerfully structured by inequalities based on gender, race, and class, but we are often oblivious to the ways in which these forces constantly work in our lives. From a sociological perspective, gender, race, and class intersect to structure individuals and groups’ life advantages and disadvantages. This course is designed to reveal how they do so in institutional arenas such as work, politics, the family,education, health and health care, the criminal justice system, and more. We will also discuss how institutionalized inequalities also operate at interpersonal and internalized levels, and the differing effects these different forms of racism, sexism, and classism may have. Over the course of the class, we will use many examples of popular culture,  both “high brow” and “low brow” to demonstrate the ways in which discourses surrounding race, gender, and class permeate all aspects of society. The goal of this course is to learn how to apply a sociological perspective to analyze how individual and group life chances are shaped by broader structures of privilege and disadvantage based on gender, race, and class. While this course is lecture based, discussion is a large component of the course, so be prepared to respectfully debate and discuss often controversial topics. 

Description:

American society and powerfully structured by inequalities based on gender, race, and class, but we are often oblivious to the ways in which these forces constantly work in our lives. From a sociological perspective, gender, race, and class intersect to structure individuals and groups’ life advantages and disadvantages. This course is designed to reveal how they do so in institutional arenas such as work, politics, the family, education, health and health care, the criminal justice system, and more. We will also discuss how institutionalized inequalities also operate at interpersonal and internalized levels, and the differing effects these different forms of racism, sexism, and classism may have. Over the course of the class, we will use many examples of popular culture,  both “high brow” and “low brow” to demonstrate the ways in which discourses surrounding race, gender, and class permeate all aspects of society. The goal of this course is to learn how to apply a sociological perspective to analyze how individual and group life chances are shaped by broader structures of privilege and disadvantage based on gender, race, and class. While this course is lecture based, discussion is a large component of the course, so be prepared to respectfully debate and discuss often controversial topics. 

Course Overview:

This course provides an overview of how health and inequality are linked globally, paying particular attention to development and health care delivery systems around the world. For all countries of the world achieving equity in health and  the delivery of health care services is a central goal, but one that is challenging and hard to achieve. As part of this course we examine the underlying principles that define equity in health care. Almost everywhere, the poor receive fewer services and lower quality health care than the affluent.

The course is divided into three sections. In the first segment of the course we explore the theoretical basis linking inequalities, both absolute and relative, to health worldwide. We will also examine aggregate statistics that show that even today the poor suffer from more illness and have higher mortality rates than the affluent. Since disadvantaged minority groups have higher rates of poverty than the majority population they are at higher risk of illness and death.

 In addition to poverty, other axes of inequality can help explain different health profiles for different groups. The second part of the course focuses on the intersection of different axes of inequality. In order to better understand differing population health profiles we examine the links between social variables such as race, class, and gender, and the health of different groups in both the developed and developing nations. Case studies will help us better understand the ways in which socio-demographic characteristics

The final section of the course focuses on the role of economic development in health as well as that of health care systems in the United States and other countries. An important question we address is why the United States is the only developed nation without a universal health care system. We will explore whether economic development as it is currently practiced can improve the health of vulnerable populations. We will also look at health systems around the world, especially health systems working on reforming themselves, to question whether systems can help address some of the inequalities discussed earlier in the course.

Required Texts

Wermuth, Laurie. (2003). Global Inequality and Human Needs: Health and Illness in an Increasingly Unequal World. Pearson Education Inc.

Course Requirements and Grading

Attendance/ Quizzes 10%

Writing Assignment 1 15%

Writing Assignment 2  15%

Exam 1 20%

Exam 2 20%

Exam 3 20%

Total 100%

Grading Scale

93 - 100 = A

90 - 92 = A-

87 – 89 = B+

83 – 86 = B

80 – 82 = B-

77 - 79 = C+

73 – 76 = C

70 – 72 = C –

67 – 69 = D+

63 – 66 = D

60 – 62 = D –

0 – 59 = F