ClassInfo

This course will introduce you to a sociological perspective on crime and punishment in the United States. Three central aspects of the criminal justice process will be discussed. First, this course will start with an account of policing and the courts. Second, we will discuss punishment with a focus on incarceration. Third, we will discuss the causes and consequences of the carceral state.

This course meets the Council on Liberal Education's (CLE) Civic Life and Ethics Theme. That said, this course offers an opportunity to become critically engaged about the world around you and to become more informed in your public life whether when serving on a jury, getting involved in politics, or pursuing a criminal justice career. As a Civic Life and Ethics Theme requirement, this course equips you with analytical skills to evaluate core questions about the criminal justice system such as: What is a crime? Who is a criminal? Is the U.S. system of punishment fair? How does society seek to address racial and ethnic inequalities in the criminal justice system? These questions are not just objective but also ethical and normative and should elicit strong feelings and debate. As we spend this semester examining and discussing these controversies, this course will enable you to learn how to consider broader research evidence from various disciplinary perspectives, including anthropology, sociology, psychology, and law, when analyzing criminal justice patterns and policies.

10% Attendance & Participation
20% Engagement
10% Outside Field Assignment
30% Midterm Exam
30% Final Exam

In this course we examine race, class, and gender as axes of stratification, identity, and experience. More importantly, we learn how these and other crucial aspects of social identity intersect to form a complex matrix of privilege and power. Our goal is to understand the multiple and intersecting ways that these concepts shape American society and influence each of our lives, life-chances, and daily interactions.

This course meets the Diversity and Social Justice in the U.S. theme, the Social Sciences core, and the Writing Intensive.

In this course, students will:

-Explore the social construction of race, class, gender, as well as ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, and (dis)ability;

-Consider how race, class, gender, and other dimensions of social organization shape individual experiences and interactions with social institutions such as education, work, medicine, and law;

-Develop and use a 'sociological imagination' to analyze privilege and inequalities;

-Learn how to develop a sociological research question, review relevant literatures, design a project, and write a research proposal

Participation and Attendance = 20% (100 points)

Five Reading Response Memos = 20% (100 points total/20 points per response)

Peer review = 10% (50 points)

Final Paper = 50% (250 points)

This course focuses on alcohol and drug control in the U.S. Using film, literature and popular media - in addition to the rich and fascinating sociological literature on drugs - we will explore the peculiar and perplexing story of U.S. drug control. We will examine the dynamic and ostensibly arbitrary history of alcohol and drug policies, assess current trends in consumption, treatment and punishment, and unpack a concept often used but rarely questioned:
addiction. Ultimately, we will be able to utilize course materials to reflect on our perceptions of - and (in)experience with - drugs and alcohol, question what we take for granted, and explore what we do not know.