|
Class number:
2056
|
|
Title: Mafia |
|
Department: Formal Organizations |
|
Career: Undergraduate |
|
Component: Lecture |
|
Session: Regular |
|
Instructor's Permission Required: Yes |
|
Grading Basis: Regular |
|
Units: 1.00 |
| Enrollment limited to 15 |
|
Current enrollment: 14 |
|
Available seats: 1 |
|
Start date: Tuesday, September 5, 2023 |
|
End date: Thursday, December 21, 2023 |
|
Mode of Instruction: In Person |
|
Schedule: MWF: 11:00AM-11:50AM, HHN - 105 |
|
|
Instructor(s): Alcorn, John |
|
Prerequisite(s): None |
|
Distribution Requirement: Meets Humanities and Global Requirements |
Course Description:
In contemporary societies there is an intimate contest between two kinds of social order: The rule of law and criminal organization. A remarkable instance may be found in the workings and metamorphoses of the Mafia. From its origins in Sicily, an agrarian society on the periphery of Europe, the Mafia has acquired intercontinental dimensions and a grip on high politics and finance capital. This shadowy phenomenon has been approached and explained in very different ways by historians, anthropologists, sociologists, economists, and political scientists. It has also been the subject of literature and film. We shall discuss outstanding examples of each approach and treatment. The purposes of the course are to make sense of the Mafia, to explore a basic problem of social order and to compare the different styles of reasoning and representation that characterize the various disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. Course requirements: seminar reports, several short papers, and full attendance and participation. (Listed as both LACS 272 and ITAL 272.) |