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Start date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026 |
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End date: Friday, May 8, 2026 |
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Mode of Instruction: In Person |
Course Description:
This course will enhance your ability to think critically about the problems we face in society from a sociological perspective, analyze social movements that have developed in response, and examine specific groups working for change. In our investigation of social movements, we will utilize various theoretical perspectives, including theories of collective behavior, resource mobilization, political opportunity/process, network/media/alternative globalization, and new social movement theory for the digital age. We will be concerned with not only how social problems come to be defined as such, but also with who is affected by these problems and how, and with what people are doing, have done, and might continue to do to address unequal distributions of power, money, protection, and other resources -- in the face of efforts from state and global actors to stifle movements. We will examine how individuals have come together to change society through protest, revolution, and other forms of resistance in U.S.-based and international movements historically, and we will also discuss responses to inequalities and oppression as they characterize the national and global climate today. Finally, we will consider possibilities for social change in the future and examine the landscape of current social movements, comparing outcomes. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to research issues they deem worthy of collective response and envision their own social movements. |