2023-24 Academic Catalog

The FBI receives praise and criticism for shutting down Backpage.com. A conspiracy theory about online furniture company Wayfair goes viral. Jeffrey Epstein is arrested. What do these disparate events have in common? They are all recent incidents that raise the question: when and how will the United States respond to the crime of human trafficking? In the past several decades activists and governments around the world have been increasingly focused on addressing human trafficking. However, there is often disagreement about the best way to understand and attempt to prevent a crime that is tied to a complex host of social, political, and cultural forces. This course will cover how human trafficking is defined, measured and studied as well as the cultural and political factors that affect how it occurs and how we try to respond to it. Topics will include labor, sex and organ trafficking, globalization, migration and inequality, and the criminalization/decriminalization of sex-based labor. Prerequisite: The department strongly recommends that Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses numbered 200 or above.