ENROLL

Lin Deng

The structure and function of writing systems, with emphasis on a comparison of East Asian writing systems (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) to Western alphabetic systems. Topics covered include classification of writing systems, historical development, diffusion and borrowing of writing systems, and comparison with non-writing symbol systems.

Jason Decker

An interdisciplinary examination of issues concerning the mind and mental phenomena. The course will draw on work from diverse fields such as artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, philosophy, linguistics, anthropology, and neuroscience. Topics to be discussed include: the mind-body problem, embodied cognition, perception, representation, reasoning, and learning.

Kathleen Galotti

In this seminar course we will examine how children, adolescents, and adults confront moral dilemmas, reason about ethical issues, and decide on a course of action when challenged by confounding questions. Topics include the development of moral reasoning, gender difference in moral reasoning, socio-cultural influences on moral reasoning, and how moral issues intersect with other realms of decision making. We will examine work by Lawrence Kohlberg, Carol Gilligan, Eliot Turiel, and Jonathan Haidt. As a seminar, the emphasis will be on discussion. Course requirements include regular attendance and participation, preparing and leading class discussions, short reaction/reflection papers, and a final paper. 

Prerequisite: Cognitive Science 130 or Cognitive Science 232, 236 or any 200-level course in Psychology or Instructor Consent

Yingtong Xie

Victor Almeida

Michael Hemesath

Aaron Swoboda

This course gives the students a foundation in the general principles of economics as a basis for effective citizenship and, when combined with 110, as a preparation for all advanced study in economics. Topics include consumer choice theory; the formation of prices under competition, monopoly, and other market structures; the determination of wages, profits, and income from capital; the distribution of income; and an analysis of policy directed towards problems of public finance, pollution, natural resources, and public goods.

Prathi Seneviratne

This course gives the students a foundation in the general principles of economics as a basis for effective citizenship and, when combined with 110, as a preparation for all advanced study in economics. Topics include consumer choice theory; the formation of prices under competition, monopoly, and other market structures; the determination of wages, profits, and income from capital; the distribution of income; and an analysis of policy directed towards problems of public finance, pollution, natural resources, and public goods.

Jonathan Lafky

This course gives the students a foundation in the general principles of economics as a basis for effective citizenship and, when combined with 110, as a preparation for all advanced study in economics. Topics include consumer choice theory; the formation of prices under competition, monopoly, and other market structures; the determination of wages, profits, and income from capital; the distribution of income; and an analysis of policy directed towards problems of public finance, pollution, natural resources, and public goods.

Denise M. Hare

In the course of a few decades, China has launched itself from a poor country to a rising world power, at the same time substantially improving living standards and dramatically transforming its production base. What steps did China take to bring about these changes? We will examine China’s domestic economic reforms and development, considering the goals and impacts of various policy measures, along with on-going challenges. Topics to be considered include population, labor, income inequality, land, food production, industry, foreign relations, credit and financial markets, and the environment. While China will be our central focus, students will have some opportunities to compare and contrast with other country experiences.

Prerequisite: Eonomics 110 and 111

Prathi Seneviratne

This course uses economic theory and empirical evidence to examine gender differentials in education, marriage, fertility, earnings, labor market participation, occupational choice, and household work. Trends and patterns in gender-based outcomes will be examined across time, across countries, and within socio-economic groups, using empirical evidence from both historical and recent research. The impact of government and firm policies on gender outcomes will also be examined. By the end of the course, students will be able to utilize the most common economic tools in the study of gender inequality, as well as understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Prerequisite: Economics 111

Nathan Grawe

Prerequisite: Economics 111

Jonathan Lafky

This course introduces experimental economics and behavioral economics as two complementary approaches to understanding economic decision making. We will study the use of controlled experiments to test and critique economic theories, as well as how these theories can be improved by introducing psychologically plausible assumptions to our models. We will read a broad survey of experimental and behavioral results, including risk and time preferences, prospect theory, other-regarding preferences, the design of laboratory and field experiments, and biases in decision making.

Prerequisite: Economics 110 and 111

Faress Bhuiyan

Prerequisite: Economics 110 and 111

Michael Hemesath

Prerequisite: Economics 110

Mark Kanazawa

This course is an introduction to the statistical methods used by economists to test hypotheses and to study and quantify economic relationships. The course emphasizes both econometric theory and practical application through analysis of economic data sets using statistical software. Prior experience with R is strongly encouraged. Topics include two-variable and multiple regression, interval estimation and hypothesis testing, discrete and continuous structural change, parameter restrictions, model construction, experimental design, issues of functional specification, model overfitting and underfitting, heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and multicollinearity.

Prerequisite: Mathematics 111 and either Statistics 120 (formerly Mathematics 215) or Statistics 250 (formerly Mathematics 275), and Economics 110 and 111 or instructor consent

Jenny Bourne

Prerequisite: Economics 110 and 111 and Mathematics 111

Extra Time Required

Faress Bhuiyan

Students will be exposed to theoretical models of economic development both from a micro and a macro perspective. Econometric models including probits, logits, instrumental variables, ordered probits, and ordered logits will be applied to micro-level data to study theoretical models dealing with migration, poverty, inequality, nutrition, development program evaluation, and decision making in the context of developing countries. Economic development will also be explored from the perspective of the "growth literature" where macro level panel data will be explored using fixed-effects and random-effects panel regression models.

Prerequisite: Economics 329, 330, and 331, or instructor permission

Anita Chikkatur

Sophomore Priority

Waitlist for Juniors and Seniors: EDUC 110.WL0 (Synonym 62404)

Deborah Appleman

Extra Time required.

Jeff Snyder

How can we fix American public schools? What is "broken" about our schools? How should they be repaired? And who should lead the fix? This course will examine the two leading contemporary educational reform movements: accountability and school choice. With an emphasis on the nature of the teaching profession and the work of foundations, this course will analyze the policy agendas of different reform groups, exploring the dynamic interactions among the many different stakeholders responsible for shaping American education.

Tsegaye Nega

Spatial data analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, global positioning, and related technologies are increasingly important for understanding and analyzing a wide range of biophysical, social, and economic phenomena. This course serves as an overview and introduction to the concepts, algorithms, issues, and methods in describing, analyzing, and modeling geospatial data over a range of application areas.

Sophomore Priority

Waitlist for Juniors and Seniors: ENTS 120.WL1 (Synonym 62559)

Tsegaye Nega

Spatial data analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, global positioning, and related technologies are increasingly important for understanding and analyzing a wide range of biophysical, social, and economic phenomena. This course serves as an overview and introduction to the concepts, algorithms, issues, and methods in describing, analyzing, and modeling geospatial data over a range of application areas.

Waitlist for Juniors and Seniors: ENTS 120.WL2 (Synonym 62631)

Mark Kanazawa

Prerequisite: Completion of all other Environmental Studies core courses except comps

Jayne A Swift

This course is an introduction to the ways in which gender and sexuality structure our world, and to the ways feminists challenge established intellectual frameworks. However, since gender and sexuality are not homogeneous categories, but are crosscut by class, race, ethnicity, citizenship and culture, we also consider the ways differences in social location intersect with gender and sexuality.

Sophomore Priority

Waitlist for Juniors and Seniors: GWSS 110.WL0 (Synonym 62651)

Susannah Ottaway

For the first four weeks, the course covers the comparative history of famine, and will be led by internationally renowned economic historian Cormac O’Grada, the 2020 Ott Family Lecturer in Economic History at Carleton College.  We examine causes and consequences (political, economic, demographic) and the historical memories of famines as well as case studies from Imperial Britain, Bengal and Ireland. In the second half of term, the course broadens its focus to examine the persistence of hunger and the nature of public policies related to food provision in comparative historical contexts.

Emily Oliver

This class will explore central concepts in community-based learning and scholarship, as well as examine discourses about the public purpose of higher education and the civic imagination. While studying recurrent ethical questions involved in community-college collaborations, such as how to honor diverse forms of knowledge, build reciprocity and share power, students will collaboratively design an academic civic engagement project. The class will critically reflect on their own civic learning, capacity, and action. Students will envision how they want to live in community with others, as citizens and stewards.

Extra time with community partner, flexibly scheduled

Luciano Battaglini

Huan Gao

Sophomore Priority

Waitlist for Juniors and Seniors: POSC 120.WL0 (Synonym 62471)

Richard Keiser

Not Writing Rich

Barbara Allen

What justifies self-defense and retaliation in defending civil rights and liberty? What moral reasoning and strategies offer alternatives to using physical violence in a social movement to gain civil rights? Our seminar examines the American Civil Rights Movement 1954 and 1968, and compares the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X to learn about nonviolent direct action, self-defense, and the use of "any means necessary" to right the wrongs of racial injustice.

Summer Forester

Richard Keiser

Prerequisite: Sophomore Standing

Not open to first year students.

Juan Diego Prieto

Barbara Allen

How do we know if a news organization is ideologically biased? How do we show that gender influences how world leaders approach defense policy? How do we track the growth in misinformation in political advertising worldwide? One foundational methodology for studying questions like these is content analysis. This course will enable you to analyze the texts of speeches, debates, news stories, tweets, press conferences, letters, ad texts--and the visual representations that accompany many of these forms of communication. Students will learn the basics of defining content, operationalizing variables, and conducting the analysis to get valid, reliable data.

2nd 5 weeks

Christina Farhart

Prerequisite: Statistics 120, 230, 250, (formerly Mathematics 215, 245, 275) or AP Statistics (score of 4 or 5)

Paul Petzschmann

In this course students will explore the different kinds of welfare states that exist in Europe, the political economic and social conditions that made them possible and the debates about their strengths, weaknesses and prospects. We will review the so-called “varieties of capitalism” literature along with key welfare policies such as social insurance, health care, education, unemployment insurance, family and income support, and pensions. Welfare states use combinations of these policies differently to insure citizens against “old” and “new” risks. Finally, the course looks at how welfare regimes have responded of migration, financial, and public health crises.

Huan Gao

This course examines the political, social, and economic transformation of China over the past century. Though contemporary issues are at the heart of the course, students will delve into an entire century of changes and upheaval to understand the roots of current affairs in China. Particular emphasis will be placed on state-building and how this has changed state-society relations at the grassroots. Students will also explore how the Chinese Communist Party has survived and even thrived while many other Communist regimes have fallen and assess the relationship between economic development and democratization.

Greg Marfleet

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to comparative and international public policy. It examines major theories and approaches to public policy design and implementation in several major areas: international policy economy (including the study of international trade and monetary policy, financial regulation, and comparative welfare policy), global public health and comparative healthcare policy, institutional development (including democratic governance, accountability systems, and judicial reform), and environmental public policy.

Prerequisite: Statistics 120 (formerly Mathematics 215) strongly recommended, or instructor permission

Kimberly Smith

Christina Farhart

This course addresses race and ethnicity in U.S. politics. Following an introduction to historical, sociological, and psychological approaches to the study of race and ethnicity, we apply these approaches to understanding the ways in which racial attitudes have been structured along a number of political and policy dimensions, e.g., welfare, education, criminal justice. Students will gain an increased understanding of the multiple contexts that shape contemporary racial and ethnic politics and policies in the U.S., and will consider the role of institutional design, policy development, representation, and racial attitudes among the general U.S. public and political environment.

Tun Myint

What are the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics and public policy? How do state responses to COVID-19 as well as historical cases such as the Black Death in Europe, the SARS outbreak in East Asia and Middle East, and the Ebola outbreak in Africa help us understand the scientific, political, and economic challenges of pandemics on countries and communities around the world? We will apply theories and concepts from IR, political economy, and natural sciences to explore these questions and consider what we can learn from those responses to address other global challenges like climate change.

Summer Forester

Feminist security studies question and challenge traditional approaches to international relations and security, highlighting the myriad ways that state security practices can actually increase insecurity for many people. How and why does this security paradox exist and how do we escape it? In this class, we will explore the theoretical and analytical contributions of feminist security scholars and use these lessons to analyze a variety of policies, issues, and conflicts. The cases that we will cover include the UN resolution on women, peace, and security, Sweden’s feminist foreign policy, violence against women, and conflicts in Syria, Uganda, and Yemen.

Barbara Allen

“Every civil rights bill was passed for white people, not black people. I am a human being. I know … I have right(s). White people didn’t know that. … so [they] had to … to tell that white man, 'he’s a human being, don’t stop him.' That bill was for the white man…. I knew [my rights] all the time.” Stokely Carmichael spoke for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee viewpoint in 1966. The Black Panther Party enacted basic civic responsibilities in their programs. Ella Baker spoke of autonomy in community. This seminar brings voices across generations speaking to current affairs.

Dev Gupta

Are populist politicians scoundrels or saviors? Regardless of the answer, populism is undeniably a growing force in politics around the world: in democracies as well as autocracies, rich and poor countries, and involving different ideologies. How can we understand this diversity? In this class, we will explore populism using a variety of comparative frameworks: temporal (situating the current crop of populism in historical context), ideological (comparing populisms of the left versus the right), as well as geographic. We will try to understand the hallmarks of populism, when and why it emerges, and its impact on political institutions and society.

Mitchell Campbell

Lawrence Wichlinski

Mija Van Der Wege

Memory is involved in nearly every human activity: We use our memory not only when we reminisce about the past, but when we study for our exams, talk to our friends, and tie our shoes. This course explores the psychological science of human memory. We will examine different types of memory, how we encode new memories and retrieve old ones, how to ensure a memory is never forgotten, and how to implant a false memory in someone else. In doing so we will look at both old and new research, and discuss how memory research can be applied to some real world environments, such as courtrooms and classrooms. By the end of the course you will be familiar with the major issues in the field of memory research and be able to evaluate the quality of the studies used as evidence in these debates.

Prerequisite: Psychology 110

PSYC 239 not offered, will not complete LS

Kathleen Galotti

Prerequisite: Psychology 110 or instructor permission

Steven F Kozberg

An introduction to theories, research, techniques, and issues in the field of counseling psychology.

Prerequisite: Psychology 110 or instructor permission. Psychology 252 is recommended

Ken Abrams

Prerequisite: Acceptance in Cross-Cultural Studies in Prague program

OCS Cross Cultural Psychology in Prague

Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg

Anthropology is the study of all human beings in all their diversity, an exploration of what it means to be human throughout the globe. This course helps us to see ourselves, and others, from a new perspective. By examining specific analytic concepts—such as culture—and research methods—such as participant observation—we learn how anthropologists seek to understand, document, and explain the stunning variety of human cultures and ways of organizing society. This course encourages you to consider how looking behind cultural assumptions helps anthropologists solve real world dilemmas.

Sophomore Priority.

Waitlist for Juniors and Seniors: SOAN 110.WL0 (Synonym 62333)

Liz Raleigh

Sociology is an intellectual discipline, spanning the gap between the sciences and humanities while often (though not always) involving itself in public policy debates, social reform, and political activism. Sociologists study a startling variety of topics using qualitative and quantitative methods. Still, amidst all this diversity, sociology is centered on a set of core historical theorists (Marx/Weber/Durkheim) and research topics (race/class/gender inequality). We will explore these theoretical and empirical foundations by reading and discussing influential texts and select topics in the study of social inequality while relating them to our own experiences and understanding of the social world. 

Sophomore Priority.

Waitlist for Juniors and Seniors: SOAN 111.WL0 (Synonym 62320)

Constanza Ocampo-Raeder

Is the environmental movement making progress? Do responsible products actually help local populations? Is international AID alleviating poverty and fostering development? Today there are thousands of programs with sustainable development goals yet their effectiveness is often contested at the local level. This course explores the impacts of sustainable development, conservation, and AID programs to look beyond the good intentions of those that implement them. In doing so we hope to uncover common pitfalls behind good intentions and the need for sound social analysis that recognizes, examines, and evaluates the role of cultural complexity found in populations targeted by these programs.

Prerequisite: The department strongly recommends that Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses numbered 200 or above

Meera Sehgal

How is it that in specific historical moments ordinary people come together and undertake collective struggles for justice in social movements such as Black Lives Matter, Me Too, Standing Rock, immigrant, and LGBTQ rights? How have these movements theorized oppression, and what has been their vision for liberation? What collective change strategies have they proposed and what obstacles have they faced? We will explore specific case studies and use major sociological perspectives theorizing the emergence of movements, repertoires of protest, collective identity formation, frame alignment, and resource mobilization. We will foreground the intersectionality of gender, sexuality, race, and class in these movements.

Wes Markofski

From the discipline’s earliest days, sociologists have considered religion a fascinating and perplexing object of study. Classical sociologists devoted enormous attention to the topic of religion, famously linking it to the development of capitalism and Western modernity (Weber), to social solidarity and symbolic classification systems (Durkheim), to political passivity and social conservatism (Marx), and to the varying forms of social, economic, and political life found in the world’s great civilizations. This course focuses on special topics in the contemporary sociology of religion, with a particular emphasis on religion in public and political life in American and global civil society.

Prerequisite: The department strongly recommends that Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses number 200 or above

Wes Markofski

Many thinkers have contributed to the development of sociology as an intellectual discipline and mode of social inquiry; however, few have had the influence of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. This course focuses on influential texts and ideas generated by these and other theorists from sociology’s “classical era,” how these texts and ideas are put to use by contemporary sociologists, and on more recent theoretical developments and critical perspectives that have influenced the field. 

Prerequisite: The department strongly recommends that Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses numbered 200 or above

Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg

This course explores different genres of writing and different audiences for writing in the social sciences, focusing particular attention on scholarly articles published in professional journals in sociology and anthropology. To that end, students both analyze sociological and anthropological articles regarding commonalities and differences in academic writing in our two sister disciplines. Students work on their own academic writing process (with the help of peer-review and instructor feedback). The writing itself is broken down into component elements on which students practice and revise their work.

Prerequisite: Completion of Sociology/Anthropology 240 or submission of a topic statement in the preceding spring term and submission of a comps thesis proposal on the first day of fall term. Senior Sociology/Anthropology major or instructor permission

Palmar Alvarez-Blanco

When we travel to another country are we tourists or travelers? What are our expectations when traveling? How do we get to know a place, its people, and culture? In this course we will walk through the history of some of the most important cultural and historical landmarks that mark the different transitions that Spain has gone through. We will become travelers who read, think, observe, and reflect upon political, cultural, and social questions connected to each text we read and every place we visit. This program includes several workshops with guest speakers, and significant contact with social collectives and communities in Spain.

Prerequisite: Spanish 205 and participation in OCS Madrid Progrm

Requires participation in OCS Program: Spanish Studies in Madrid