DuBois and the Souls of Sociology

W. E. B. Du Bois's extraordinary universe of thought as a sociologist, historian, novelist, propagandist, radical thinker, and defender of democracy. Exploration of Du Bois’s inauguration of rigorous empirical study of the social world in the United States; and his fight to unite the colonized peoples of the world. Development of tools for understanding racism and other systems of power and oppression. SOC 190 Immigration: Public Opinion, Politics, and Media. (Cross-list w/ AMER 175, PS 190, AFR 190 & RCD194-06) American public opinion on immigration and its relationship to the political process. Role of traditional media (newspapers, magazines, network TV), new media (cable TV, internet, social media), and ethnic media in reflecting and shaping public opinion on immigration. Methodological approaches (including surveys of public opinion, content analyses of media portrayals, and experiments linking the two) to controversies surrounding immigrant assimilation, integration, and the impact of immigration on the American economy, culture, and security. SOC 192 Seminar: AIDS: Social Origins, Global Consequences. (Cross-listed w/ CH 192). Explores the emergence, meaning, and effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic at different moments in continents and nations. Topics may include: how/whether scientific and epidemiological information is factored into policy decisions; how the disease and people living with it acquire varying identities in different cultures. Uses the formidable challenges the pandemic poses to global health initiatives, to security and to economic survival in many regions to study societies' capacities to mobilize collective resources and protect human rights.