SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPING SOCIETIES/THIRD WORLD

Prerequisites & course information

Requisites: Junior standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Social & Behavioral Science Breadth - Social Science Level - Advanced L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Critically compare and evaluate major theoretical frameworks - including modernization theory, dependency theory, and postcolonial critiques - used to understand development processes and their global implications. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Analyze the legacy of colonialism and globalization on contemporary social, political, and economic inequalities in the Global South, with attention to race, class, gender, and geography. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Assess the role of global institutions and development policies (e.g., the Washington Consensus, foreign aid, trade regimes) in shaping developmental outcomes and power relations between nations. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Evaluate the impact of social movements, grassroots activism, and transnational advocacy in contesting dominant models of development and promoting more inclusive alternatives. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Critically assess debates about the appropriate role of government in expanding access to public services such as health, education, infrastructure and legal systems in development, highlighting how crises like pandemics or climate change sometimes reconfigure ideas of progress, resilience, and global solidarity. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Synthesize and critique academic and policy literature through written responses, exams, and a final paper, applying sociological theories to real-world case studies. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Apply a global sociological perspective to understand how local experiences of development are shaped by transnational flows of labor, capital, ideas, and environmental challenges. Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Critically compare and evaluate major theoretical frameworks - including modernization theory, dependency theory, and postcolonial critiques - used to understand development processes and their global implications. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Analyze the legacy of colonialism and globalization on contemporary social, political, and economic inequalities in the Global South, with attention to race, class, gender, and geography. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Assess the role of global institutions and development policies (e.g., the Washington Consensus, foreign aid, trade regimes) in shaping developmental outcomes and power relations between nations. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Evaluate the impact of social movements, grassroots activism, and transnational advocacy in contesting dominant models of development and promoting more inclusive alternatives. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Critically assess debates about the appropriate role of government in expanding access to public services such as health, education, infrastructure and legal systems in development, highlighting how crises like pandemics or climate change sometimes reconfigure ideas of progress, resilience, and global solidarity. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Synthesize and critique academic and policy literature through written responses, exams, and a final paper, applying sociological theories to real-world case studies. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Apply a global sociological perspective to understand how local experiences of development are shaped by transnational flows of labor, capital, ideas, and environmental challenges. Audience: Undergraduate