Section A: MWF 12:30-1:20 pm and 4th hour TBD - Professor Western
Section B: MWF 1:30-2:20 pm and 4th hour TBD - Professor Western
Section C: TR 1:30-2:45 pm and 4th hour TBD - Professor Prough
Section D: TR 3:00-4:15 pm and 4th hour TBD - Professor Jakelić
Partially fulfills social sciences requirement
This course introduces students to fundamental issues in the theory and practice of interpreting our lives as individuals and as a community. The course will draw its theoretical emphases from major figures in the human sciences that might include Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Clifford Geertz, Emile Durkheim, and Michel Foucault. The course will not, however, simply consider and examine social and cultural theory in the abstract but rather show how it can be applied to historical and contemporary phenomena. This will be approached primarily by reading historical and other texts that incorporate these theorists into tangible settings, and by practicing the craft of cultural and social interpretation ourselves. The primary assignments, along with weekly discussion, might vary, but typically include sets of papers, usually two to three individual papers of approximately 4-6 pages, one longer paper of approximately 10 pages, and one collaborative research project.