Social Sciences
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CGS SS 101: How Societies Work: An Introduction to the Social Sciences
CGS SS 101 -- How Societies Work: An Introduction to the Social Sciences This course introduces students to the methods of inquiry and principal concepts of the social sciences--a handful of disciplines that includes anthropology, sociology, social psychology, economics, political science, and history. Through the analysis of contemporary society and cross-cultural studies, students will examine the importance of culture, the economy, and power and authority, and learn how these structures interconnect with each other to give rise to distinctive patterns of human thought and behavior. Consideration is given to the categories of race, class, and gender, both as markers of identity and bases for systems of social inequality. The course emphasizes the classical sociological theories of Durkheim, Marx, and Weber and instructs students on how to use these theories to critically evaluate social structures and historical change. One lecture, two discussions, and one additional contact hour as assigned. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking. -
CGS SS 103: Politics, Economies, and Social Change in the West: The Ancient World Through the Enlightenment
This interdisciplinary course examines social change in the politics, economies, social structures, and culture of the West from the ancient world through the Enlightenment. Students look at developments in governance, trade, social inequalities, and ideas that gave the West its distinctive character, including the rise of its key institution, democracy. To interpret historical change critically, students are introduced to the social science "toolkit" of analytical concepts. Assignments outside the classroom will encourage students to consider how history has shaped today's world. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking. -
CGS SS 104: Politics, Economies, and Social Change in the West: The Industrial Revolution to the Digital Revolution
This interdisciplinary course examines social change in the politics, economies, social structures, and culture of the West from the Industrial Revolution to the present. Students consider the impact of technological innovation, industrial capitalism, global war, genocide, and the ideologies that shaped these developments. The course concludes with the globalization of economies and social structures in an era of rising inequality. Visits to relevant sites in Britain will supplement classroom instruction. One lecture, two discussions, and two additional contact hours as assigned. [5 cr.] Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking. -
CGS SS 201: Global Powers: Russia & China
SS 201 centers on case studies of modernization that began during the second half of the 19th century and continue today: those of Russia and China. Russia is considered an example of a society that underwent rapid social change in part as a result of the challenges posed by the industrialized countries of the West. It serves as a basis for comparison with the process of modernization undertaken by China at approximately the same time. Students examine the dramatic complexities of social, political, and economic changes that enhance their grasp of the problems facing the contemporary world. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy. -
CGS SS 202: American Foreign Policy Since World War II
SS 202 focuses on U.S. foreign policy since the late 1930's. After considering U.S. policy immediately before and during World War II, it explores how the United States responded to the global challenge posed by the Soviet Union and international communism during the long struggle known as the Cold War. The factors that led to the Cold War, the nuclear arms race, America's involvement in Vietnam, and, ultimately, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War are examined. The course concludes by analyzing challenges to American interests and security in the twenty- first century. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Writing- Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy. -
CGS SS 250: Death and Remembrance in the Victorian World
Examines the key place "death" occupied in the Victorian cultural and social imagination, using an interdisciplinary approach for its materials and for its method. The course will focus on literary and artistic portrayals of death and mourning, demographic and cultural change, the origins of medical epidemiology, the rise of spiritualism, and shifting views of the meaning of life and death in a modernizing world. Required materials, assignments, and experiential exercises (such as an excursion to Cambridge's Mount Auburn Cemetery) reinforce trans-Atlantic connections and the prevalence of cultural attitudes about death and mourning.
