Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• CAS SO 438: Seminar on International Migration
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing and at least two previous sociology courses; or consent of instructor. - Explores key themes in international migration. It emphasizes connections between current topics in immigration, and sociological theories that explain immigrant pathways, mobilities, and outcomes. Students engage in analytical memo-writing that make these links, and write a final term paper. Throughout, the course emphasizes how the intersection of inequalities--of legal status, gender, race and class--shape immigration processes. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS SO 440: Seminar: Comparative Political Cultures
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing - Explores the "deep cultural" level behind the daily conduct of politics. A theoretical framework relying upon Tocqueville and Weber is developed and then applied to unveil the political cultures of the United States, Germany, England, Russia, China, Japan, and Mexico.
• CAS SO 442: Seminar: Urban Inequality in the Americas
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - This course examines major theoretical approaches to the study of the city and uses them to explore key features of urban inequality in the United States and in Latin America. In the first part of this course, we examine the strengths and weaknesses of five core theoretical paradigms for studying the city and how these have been challenged over time. In the second part of this course, we use these theoretical tools to examine distinct examples of urban segregation in American and Latin American cities. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS SO 448: Culture, Markets, and Inequality
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing and at least two previous sociology courses; or consent of instructor. - This seminar examines commerce as a cultural process, focusing on cultural production and consumption practices in fields like fashion, music, and bodily goods and services. Traces the cultural construction and maintenance of gender, race, and class inequalities in markets.
• CAS SO 452: Contemporary Debates in Sexualities Research
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASSO241 OR CASWS200) First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Engages sociological debates about sexual identities, politics, and practices. Students consider how sexualities are expressed and regulated through various institutions and how they intersect with race, class, gender, citizenship, and other domains of inequality. Also offered as CAS WS 452. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Writing-Intensive, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS SO 459: Deviance and Social Control
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Explores sociological explanations for why attributes and behaviors are defined as deviant, the consequences of deviant labels, and how the state criminalizes and punishes people for deviant behavior. Examines how responses to deviance reflect the state's orientation to social marginality. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Social Inquiry II
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS SO 460: Seminar: Economic Sociology
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing and at least two prior sociology courses, or consent o f instructor. - Introduction to core theoretical perspectives and debates in contemporary economic sociology (structural/network, cultural, institutional/political, and performativity) with a special attention paid to morality of markets, commensuration and construction of value, money, credit and finance and inequality. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS SO 465: Intersectionalities: Theories, Methods, and Praxis
  Undergraduate pre-requisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Intersectionality," is one of the prominent contributions made by critical race feminist scholars that now broadly extend across disciplines. This course takes stock of the multiple ways that intersectional scholars and activists conceptualize intersectionality in relation to sociological theory, research problems, design, and praxis.
• CAS SO 483: Gentrification Studies
  This seminar explores the process of urban gentrification from an interdisciplinary perspective, examining the variegated histories, geographies, and sociologies of gentrification globally, thinking through comparative urbanism. It considers definitions of gentrification, how theorizations developed over time, and key concepts. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Social Inquiry II
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS SO 485: Sociology Policy Lab
  Prerequisite: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120). - This course provides students with an opportunity to learn what sociology has to say about making an impact in policy and practice very generally - and more specifically, to put sociological research on particular issues into conversation with social problems, providing an opportunity for students to gain cutting-edge knowledge both about an area of practice, while contributing to addressing a policy issue through experiential learning that aims to solve a problem for a client working to make social change in the real world.
• CAS SO 497: Understanding Meritocracy
  Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing and at least two previous Sociology courses; or consent of instructor. Challenges students to sociologically evaluate the concept of meritocracy, its origins, its societal implications, and contemporary adoption as an ideal worth striving for. Reviews empirical research on perceptions around and explanations of social inequality. Explores how beliefs about inequality are mobilized in class and racial conflict and in what ways people's beliefs are or aren't likely to change. Fall term. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II and Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS SO 499: Field Practicum
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS SO 100 and SO 201, requires some foundational knowledge of sociological ideas and methods. - Joins real world experience in social change and social impact work with seminar-based coursework that encourages critical reflection, develops professional experience, and builds skills of sociological research and analysis. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area:
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  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS SY 101: Senior Year Topics
  SY101 is an activity and discussion based class focused on a specific topic area to help students prepare for life after college. Topics vary by section number.
• CAS TL 500: History and Theory of Translation
  The goal of this course is to familiarize students with the history of translation and the main trends in Translation Studies. Students learn to apply concepts acquired in class to analyze and critique translations and develop their own strategies. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Critical Thinking
  • Historical Consciousness
• CAS TL 505: Literary Style Workshop
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Admission to the MA program in translation or permission of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120) - Workshop cultivating awareness of and sensitivity to style, cohesiveness, and patterning in literary English. Topics range from text-type to subtle effects of rhythm and sound. Imitation practice. Emphasis on translators' process, from strategic decisions to editing. Workshop format. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Critical Thinking, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Critical Thinking
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS TL 540: Translation Seminar
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Proficiency in a second language; Undergraduate Corequisite: CASTL 542. - Graduate Prerequisites: Proficiency in a second language; Graduate Corequisite: CASTL 542. - Translation seminar where students produce substantial literary translations into English from their language of choice with the guidance of the instructors and language-specific mentors. Students hone their translation skills, read, and discuss articles about practical issues of translation. Students are required to register for co-requisite CASTL 542.
• CAS TL 541: Translation Today
  Undergraduate Corequisites: (CASTL542) - Weekly lectures and discussions with prominent literary translators from Boston and elsewhere. Students engage with a variety of languages and several genres: poetry, drama, essay, fiction, and more. Focus on concrete, practical translation issues arising from the speakers' work. Students are required to register for co-requisite CAS TL 542. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, The Individual in Community, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • The Individual in Community
• CAS TL 542: Literary Translation
  Undergraduate Corequisites: (CASTL540 OR CASTL541) - Guest lecture series in literary translation. Mandatory co-requisite with CAS TL 540 and CAS TL 541. This course cannot be taken on its own.
• CAS TL 551: Topics in Translation
  May be taken multiple times for credit if topics are different. There are two topics for Spring 2025. Section A1: Self-translation and Bilingualism. Explores self-translation, the process and product of a bilingual author’s rendering of their text into another language. Challenges binary categories of original and translation, of author and translator. Students investigate literary translingualism as scholars and as creative writers-translators. Section B1: Translating the Francophone World. Explores the paratextual, transcultural elements, and challenges entailed in translating Francophone literature, through fictional works with writers, translators, and storytellers, part of the narrative. Authors to be discussed: Assia Djebar, Ananda Devi, Danny Laferrière, Mbougar Sarr. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Critical Thinking
  • Historical Consciousness
• CAS WR 111: Academic Writing for ELL Students
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: placement results. - Study of academic conventions and effective strategies of academic reading and writing, along with needs-based review of grammar and mechanics. Emphasis on comprehension, summary, and analysis. Focus on fluency and accuracy in writing and speaking. Frequent papers and in-class writing. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
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  • The Individual in Community