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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.

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  • 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.
    • 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.
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS SO 456: Transnational Studies: Power, Movement, Lives
    Prerequisite: junior standing and above for undergraduate students. - This course explores transnational sociology, examining how people, ideas, and power move across borders. It traces how nations intersect with race, gender, sexuality, and class, and interrogates colonialism, migration, globalization, and nationalism as intertwined forces shaping contemporary life and belonging. Effective Spring 2027, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU Hub areas: Research and Information Literacy, Social Inquiry 2, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • 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.
    • 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:
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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. Section A1: Examines Giovanni Boccaccio’s legacy through English translations and adaptations. Questions conventional boundaries between translation and adaptation by analyzing historical translations alongside modern reinterpretations across multiple media. Students engage with Boccaccio as both translation scholars and practitioner-translators from any language. Effective Spring 2027, fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • 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.
    • The Individual in Community
  • CAS WR 112: Critical Literacies for ELL
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASWR 111, placement results, or transfer credit for WR 01TR. - Critical reading and analytical writing in response to various theme-based texts. Review of grammar and mechanics in context. Practice in the patterns of academic argumentation through multiple assignments of increasing complexity. Refinement of speaking skills through discussions and oral presentations. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS WR 120: First-Year Writing Seminar
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: Multilingual Writer Placement (for English language learners only). - Topic-based seminar in critical reading and writing. Engagement with a variety of sources and practice in writing in a range of genres with particular attention to argumentation, prose style, and revision, informed by reflection and feedback, including individual conferences. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: First-Year Writing Seminar.
    • First-Year Writing Seminar

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