SOC 2500 section 1:
"Think Globally, Act Locally": Globalization and Social Responsibillity [3]
Josh Yates, Instructor
“Think globally, act locally,” is a popular, ethically and politically charged slogan that invites both empirical examination and critical reflection on a host of timely social problems. Issues such as poverty, sustainable urban planning, labor outsourcing, the need for alternative sources of energy, the spread of infectious disease, organized crime, worries about the loss of bio-diversity and climate change, the risks of industrial agriculture and biotechnology, controversies surrounding immigration, and so much more, impact our local communities and everyday lives in countless, but often ambiguous ways. The purpose of this course is to make the global dimensions of such issues more comprehensible and our responses to them better informed and equipped. Through the research and writing of a case study on a single issue of social concern, each student will consider the scholarly as well as the practical implications this maxim raises for communities like Charlottesville. This course is intended for students interested in global studies, social problems, community development, local democracy, and social movements. This class is also ideally suited to those students planning on doing an “alternative” spring break.
SOC 2500 section 2:
Prozac Culture [3]
Joseph Davis, Instructor
The pharmacological revolution, symbolized in our time by such drugs as Prozac and Ritalin, has been building for decades and has brought a sea change in attitudes toward psychoactive medications and tens of millions of prescriptions for them. The revolution is not merely a matter of new medical treatments; it is a cultural phenomenon that is changing the ways we think about ourselves and experience the world in contexts far removed from the psychiatrist's office and any conventional questions of mental illness. The course explores the social forces driving the revolution forward, including the definition and expansion of disorder categories and shifts in the ethos of medicine toward a consumerist model, and how these are linked with wider social and cultural changes. These changes, in turn, have generated new forms of distress and disconnections in people's lives, new ideals/obligations of self and social performance, and redefinitions of "normal," which help account for the nature and incidence of the problems that psychoactive medications are taken to address. The course will conclude with a discussion of the social and ethical implications and consequences of "Prozac culture" and the "backlash" that has emerged in recent years.
On-Grounds January Term classes will meet January 4 – 8 and January 11 - 15, 2010.
All J-term courses do not automatically count toward the Sociology major or minor;
a student must obtain pre-approval by
Prof. Katya Makarova, Director of Undergraduate Studies.
