ANSO 300-01, Identity and Social Structure: Cultural motifs, Spring 2002

Abstract

COURSE DESCRIPTION: From the Middle East to the world wide web, many pressing issues and controversies around the world today hinge on the question of identity. This course is an introduction to the basic sociological concepts of identity and social structure. We examine the nature of individual and group identities, why and how they form, how they both affect and are affected by our actions, and the relationship between identities and the social and political contexts in which they exist. Throughout the course, we focus on the role of identity in shaping social divisions and conflicts, political movements, and contemporary organizations and institutions. We examine the dynamics of different kinds of identities – individual, racial, class, gender, national, religious, and political – as they connect to questions about racial hierarchies, global telecommunications, wars of religion, and immigration.