Social Sciences

The distinguished American sociologist, David Riesman, who played a major role in the creation of the general education program in the social sciences at Chicago, once observed that it was only with a "marvelous hubris" that students were encouraged to range over such "large territory" in the social sciences. Indeed, since the 1940s, yearlong sequences designed to introduce students to different types of social scientific data and different forms of social sciences inquiry have become a permanent feature of the Chicago curriculum. Although considerable variety manifests itself in the way the Common Core social sciences courses are organized, most of the sequences are informed, as Robert Redfield once suggested, by an attempt "to communicate the historical development of contemporary society" and by an effort "to convey some understanding of the scientific spirit as applied to social problems and the capacity to address oneself in that spirit to such a problem." By training students in the analysis of social phenomena through the development and use of interdisciplinary and comparative concepts, the courses also try to determine the characteristics common among many societies, thus enabling the individual to use both reason and special knowledge to confront rapid social change in the global world of the late twentieth century.

Common Core Courses. The Common Core program is divided into several sequences with individual sections: Social Sciences 101-102-103, 109-110-111, 121-122-123, 131-132-133, 141-142-143, and 151-152-153. All sequences of Core courses are designed to present some of the main ideas, theories, and inquiries of the social sciences, and to show how they can enhance our understanding of central issues facing the world. Classical social scientific texts and methodologies are given close attention in discussion and lecture settings.

In Social Sciences 101-102-103 and 121-122-123, issues and problems basic to human existence are studied in relation to the general themes of the conceptual foundations of political economy (autumn), theories of the individual and society (winter), and interpretations of culture (spring). Social Sciences 109-110-111 concentrates on various aspects of power, from the roles of markets and states to the social structures that determine individual, class, and gender inequalities. Social Sciences 131-132-133 examines the public role of empirical social science, using a combination of classic texts, quantitative data, and computer resources. These themes are developed through a detailed examination of a major empirical study and applied to a specific policy domain, such as education or urban policy. Social Sciences 141-142-143 draws from psychology, anthropology, and philosophy to consider how the human mind functions, focusing on rationality, learning, and language. Social Sciences 151-152-153 reads classical texts to investigate criteria for understanding and judging political, social, and economic institutions.

Collegiate Courses. The Social Sciences Collegiate Division also sponsors several civilization sequences in the general education program and offers specialized courses on the concentration level that offer a particularly interdisciplinary or comparative theoretical perspective and which may be of interest to students in a variety of concentration programs. The latter set of courses should also be considered as attractive possibilities for nonconcentration electives.

Courses

Common Core Sequences

101-102-103. Wealth, Power, and Virtue. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. Drawing on classics of social thought and contemporary work in anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology, this sequence explores how the disciplines of the social sciences contribute to understanding human behavior and advancing human values. D. Levine, Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

101. Wealth, power, and virtue are commonly viewed as the fundamental ends of human action. What do we mean by these terms? How and why are they pursued? How do they relate to one another? How does thinking about them help us to understand the ways that societies get organized and change? Writings by Smith, Marx, and Durkheim explore these questions as they ponder the dynamics of markets and the growth of specialization in modern society, suggesting issues to examine throughout the year. Alongside these classics, we sample writings that relate their notions to current social realities.

102. PQ: SocSci 101. After examining wealth and markets in classical economic theory and various critiques of that theory, in this quarter we focus on power. How is power created? To what uses and abuses is it put? How does authority take form? We consult some theories that emphasize the make-up of individuals (Hobbes, Freud, and their successors) and others that emphasize social forces (Mead, Goffman, Mosca, Weber, and Foucault). We continue with studies of inequality in work sites and urban communities, and conclude by asking what virtues are specific to the political vocation.

103. PQ: SocSci 102. Why do some social scientists consider it essential to analyze "culture?" What different meanings do they attach to this term? How does the pursuit of wealth, power, and virtue get shaped by cultural patterns? What does it mean to talk about certain cultures as sick, phony, or excellent? In this quarter, we ask what social scientists try to learn when they compare different cultures, and look at some of the things they do when they focus on the cultural dimension of human experience. The authors we read include Simmel, Weber, Benedict, Geertz, and Bell.

109-110-111. Power. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. G. Herrigel, Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

109. This quarter examines the relationship between individual preferences and collective outcomes. Under scrutiny is the degree to which individual desires and preferences are constrained by institutions such as the market, state bureaucracy, and organizations of civil society. Readings include Adam Smith, Schumpeter, Hayek, Marx, and Engels.

110. PQ: SocSci 109. This quarter is concerned with the problem of equality. The main concern is examination of the sources of inequality, such as race, gender, and class. We attempt to understand the ways in which power is unequally distributed and how this distribution is maintained. Readings include Beauvoir, Du Bois, Nietzsche, and Tocqueville.

111. PQ: SocSci 110. This quarter is devoted to the study of liberal political theory and the forms of criticism of that theory. Readings include Hobbes, Locke, Mill, Weber, Burke, Schmitt, Foucault, and Young.

121-122-123. Self, Culture, and Society. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. B. Cohler, M. Postone, W. Sewell, Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

121. In this quarter we explore the nature and development of modern society through an examination of theories of capitalism. The classic social theories of Smith, Marx, and Weber, along with contemporary ethnographic and historical works, serve as points of departure for considering the characterizing features of the modern world, with particular emphasis on its social-economic structure and issues of work, the division of labor, and the texture of time.

122. PQ: SocSci 121. In this quarter we focus on the relation of culture and social life. On the basis of readings from Durkheim, Lévi-Strauss, Turner, Geertz, and other anthropologists and cultural theorists, we investigate how systems of meaning expressed through metaphors, symbols, rituals, and narratives constitute and articulate individual and social experience across a range of societies, including our own.

123. PQ: SocSci 122. In this quarter, we consider the questions of social and cultural constitution of the person, with particular emphasis on issues of gender, through the study of psychoanalytic, historical, and anthropological approaches found in the works of Freud, Foucault, and others.

131-132-133. Democracy and Social Science. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. How do democratic societies use factual knowledge about themselves when crucial policy decisions are made? Is such knowledge possible? What are its limits? This course explores these questions by examining classic and contemporary points of view about ways of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about public policy issues. The course aims to provide the student with an introduction to the philosophy of social science inquiry, a sense of how that inquiry is conducted, and an understanding of how policy implications can be drawn responsibly from evidence provided by empirical social science. The course's objective is to convey both the promise and the pitfalls of social science and a sense of its uses and abuses. The sequence involves work of three kinds, takeup seriatim in the three quarters, as outlined in the course descriptions that follow. This year the sequence centers on key policy questions in education. We read works by authors such as Mark Blaug, James Coleman, John Dewey, Morris Janowitz, Karl Marx, W. F. Ogburn, Karl Popper, Robert Pubnam, J.-J. Rousseau, C.-H. Saint-Simon, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Max Weber. A. Abbott, T. Clark, Autumn; A. Bryk, J. Davis, Winter; C. Bidwell, L. Hedges, Spring.

131. In this quarter we read general texts on the role of knowledge in democratic societies and on the tension between technocracy or social engineering. The use of social science knowledge to inform and enlighten public discourse and policy making is also discussed.

132. PQ: SocSci 131. This quarter offers a detailed examination of one major piece of empirical social science research that addresses a contemporary public policy issue in the United States, complemented by hands on experience in analyzing data that pertain to this same policy issue.

133. PQ: SocSci 132. This quarter features a systematic exploration of the principal policy implications of this research and of consistencies and inconsistencies between its findings and the findings of other research evidence that can be brought to bear.

141-142-143. Mind. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. This sequence presents an introduction to the study of how people think and what people think. The course examines mental processes such as perception, memory, and judgment and the relationship between language and thought. The course focuses on the issue of what is innate versus what is learned, the development of thought in children, and the logic of causal, functional, and evolutionary explanations. One theme of the course is the problem of rationality vis-à-vis the canons that govern the language and thought of the "ideal scientist" and how those canons compare to the canons that govern ordinary language and thought, the language and thought of other cultures, and the language and thought of actual scientists. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

151-152-153. Classics of Social and Political Thought. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. What is justice? What makes a good society? This sequence examines such problems as the conflicts between individual and common good; among morality, religion, and politics; and between liberty and equality. We read classic writings from Plato, Aristotle, and the Bible to the great critics of modern modernity: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, The Federalist, Tocqueville, Marx, Nietzsche, and Weber. Writing before our departmentalization of disciplines, they were at the same time sociologists, political scientists, economists, and moralists; they offer contrasting alternative conceptions of society and politics that underlie continuing controversies in the social sciences and in contemporary political life. J. Elshtain, C. Fasolt, J. Kraemer, R. Lerner, R. Pippin, F. Sposito, N. Tarcov. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Collegiate Courses

204. International Relations: Perspectives on Conflict and Cooperation (=PolSci 294/374, SocSci 204). PQ: Class limited to sixty students; preference given to students of third- or fourth-year standing. This course examines a number of competing approaches to the study of conflict and cooperation in the international system. Lectures by University faculty introduce key analytic concepts from several intellectual traditions (such as realism, liberalism, cultural theory, modernization theory, and social constructivism) and discuss their ability to explain war, alliances, revolutions, nationalism, cooperation, ethnic conflict, and other important international phenomena. C. Lipson. Autumn. (D)

205. International Relations: Cultures, Societies, and Globalization (=Anthro 236/316, PolSci 295, SocSci 205). PQ: Class limited to sixty students; preference given to students of third- or fourth-year standing. PolSci 294 strongly recommended. This course brings together interested faculty and students to explore alternative research strategies for investigating conflict and cooperation. In contrast to a state-centered approach, this course emphasizes transnational and subnational processes, including issues of boundary designation, identity formation, nationalism, the role of communications, and the future of the interstate system. S. Randolph. Winter. (D)

207. St. Augustine's Confession (=Fndmtl 276, RelHum 294, SocSci 207). The course consists of a close reading of the text in English translation along with On the Freedom of the Will and The Teacher. We study Augustine's conceptions of philosophy and belief, focusing on his notion of the philosophical life and on his concept of the will. We then relate these conceptions to the ways Augustine clarifies and criticizes the culture in which he matured, as he writes about the practices that shaped education, friendship, marriage, sexuality, family, and political vocation. We also devote attention to Augustine's rhetoric and how it influences his search for wisdom and happiness. W. Olmsted. Autumn.

217-218-219. Introduction to Linguistics I, II, III (=Anthro 270-1,-2-3/370-1,-2,-3, Ling 201-202-203/301-302-303, SocSci 217-218-219). PQ: Must be taken in sequence. This course is an introductory survey of methods, findings, and problems in areas of major interest within linguistics and of the relationship of linguistics to other disciplines. Topics include the biological basis of language, basic notions of syntax, semantics, pragmatics, basic syntactic typology of language, phonetics, phonology, morphology, language acquisition, linguistic variation, and linguistic change. A. Dahlstrom, Autumn; Staff, Winter; K. Kazazis, Spring.

220-221-222. Introduction to Islamic Civilization I, II, III (=NECiv 220-221-222, SocSci 220-221-222). This course surveys the religious, political, and cultural institutions of Islam, both in their historical development and in their contemporary significance. Each of the three quarters focuses on one of these aspects. In the first quarter we discuss Islamic religious institutions and thought, including Qur'an and its exegesis; law, theology, and mysticism; sectarian divisions; and modern reform movements. In the second quarter we study the political and social institutions of the Islamic world, ranging from Africa to Central Asia and from Indonesia to the Balkans, but concentrating on the major polities of the central region, the Middle East, in their historical evolution. In the third quarter we survey oral, literary, and artistic expression in Islamic cultures; we read in translation excerpts from Arabic, Persian, and Turkish literatures, and we examine monuments of the visual arts. R. Dankoff, J. Perry. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

224. Rhetorical Theories of Legal and Political Reasoning (=Hum 214, Id/Met 324, LL/Soc 224, SocSci 224). This course uses Plato's Gorgias to raise the question of whether practical thinking is possible and considers responses to this question by such writers as Aristotle, Cicero, and Machiavelli. We study the methods and concepts that each writer uses to defend the cogency of legal, deliberative, or more generally political prudence against explicit or implicit charges that practical thinking is merely a knack or form of cleverness. W. Olmsted. Autumn.

225-226-227. Introduction to African Civilization I, II, III (=Anthro 306-1,-2,-3, LL/Soc 266=Anthro 306-1, SocSci 225-226-227). This course sequence fulfills the Common Core requirement in civilization studies. This course presents the political, economic, social, and cultural development of sub-Saharan African communities and states from a variety of points from the precolonial past up to the present. The autumn quarter treats the social organization and political economy of several precolonial societies in southern, central, and eastern Africa. The winter quarter focuses on religion, ritual, and colonial authority. The spring focuses on a single region, the Manden of West Africa, covering village social structure and political economy, precolonial trade and empire, Islam, European colonialism, and postcolonial society. J. L. Comaroff, Autumn; A. Apter, Winter; R. Austen, Spring.

230-231-232. Introduction to the Civilization of South Asia I, II, III (=Anthro 308-1,-2,-3; SoAsia 200-201-202; SocSci 230-231-232). PQ: Must be taken in sequence. This course fulfills the Common Core requirement in civilizational studies. Using a variety of disciplinary approaches, this sequence seeks to familiarize students with some of the important textual, institutional, and historical ideas and experiences that have constituted "civilization" in South Asia. Topics in the autumn quarter include European and American representations of South Asia; its place in world history as a "Third World" or "underdeveloped" country; Gandhi and Nehru's visions of modernity; India's recent repositioning in the global economy as a consumer society; and its popular village movements. Topics in the winter quarter include urban and rural ways of life and the place of film and television in cultural life. The spring quarter looks at politics and gender in the postcolonial period. R. Inden, Staff, Autumn, Winter; C. Breckenridge, Staff, Spring.

235-236-237. Introduction to the Civilizations of East Asia I, II, III (=EALC 108-109-110, Hist 151-152-153, SocSci 235-236-237). PQ: Must be taken in sequence. This course sequence fulfills the Common Core requirement in civilizational studies. This is a three-quarter sequence on the civilizations of China, Japan, and Korea, with emphasis on major transformation in these cultures and societies from the Middle Ages to the present. This year's sequence focuses on Japan from 1600 to the present, China from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, and Korea from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. P. Duara, Autumn; Staff, Winter; T. Natita, Spring.

240-241-242. Introduction to Russian Civilization I, II, III. PQ: Must be taken in sequence. This course sequence fulfills the Common Core requirement in civilizational studies. Russian Civilization is a three-quarter, interdisciplinary course in which geography, history, literature, economics, law, fine arts, religion, sociology, and agriculture, among other fields, are studied to see how the civilization of Russia has developed and functioned since the ninth century. The first quarter covers the period up to 1700; the second, to 1917; and the third, the Soviet period. The course has a common lecture by a specialist in the field, usually on a topic about which little is written in English. Two weekly seminar meetings are devoted to discussions of the readings, which integrate the materials from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. The course attempts to inculcate an understanding of the separate elements of Russian civilization. Emphasis is placed on discovering indigenous elements of Russian civilization and how they have reacted to the pressures and impact of other civilizations, particularly Byzantine, Mongol-Tataric, and Western. The course also considers problems of the social sciences, such as the way in which the state has dominated society, stratification, patterns of legitimization of the social order, symbols of collective social and cultural identity, the degrees of pluralism in society, and the autonomy an individual has vis-à-vis the social order. Also examined are such problems as the role of the center in directing the periphery and its cultural, political, and economic order; the mechanisms of control over the flow of resources and the social surplus; and processes of innovation and modernization. R. Hellie, Autumn; N. Ingham, Winter; Staff, Spring.

251. Urban Structure and Process (=Geog 227/327, SocSci 251, Sociol 227/361). This course reviews competing theories of urban development, especially their ability to explain the changing nature of cities under the impact of advanced industrialism. Analysis includes a consideration of emerging metropolitan regions, the microstructure of local neighborhoods, and the limitations of the past American experience as a way of developing urban policy both in this country and elsewhere. G. Suttles. Autumn.

253. Social Welfare in the United States (=PubPol 253, SocSci 253). This course examines the evolution of social welfare provisions in American society. Special emphasis is placed on who is helped and who is not, in what forms, under what auspices, and with what goals. The changing nature of helping is analyzed with particular attention to the changing role of the state. Readings and discussion focus on provisions for the poor, for children and families, and for the mentally ill. Some comparisons are made with other industrialized countries. H. Richman. Spring.

256. Ethnosociology: Hindu (=Anthro 321, SocSci 256). PQ: Third-year standing. May be taken for 100 units, or with SocSci 256 for a total of 200 units. Continuing the discussions of materials in Anthro 212, this course compares additional texts and recent ethnographies with the aim of developing social sciences appropriate for South Asia. M. Marriott. Spring.

257. Modern Readings in Anthropology: Ethnopsychologies of Two Cultures (=Anthro 213/323, SocSci 257). PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. This course develops alternative theories of psychological categories and relationships from modern ethnographies of two cultures where Western concepts are inappropriate. M. Marriott. Not offered 1997-98; will be offered 1998-99.

258. Introduction to American Political Thought: Benjamin Franklin. (=Fndmtl 214, LL/Soc 214, SocSci 258). From year to year different writers and themes are chosen for study from the political thought of the period up to 1865. This time we examine the political and economic thought of Benjamin Franklin. R. Lerner. Autumn.

260. Intensive Study of a Culture/Ethnopsychology: Japan (=Anthro 212/323, SocSci 260). PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. Class limited to twenty students. A Japanese social psychology contrasting with the Western is developed from Japanese perceptions of human affairs as defined by containers and energies. This science is then applied to specimens of Japanese behavior presented in ethnography, literature, and film. M. Marriott. Not offered 1997-98; will be offered 1998-99.

269. Medicine and the Law (=LL/Soc 269, PubPol 269, SocSci 269). This course is designed as an introductory investigation of the interrelations between two essential human institutions: law and medicine. Students read and discuss a series of instances where law and medicine come into conflict. The first part of the course concentrates on conflicts between individual needs, wants, and desires, on the one hand; and professional responsibility and authority or established community standards of conduct, on the other. The second focuses on legislative, administrative, and executive powers and policies involving medicine. A. Goldblatt. Spring.

274. Fantasy and Frame in a Mass Society. PQ: Common Core social sciences sequence. This is a course on the psychology of popular or mass culture, but instead of the usual applied psychology approach, it builds upon the interplay between cultural and psychological factors. The particular focus is fantasy processes, taken as the locus of personal uniqueness and identity in one's emotional life, and their relation to the frames and screens within and upon which culture represents and mediates typical and shared forms of social reality to the individual. We use psychology of fantasy and sociology of art and culture in analyses of selected examples of mass culture, taking theory and interpretation together. P. Homans. Winter.

279. Psychiatric Patient and Life World (=Psych 258, SocSci 279). PQ: Consent of instructor. This course provides students with an opportunity to work under the supervision of the instructors with psychiatrically ill adults at Somerset House, a 405-bed "intermediate care facility" on the North Side that provides residential services and treatment for persistently ill adults through old age as an alternative to institutionalization. Students also participate in inpatient services in a public psychiatric hospital in Tinley Park. This clinical experience is integrated with readings and class discussion regarding origin, course, and intervention for major mental disorders. Additional consideration is given to public policy issues related to intervention among persistently troubled adults. The class meets on Friday from 9 A.M. through late afternoon. B. Cohler. Spring.

282-283. Problems in Gender Studies (=Eng 102-103, GS Hum 228-229, Hist 180-181, Hum 228-229, SocSci 282-283). PQ: Second- or third-year standing and completion of a Common Core social science or humanities course or the equivalent. This two-quarter interdisciplinary sequence is designed as an introduction to theories and critical practices in the study of feminism, gender, and sexuality. Both classic texts and recent reconceptualizations of these contested fields are examined. Problems and cases from a variety of cultures and historical periods are considered, and the course pursues their differing implications for local, national, and global politics. Topics might include the politics of reproduction; gender and postcolonialism; women, sexual scandal, and the law; race and sexual paranoia; and sexual subcultures. D. Nelson, Staff, Autumn; L. Auslander, Staff, Winter.

291. Individual Study in the Social Sciences. PQ: Consent of instructor and senior adviser. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

295. Readings in Social Sciences in a Foreign Language. PQ: At least one year of language. Students must individually make arrangements with appropriate instructors. Consent of instructor and senior adviser. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

299. Readings in the Social Sciences. PQ: Consent of instructor and senior adviser. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.