SOSC290
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Course Description
The descriptions and topics of this course change from semester-to-semester, as well as from instructor-to-instructor. Prerequisite: varies with the topic offered.
CAREERS FOR PSYC MAJORS: Psychology is such a big field – there are so many things you can do with this degree! However, the broad nature of the field can be intimidating for students; with so many things you can do, how can you decide what you want to do? The goal of this course is for you to learn more about the field of Psychology. Determining a career depends in large part on what the values and goals of the particular subfield are that you want to pursue. Therefore, emphasis in this class will be placed on you exploring the values of the field – as well as your own personal values and goals as a Psychologist, and how they match up!
TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
In order to fully understand digital culture, we must examine the economic and social impacts of an ‘information society’ alongside the shifting and emerging cultural forms that have digitized our lives and play an increasing role in mainstream consumer and media cultures. This course examines the social processes affecting technological innovation and the ways in which an innovation is either institutionalized or abandoned. Students explore not only the assessment of technological innovations, but also the impact technology has on social issues such as inequality, consumption, identity, community and belonging.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NEW JERSEY
New Jersey has been a longtime leader in championing difficult environmental issues while also recognized as one the most polluted states in the nation. This course will examine some of New Jersey’s environmental history and explore current municipal and state efforts in clean energy, environmental justice, climate impacts and sustainability.
LAW AND PERSONAL FREEDOM
This course addresses freedom and liberty, theoretical foundations of United States law, which remain abstract principles, oftentimes at the fingertips of its citizens. Some may view freedom as the absence of slavery or imprisonment. Others may see freedom as the release from arbitrary or despotic control. While others might describe it as the state of being able to act without hindrance or restraint. Oliver Wendell Holmes saw freedom as, “the right of strict social discrimination of all things, and persons and it is one of the most precious privileges.” Lord John Acton connected freedom and liberty and wrote, “By liberty I mean assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes to be his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.” The concepts of freedom and liberty have been debated for centuries. In this course, we hope to continue those debates and insert contemporary issues into the discussion. Using various themes, we will address the intersection between Law and Freedom and draw lines connecting those visionary concepts. While this course uses case law as its predominant source, we do not solely want to think of these issues in terms of U.S. Supreme Court doctrine. Instead, we hope to analyze the cases and other readings and determine if the law remains poised to capture the images that liberty and freedom entail.
CAREERS FOR PSYC MAJORS: Psychology is such a big field – there are so many things you can do with this degree! However, the broad nature of the field can be intimidating for students; with so many things you can do, how can you decide what you want to do? The goal of this course is for you to learn more about the field of Psychology. Determining a career depends in large part on what the values and goals of the particular subfield are that you want to pursue. Therefore, emphasis in this class will be placed on you exploring the values of the field – as well as your own personal values and goals as a Psychologist, and how they match up!
TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
In order to fully understand digital culture, we must examine the economic and social impacts of an ‘information society’ alongside the shifting and emerging cultural forms that have digitized our lives and play an increasing role in mainstream consumer and media cultures. This course examines the social processes affecting technological innovation and the ways in which an innovation is either institutionalized or abandoned. Students explore not only the assessment of technological innovations, but also the impact technology has on social issues such as inequality, consumption, identity, community and belonging.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NEW JERSEY
New Jersey has been a longtime leader in championing difficult environmental issues while also recognized as one the most polluted states in the nation. This course will examine some of New Jersey’s environmental history and explore current municipal and state efforts in clean energy, environmental justice, climate impacts and sustainability.
LAW AND PERSONAL FREEDOM
This course addresses freedom and liberty, theoretical foundations of United States law, which remain abstract principles, oftentimes at the fingertips of its citizens. Some may view freedom as the absence of slavery or imprisonment. Others may see freedom as the release from arbitrary or despotic control. While others might describe it as the state of being able to act without hindrance or restraint. Oliver Wendell Holmes saw freedom as, “the right of strict social discrimination of all things, and persons and it is one of the most precious privileges.” Lord John Acton connected freedom and liberty and wrote, “By liberty I mean assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes to be his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.” The concepts of freedom and liberty have been debated for centuries. In this course, we hope to continue those debates and insert contemporary issues into the discussion. Using various themes, we will address the intersection between Law and Freedom and draw lines connecting those visionary concepts. While this course uses case law as its predominant source, we do not solely want to think of these issues in terms of U.S. Supreme Court doctrine. Instead, we hope to analyze the cases and other readings and determine if the law remains poised to capture the images that liberty and freedom entail.