Child and Family Studies
Child and Family Studies Minor
The Child and Family Studies (CFS) minor provides a curricular mechanism for inter-disciplinary work focused on the contributions of biological, familial, psychological, socioeconomic, political, and educational factors to child and family well-being. The minor not only addresses the life stages and cultural contexts of infancy through adolescence but also includes issues of parenting; child and family well-being; gender; schooling and informal education; risk and resilience; and the place, representation, and voice of children in society and culture.
Students craft a pathway in the minor as they engage in course selection through ongoing discussions with one of the Co-Directors. Sample pathways might include: political science/child and family law; sociology/educational policy; child and family mental health; depictions of children/families in literature and film; child and family public health issues; social work/child welfare; anthropology/cross-cultural child and family issues; gender issues affecting children and families; social justice/diversity issues affecting children and families; or economic factors affecting children and families.
Students may complete a Child and Family Studies minor as an adjunct to any major at Bryn Mawr, Haverford or Swarthmore pending approval of the student's coursework plan by one of the Co-Directors.
Requirements for the Child and Family Studies Minor
The minor comprises six courses: one gateway course, (PSYC 206 Developmental Psychology, PSYC 203 Educational Psychology, PSYC B211 Lifespan Development, EDUC B200 Community Learning Collaborative: Practicing Partnership, or SOCL B201 The Study of Gender in Society), plus five additional courses, at least two of which must be outside of the major department and at least one of which must be at the 300 level. Advanced Haverford and Swarthmore courses typically taken by juniors and seniors that are more specific than introductory and survey courses will count as 300 level courses. Only two CFS courses may be double-counted with any major, minor, or other degree credential.
The minor also requires participation in at least one semester or summer of volunteer, practicum, praxis, community-based work study, or internship experience related to Child and Family Studies. Students are expected to discuss their placement choices with one of the Co-Directors.
Another requirement of the minor is attendance at minor gatherings (2-4 times per semester) during which topics of interest are discussed. Sessions are facilitated by a range of individuals, including CFS students, affiliated faculty and staff, and guest speakers. Meetings are 1-1.5 hours in length, with times to be arranged.
The final minor requirement is participation during senior year in an annual CFS Poster Session during which students share highlights of their CFS campus and field-based experiences.
(Note: it is important to check the Trico course guide for updated course information as not every course is taught every year. In some cases, courses relevant to the CFS minor will have changed, or been added. Students should explore freely and consult with their advisor on curricular choices).
Courses that can be counted toward the Child and Family Studies Minor.
Bryn Mawr College Courses and Seminars
SOWK B552 Perspectives on Inequality
SOWK B554 Social Determinants of Health
SOWK B559 Family Therapy: Theory & Practice
SOWK B571 Education Law for Social Workers
SOWK B574 Child Welfare Policy, Practice, and Research
SOWK B575 Global Public Health
Haverford College Courses and Seminars
ANTH H103 Introduction to Anthropology
ANTH H209 Anthropology of Education
ANTH H263 Anthropology of Space: Housing and Society
COML H289 Children's Literature
EDUC H200 Community Learning Collaborative
EDUC H250 Literacies and Education
EDUC H275 Emergent Multi-Lingual Learners in U.S. Schools
LING H200 2nd Language Acquisition
LING H228 1st Language Aquisition
PSYC H210 Developmental Psychology
PSYC H213 Memory and Cognition
PSYC H215 Introduction to Personality Psychology
PSYC H238 Psychology of Language
PSYC H327 Obesity: Psychology, Physiology, and Health
PSYC H335 Self & Identity
PSYC H338 Child Development & Social Policy
SOCL H204 Medical Sociology
SOCL H226 Sociology of Gender
SOCL H235 Class, Race, and Education
Swarthmore College Courses and Seminars
ED S14 Introduction to Education
ED S21/Psych S21 Educational Psychology
ED S23/Psych S23 Adolescence
ED S23A Adolescents and Special Education
ED S26/Psych S26 Special Education
ED S42 Teaching Diverse Young Learners
ED S45 Literacies and Social Identities
ED S53 Language Minority Education
ED S64 Comparative Education
ED S68 Urban Education
ED S70 Outreach Practicum
ED S121 Psychology and Practice
ED S131 Social and Cultural Perspectives
ED S151 Literacies Research
ED S167 Identities and Education
PSYC S34 Psychology of Language
PSYC S39 Developmental Psychology
PSYC S41 Children at Risk
PSYC S50 Developmental Psychopathology
PSYC S55 Family Systems Theory and Psychological Change
PSYC S135 Advanced Topics in Social and Cultural Psychology
ANTH B102 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (1 Unit)
This course explores the basic principles and methods of sociocultural anthropology. Sociocultural anthropology examines how many of the categories we assume to be “natural,” such as kinship, gender, or race, are culturally and socially constructed. It examines how people’s perceptions, beliefs, values, and actions are shaped by broader historical, economic, and political contexts. It is also a vital tool for understanding and critiquing imbalances of power in our contemporary world. Through a range of topically and geographically diverse course readings and films, and opportunities to practice ethnographic methodology, students will gain new analytical and methodological tools for understanding cultural difference, social organization, and social change.
ANTH B213 Anthropology of Food (1 Unit)
Food is part of the universal human experience. But everyday experiences of food also reveal much about human difference. What we eat is intimately connected with who we are, where we belong, and how we see the world. In this course, we will use a socio-cultural perspective to explore how food helps us form families, national and religious communities, and other groups. We will also consider how food may become a source of inequality, a political symbol, and a subject of social discord. Examining both practical and ideological meanings of food and taste, this course will address issues of identity, social difference, and cultural experience.
ANTH B312 Anthropology of Reproduction (1 Unit)
This course will examine how power in everyday life shapes reproductive behavior and how reproduction is culturally constructed. Through an examination of materials from different cultures, this course will look at how often competing interests within households, communities, states and institutions (at both the local and global levels) influence reproduction in society. We will explore the political economy of reproduction cross-culturally, how power and politics shape gendered reproductive behavior and how it is interpreted and used differently by persons, communities and institutions. Topics covered include but are not limited to the politics of family planning, mothering/parenting, abortion, pregnancy, pregnancy loss, fetal testing and biology and social policy in cross-cultural comparison. Prerequisite: ANTH 8102 (or ANTH H103) recommended
ANTH B322 Anthropology of Bodies (1 Unit)
This course examines meanings and interpretations of bodies in anthropology. It explores anthropological theories and methods of studying the human body and social difference via a series of topics including the construction of the body in medicine, identity, race, gender, sexuality and as explored through cross-cultural comparison. Bodies and their forms are intertwined in debates both in academia and in current affairs and politics. These concerns range from surveillance and movements of bodies, disappearance and erasure of some bodies and fortification of others, to biological and technological modification of individual bodies that arise in moral and political debates and action. Although “the body” is frequently assumed to be “natural,” indeed it appears unstable and destabilizing, especially in particular times and in particular places. We will discuss, for instance the body as a focus of the biomedical gaze, as commodity, in creative expression, in relations to non-human primates, across the age spectrum, and in historical political, economic, and colonial and post-colonial regimes, among other topics. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing and higher.
ANTH B343 Human Growth and Development and Life History (1 Unit)
In this seminar we will examine various aspects of the human life history pattern, highly unusual among mammals, from a comparative evolutionary perspective. First, we will survey the fundamentals of life history theory, with an emphasis on primate life histories and socioecological pressures that influence them. Secondly, we will focus on unique aspects of human life history, including secondary altriciality of human infants, the inclusion of childhood and pubertal life stages in our pattern of growth and development, and the presence of a post-reproductive life span. Finally, we will examine fossil evidence from the hominin lineage used in reconstructing the evolution of the modern human life history pattern. Prerequisite: ANTH B101 or permission of instructor.
ANTH B357 Narratives of Illness, Healing, and Medicine (1 Unit)
This course will explore the construction of narratives around illness, healing, and medicine cross-culturally and across a variety of media including through graphic novels, video drama series, primary source diaries, audio accounts, and anthropological texts. Illness narratives have figured prominently in the study and practice of medical anthropology, and increasingly in the teaching of medicine. We will ask: What is the role of illness narratives in the healing process for patients, healers, and caregivers in cross-cultural comparison? How can illness narratives destabilize dominant discourses, and provide an avenue of expression for those who are unable to easily speak or be heard, particularly in biomedical contexts? Who gets to speak, in what ways, and who remains unheard? What does it mean to tell a story of illness? What roles do illness stories play in illuminating and complicating understandings of illness, disability, trauma, and caregiving? How do illness narratives relate to suffering, hope, and healing, and how they differ for chronic or terminal illness? What do they tell us about making and remaking the self? Students will have the opportunity to explore frameworks and cross-cultural experiences through media beyond standard text. Prerequisite: ANTH B102 or permission of instructor.
ANTH B364 Anthropology of Global Public Health (1 Unit)
This course will use an anthropological lens to explore the field of contemporary global public health. Through readings and ethnographic case studies in cultural anthropology, medical anthropology, applied and critical anthropology, and related social sciences, the class will examine the participants and institutions that make up the production of global health, as well as the knowledge, and value production that have shaped agendas, policies and practices in global health, both historically and in the contemporary. The course will also explore anthropology’s relationship to and perspectives on the history of global health. We will examine how local communities, local knowledge and political forces intersect with, shape, and are shaped by global initiatives to impact diseases, treatments, and health care delivery. As well, what the effects are on individuals, families and children, communities, urban and rural areas, and nations. Among other topics, the course will explore health disparities, epidemics/pandemics, global mental health, climate change and infectious diseases, chronic illness, violence, and diseases such as polio, HIV/AIDS, Covid-19, Tuberculosis, etc. Prerequisite(s): ANTH B102/H103 recommended; sophomore standing or higher
EDUC B200 Community Learning Collaborative: Practicing Partnership (1 Unit)
One of the four entry-point options for student majoring or minoring in Education Studies, this course is open to students exploring an interest in educational practice, theory, research, and policy. The course asks how myriad people, groups, and fields have defined the purpose of education, and considers the implications of conflicting definitions for generating new, more just, and more inclusive modes of "doing school" informed by community-based as well as academic streams of educational practice. In collaboration with practicing educators, students learn practical and philosophical approaches to experiential, community-engaged learning across individual relationships and organizational contexts. Fieldwork in an area school or organization required
EDUC B210 Perspectives on Special Education (1 Unit)
One of the four entry-point options for students majoring or minoring in Education Studies, this course has as its goal to introduce students to a range of topics, challenges and dilemmas that all teachers need to consider. Students will explore pedagogical strategies and tools that empower all learners on the neurological spectrum. Some of the topics covered in the course include how the brain learns, how past learning experiences impact teaching, how education and civil rights law impacts access to services, and how to create an inclusive classroom environment that welcomes and affirms all learners. The field of special education is vast and complex. Therefore, the course is designed as an introduction to the most pertinent issues, and as a launch pad for further exploration. Weekly fieldwork required.
EDUC B250 Literacies and Education (1 Unit)
A critical exploration of what counts as literacy, who decides, and what the implications are for teaching and learning. Students explore both their own and others experiences of literacy through reading and writing about power, privilege, access and responsibility around issues of adult, ESL, cultural, multicultural, gendered, academic and critical literacies. Fieldwork required. Priority given first to those pursuing certification or a minor in educational studies.
EDUC B266 Geographies of School and Learning: Urban Education Reconsidered (1 Unit)
This course examines issues, challenges, and possibilities of urban education in contemporary America. We use as critical lenses issues of race, class, and culture; urban learners, teachers, and school systems; and restructuring and reform. While we look at urban education nationally over several decades, we use Philadelphia as a focal “case” that students investigate through documents and school placements. Weekly fieldwork in a school required.
EDUC B275 Emergent Multilingual Learners in U.S. Schools (1 Unit)
This course, offered as both an elective as well as a course required for students pursuing secondary teaching certification in Pennsylvania through the Bi-Co Education Program, operates from a heteroglossic and culturally and linguistically sustaining stance that has four intersecting aims. First, the course seeks to support students in a critical self-examination of the ways that language has shaped their lives and learning, particularly in the context of racism, linguicism, ethno- and euro-centrism, marginalization and austerity in schools and society. Second, students investigate the ways that both historical and contemporary educational policy concerning the education of EMLLs in the United States has operated from a monoglossic orientation that has limited programmatic and pedagogical options within the classroom to those that fail to address the lived realities and needs of this growing population of students. Third, students collaboratively research and present their findings on heteroglossic classroom language practices that, in contrast to those above, respect and leverage students’ community cultural wealth and full linguistic repertoires. Fourth, students, drawing upon these findings as well as research on multiple language and literacy acquisition, hone their skills as curriculum designers and pedagogues, working to address EMLLs’ diverse strengths and needs in mainstream classrooms and other educational settings. All four aims are bolstered by weekly fieldwork opportunities to learn with and from EMLLs and their educators in the Philadelphia area. Lottery Preference(s): 1. EDUC majors and Certification students; 2. EDUC minors; 3. then by seniority
EDUC B301 Curriculum and Pedagogy Seminar (1 Unit)
A consideration of theoretical and applied issues related to effective curriculum design, pedagogical approaches and related issues of teaching and learning. Fieldwork is required. Enrollment is limited to 15 with priority given first to students pursuing certification and second to seniors planning to teach.
EDUC B310 Redefining Educational Practice: Making Space for Learning in Higher Education (1 Unit)
A course focused on exploring, developing, and refining pedagogical conceptions and approaches appropriate to higher education contexts. Three hours a week of fieldwork are required. Enrollment is limited to 20 with priority given to students pursuing the minor in educational studies.
ENGL B244 Victorian Childhoods (1 Unit)
This course will examine the explosion of interest in the figure of the child that occurred in Britain over the course of the nineteenth century. The Victorian era, marked by rapid industrialization, social reform, and evolving notions of morality, saw childhood emerge as a distinct phase of life requiring protection, education, and moral development. We'll move chronologically, comparing classic depictions of children in literature from the Romantic and Victorian periods with a range of other textual materials (philanthropic tracts; excerpts from government “Blue Books”; legal and medical writings; newspaper scandal stories;) in our attempts to understand some of the very different ways in which the child came to be defined in this era. We'll be especially attentive to questions of race, class and gender. Possible authors may include: Lewis Carroll, Frances Hodgson Burnett, William Blake, Arthur Morrison, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, J.M. Barrie, and others.
ENGL B270 American Girl: Childhood in U.S. Literatures, 1690-1935 (1 Unit)
This course will focus on the “American Girl” as a particularly contested model for the nascent American. Through examination of religious tracts, slave and captivity narratives, literatures for children and adult literatures about childhood, we will analyze U. S. investments in girlhood as a site for national self-fashioning.
ENGL B271 Transatlantic Childhoods in the 19th Century (1 Unit)
This class explores what we can see anew when we juxtapose American and British experiences of, and responses to, emergent ideas and ideals of childhood in the child-obsessed nineteenth century. After setting up key eighteenth-century concepts and contexts for what French historian Philippe Ariès called the "invention of childhood," we'll explore the ways in which children came to be defined between 1800 and 1900, in relation to such categories as law, labor, education, sex, play, and psychology, through examinations of both "literary" works and texts and artifacts from a range of other discourses and spheres. We'll move between American and British examples, aiming to track the commonalities at work in the two nations and the effects of marked structural differences. Here we'll be especially attentive to chattel slavery in the U.S., and to the relations, and non-relations, between the racialized notions of childhood produced in this country and those which arise out of Britain's sharply stratified class landscape. If race and class are produced differently, we'll also consider the degree to which British and American histories and representations of boyhood and girlhood converge and diverge across the period. We’ll close with reflections on the ways in which a range of literary genres on the cusp of modernism form themselves in and through the new discourses of childhood and evolving figures of the child.
ENGL B348 Medieval Childhoods (1 Unit)
This course examines childhood and adolescence in the Middle Ages, exploring both texts for children and those that portray childhood. We will consider adolescent sexuality, royal primogeniture, childhood education and apprenticeship, and theologies of infancy. Readings will include lullabies; early educational texts; nativity plays; chivalric training guides; poetry written by children; and instructional manuals for toys.
PSYC B203 Educational Psychology (1 Unit)
Topics in the psychology of human cognitive, social, and affective behavior are examined and related to educational practice. Issues covered include learning theories, memory, attention, thinking, motivation, social/emotional issues in adolescence, and assessment/learning disabilities. This course provides a Praxis Level II opportunity. Classroom observation is required. Prerequisite: PSYC B105 (Introductory Psychology)
PSYC B209 Clinical Psychology (1 Unit)
This course examines the experience, origins and consequences of psychological difficulties and problems. Among the questions we will explore are: What do we mean by abnormal behavior or psychopathology? What are the strengths and limitations of the ways in which psychopathology is assessed and classified? What are the major forms of psychopathology? How do psychologists study and treat psychopathology? How is psychopathology experienced by individuals? What causes psychological difficulties and what are their consequences? How do we integrate social, biological and psychological perspectives on the causes of psychopathology? Do psychological treatments (therapies) work? How do we study the effectiveness of psychology treatments? Prerequisite: Introductory Psychology (PSYC B105 or H100). Please note that this course was previously known as “Abnormal Psychology” and has now been renamed “Clinical Psychology" and can not be repeated for credit.
PSYC B211 Lifespan Development (1 Unit)
A topical survey of psychological development across the lifespan, focusing on the interaction of personal and environmental factors in the ontogeny of perception, language, cognition, and social interactions within the family and with peers. Topics include developmental theories; infant perception; attachment; language development; theory of mind; memory development; peer relations and the family as contexts of development; identity and the adolescent transition; adult personality; cognition in late adulthood; and dying with dignity. Prerequisite: PSYC B105 or PSYC H100. Interested students can take this course or PSYC B206, but not both
PSYC B215 Thorne School Practicum: Bridging Research and Practice (1 Unit)
This is a 1-credit Praxis II course that requires 3 hours of weekly fieldwork in any of the five Phebe Anna Thorne School programs (Nearly 3s, Younger and Older Preschool classes, Language Enrichment Preschool Program, Kindergarten). In addition to their fieldwork, students will meet as a group once each week with the course instructor. This praxis course is distinguished by dynamic interaction between hands-on fieldwork and collaborative in-class academic learning. Students will integrate their fieldwork experiences with literature on child development and early childhood education, including scholarly evidence that underpins the Thorne School’s commitment to play-based, social-emotional learning. The course also provides an opportunity for students to learn from each other and deepen their understanding of development in early childhood, as they will share their diverse experiences from the five different Thorne School programs serving children from ages 2 to 6.
PSYC B322 Everyday Coping Across Culture (1 Unit)
How do people from different cultural backgrounds cope with stress, regulate emotions, and navigate everyday conflicts? This course explores the diverse strategies individuals use to manage challenges outside of clinical settings, with a particular focus on the role of social support—such as seeking advice, receiving emotional support, and engaging in acts of sacrifice. We will examine how these coping strategies vary across cultures and contexts, shaping well-being and interpersonal relationships. Children develop coping skills in both home and school settings, learning how to manage stress, regulate emotions, and navigate social interactions. Parents, teachers, and other socializing agents play a crucial role in this process by instilling moral values, cultural norms, and effective emotion regulation strategies. Students will engage with empirical, peer-reviewed journal articles, learning to integrate findings, critically analyze research, and generate new questions. Prerequisite: Research Methods and Statistics (PSYC B205 or PSYC H200) and either PSYC 224 (Cultural Psychology), PSYC B211 (Lifespan Development) or PSYC 208 (Social Psychology).
PSYC B327 Adolescent Development (1 Unit)
Is adolescence a biologically distinct stage of life, or a social “holding ground” invented by modern culture for young people unready or unwilling to assume the responsibilities of adulthood? Are adolescents destined to make risky decisions because of their underdeveloped brains? At what age should they be held accountable as adults in a court of law? This course will explore these and other questions about the biological, social, and legal forces that define the boundaries and shape the experience of adolescents growing up in the modern world. Students will learn about: (1) historical changes in understanding and treatment of adolescents; (2) puberty-related biological changes marking the beginning of adolescence; (3) brain, behavioral, cognitive, and social development during adolescence; and (4) contemporary debates regarding age of adult maturity, and their implications for law and policy. Prerequisite: PSYC B206 (Developmental Psychology) or PSYC B211 (Lifespan Development) or permission or instructor. PSYC B205 is recommended.
PSYC B344 Early Childhood Experiences & Mental Health (1 Unit)
Development represents a unique period during which the brain shows enhanced plasticity, the important ability to adapt and change in response to experiences. During development, the brain may be especially vulnerable to the impacts of harmful experiences (e.g., neglect or exposure to toxins) and also especially responsive to the effects of positive factors (e.g., community resilience or clinical interventions). This seminar will explore how childhood experiences “get under the skin,” shaping neurobiological systems and exerting lasting effects on mental health and well-being. We will examine theoretical models of how early experiences shape development, considering the proposed mechanisms by which different features of childhood environments could shape psychological risk and resilience. We will evaluate the scientific evidence for these models and then apply this knowledge to consider what strategies for intervention–– at the level of the child, family, and society–– could help reduce psychopathology and promote well-being. There is no textbook required for this course. We will read, critically evaluate, and discuss empirical journal articles and explore the implications of this scientific literature for public policy. Prerequisites: PSYC B209 or PSYC B206 or PSYC B218 or permission from instructor; PSYC B205 highly recommended
PSYC B352 Advanced Topics in Developmental Psychology (1 Unit)
This is a topics course. Topics vary. Prerequisite: PSYC 206 or PSYC B211 or the consent of the instructor.
PSYC B354 Asian American Psychology (1 Unit)
This course will provide an overview of the nature and meaning of being Asian American in the United States. We will examine the history, struggle, and success of Asian Americans, drawing upon psychological theory and research, interdisciplinary ethnic studies scholarship, and memoirs. Students will also learn to evaluate the media portrayal of Asian Americans while examining issues affecting Asian American communities such as stereotypes, discrimination, family relationships, dating/marriage, education, and health disparities. Prerequisite: Introduction to Psychology (Psych 105) is required, Research Methods and Statistics (Psych 205) is recommended..
SOCL B201 The Study of Gender in Society (1 Unit)
The definition of male and female social roles and sociological approaches to the study of gender in the United States, with attention to gender in the economy and work place, the division of labor in families and households, and analysis of class and ethnic differences in gender roles. Of particular interest in this course is the comparative exploration of the experiences of women of color in the United States.
SOCL B205 Social Inequality (1 Unit)
In this course, we will explore the extent, causes, and consequences of social and economic inequality in the U.S. We will begin by discussing key theories and the intersecting dimensions of inequality along lines of income and wealth, race and ethnicity, and gender. We will then follow a life-course perspective to trace the institutions through which inequality is structured, experienced, and reproduced through the family, neighborhoods, the educational system, labor markets and workplaces, and the criminal justice system.
SOCL B217 The Family in Social Context (1 Unit)
The family represents a fundamental and ubiquitous institution in the social world, providing norms and conveying values. This course focuses on current sociological research, seeking to understand how modern American families have transformed due to complex structural and cultural forces. We will examine family change from historical, social, and demographic perspectives. After examining the images, ideals, and myths concerning families, we will address the central theme of diversity and change. In what ways can sociology explain and document these shifts? What influences do law, technology, and medicine have on the family? What are the results of evolving views of work, gender, and parenting on family structure and stability? Prerequisite of one Social Science Course
SOCL B225 Women in Society (1 Unit)
In 2015, the world’s female population was 49.6 percent of the total global population of 7.3 billion. According to the United Nations, in absolute terms, there were 61,591,853 more men than women. Yet, at the global scale, 124 countries have more women than men. A great majority of these countries are located in what scholars have recently been referring to as the Global South – those countries known previously as developing countries. Although women outnumber their male counterparts in many Global South countries, however, these women endure difficulties that have worsened rather than improving. What social structures determine this gender inequality in general and that of women of color in particular? What are the main challenges women in the Global South face? How do these challenges differ based on nationality, class, ethnicity, skin color, gender identity, and other axes of oppression? What strategies have these women developed to cope with the wide variety of challenges they contend with on a daily basis? These are some of the major questions that we will explore together in this class. In this course, the Global South does not refer exclusively to a geographical location, but rather to a set of institutional structures that generate disadvantages for all individuals and particularly for women and other minorities, regardless their geographical location in the world. In other words, a significant segment of the Global North’s population lives under the same precarious conditions that are commonly believed as exclusive to the Global South. Simultaneously, there is a Global North embedded in the Global South as well. In this context, we will see that the geographical division between the North and the South becomes futile when we seek to understand the dynamics of the “Western-centric/Christian-centric capitalist/patriarchal modern/colonial world-system” (Grosfoguel, 2012). In the first part of the course, we will establish the theoretical foundations that will guide us throughout the rest of the semester. We will then turn to a wide variety of case studies where we will examine, for instance, the contemporary global division of labor, gendered violence in the form of feminicides, international migration, and global tourism. The course’s final thematic section will be devoted to learning from the different feminisms (e.g. community feminism) emerging out of the Global South as well as the research done in that region and its contribution to the development of a broader gender studies scholarship. In particular, we will pay close attention to resistance, solidarity, and social movements led by women. Examples will be drawn from Latin America, the Caribbean, the US, Asia, and Africa.
SOCL B232 A Sociological Journey to Immigrant Communities in Philly (1 Unit)
This course will use the lenses of sociology to critically and comparatively examine various immigrant communities living in greater Philadelphia. It will expose students to the complex historical, economic, political, and social factors influencing (im)migration, as well as how migrants and the children of immigrants develop their sense of belonging and their homemaking practices in the new host society. In this course, we will probe questions of belonging, identity, homemaking, citizenship, transnationalism, and ethnic entrepreneurship and how individuals, families, and communities are transformed locally and across borders through the process of migration. This course also seeks to interrogate how once in a new country, immigrant communities not only develop a sense of belonging but also how they reconfigure their own identities while they transform the social, physical, and cultural milieus of their new communities of arrival. To achieve these ends, this course will engage in a multidisciplinary approach consisting of materials drawn from such disciplines as cultural studies, anthropology, history, migration studies, and sociology to examine distinct immigrant communities that have arrived in Philadelphia over the past 100 years. Although this course will also cover the histories of migrant communities arriving in the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a greater part of the course will focus on recent migrant communities, mainly from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean and arriving in the area of South Philadelphia. A special focus will be on the Mexican American migrant community that stands out among those newly arrived migrant communities.
SOCL B258 Sociology of Education (1 Unit)
Major sociological theories of the relationships between education and society, focusing on the effects of education on inequality in the United States and the historical development of primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in the United States. Other topics include education and social selection, testing and tracking, and micro- and macro-explanations of differences in educational outcomes. This is a Praxis II course; placements are in local schools.