Social Relationships and Responsibility: Theories and Critiques CRN 23357

Modality - Remote, Synchronous

Theme: Theories & Critiques

This section will explore the process of social identity formation in the United States through the lens of modern social theory.  The goal of the class is to explore multiple perspectives on the formation of the state, individual rights within society, equality as well as the roles and responsibilities of individuals within their respective communities. The focus of the class will concern itself with the roots and application of Western ideals of freedom and equity that arguably form the basis for the United States’ liberal democracy.
The seminar will outline the origins of the enlightenment and the basis for “natural” rights and freedoms in conjunction with the derived roles of society and government. We will then examine how the universalist ideals of the liberal enlightenment have implicitly or explicitly excluded those without property, people of color, and women.  We will also define what the “social compact” has meant in different periods of American history, and the relationship of various groups to this compact. Can liberal democracy really provide equal citizenship for workers, women, and people of color? How have the movements of socialism, reconstruction, decolonization, ethnic identity and feminism tried to reformulate and transform the social order?

Texts:  Selected Readings on John Locke and Adam Smith;
C.Lemert, 6th ed., Social Theory:  The Multicultural &Classic Readings (Westview: Perseus Books, 2013);  M.J. Sandel, Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do (NY: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, 2009); Recommended Reading: Zinn, H. People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present, (NY: Harper Collins, 2003)

Requirements for Credit and Criteria for Evaluation:  Credit will be granted for regular attendance, evidence of preparation, satisfactory completion of 2-3 written perspective papers in addition to a group term project and class group presentation. Criteria for evaluation include informed and active engagement in class discussions; informative, relevant group presentation and a term project paper that illustrates a sound grasp of social theory and critical paradigms.