Sociology/Anthropology

Courses

*SOAN 115 CULTURE AND CONFLICT (4 credits)
Introduces and critically examines selected approaches to understanding human diversity. Drawing on ethnographic studies, develops perspectives on how people cohere as groups, construct meaning, assert and resist influence and power, and orient themselves to a shifting terrain of images and relationships both global and local. Weekly film session required. (D-I)

*SOAN 118 INSTITUTIONS AND INEQUALITY
(4 credits)
Introduces students to the sociological perspective and focuses on the connections between major social institutions and social inequality. (D-D)

*SOAN 150 EARLHAM SEMINAR (4 credits)
Offered for first-year students. Topics vary. (ES)

*SOAN 215 IDENTITY AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
(4 credits)
Explores contemporary social movements organized around gender, sexuality, ethnicity and place. Examines the pivotal role of culture in shaping identities and structuring relations of inequality. Explores empirical case studies of social movements and theories that have emerged to grapple with the place of these movements in creating social change. Particular attention to tensions between class-based analyses of social movements. (D-D)

SOAN 216 THEORY THROUGH ETHNOGRAPHY
(4 credits)
Explores the time-honored practice of Ethnography, both as fieldwork and as textual form, that has traditionally defined cultural anthropology and qualitative sociology. Examines the politics, poetics and ethics of ethnographic research and writing, pushing beyond modernist assumptions about ethnographic fieldwork as objective scientific research. Reading and discussion of ethnographic texts — classical and contemporary, conventional and experimental — as well as critiques of ethnographic research and writing. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing as SOAN major or permission of the instructor.

*SOAN 320 PEOPLES AND CULTURES OF A SELECTED AREA (4 credits)
Explores patterns of social life in a selected region, including historical circumstances, social formations and case studies of cultural beliefs and practices. Seeks to understand the gaze through which the region has been viewed by observers over time, and how various groups have understood, defined and responded to their own experience. (D-I)

*SOAN 321 LATIN AMERICAN CULTURE AND SOCIETY (4 credits)
Examines selected ethnographies of Latin America. Based on the assumption that to understand Latin America we must understand not only the concrete situations of populations living in Latin America but also how those populations have been represented historically through the lens of ethnography. Each ethnographer writes about a people to a wider community of anthropologists whose concerns are theoretical as well as empirical. Dialogue invites students to see Latin America as a region whose study has contributed to the development of anthropological theory. (D-I)

SOAN 322 JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY (4 credits)
Introduces the anthropological study of Japan. Readings focus on cultural analysis, village organizations, the ethnography of modern business organizations and the residential community.

*SOAN 323 NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN CULTURES AND SOCIETIES (4 credits)
Includes a number of culture area/tribal groups, focusing mainly on Native peoples of the Great Lakes region. Texts include ethnographies, scholarly articles, literary essays and videos, representing the works of Native and non-Native scholars, writers and film-makers. Highlights the process by which Native Americans are represented in scholarly, literary and popular media. (D-D)

*SOAN 325 JACKIE ROBINSON: RACE, SPORTS AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
(4 credits)
Approaches Robinson's breaking of professional baseball's color barrier within the context of America's political, social and cultural history and examines Robinson's impact as a national symbol on American cultural life and social institutions. Focuses on creative synthesis of readings and media presentations. Prerequisite: SOAN 115 or 118. (D-D) (AY)

*SOAN 327 INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: ENVIRONMENT, CULTURE, IDENTITY (4 credits)
Small-scale societies traditionally studied by anthropologists have become the "indigenous peoples" of the world. Under the jurisdiction of nation-states that consider them alien and inferior, they are among the world's most underprivileged minorities. Considers each of several particular groups of indigenous people from these perspectives: 1) their unique cultural heritage, 2) their encounters with forces of colonization and capitalism, and 3) their contemporary issues and political struggles. (D-I) (AY)

*SOAN 330 URBAN STUDIES (4 credits)
The sociological and anthropological study of urbanization, city life and urban problems. Topics include the city in comparative perspective, relations between rural and urban areas, the city and the nation, education, family life, housing, crime, race relations, poverty and power. (D-D)

*SOAN 335 HEALTH, MEDICINE AND SOCIETY (4 credits)
Examines health, illness and medical care with a focus on both the social organization of health and health care institutions, and on the experience of illness and healing. Explores discourses of health and illness drawn on by professionals and patients, and the impact of social position on health and treatment. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing. (D-D, W)

SOAN 339 TOPICS IN SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY (4 credits)
Seminars on selected topics.

SOAN 340 CLASSICAL SOCIAL THOUGHT (4 credits)
Intended for majors in Sociology/Anthropology and related disciplines. Provides an overview of the foundations of Western social thought as they developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Assigned readings include excerpts from the works of such major theorists as: Hegel, Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Freud, William James, George Herbert Mead and Fredrich Nietzsche. Students explore the life, thought and work of a theorist in a social category marginalized from the mainstream of Western thought (e.g., people of color, women, non-Westerners) as term project.

SOAN 341 CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL THOUGHT (4 credits)
Explores emerging trends in social theory and their relation to classical theory. Each year emphasizes a different problem such as power and culture, structure and agency, or determinism and anti-essentialism. Readings and discussion focus on developing the students' ability to recognize subtle differences that define theoretical perspective. Also listed as PAGS 341.

SOAN 345 SOCIAL RESEARCH METHODS (4 credits)
Introduces micro-social and macro-social basic qualitative and quantitative approaches in social research, preparing students to carry out original research projects in other Sociology/Anthropology courses. Teaches students to use SPSS for data analysis.

SOAN 346 ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH PRACTICUM I (2 credits)
Primarily for Sociology/Anthropology majors. Students carry out supervised ethnographic research projects of their own design, with the class providing advice and critical responses for work-in-progress and completed projects. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing and two previous SOAN courses and consent of the instructor.

SOAN 347 ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH PRACTICUM II (2 credits)
A self-designed ethnographic research project is carried out during the semester, with the members of the Practicum consulting with the group about their projects. Completes one of the options for the departmental methods requirement. Prerequisite: SOAN 346.

SOAN 353 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF ADOLESCENCE (4 credits)
Explores the emergence of adolescence as a distinctive cultural style reflecting both the changing needs and moral preoccupations of industrial societies. Special attention to key sites of adolescent social practice and ritual and to how young people interpret and perform culturally amid conflicting aspirations, opportunities, meanings and expectations.

*SOAN 355 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF AGING (4 credits)
An anthropological/sociological approach to issues of aging and the elderly, focusing on North America. Through reading ethnographic accounts and personal narratives of older people from a wide variety of backgrounds, students experience three broad perspectives: 1) how the elderly function as social actors in diverse communities (e.g., Native American, homeless, gay and lesbian), 2) how the sociocultural context in which people grow old creates a varied reality of what aging means, 3) how social policy shapes the circumstances and experiences of the elderly. Includes a service-learning component. (D-D, W) (AY)

SOAN 356 SOCIAL DEVIANCE (4 credits)
In seeking to understand significant departures from social norms, explores how deviance has been understood through a variety of perspectives, and the implications of these views for society and for those identified as "deviant." Significant attention is given to the experience of deviants, issues of social power and resistance, and changing forms of social control. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing and one SOAN course.

SOAN 361 LANGUAGE AND CULTURE (4 credits)
An upper-level introduction to linguistic anthropology. Topics include classical linguistic theory; the relationship between language, thought and reality; the role of language in accomplishing social tasks; and the ways in which power relations are created and reinforced through communicative interaction. No specific prerequisites: Students should have a working understanding of a body of social theory. (AY)

SOAN 364 GENDER: ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES (4 credits)
An introduction to issues and theoretical perspectives in the study of women since the 1970s. Focuses on the relationship between anthropology and feminism. Examines the tensions between the universal and the particular in explorations of women's lives cross-culturally and experimental forms of writing that feminist ethnographers have adopted to recover anthropology's humanistic roots.

SOAN 366 WORLD ETHNOGRAPHY (4 credits)
Ethnographic texts — such as books, films, articles, life histories — represent the human experience in diverse ways. Explores anthropological representation and illuminates patterns of human experience. Themes vary.

*SOAN 368 THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DEVELOPMENT: LATIN AMERICA (4 credits)
Using an anthropological lens, examines "development" as a type of discourse that formed under specific historical and sociological conditions. Examines the way relations between nations are imagined, the kinds of institutions that are born in the context of development, and the roles of those institutions in structuring power relations. Also listed as LTST 368. (D-I)

SOAN 371 SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION (4 credits)
Starting with a critical perspective, this micro-social and macro-social examination of schools addresses the question, "Why are things the way they are?" The course takes the view that schools serve multiple interest groups that exercise a consistent and pervasive impact on what happens in our nation's schools. Prerequisite: SOAN 115 or 118. Also listed as EDUC 371. (AY)

SOAN 381 COMMUNITY SERVICE INTERNSHIP (2 credits)
Students arrange to participate as an intern with a non-profit community group or agency. Bi-monthly consultation with faculty and an approved plan of involvement required. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing and consent of the instructor.

SOAN 382 SOCIAL ORGANIZATION INTERNSHIP (2 credits)
Students arrange weekly participation as an intern with an organization providing professional consultation. Bi-monthly meeting with faculty and departmental approval of a plan of placement required. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing and consent of the instructor.

SOAN 410 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION (3 credits)
Focuses on theories of sociological origin and basis of religion, evolution of religious forms of organization, and religion as a force for social change or control. Prerequisites: One course in both Religion and Sociology/Anthropology, or consent of the instructor. Also listed as REL 410. (AY)

SOAN 450 ADVANCED SEMINARS (4 credits)
Occasional seminars reflecting faculty interests. Recent topics have included women in cross-cultural perspective, ethnicity and nationalism, surveillance and society, Andean ethnography and the Asian-American experience. May be repeated for credit.

SOAN 480 ADVANCED READINGS IN SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY (1-4 credits)
Designed for individuals who wish to develop a reading project in an area of interest with periodic meetings with a sponsoring faculty member. Prerequisite: Senior standing and strong record of departmental work and consent of the instructor.

SOAN 481 INTERNSHIPS, FIELD STUDIES AND OTHER FIELD EXPERIENCES

SOAN 482 SPECIAL TOPICS (3 credits)
Selected topics determined by the instructor for upper-level study.

SOAN 483 TEACHING ASSISTANTS (1-3 credits)
Students serving as teaching assistants may elect to earn academic credit by registering for this course.

SOAN 484 FORD/KNIGHT RESEARCH PROJECT (1-4 credits)
Collaborative research with faculty funded by the Ford/Knight Program.

SOAN 485 INDEPENDENT STUDY (1-3 credits)
An investigation of a specific topic conceived and planned by the student in consultation with a faculty adviser. Intended for the advanced student.

SOAN 486 STUDENT RESEARCH (1-4 credits)
Collaborative research carried out by students and faculty.

SOAN 487 SENIOR THESIS (1-4 credits)
Seniors invited by the Department may enroll for credit while carrying out a senior project. Note: Credits for this course do not count toward requirements for the major. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.

SOAN 488 SENIOR CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE (4 credits)
Designed to enable seniors to make significant progress toward completing a senior paper or project or preparing for a comprehensive examination. Also addresses the transition to the worlds of work, graduate school, family and community.

Earlham College · 801 National Road West · Richmond, Indiana 47374-4095
Send corrections or comments to Web Editor.
Copyright Information

This page last updated: August 12, 2007