SOCI 307: Social Movements and Political Protest

SOCI 307-002: Soci Movements/Poli Protest
(Spring 2024)

10:30 AM to 01:10 PM F

Horizon Hall 1010

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Section Information for Spring 2024

In terms of excitement, nothing else measures up to the energy of a rising social movement. In such times, a sense of possibility pervades society. No wonder social researchers across a wide range of fields reference social movements and sometimes make them objects of study. But what are social movements, really? Where do they come from, what do they do, where do they take us? And what do they have to teach us about our societies in general? This course provides students with a comprehensive curriculum on social movement research and theory, taught by a professor with decades of experience working to build and researching and writing about social movements. Our discussions will proceed in three stages. First, we will introduce you to the kinds of questions posed and concepts applied by social movement scholars in their research, examining particular cases as we do so. Next, we turn to three significant traditions in social movement theory - contention, identification, and praxis - and their implications for both academic research design and actual movements. Finally, as this course is intended to develop your capacity to produce research that matters, we will together take up the challenge of organizing in the "Decisive Decade" of the 2020s: Through an in-class simulation, you will help to devise strategies for building powerful movements. Cross listed with SOCI 633-002.

Course Information from the University Catalog