SOCI 633: Special Topics in Sociology

SOCI 633-003: Decolonizing Methodologies
(Fall 2023)

04:30 PM to 07:10 PM W

Horizon Hall 5018

Section Information for Fall 2023

Taking inspiration from indigenous and black studies, anticolonial and Global South scholarship, and activist practices, this course intends to explore the ways in which we can decolonize our research methodologies. Sociology places itself in a privileged position in the established hierarchies of knowledge, with its universalizing tendencies and west-centric concepts that stand in for the global, rendering other experiences and other ways of knowing invalid. In fact, the construction of the "others" is integral to the project of modernity and coloniality, from which sociology has emerged as a discipline. How can we engage in research that is attentive and critical to this production of knowledge? How can we engage with our "research subjects" in alternate ways that can generate knowledge authentic to their experiences? The course will examine how scholars have engaged with these issues through critical reflection, respect, reciprocity and learning, embeddedness in social struggles, and collaborative knowledge production. The course is not supposed to be a set of tools that students can deploy in their research; rather, it will be an interrogation of their own understandings and perspectives, which will open them to the possibility of alternatives. Students will have the chance to design or alter a research proposal to see what decolonized research will look like, using the theories, concepts, and empirical works we examine in class.  

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Specialized inquiry of topics of contemporary sociological research and scholarship. Content varies. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 12 credits.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Registration Restrictions:

Enrollment limited to students with a class of Advanced to Candidacy, Graduate, Junior Plus, Non-Degree or Senior Plus.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate, Non-Degree or Undergraduate level students.

Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.

Schedule Type: Lec/Sem #1, Lec/Sem #2, Lec/Sem #3, Lec/Sem #4, Lec/Sem #5, Lec/Sem #6, Lec/Sem #7, Lec/Sem #8, Lec/Sem #9, Sem/Lec #10, Sem/Lec #11, Sem/Lec #12, Sem/Lec #13, Sem/Lec #14, Sem/Lec #15, Sem/Lec #16, Sem/Lec #17, Sem/Lec #18, Seminar
Grading:
This course is graded on the Graduate Regular scale.

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.