CULT 818: Social Institutions
CULT 818-001: Social Institutions
(Fall 2016)
04:30 PM to 07:10 PM M
Section Information for Fall 2016
"[An] institution is only a convention," says Mary Douglas; it has the effect of "turning individual thought over to automatic pilot," essentially "constructing a machine for thinking and decision-making...." In this course, we will first try to understand what an institution is and how theorists have fashioned it as an object of study. We pay special attention to how institutions confer (or withhold) legitimation, to how they mediate and reproduce other social relations, and to how they endure or cease to exist. We will examine key social institutions -- kinship, education, law enforcement -- more closely, with special focus on their role in producing or maintaining social inequalities. Not least, we will ask: How might inequalities be minimized, and how might more just social institutions be built?
Course Information from the University Catalog
Credits: 3
Considers theories of institutional practice and social structures, from Max Weber to Michel Foucault. Covers prisons, bureaucracies, museums, schools, political parties, and social movements. Notes: This course is designed for the PhD student. Those students not admitted to a PhD program are required to contact the instructor. May not be repeated for credit.
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.
