Social Inquiry II
Social Inquiry II falls under the Scientific and Social Inquiry Capacity.
Courses in Social Inquiry II build on previous college-level experience with social inquiry.
While all courses in social inquiry involve the application of major concepts, learning experiences in Social Inquiry II require more advanced application of concepts and methods, such as the analysis of data, to frame and address complex problems.
Courses in this area will have at least one of the following learning outcomes.
Learning Outcomes
Students will apply principles and methods from the social sciences based on collecting new or analyzing existing data in order to address questions, solve problems, or deepen understanding. They will understand the nature of evidence employed in the social sciences and will demonstrate a capacity to differentiate competing claims in such fields. This includes reflecting on and critically evaluating how social scientists formulate hypotheses, gather empirical evidence of multiple sorts, and analyze and interpret this evidence.
Using their knowledge of the natural and social sciences, students will engage with issues of public policy, such as climate change, inequality, and health that involve the intersection of perspectives from different disciplines. This would entail an ability to identify the evidentiary basis for scientific claims, the challenges to it, and the connections among the economic, social, and scientific factors that shape the creation and adoption of effective public policy.
Courses
Search for currently scheduled courses with combinations of other Hub requirements in MyBU Student .
HUB Specialty Courses
HUB SA 302E
KYOTO ELCTV 2
0 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Historical Consciousness Social Inquiry II
KYOTO ELCTV 2
HUB SA 303E
Kyoto Elective 3
0 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
KYOTO ELCTV 3
HUB SA 306E
Kyoto Elective 6
0 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry I Social Inquiry II
KYOTO ELCTV 6
HUB SA 309E
Kyoto Elective 9
0 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
KYOTO ELCTV 9
College of Arts & Sciences
CAS AA 270
Race, Sex and Science Fiction
4 credits. Spring
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Science Fiction has always been engaged in complex conversations about culture and the fate of the human species. This course takes seriously the presence of issues such as race, sex and gender, which have become increasingly foregrounded in the genre. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS AA 308
Race and Politics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Combining research from history, political science, sociology, and economics, this course examines the role of race and ethnicity in shaping American politics and policy. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking.
CAS AA 313
The Politics and Policy of HBO's The Wire
4 credits.
HBO's television series The Wire is used to explore politics and policy. A number of interdisciplinary topics are covered, including the war on drugs, urban elections, bureaucracy, rational choice theory, and the decline of American cities. Also offered as CAS PO 313. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS AA 363
Race and the Development of the American Economy: A Global Perspective
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC101) or consent of instructor. - Surveys the economic history of African Americans within the context of the development of the American and global economies. Topics include the economics of slavery; race and industrialization; the Great Migration; anti- discrimination legislation; and the historical origins of contemporary racial inequalities. Also offered as CAS EC 363. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AN 210
Introduction to Medical Anthropology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
This lecture and discussion-driven course uses ethnographic case materials and active learning strategies to introduce students to socio-cultural anthropological modes of understanding and analyzing health-related experiences and institutions, including political and ethical dimensions of illness and suffering around the globe. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS AN 210S
Introduction to Medical Anthropology
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
This lecture and discussion-driven course uses ethnographic case materials and active learning strategies to introduce students to socio-cultural anthropological modes of understanding and analyzing health-related experiences and institutions, including political and ethical dimensions of illness and suffering around the globe. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS AN 309
Boston: An Ethnographic Approach (area)
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Using the tools of ethnographic practice, explores Boston's multiple identities. Boston's patterns of immigration and demographic change are mapped through fieldwork and historical documentation. On site observations will help students understand local meanings of place and community. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AN 309S
Boston: An Ethnographic Approach
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - An ethnographic approach to the city of Boston. Explores Boston as a set of ideas surrounding identity, ethnicity, race, class, religion, and politics. Topics for lecture and discussion include Boston's peculiar patterns of geographical development, industrialization, and immigration. The tools of anthropological observation and ethnography will provide students with the capacity to understand community, diversity, and the human geography of Boston.
CAS AN 316
Contemporary European Ethnography
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASAN 101 and First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120) - What and where is Europe? Who is European? As authoritarianism rises, this class asks what is happening to belonging across Europe? Are old forms of racism and xenophobia returning? Or are new modes of exclusion appearing? Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.
CAS AN 362
Culture and Environment
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Examines mutually transformative relations between human societies and their environments. Shows how social constructions of environment, nature, and culture vary cross-culturally. Topics include: political ecology, environmental conservation, agriculture, climate, bioprospecting, relations with other animals, pollution. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AN 362S
Culture and Environment
4 credits.
Examines how the social construction of environment, nature, and culture varies cross-culturally and historically as well as how it influences economic change, environmental movements, international politics, and public policy. Primary examples include several African countries, Papua New Guinea, and the United States; as well as contemporary global climate change.
CAS AN 363
Food and Water: Critical Perspectives on Global Crises
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Examines how people, past and present, have interacted with food and water. Explores multiple causes and consequences of global food and water inequities. Considers the cultural politics of food/water production, consumption, and distribution in different parts of the world. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS AN 379
China: Tradition and Transformation (area)
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Examines daily life in China and Taiwan, tracing how opposed economic and political paths transformed a common tradition. Topics include capitalism and socialism; politics and social control; dissidence; gender relations; religion, arts, and literature; and pollution. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS AN 379S
China: Tradition and Transformation
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS AN 440
Shadow Empires
4 credits. Spring
Examines the political, economic and social structures of empires in Eurasia and North Africa from an anthropological perspective and explains how they became and remained the world’s largest polities for 2500 years only to collapse worldwide in the 20th century. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Research and Information Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AN 462
Ethnography and Anthropological Theory 2
4 credits. Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN461) and First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Required of majors. Examines current anthropological theory and method. Discussion focuses on recent ethnographies and the anthropological debates they have provoked. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
CAS AN 506
Regional Archaeology and Geographical Information Systems
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: one archaeology course or consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: one archaeology course or consent of instructor. - Use of advanced computer (GIS) techniques to address regional archaeological problems. This applied course examines digital encoding and manipulation of archaeological and environmental data, and methods for testing hypotheses, analyzing, and modeling the archaeological record. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS AN 518
Zooarchaeology
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAR101) - Introduction to the study of archaeological animal bones. Provides theoretical background and methodological skills necessary for interpreting past human- animal interactions, subsistence, and paleoecology. Laboratory sections focus on skeletal identification. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AN 533
Exploring Ethnographic Genres: The Poetics and Politics of Writing Culture
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course offers close readings of classic and recent ethnographic texts to ask: what distinguishes ethnography from other disciplinary traditions of writing about culture and human behavior' How do we see changes in anthropology's theoretical interests reflected (or not) in ethnographic writing' What are the different structural conventions, rhetorical tropes, allegorical patterns, and stylistic strategies used by authors considered to be master ethnographers' Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
CAS AN 563
Religion and Politics across Cultures
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing; or consent of instructor. - Explores the role of religion, religious movements, and secularism in modern politics, citizenship, gender politics, and public life. Case studies draw from Muslim-majority lands, Africa and Latin America, East-Southeast Asia, and the modern West. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AN 568
Symbol, Myth, and Rite
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Historical overview of ritual behavior, the role of symbolism in the study of culture, and the narrative quality of worldview and belief. Emphasis on verbal performance and public display events in specific cultural contexts. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS AN 571
Anthropology of Emotion
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Advanced seminar on the study of emotion as culturally and historically specific experience, cognition and symbolic system. Focus on specific emotions including shame, anger, melancholy, hope, hate and love. Special attention to affect and the politics of emotion. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Creativity/Innovation.
CAS AN 573
The Ethnography of China and Taiwan (area)
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing or consent of instructor; First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR100 or WR120). - Reading of major ethnographies and modern histories as a basis for examining changing Taiwanese and Chinese culture and society. Attention to ethnography as a genre, as well as to the dramatic changes of the past century. (Counts towards the East Asian Studies minor.) Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AN 791
Theory in Archaeology
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least two archaeological studies courses at the 200 level or above, senior status, or consent of instructor. - Seminar dealing with the intellectual history of the discipline, research methods, concepts, and problems in archaeological theory, and the formulation of research designs. Effective Fall 2024 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Global Citizenship, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AR 410
Archaeological Research Design and Materials Analysis
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAR307) , or consent of instructor. - This laboratory-driven course engages students in independent research design and the hands-on analysis of archaeological materials. The course provides a foundation in the integration of theory, research design, and analytical methods through laboratory sessions where students work with archaeological materials. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS AR 450
Methods and Theory of Archaeology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least two archaeological studies courses at 200 level or above, sen ior status, or consent of instructor. - Senior capstone seminar dealing with the intellectual history of the discipline, research methods, concepts, and problems in archaeological theory, and the formulation of research designs. Effective Fall 2018 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
CAS AR 503E
Archaeological Field Methods
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAR101) , or consent of instructor. - ARCH FIELD METH
CAS AR 505
Digital Archaeology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Digital/Multimedia Expression Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: two archaeology courses or consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: two archeology courses or consent of instructor. - Lecture/laboratory course that introduces students to a broad range of digital techniques for collecting, visualizing, and analyzing objects, spaces, and landscapes. In addition to technical lab instruction, the course presents a series of research questions and case studies that explore how digital techniques can be used to investigate the material dimensions of social life. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS AR 506
Regional Archaeology and Geographical Information Systems
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: one archaeology course or consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: one archaeology course or consent of instructor. - Use of advanced computer (GIS) techniques to address regional archaeological problems.This applied course examines digital encoding and manipulation of archaeological and environmental data, and methods for testing hypotheses, analyzing, and modeling the archaeological record. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS AR 516
Paleoethnobotany
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Introduces the theory and method of the study of archaeological plant remains and basic botanical and ecological concepts. Highlights relationships between people and environments and the roles of plants in past societies. Laboratory sessions concentrate on quantitative analysis. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AR 518
Zooarchaeology
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASAR 190. - Introduction to the study of archaeological animal bones. Provides theoretical background and methodological skills necessary for interpreting past human- animal interactions, subsistence, and paleoecology. Laboratory sections focus on skeletal identification. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I.
CAS AR 551
Studies in Mesoamerican Archaeology
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAR201 & CASAR250) or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Analysis of major events and processes of the Mesoamerican area. Topics include rise of towns, temples, and urbanism; the origin of state; and the development of empires. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AR 551E
STDS MESO ARCH
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAR201 & CASAR250) or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - STUD MESO ARCH
CAS AR 591
Theory in Archaeology
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least two archaeological studies courses at the 200 level or above, senior status, or consent of instructor. - Seminar dealing with the intellectual history of the discipline, research methods, concepts, and problems in archaeological theory, and the formulation of research designs. Effective Fall 2024 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Global Citizenship, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AR 594
Scientific Applications in Archaeology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Oral and/or Signed Communication Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) and AR 307, or graduate standing. - Seminar exploring new ways of addressing archaeological questions through the application of scientific techniques, focusing on cutting-edge methodologies and the most recent literature in the field. Students pursue questions of individual interest through readings, discussions, presentations, and research papers. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry II.
CAS BI 414
Ornithology
4 credits. Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASBI107) - Examines the behavior, ecology, morphology, physiology, classification, and evolution of birds. Flight, navigation, migration, territorial courtship, nesting, and parental behavior. Field trips. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion and demonstrations. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS CC 211
Power, Political Forms, and Economics: Core Social Science 2
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Builds on CC 112, considering the major events and processes that have shaped the modern world, and looks at the roots of these changes in the works studied in first year Core. Ideas of human rights and self- determination, the relation of the individual and society, and the relation of power and economics to society. Readings are drawn from classic works of social and political theory: Thucydides, Ibn Khaldun, Hobbes, Rousseau, Tocqueville, Weber, Adam Smith, Marx, Durkheim, and Malinowski. The course is writing intensive. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
CAS CC 221
Making the Modern World: Progress, Politics, and Economics
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g. CAS CC 101 or WR 120). Applying careful readings of Western social, political, and economic thinkers between 1600-1900, the course asks: How did "society" emerge as a distinctive object of political engineering, normative discourse, and social scientific inquiry? And what economic transformations helped shape theories of justice and social contract? Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS CC 222
"Unmaking" the Modern World: the Psychology, Politics, and Economics of the Self
4 credits. Spring
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g. CAS CC 101 or WR 120). - Confronting the legacy of Enlightenment philosophy in the modern era, students encounter the postmodern psychological, political, and economic theories that expose the paradoxes behind freedom and individual rights ideologies framing slavery, colonialism, ethno-nationalism, capitalist exploitation, sexism, and institutional racism. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS CL 322
Roman History
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Digital/Multimedia Expression Social Inquiry II
Introduction to the political, social, and economic history of Rome from the foundation of the city through the fall of the western empire. All texts in translation. Effective Spring 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 201
Intermediate Microeconomic Analysis
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC101) and (CAS MA 121 or CAS MA 123) or equivalent. - Determination of commodity prices and factor prices under the differing market conditions of competition and monopoly. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 201S
Intermediate Microeconomic Analysis
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC101) and (CAS MA 121 or CAS MA 123) or equivalent. - Determination of commodity prices and factor prices under differing market conditions of competition and monopoly. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 202
Intermediate Macroeconomic Analysis
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC102) - Determination of aggregate income and employment. Analysis of fiscal and monetary policy. Inflation and income policy. Problems of the open economy. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 202S
Intermediate Macroeconomic Analysis
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC102) - Determination of aggregate income and employment. Analysis of fiscal and monetary policy. Inflation and income policy. Problems of the open economy. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 221
Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC101 & CASEC102 & CASMA225) - A mathematically rigorous approach to intermediate microeconomic theory. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 222
Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS EC 101, CAS EC 102, CAS MA 225, as well as CAS EC 221. - A mathematically rigorous approach to intermediate macroeconomic theory. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 320
Economics of Less-Developed Regions
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC101 & CASEC102) - Theoretical and empirical examination of the structural changes associated with the process of economic development; special reference to poor regions and countries; rigorous analysis of criteria for policy judgments in developing planning and programming. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 320S
Economics of Less-Developed Regions
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC101 & CASEC102) - Theoretical and empirical examination of the structural changes associated with the process of economic development; special reference to poor regions and countries; rigorous analysis of criteria for policy judgments in development planning and programming.
CAS EC 322E
ECON OF MENA
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC101 & CASEC102) , and enrollment in the London Internship Program. - ECON OF MENA
CAS EC 323
Behavioral Economics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201 & CASEC203) - Introduction to a new field in economics that challenges the traditional model of rational decision-making and uses research in psychology to construct alternative models. Covers the theory of choice under certainty, uncertainty, and temptation; biases in judgment; social preferences. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 323S
Behavioral Economics
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201 & CASEC203) - Introduction to a new field in economics that challenges the traditional model of rational decision-making and uses research in psychology to construct alternative models. Covers the theory of choice under certainty, uncertainty, and temptation; biases in judgment; social preferences. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 328
Urban and Regional Economics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201 & CASEC203) - Provides a broad introduction to modern regional and urban economics. In the first part of the course, we attempt to understand how and why cities grow and develop. In the second part of the course, we try to analyze why cities adopt different policies. In the third part of the course, we overview the issues of neighborhood inequality and segregation. If time remains, we will overview several other recent topics about urban and regional economics. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 330E
EURO BUS MRKT
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the London Internship Program. - EURO BUS ENVMT
CAS EC 332
Market Structure and Economic Performance
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) - Structure of the American economy. The theory of imperfect competition. Topics include firm concentration and conglomeration, consumer ignorance and market failure, and advertising and technological change as part of market performance. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 332S
Market Structure and Economic Performance
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) - Prereq: (CAS EC 201). Structure of the American economy. The theory of imperfect competition. Topics include firm concentration and conglomeration, consumer ignorance and market failure, and advertising and technological change as part of market performance. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 342
Monetary and Banking Theory
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC341) or consent of instructor. - After a brief survey of the development of modern monetary theory, concentration on selected theoretical aspects of monetary economics and financial organization covered in CAS EC 341. Additional emphasis on capital theory and macroeconomic models. Research paper required. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS EC 342S
Monetary and Banking Theory
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC341) or consent of instructor. - Prereq: (CAS EC 341) or consent of instructor. Following a brief survey of the development of modern monetary theory, students concentrate on selected theoretical aspects of monetary economics and financial organization covered in CAS EC 341. Additional emphasis is placed on capital theory and macroeconomic models. Research paper required. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS EC 356
Economics of the Labor Market
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) - Application of current theories of labor supply and demand, wages, education and experience, immigration, labor efficiency, discrimination, and unemployment. Appraisal of the effects of government policies on labor markets. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 356S
Economics of the Labor Market
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) - Application of current theories of labor supply and demand, wages, education and experience, immigration, labor efficiency, discrimination, and unemployment. Appraisal of the effects of government policies on labor markets. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 358
Economics of Education
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201 & CASEC204) or equivalent, or consent of the instructor. - Uses economic models to understand individuals' decision to invest in education, analyzes the effect of education, and examines policies impacting K-12 and higher education in the US. A variety of econometric methods are utilized throughout the course. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 358S
Economics of Education
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201 & CASEC204) or equivalent, or consent of the instructor. - Prereq: (CAS EC 201 & CAS EC 204) or equivalent or consent of instructor. Uses economic models to understand individuals' decision to invest in education, analyzes the effect of education, and examines policies impacting K-12 and higher education in the US. A variety of econometric methods are utilized throughout the course. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 360E
MACROECON UK
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: acceptance into the London Internship Program. - MACROECON UK
CAS EC 363
Race and the Development of the American Economy: A Global Perspective
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC101) or consent of instructor. - (Meets with CAS AA 363.) Surveys the economic history of African Americans within the context of the long run development of the American and global economies. Topics include basic features of American economic growth in the long run; the economics of slavery; the Civil War and the aftermath of slavery; the evolution of racial inequality from the end of the Civil War to the present. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 364E
European Economic Development
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: enrollment in BU's London Internship Programme. - Examines the political economy of contemporary Europe. Concentrates on Western Europe (although the situation and policy developments in Eastern Europe and the former USSR are also touched on), and within that, on the European Economic Community (EEC)--its institutions, policies, and their impact, and its development.
CAS EC 367
Economics of the Public Sector
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) - Basic principles of public finance; consideration of classical and modern attitudes toward government revenues and expenditures. Survey of problems related to public debt and budget making. Evaluation of fiscal policy as an instrument of control. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 385
Economics of Sports
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201 & CASEC203) - Applies the tools of microeconomic theory and empirical methods to study such questions as the optimal design of sports leagues, the impact of new stadiums on a local economy, fan (customer) discrimination, and salary differentials between players. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 385S
Economics of Sports
4 credits.
Prerequisites: (CAS EC 201 & CAS EC 203) or equivalent. Applies the tools of microeconomic theory and empirical methods to study questions such as the optimal design of sports leagues, the impact of new stadiums on a local economy, fan (customer) discrimination, and salary differentials between players. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 387
Introduction to Health Economics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) - Concepts of health economics for US and international settings. Topics include models and empirical analyses of moral hazard, adverse selection, health care systems, health insurance, hospital and physician behavior, pharmaceutical markets, consumer demand, alternative payment systems, risk, fairness, imperfect information, and topics in experimental and behavioral economics. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 387S
Introduction to Health Economics
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) - Concepts of health economics applicable to both developed and developing countries. Topics include effect of health on the economy, effect of health care on health, hospital behavior, health work-force supply, and demand for health care.
CAS EC 391
International Trade
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) - Why do countries trade with each other' Who gains and who loses from international trade' What effect does trade have on consumer prices, wages, profits, income inequality, economic growth, and the environment' What are the costs and benefits of tariffs and other trade barriers' How have NAFTA and the European Union affected trade patterns, income distribution, and economic development' What effects do capital flows and migration have on sending and receiving countries' This course will use economic analysis to discuss these and other current international economic polies. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 391S
International Trade
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) - Why do countries trade with each other' Who gains and who loses from international trade' What effect does trade have on consumer prices, wages, profits, income inequality, economic growth, and the environment' What are the costs and benefits of tariffs and other trade barriers' How have NAFTA and the European Union affected trade patterns, income distribution, and economic development' What effects do capital flows and migration have on sending and receiving countries' This course uses economic analysis to discuss these and other current international economic policies. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 392
International Macroeconomics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC202 & CASEC203) or equivalent. ; Undergraduate Corequisites: (CASEC204)or equivalent. - This course analyzes what determines exchange rates, including interest rates, fiscal and monetary policies, GDP growth, inflation, and other factors. We will examine the causes of exchange rate crises, the functioning of fixed and flexible exchange rate systems, the effect of the worldwide saving imbalance, the crisis in the euro zone, as well as other current topics. We will also study hedging and speculating in foreign exchange markets by using futures and forward contracts and options. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 392S
International Macroeconomics
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC202 & CASEC203) or equivalent. ; Undergraduate Corequisites: (CASEC204)or equivalent. - Prereq: (CAS EC 202 & CAS EC 203) or equivalent. Analyzes what determines exchange rates, including interest rates, fiscal and monetary policies, GDP growth, inflation, and other factors. Examines the causes of exchange rate crises, the functioning of fixed and flexible exchange rate systems, the effect of the worldwide saving imbalance, the crisis in the euro zone, as well as other current topics. Also considers hedging and speculating in foreign exchange markets by using futures and forward contracts and options. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 403
Game Theory
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS EC 201 and (CASMA121 or CASMA123 or CASMA127); or consent of inst ructor. - Models of decision-making in which the choices of different individuals interact: basic equilibrium notions in normal-form and extensive-form games, including signaling games and repeated games. Applications may include oligopolies, auctions, foreign policy, takeover bids, entry deterrence, cooperation and conflict, financial markets, and public goods. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 403S
Game Theory
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS EC 201 and (CASMA121 or CASMA123 or CASMA127); or consent of inst ructor. - Prereq: (CAS EC 201) and (CAS MA 121 or CAS MA 123 or CAS MA 127) or consent of instructor. Models of decision-making in which the choices of different individuals interact: basic equilibrium notions in normal-form and extensive- form games, including signaling games and repeated games. Applications may include oligopolies, auctions, foreign policy, takeover bids, entry deterrence, cooperation and conflict, financial markets, and public goods. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 404
Economics of Information
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) and one of CAS MA 121, 122, 123, 124, 127 or 129, or consent of instru ctor. Recommended: CAS EC 403. - Introduction to the field of information economics and its applications. Covers a wide range of situations in which players have access to different private information and this private information differently affects their incentives and strategic behavior. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 404S
Economics of Information
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) and one of CAS MA 121, 122, 123, 124, 127 or 129, or consent of instru ctor. Recommended: CAS EC 403. - Prereq: (CAS EC 201) and (CAS MA 121, 122, 123, 124, 127 or 129) or consent of instructor. Recommended: CAS EC 403. Introduction to the field of information economics and its applications. Covers a wide range of situations in which players have access to different private information and this private information differently affects their incentives and strategic behavior. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 436
Economics of Corporate Organization
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASEC201; and CASMA121 or CASMA123 or CASMA127; and CASEC305 or CASMA2 13; and CASMA214, or SMGSM221. - Economic analysis of the architecture of firms and other organizations. Topics include firm boundaries, the allocation of ownership and control, integration and outsourcing, corporate governance, performance evaluation, and compensation. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EC 445
Economics of Risk and Uncertainty
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201 & CASEC202 & CASEC203 & CASEC204) and CAS MA 121 or CAS MA 123 (or equivalent). - For advanced undergraduates. Economics of risk, with a focus on financial markets. Topics include expected utility, portfolio choice and the capital asset pricing model, interest rates and monetary policy, the relation between the real economy and the stock market. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EC 445S
Economics of Risk and Uncertainty
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201 & CASEC202 & CASEC203 & CASEC204) and CAS MA 121 or CAS MA 123 (or equivalent). - Prereq: (CAS EC 201 & CAS EC 202) and (CAS EC 203 or CAS EC 305) and (CAS MA 121 or CAS MA 123). For advanced undergraduates. Emphasis on quantitative links between theory and data. Topics include expected utility, portfolio choice and the capital asset pricing model, interest rates and monetary policy, the relation between the real economy and the stock market.
CAS EC 563
Race and the Development of the American Economy: A Global Perspective
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC101) - Surveys African-American economic history in the context of the development of American and global economies, using available data and econometrics methods. Topics include: economics of slavery; race and industrialization; the Great Migration; anti-discrimination legislation; historical origins of contemporary racial inequalities. (Meets with CAS AA 563.)
CAS EE 304
Environmentally Sustainable Development
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Traces the emergence of sustainable development as a defining challenge of our times. Surveys and evaluates approaches for balancing ecological sustainability and human development in various parts of the world and at the global level. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS EE 309
Intermediate Environmental Analysis and Policy
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASEE 100 and CASEC 101. - Introduction and critical analysis of the economic and ecological foundations of sustainability. Applications to biodiversity, land use, energy, climate change, resource curse, ecological footprint, and planetary boundaries. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS EE 322
The Politics of Science, Care, and the Environment
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisite: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - This interdisciplinary course explores political conflicts over environmental problems as conflicts over science and care. Content ranges from concrete cases of U.S. environmental challenges (toxic exposure, wildlife in suburbs), to environmental political theory and the politics of climate change. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Creativity/Innovation.
CAS EE 328E
Australia Global Environment
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Study Abroad enrollment.
CAS EE 347
Water Resources and the Environment
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Examines global water resource systems, with emphasis on questions of culture, development, gender, social inequality, politics. Analyzes social relations and historical legacies that shape water infrastructure, distribution, and meaning. Cases from Africa, Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, South America. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EE 385
Israel and the Environment
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Natural, social, and political factors in Israeli environmental resource management, impact on vulnerable populations, and opportunities for post- conflict, cross-border cooperation, environmental justice, and equitable division of scarce resources. Considers possibilities for a new paradigm in Middle Eastern sustainable development. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EE 524
Environmental Justice
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor; First Year Writing Seminar ( e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Exploration of the origins of and current trends in environmental justice activism and scholarship. Introduces empirical evidence of environmental (in)justice, links contemporary environmental problems to historical and broader political-economic processes, and explores a range of responses to environmental injustice. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EE 528
US Environmental Policy
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120); CAS EE 100 or equivalent; EE 309 or equivalent; or consent of instructor. - Survey and historical overview of key environmental policies and regulations in the United States. Emphasis on policy development, including formulation and implementation of federal pollution control regulations since the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970. Considers possible future policy needs. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS EE 538
Research for Environmental Agencies and Organizations 2
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Students gain professional experience by working in teams on research projects that assist environmental and public health officials in achieving the missions of their agencies. Research areas may include solar energy, environmental justice, toxics, water quality, and lead poisoning. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration, The Individual in Community.
CAS EE 538S
Research for Environmental Agencies and Organizations 2
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Students gain professional experience by working in teams on research projects that assist environmental and public health officials in achieving the missions of their agencies. Research areas may include solar energy, environmental justice, toxics, water quality, and lead poisoning. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration, The Individual in Community.
CAS EE 545
Methods of Environmental Policy Analysis
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning II Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS MA 121 or MA 123 or MA 124, or equivalent; EC 101, or equivalent; or consent of instructor. - A rigorous introduction to the economic analysis of environmental policy, and to the implications of the special character of environmental problems for public decision making. Introduces the tools available to environmental policy makers, and develops quantitative frameworks for analyzing their effectiveness, advantages, and disadvantages. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS EE 552
Reconstructing Environmental Governance
4 credits.
Helps those who seek a future of participation in the reconstruction of systems and expectations for consumer, health, and environmental protection, that have been dismantled in recent years and can be restored to function better than before. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EE 594
Global Environmental Negotiation and Policy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Provides an overview of key actors, issues, and treaties in global environmental governance, paying particular attention to historical and contemporary differences in perspectives and interests of industrialized and developing countries. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EE 599
Science, Politics, and Climate Change
4 credits. Spring
Applies a science and technology studies perspective to climate change science and policy, examining efforts to address sources and consequences of climate change at global, national, and local levels. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS EE 660
Resource Economics and Policy
4 credits.
Prereq: MA 121 or MA 123 or MA 124, or equivalent; EC 101 or equivalent; or consent of instructor *Economic and policy analysis of food, energy, and water, and the management of food, energy, water and land resources. Introduces resource economics and static and dynamic optimization as analytical frameworks for understanding the optimal management of scarcity, externalities, and impacts of environmental change on, and adaptation/vulnerability of, resource use. Meets with EE 460.
CAS EN 394
Cultures of Science
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: one previous literature course or junior or senior standing. - This course explores the shared cultures of the sciences and literature from the Enlightenment through the Victorian eras in Britain and Europe. We combine the history of science, the social history of literature and related arts, and sociology of knowledge. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Social Inquiry II.
CAS EN 395
Race, Sex and Science Fiction
4 credits. Spring
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Science Fiction has always been engaged in complex conversations about culture and the fate of the human species. This course takes seriously the presence of issues such as race, sex and gender, which have become increasingly foregrounded in the genre. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS HI 283
The Twentieth-Century American Presidency
4 credits.
Examines the shifting role of the presidency in American politics, especially over the course of the twentieth century. Considers not only the accomplishments of individual presidents and institutional changes in the executive branch but also the evolving place of the presidency in American popular culture. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II.
CAS HI 283S
The Twentieth-Century American Presidency
4 credits. Summer
Examines the shifting role of the presidency in American politics, especially over the course of the twentieth century. Considers not only the accomplishments of individual presidents and institutional changes in the executive branch but also the evolving place of the presidency in American popular culture. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II.
CAS HI 287
History of American Foreign Relations since 1898
4 credits.
Analysis of the history of American foreign policy from the perspective of the changing world and regional international systems; emphasis on the effect of these systems and the impact of America on the creation and operation of international systems. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS HI 308
Religious Thought in America
4 credits.
Surveys many of the strategies that American religious thinkers have adopted for interpreting the cosmos, the social order and human experience, and the interaction of those strategies with broader currents of American culture. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS HI 312
Disability in American History
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Digital/Multimedia Expression Social Inquiry II
Investigates disability as a crucial aspect of power and identity in American history. Considers how people's bodies and minds have been rendered disabled in specific contexts. Explores disabled people's historical survival strategies, community-building projects, and campaigns to claim rights. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Creativity/Innovation, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II.
CAS HI 315
The American West
4 credits.
We examine the American West, the mythical landscape of freedom and adventure, as a region of violence, empire, and exclusion. Exploring 300 years of Western history, we focus in particular on Indigenous conquest and the continuities of colonialism. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS HI 338
Repression, Revolution, Rock n' Roll: US in 1950s & 1960s
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Few periods shaped American society, culture and politics as dramatically and enduringly as the 1950s and 1960s, transforming institutions, life experiences, the nation's role in the world, and the ways Americans thought about social problems and political activism. Topics include: Cold War, McCarthyism, Civil Rights, Vietnam, Campus Protest, Counterculture Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS HI 339
A History of the Present: The United States since 1968
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Analyzing the recent experience of the United States and its people in historical perspective, the course allows students to explore important developments in US politics, race relations, economy, and popular culture, investigate diverse social science approaches to contemporary problems, and develop an independent research project. Topics include war, politics, religion, and popular culture as well as changing notions about race, gender, and selfhood. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS HI 339S
A History of the Present: The United States since 1968
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Considers the recent experience of the United States and its people in historical perspective. Students explore important developments in US politics, race relations, economy, and popular culture; investigate diverse social science approaches to contemporary problems; and develop an independent research project. Topics include war, politics, religion, and popular culture as well as changing notions about race, gender, and selfhood. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS HI 502
Drafts of History: Journalism and Historical Revisionism
4 credits.
Considers episodes from U.S. history, comparing the "draft" of journalists to subsequent historical accounts. Analyzes how new evidence alters understanding of events, but also how different eras ask questions about the past, interrogate different sources, and appeal to different audiences. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
CAS HI 507
Three Revolutions
4 credits.
The course examines how the English civil wars, the Glorious Revolution, and the American Revolution altered Anglo-American political thought and encouraged the rise of a democratic order and changed the nature of governance. Writers from Hobbes and Milton to Burke and Jefferson grappled with these transformations that created political modernity. The course situates these changes within their broader social and spiritual contextes and explores the continuation of inequality within a democratic order. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS HI 525
Development in Historical Perspective
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 120 or 150) - A critical investigation of modern "development" practices and projects in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Explores the rise of development paradigms in the nineteenth century and key twentieth-century transformations; interrogates challenges to, critiques of, and reaffirmations of global development schemes. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II.
CAS HI 526
Poverty and Democracy: Modern India and the United States in Comparative Perspective
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Through an examination of historical, empirical, and journalistic evidence, students examine the peculiar and pernicious nature of modern and contemporary poverty in the context of two large democracies, India and the United States. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
CAS HI 527
Getting Around: Transportation, Cars, and Community in the Modern World
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: "First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or 120)" - Explores the history of transportation and mobility and its impact on daily life, community, environment, and justice, examining automobiles, walking, biking, and mass transit in diverse global contexts from the nineteenth century to the present day. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II.
CAS HI 708
Religious Thought in America
4 credits.
Surveys many of the strategies that American religious thinkers have adopted for interpreting the cosmos, the social order and human experience, and the interaction of those strategies with broader currents of American culture. Also offered as GRS RN 614. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS IR 295
Quantitative Methods for Global Policy
4 credits. Spring
Undergraduate prerequisites: Completion of CAS EC 101 and CAS EC 102, which are also prerequisites for a CAS IR degree. An applied math background, particularly in probability and statistics, is strongly encouraged, and completion of an introductory statistics or econometrics course (MA113, MA115, MA116, MA214, QM221, EC203/303) is recommended. - Introduces the principal quantitative methods that are employed in core global studies disciplines, including political science, economics, and public policy. Students are exposed to a range of descriptive and inferential statistical methods and their applications in research and policy. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking.
CAS IR 302
Campaigns and Elections Around the World
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASIR251) or consent of instructor. - Meets with CAS PO 325. Electoral campaigns in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Changes in campaigns over time; role of international political consultants; influence of party systems, electoral systems, campaign finance regulation, vote buying, and mass media; campaign effects on voting behavior and public opinion. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS IR 302S
Campaigns and Elections Around the World
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASIR251) or consent of instructor. - Electoral campaigns in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Changes in campaigns over time; role of international political consultants; influence of party systems, electoral systems, campaign finance regulation, vote buying, and mass media; campaign effects on voting behavior and public opinion.
CAS IR 304
Environmentally Sustainable Development
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Traces the emergence of sustainable development as a defining challenge of our times. Surveys and evaluates approaches for balancing ecological sustainability and human development in various parts of the world and at the global level. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS IR 334E
EUR POL MIGRTN
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the Padua Italian & European Studies Program. - EUR POL MIGRTN
CAS IR 336E
EURO BUS MRKT
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the London Internship Program. - EURO BUS ENVMT
CAS IR 347
Causes of War and Peace
4 credits.
War is the most destructive social act in which humanity engages. Why does war happen' This question is addressed by focusing on a variety of scholarly explanations. Theoretical discussions are paired with an examination of historical cases. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning.
CAS IR 347S
Causes of War and Peace
4 credits.
War is the most destructive social act in which humanity engages. Why does war happen' This question is addressed by focusing on a variety of scholarly explanations. Theoretical discussions are paired with an examination of historical cases.
CAS IR 376
History of American Foreign Relations since 1898
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Analysis of the history of American foreign policy from the perspective of the changing world and regional international systems; emphasis on the effect of these systems and the impact of America on the creation and operation of international systems. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS IR 385
Foundations of Strategic Studies
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS IR 271 and First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Examines factors determining national and international security, and relationships between military power and politics. Topics include causes/conduct of war, civil-military relations, coercion in international relations, and grand strategy. Students cannot receive credit for both IR 374 and IR 385. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course, Critical Thinking.
CAS IR 389
Technology and Global Governance
4 credits. Spring
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Oral and/or Signed Communication Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate prerequisite: One Social Inquiry I unit. - The international world order, largely forged after World War II, has come under increasing strain. The course critiques the traditional state-centric approach to global governance in which international organizations such as the United Nations and World Trade Organizations develop rules which nation-states follow. Provides an alternative approach of global governance - "experimental governance" - which can complement the state-centric approach. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Creativity/Innovation, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry II.
CAS IR 426
NGO Management and Leadership
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Examines roles and methods of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in social change and international development. Reviews theory and practice of NGOs in development, NGO strategies, and internal management. Students will engage directly with international development NGOs. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking.
CAS IR 427E
SEMINAR:INT BUS
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the London Internship Programme. - SEMINAR:INT BUS
CAS IR 461
American Grand Strategy
4 credits. Fall
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120); junior standing o r consent of instructor. - Traces the United States' engagement in world affairs by evaluating U.S. grand strategy - its theory of how to 'create' security for itself in an often-threatening world. Using history and theory, identifies changes in U.S. strategy and evaluates policies today. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
CAS IR 480
Political Economy of Human Development
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examines human development in low- and middle-income countries from applied economics perspective. Topics include: (1) economic growth, inequality, and poverty; (2) health, nutrition, and education; (3) agriculture, environment, and resource management; and (4) social and political factors in economic development. Also offered as GRS IR 680 A1. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking.
CAS IR 502
Latin American Political Parties
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Meets with CAS PO 561. Parties and party systems of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. Historical origins and labor incorporation. Populist, working-class, and hegemonic parties. Market reform and party system transformation or collapse. Ethnic parties, clientelism, rise of a new Left. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS IR 505
Arms Control and Proliferation of Weapons
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar ( e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Examines why and how arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation have become important issues in modern diplomacy. Analyzes the progress made in concluding global and regional agreements, verification and compliance techniques, and their role in post-Cold War security issues. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
CAS IR 520
The State and Public Purpose in Asia
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: juniors & seniors in Internat'l Relations, Pol. Science, and Asian Stu dies who have completed the 1st-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR100 or 1 20) & Writing, Research & Inquiry (WR150, 151, 152). - Meets with CAS PO 550. Comparative exploration of the economic and political institutions of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, drawing on political and economic theory. Addresses how relationships among state, business, and labor have affected industrial development and contemporary economic activity. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS IR 522
Politics of Nuclear Weapons
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASIR376 OR CASPO366) First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - This course examines politics, history, and technologies surrounding nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. It analyzes the "global atomic marketplace" with a particular focus on the challenges and opportunities for nuclear proliferation and nonproliferation. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
CAS IR 527
Political Economy of China
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent). - Provides a historical and comparative study of China's rise domestically and internationally and introduces China's national power, local governments, globalization, finance, and strategic concerns. Students learn to evaluate scholarly and policy pieces, compile evidence, and write research reports. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS IR 527S
Political Economy of China
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent). - Prereq: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS WR 100 or CAS WR 120) and junior standing or consent of instructor. Provides a historical and comparative study of China's rise domestically and internationally and introduces China's national power, local governments, globalization, finance, and strategic concerns. Students learn to evaluate scholarly and policy pieces, compile evidence, and write research reports. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS IR 552
Technology and War
4 credits. Fall
How do countries make choices between military technologies' How do they use them' What about emerging technologies' In this course, we examine the drivers behind countries¿ development of military technologies, how they operationalize them, and why they sometimes restrict them. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
CAS IR 563
Religion and Politics across Cultures
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - This course examines the changing role of religion and secularism in modern politics, citizenship, and public life. It explores the causes of the global resurgence in religiosity and its implications for democracy, tolerance, and gender equality. It compares the public role of religion in Western liberal democracies with that of other world regions, including the Muslim world, Christianity in the global south, "Confucian" East Asia, India, and Buddhist Southeast Asia. The course asks whether an equitable and inclusive citizenship is possible in an age of deep ethico-religious plurality. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS IR 564
Political Economy of Rising Powers
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Offers historical and comparative examination of industrialization and globalization in the contemporary world. Focusing on rising powers, the course examines different waves of industrialization, immigration, and globalization, as well as the business-state relations in different regions and nations. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS IR 572
Ballot or Bullet: The Global Struggle for Justice
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar. - How do people attain justice for issues with deep historical roots, such as colonialism, segregation, indigenous land rights, reparations, gender/race-based violence, and religious persecution' Explores the role of violence both in policing global morality and in popular responses to imposed universalist ideas. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II.
CAS IR 587
Global Energy History
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Oral and/or Signed Communication Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Prerequisite: one Social Inquiry I course. - This course traces global energy history from the Industrial Revolution to our era of climate change. We examine where energy resources come from, how they are acquired and moved, and why societies transition from one source of energy to another. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS IR 591
Political Economy of Gender Inequality
4 credits. Fall
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing; or consent of instructor. - Gender inequality is an enduring social phenomenon, despite variation over time and place. This course analyzes the political, economic, and social dimensions of gender inequality. It follows a comparative approach, focusing particularly on empirical analysis while also addressing fundamental normative issues of fairness. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS IR 593
Technology and Economic Inclusion in the Developing World
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Oral and/or Signed Communication Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
How can firms and governments use new technologies to provide clean energy, drinking water, and other services to rural and frontier communities in the developing world' The course investigates how rural communities, particularly those without access to formal and other services, manage their money, provide energy and other services they need, and general live their lives. We will then examine how firms and governance can design products, governance mechanisms, and policies which can most effectively tap into such communities. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS IR 594
Global Environmental Negotiation and Policy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Provides an overview of key actors, issues, and treaties in global environmental governance, paying particular attention to historical and contemporary differences in perspectives and interests of industrialized and developing countries. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
CAS IR 599
Science, Politics, and Climate Change
4 credits. Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Applies a science and technology studies perspective to climate change science and policy, examining efforts to address sources and consequences of climate change at global, national, and local levels. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS IR 626
NGO Management and Leadership
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Examines roles and methods of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in social change and international development. Reviews theory and practice of NGOs in development, NGO strategies, and internal management. Students will engage directly with international development NGOs. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking.
CAS IR 661
American Grand Strategy
4 credits. Fall
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Traces the United States' engagement in world affairs by evaluating U.S. grand strategy - its theory of how to 'create' security for itself in an often-threatening world. Using history and theory, identifies changes in U.S. strategy and evaluates policies today. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
CAS IR 680
Political Economy of Human Development
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Examines human development in low- and middle-income countries from applied economics perspective. Topics include: (1) economic growth, inequality, and poverty; (2) health, nutrition, and education; (3) agriculture, environment, and resource management; and (4) social and political factors in economic development. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking.
CAS JS 385
Israel and the Environment
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Natural, social, and political factors in Israeli environmental resource management, impact on vulnerable populations, and opportunities for post- conflict, cross-border cooperation, environmental justice, and equitable division of scarce resources. Considers possibilities for a new paradigm in Middle Eastern sustainable development. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning. Social Inquiry II.
CAS LP 307
Portuguese for Business and Professional Life
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Digital/Multimedia Expression Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASLP212) and consent of instructor. - This is a discussion-based course taught in Portuguese. It helps you develop effective reading, speaking and writing strategies needed to interpret authentic written and audio-visual sources, exploring different aspects of professional life in the Brazilian and the Portuguese-speaking world. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS LX 349
Bilingualism
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASLX250) or consent of instructor. - The psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics of life with two languages. Topics include bilingual language use, processing, acquisition, organization; effects of bilingualism on cognition and development; the bilingual brain; the bilingual speech community; bilingual education; bilingualism in the media and public eye. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking.
CAS LX 649
Bilingualism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
The psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics of life with two languages. Topics include bilingual language use, processing, acquisition, organization; effects of bilingualism on cognition and development; the bilingual brain; the bilingual speech community; bilingual education; bilingualism in the media and public eye. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 545. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking.
CAS MA 121
Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences I
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Students may receive credit for not more than one of the following courses: CAS MA 121 or CAS MA 123. Differentiation and integration of functions of one variable. Same topics as CAS MA 123, but with less emphasis on mathematical generality and more on applications. Especially suitable for students concentrating in the biological and social sciences. Carries MCS Divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Quantitative Reasoning II. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS MA 121E
Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences I
4 credits.
Differentiation and integration of functions of one variable. Same topics as CAS MA 123, but with less emphasis on mathematical generality and more on application. Especially suitable for students concentrating in the biological and social sciences. Cannot be taken for credit in addition to CAS MA 123.
CAS MA 121S
Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences I
4 credits.
Differentiation and integration of functions of one variable. Same topics as CAS MA 123, but with less emphasis on mathematical generality and more on applications. Especially suitable for students concentrating in the biological and social sciences. Students may receive credit for not more than one of the following courses: CAS MA 121 or CAS MA 123. Carries MCS divisional credit in CAS. Students must register for two sections: lecture and discussion. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS MA 122
Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences II
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASMA121 OR CASMA123) - Students may receive credit for not more than one of the following courses: CAS MA 122, MA 124, or MA 129. Continuation of CAS MA 121. Review of univariate calculus, calculus of the elementary transcendental functions, elementary differential equations, elementary multivariate calculus. Applications to exponential growth, optimization, equilibrium, and dynamic modeling problems. Carries MCS divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Quantitative Reasoning II. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS MA 122S
Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences II
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASMA121 OR CASMA123) - Continuation of CAS MA 121. Review of univariate calculus, calculus of the elementary transcendental functions, elementary differential equations, elementary multivariate calculus. Applications to exponential growth, optimization, equilibrium, and dynamic modeling problems. Students may receive credit for not more than one of the following courses: CAS MA 122, CAS MA 124, or CAS MA 129. Carries MCS divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 458
Crime and Punishment: Philosophical Perspectives
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor. First Year WritingS eminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - This course will explore philosophical questions about the criminal justice system, both in its ideal form and as it exists today. We will examine historical and contemporary writings on punishment, focusing on concepts of punishment, justifications for punishment, preventative detention, the death penalty, and alternatives to punishment. We will also ask how deep historical and contemporary injustices, including institutionalized racism, affect how we should theorize about institutions of punishment, their possible reform, or perhaps even their abolition. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PH 477
Philosophy of the Social Sciences
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings Social Inquiry II
Topics in the philosophy of the social sciences such as the interpretation of human action and the objectivity of social inquiry. Social consideration of alternative theoretic viewpoints such as naturalism and interpretivism. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 677
Philosophy of the Social Sciences
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings Social Inquiry II
Topics in the philosophy of the social sciences such as the interpretation of human action and the objectivity of social inquiry. Social consideration of alternative theoretic viewpoints such as naturalism and interpretivism. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS PO 301
Presidential Leadership
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Presidential power and functions; relations with Congress, political party, and the public; personality and leadership; and comparative study of selected presidents. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 301S
Presidential Leadership
4 credits.
Presidential power and functions; relations with Congress, political party, and the public; personality and leadership; and comparative study of selected presidents. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS PO 317.
CAS PO 302
Congress
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPO111 OR CASPO141) or consent of instructor. - The United States Congress is the most studied branch of U.S. Government, and central to our understanding of policy, elections, and representative democracy. The purpose of this course is to examine two fundamental questions: (1) what do Members of Congress do and why and (2) how do the individual and collective actions of Members of Congress explain national policy' Throughout, we will debate the common criticism that "Congress is broken'' and consider its effectiveness as an institution. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS PO 306
Media and Politics in the United States
4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPO111) or consent of instructor. - Examines changes over time in the American polity's assumptions about what the press ought to do. In particular, relates our understanding of the press's role to contemporary media developments including technological changes, corporate media ownership, and the re- amateurization of journalism. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS PO 307
Public Opinion in American Politics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPO111 OR CASPO141) or consent of instructor. - Public opinion is a central component of democratic politics; in this course we study public opinion in the United States. In addition to this substantive focus, the course is intended to foster the development of two skills: critical reading and rigorous, careful and clear writing. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry I. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 307S
Public Opinion and Electoral Politics
4 credits. Summer
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPO111 OR CASPO141) or consent of instructor. - Determinants and consequences of public opinion in the American political system. Social, psychological, and economic influences on opinion formation; role of mass media, parties, and interest groups. Public and private propaganda. Measurement of opinion; sampling techniques; interviewing; data analysis.
CAS PO 308
The Politics of Race and Ethnicity
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Combining research from history, political science, sociology, and economics, this course examines the role of race and ethnicity in shaping American politics and policy. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking.
CAS PO 308S
The Politics of Race and Ethnicity
4 credits.
Definitional hypotheses of race and ethnicity based on cultural, sociological, and biological determinants tested against concrete examples of plural societies in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Correlations between racial/ethnic differentiation and sociopolitical stratification and cleavages examined. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS PO 351.
CAS PO 313
The Politics and Policy of HBO's The Wire
4 credits. Fall and Spring
HBO's television series The Wire is used to explore politics and policy. A number of interdisciplinary topics are covered, including the war on drugs, urban elections, bureaucracy, rational choice theory, and the decline of American cities. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS PO 313S
The Politics and Policy of HBO's The Wire
4 credits.
HBO's television series The Wire is used to explore politics and policy. A number of interdisciplinary topics are covered, including the war on drugs; urban policing and education policy; and race, politics, and poverty. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS PO 317
American Campaigns and Elections
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Explores the nature of political campaigns and elections in the United States. We learn about how voters make decisions, how campaigns influence election results, and how the broader set of electoral structures and rules influence these outcomes. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Teamwork/Collaboration, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 322
The Politics of Science, Care, and the Environment
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisite: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - This interdisciplinary course explores political conflicts over environmental problems as conflicts over science and care. Content ranges from concrete cases of U.S. environmental challenges (toxic exposure, wildlife in suburbs), to environmental political theory and the politics of climate change. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Creativity/Innovation.
CAS PO 325
Campaigns and Elections Around the World
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Meets with CAS IR 302. Electoral campaigns in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Changes in campaigns over time; role of international political consultants; influence of party systems, electoral systems, campaign finance regulation, vote buying, and mass media; campaign effects on voting behavior and public opinion. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS PO 329
International Political Economy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Emphasizes the dynamic interaction between politics and economics to understand and explain historical and contemporary issues in international political economy, including international monetary, trade, investment, financial, and environmental relations. Considers emerging challenges and structures in the international political economy. Effective Fall 2024 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 329S
International Political Economy
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Emphasizes the dynamic interaction between politics and economics to understand and explain historical and contemporary issues in international political economy, including international monetary, trade, investment, financial, and environmental relations. Considers emerging challenges and structures in the international political economy. Effective Fall 2024 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 332
Civil Wars
4 credits. Fall
Prerequisites: CASPO 171 or CASIR 271. - Civil wars are the dominant form of political violence in the world. This course draws on a methodologically diverse body of research to examine the causes, durations, and outcomes of civil wars. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU HUB areas: Critical Thinking, Social Inquiry 2.
CAS PO 333
Democratic Erosion
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Trends in American and European politics have engendered fears about a turn toward authoritarianism where it was once unthinkable. This course explores the causes and consequences of democratic erosion, helping students to put recent developments into comparative and historical perspective. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS PO 334
Political Violence
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Explores the concept of political violence and the dynamics of violent political behavior. Critically examines the causes and consequences of political violence around the world. Topics include civil war, government repression and disciplining, electoral violence, riots and demonstrations, vigilante and intercommunal violence. Comparative perspectives with a particular emphasis on the Global South. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
CAS PO 344
Democracy: Its Origins, Breakdown and Outcomes
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPO151 OR CASSO100) - How do political scientists explain the emergence of democratic regimes' And what factors explain their breakdown' We look at these questions across a range of countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and other regions of the world. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS PO 357
Causes of War and Peace
4 credits.
War is the most destructive social act in which humanity engages. Why does war happen' This question is addressed by focusing on a variety of scholarly explanations. Theoretical discussions are paired with an examination of historical cases. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning.
CAS PO 357S
Causes of War and Peace
4 credits. Summer
War is the most destructive social act in which humanity engages. Why does war happen' This question is addressed by focusing on a variety of scholarly explanations. Theoretical discussions are paired with an examination of historical cases.
CAS PO 381
History of American Foreign Relations since 1898
4 credits.
Analysis of the history of American foreign policy from the perspective of the changing world and regional international systems; emphasis on the effect of these systems and the impact of America on the creation and operation of international systems. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 381S
History of American Foreign Relations since 1898
4 credits.
Meets with CAS HI 287. Analysis of the history of American foreign policy from the perspective of the changing world and regional international systems; emphasis on the effect of these systems and the impact of America on the creation and operation of international systems. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS PO 366. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 409
The Political Psychology of Group-Based Politics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Oral and/or Signed Communication Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing and one previous course in political science or social psychology; or consent of instructor. - The study of political psychology, integrating political science and social and cognitive psychology as it informs the dynamics of group-based politics, including especially race, gender, class, and political party affiliation. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy, Social Inquiry 2.
CAS PO 497
Crime and Punishment: Philosophical Perspectives
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH350) and two other philosophy courses. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - This course will explore philosophical questions about the criminal justice system, both in its ideal form and as it exists today. We will examine historical and contemporary writings on punishment, focusing on concepts of punishment, justifications for punishment, preventative detention, the death penalty, and alternatives to punishment. We will also ask how deep historical and contemporary injustices, including institutionalized racism, affect how we should theorize about institutions of punishment, their possible reform, or perhaps even their abolition. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 501
Formal Political Theory
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: PO 111, 141, 151, or 171. Calculus (MA 121,123, or 127) and probabilit y (MA 113, 115, or 213) are helpful, but not required. - Graduate Prerequisites: completion of BU Social Science Math Boot Camp. Some additional famili arity with calculus and microeconomics is helpful, but not required. - A course on formal theory, covering decision theory, game theory, and social choice theory. Topics include spatial models, electoral competition, bargaining, deterrence, and signaling models. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking.
CAS PO 502
Political Analysis
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPO399) or consent of instructor. Familiarity with algebra and calculus are he lpful, but not required. - The logic and methods of empirical analysis in political science. Introduces research design for a variety of social science applications, as well as data analysis, data visualization and statistical software. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 515
Advanced Public Opinion
4 credits. Spring
Undergraduate prerequisites: CASPO 399. - Seminar on the theoretical underpinnings of public opinion in the United States. How do voters think about politics' How do they come to form their opinions' What causes these to beliefs change' Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS PO 516
Gender and Politics
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or above. - Analyzes the relationship between gender and politics, law and policy primarily in the United States. Considers inequalities based on gender and sexuality, women's changing political, gender- and sexuality-based political action and social movements. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS PO 518
Causes and Consequences of Political Segregation in the United States
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Oral and/or Signed Communication Social Inquiry II
This seminar explores how political geography ¿ where different political, racial, economic, and social groups live in relation to one another ¿ shapes U.S. politics. The course covers trends shaping political segregation and its impacts on representation, elections, political campaigns, and polarization. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 528
Political Economy of Europe and US
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Prerequisites: Any two 300-level social science courses in CAS. - Explores challenges to democracy in Europe and the United States linked to the changing character of global capitalism. Covers topics such as rising wealth and wage inequality, automation in production and global supply chains, housing crises, cross-cultural differences in political support for welfare states the rise of populism, and assetization of basic human needs. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU HUB areas: Critical Thinking, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry 2.
CAS PO 540
Prohibition
4 credits.
The American experience of Prohibition is used to understand a variety of political and policy issues, including the War on Drugs, crime and law enforcement, bureaucracies, regulation, taxation, and social movements. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 548
Political Economy of China
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent). - Provides a historical and comparative study of China's rise domestically and internationally and introduces China's national power, local governments, globalization, finance, and strategic concerns. Students learn to evaluate scholarly and policy pieces, compile evidence, and write research reports. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 548S
Political Economy of China
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent). - Prereq: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS WR 100 or CAS WR 120) and junior standing or consent of instructor. Provides a historical and comparative study of China's rise domestically and internationally and introduces China's national power, local governments, globalization, finance, and strategic concerns. Students learn to evaluate scholarly and policy pieces, compile evidence, and write research reports. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
CAS PO 550
The State and Public Purpose in Asia
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: juniors & seniors in Internat'l Relations, Pol. Science, and Asian Stu dies who have completed the 1st-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR100 or 1 20) & Writing, Research & Inquiry (WR150, 151, 152). - Comparative exploration of the economic and political institutions of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, drawing on political and economic theory. Addresses how relationships among state, business, and labor have affected industrial development and contemporary economic activity. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS PO 561
Latin American Political Parties
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Parties and party systems of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. Historical origins and labor incorporation. Populist, working-class, and hegemonic parties. Market reform and party system transformation or collapse. Ethnic parties, clientelism, rise of a new Left. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS PS 365E
Toward an Experimenting Society: Psychology Applied to Social Problems
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the London Internship Program. - PSYCH/SOC ISSUE
CAS RN 314
Religious Thought in America
4 credits.
Surveys many of the strategies that American religious thinkers have adopted for interpreting the cosmos, the social order and human experience, and the interaction of those strategies with broader currents of American culture. Also offered as CAS HI 308. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS RN 468
Symbol, Myth, and Rite
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Historical overview of ritual behavior, the role of symbolism in the study of culture, and the narrative quality of worldview and belief. Emphasis on verbal performance and public display events in specific cultural contexts. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS RN 614
Religious Thought in America
4 credits.
Surveys many of the strategies that American religious thinkers have adopted for interpreting the cosmos, the social order and human experience, and the interaction of those strategies with broader currents of American culture. Also offered as GRS HI 708. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
CAS SO 230
Crime and Justice
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Examines sociological research on the social context of crime and justice in the US. Considers how research can inform policy reform. Introduces students to data science and real-world datasets on criminal justice. Key topics: policing, racial disparities, incarceration, and abolition. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 241
Sociology of Gender
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
An introduction to the social construction of sex and gender with a focus on the economic, political, social, and cultural forces that shape gender relations. Examines gender as a social structure that patterns institutional inequalities and everyday interactions on society. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS SO 241S
Sociology of Gender
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Online offering. Introduces the social construction of sex and gender with a focus on the economic, political, social, and cultural forces that shape gender relations. Examines gender as a social structure that patterns institutional inequalities and everyday interactions on society. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS SO 302
Social Networks
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning I Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Explores the mainstream theories in the field of social networks by sampling from empirical work across diverse fields such as social structure, culture, the economy, social media, and others. The course also focuses on the "how" of doing social network analysis including analyzing and interpreting properties of social networks quantitatively and learning to use software tools for analyzing social networks. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 306
Boston's People and Neighborhoods
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASSO244) or consent of instructor. - Via readings, field trips and documentaries, the course explores Boston neighborhoods, tracing their history and dynamics. We identify forces that shape Boston, garner insight into how different groups experience the city, and grapple with the challenges that Boston faces. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS SO 308E
AUST SOC POL
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Admission into Sydney Internship Program. - AUST SOC POL
CAS SO 313
Economic Sociology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least one previous Sociology course or consent of instructor. - Presents the sociological approach to the study of production, distribution, consumption and markets, emphasizing the impact of norms, power, social structure, and institutions on the economy. Compares classic and contemporary approaches to the economy by the social science disciplines. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 318
Sociology of Childhood and Youth
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least one previous Sociology course or consent of instructor. - Uses in-depth studies centered on children and youth to examine the socially stratified and fragmented experiences of young people historically and contemporarily. This course focuses on the social construction of youth and the cultural and institutional forces that shape the social experiences of youth and our knowledge of them. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 320
Political Sociology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Historical Consciousness Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least one previous Sociology course or consent of instructor. - Traces the sociology of politics from ancient times to modern era. Analyzes U.S. & global political shifts. Topics include: political cultures, constitutions and laws; political authority; political parties; revolutions and war; mass media, and politics of violence. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 322
Gender and Health
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Prerequisites: at least one previous sociology course or consent of instructor. - Gender power relations and inequalities in health, healthcare institutions, medical research, public health policy, and global health politics. Examines the intersection of gender with other systems of power in medical practice, research, and the experience of health and illness. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 323
Markets in Biomedicine and Healthcare
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least one previous Sociology course or consent of instructor. - Complex ways in which market exchange impacts commodification of the human body, the practice of medicine (assisted reproduction, organ transplantation) and drug clinical trials. Theoretical discussion of market exchange from an interdisciplinary perspective, brief overview of the US health care system and global medical tourism. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS SO 400
Advanced Research Practicum
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASSO303) and junior standing; or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Sem inar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Prepares students planning to conduct honors research project in their senior year. Students interested in developing a research project for alternate purposes are admitted with permission of the instructor. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 411
Seminar: Sociology of the Nonprofit Sector
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Introduction to sociological research on that part of society known as the nonprofit sector, including nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, voluntary associations, and social movements. Focus on some of the literature's major themes: civil society, social capital, and nongovernmental organizations. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS SO 415
Seminar: Sociology of Law
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing and at least two previous Sociology courses: or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Classical and contemporary perspectives on law's development in society. Selected applications of law are then examined with attention to constraints on law's ability to achieve such societal goals as justice and equality and to alter social relations fundamentally. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 418
Seminar: Sociology of Medicine
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing and at least two previous sociology courses; or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Focuses on major topics in the area of health and medicine, with different themes each semester. Topics have included Global Health; Health Disparities; and Death and Dying. Check with instructor for topic. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing- Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 431
Seminar: Genders, Sexualities, and Youth Cultures
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing or consent of instructor. - Investigates the social construction of gender and sexuality in adolescence. Engaging critical approaches to youth cultures, the course examines the structural conditions that shape gender and sexuality norms, and the ways youth navigate and redefine their social worlds. Effective Fall 2023 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 438
Seminar on International Migration
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing and at least two previous sociology courses; or consent of instructor. - Explores key themes in international migration. It emphasizes connections between current topics in immigration, and sociological theories that explain immigrant pathways, mobilities, and outcomes. Students engage in analytical memo-writing that make these links, and write a final term paper. Throughout, the course emphasizes how the intersection of inequalities--of legal status, gender, race and class--shape immigration processes. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 459
Deviance and Social Control
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Explores sociological explanations for why attributes and behaviors are defined as deviant, the consequences of deviant labels, and how the state criminalizes and punishes people for deviant behavior. Examines how responses to deviance reflect the state's orientation to social marginality. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 460
Seminar: Economic Sociology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing and at least two prior sociology courses, or consent o f instructor. - Introduction to core theoretical perspectives and debates in contemporary economic sociology (structural/network, cultural, institutional/political, and performativity) with a special attention paid to morality of markets, commensuration and construction of value, money, credit and finance and inequality. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS SO 483
Gentrification Studies
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Oral and/or Signed Communication Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
This seminar explores the process of urban gentrification from an interdisciplinary perspective, examining the variegated histories, geographies, and sociologies of gentrification globally, thinking through comparative urbanism. It considers definitions of gentrification, how theorizations developed over time, and key concepts. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS SO 490
Seminar: Global Health: Politics, Institutions, and Ideology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing and at least two previous sociology courses ; or consent of the instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 1 00 or WR 120) - What is global health' Who are the main actors in global health debates' This seminar explores the politics of global health, providing students with sociological tools, concepts, and knowledge to help make sense of conflict in contemporary global health debates. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 497
Understanding Meritocracy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
PreReq: Junior or Senior standing and at least two previous Sociology courses; or consent of instructor. Challenges students to sociologically evaluate the concept of meritocracy, its origins, its societal implications, and contemporary adoption as an ideal worth striving for. Reviews empirical research on perceptions around and explanations of social inequality. Explores how beliefs about inequality are mobilized in class and racial conflict and in what ways people's beliefs are or aren't likely to change. Fall term. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II and Critical Thinking.
CAS SO 499
Field Practicum
2 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS SO 100 and SO 201, requires some foundational knowledge of sociological ideas and methods. - Joins real world experience in social change and social impact work with seminar-based coursework that encourages critical reflection, develops professional experience, and builds skills of sociological research and analysis. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area:
CAS SO 631
Seminar: Genders, Sexualities, and Youth Cultures
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing or consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: graduate student standing or consent of instructor. - Investigates the social construction of gender and sexuality in adolescence. Engaging critical approaches to youth cultures, the course examines the structural conditions that shape gender and sexuality norms, and the ways youth navigate and redefine their social worlds. Effective Fall 2023 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 811
Seminar: Sociology of the Nonprofit Sector
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Introduction to sociological research on that part of society known as the nonprofit sector, including nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, voluntary associations, and social movements. Focus on some of the literature's major themes: civil society, social capital, and nongovernmental organizations. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS SO 818
Medical Sociology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Sociological factors in physical and mental illness as they operate in the community, hospitals, and interpersonal relations. Current research on selected topics in medical sociology; contributions to sociological theory and their practical application. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 838
Seminar on International Migration
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. - The course will explore key themes in international migration. It will emphasize connections between current topics in immigration, and sociological theories that explain immigrant pathways, mobilities, and outcomes. Students will engage in analytical memo-writing that make these links, and write a final term paper. Throughout, the course will emphasize how the intersection of inequalities--of legal status, gender, race and class--shape immigration processes. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 859
Deviance and Social Control
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. - This seminar explores sociological explanations for why and how certain attributes and behaviors are defined as deviant, the consequences of deviant labels, and how rules and sanctions are created and enforced. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 860
Seminar in Economic Sociology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Introduction to core theoretical perspectives and debates in contemporary economic sociology (structural/network, cultural, institutional/political, and performativity) with a special attention paid to morality of markets, commensuration and construction of value, money, credit and finance and inequality. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS SO 890
Seminar: Global Health: Politics, Institutions, and Ideology
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - What is global health' Who are the main actors in global health debates' This seminar explores the politics of global health, providing students with sociological tools, concepts, and knowledge to help make sense of conflict in contemporary global health debates. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS SO 897
Understanding Meritocracy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Challenges students to sociologically evaluate the concept of meritocracy, its origins, its societal implications, and contemporary adoption as an ideal worth striving for. Reviews empirical research on perceptions around and explanations of social inequality. Explores how beliefs about inequality are mobilized in class and racial conflict and in what ways people's beliefs are or aren't likely to change. Fall term. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II and Critical Thinking.
CAS WS 241
Sociology of Gender
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
An introduction to the social construction of sex and gender with a focus on the economic, political, social, and cultural forces that shape gender relations. Examines gender as a social structure that patterns institutional inequalities and everyday interactions on society. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS WS 241S
Sociology of Gender
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Online offering. Introduces the social construction of sex and gender with a focus on the economic, political, social, and cultural forces that shape gender relations. Examines gender as a social structure that patterns institutional inequalities and everyday interactions on society. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS WS 270
Race, Sex and Science Fiction
4 credits. Spring
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Science Fiction has always been engaged in complex conversations about culture and the fate of the human species. This course takes seriously the presence of issues such as race, sex and gender, which have become increasingly foregrounded in the genre. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CAS WS 333
Queering Health
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course is about the unique physical and mental health needs, health disparities, and resiliency within the LGBTQ community. Students will learn about the psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity, intersectionality in LGBTQ communities, gender identity and sexual orientation development models, queer families and relationships, minority stress, hetero/cis-sexism, and other relevant topics. Students will also learn about LGBTQ affirming therapies, healthcare, public policy, and legislation. This course will take a constructively critical lens to medicalized/pathologizing constructions of sexual and gender diversity and examine topics within historical and modern social context. This course will explore strategies for advocacy, improving the healthcare experience of LGBTQ people, and addressing barriers to accessing healthcare from local, national, and global perspectives. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II.
CAS WS 431
Seminar: Genders, Sexualities, and Youth Cultures
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing or consent of instructor. - Investigates the social construction of gender and sexuality in adolescence. Engaging critical approaches to youth cultures, the course examines the structural conditions that shape gender and sexuality norms and the ways youth navigate and redefine their social worlds. Effective Fall 2023 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS WS 631
Seminar: Genders, Sexualities, and Youth Cultures
4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Investigates the social construction of gender and sexuality in adolescence. Engaging critical approaches to youth cultures, the course examines the structural conditions that shape gender and sexuality norms, and the ways youth navigate and redefine their social worlds. Effective Fall 2023 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
College of Fine Arts
CFA MT 441
Acoustical and Psychoacoustical Basis of Music
4 credits.
Music is a complex system of human behavior with a basis in the physics of sound, musical instruments, and human physiology and cognition. There is a deep base of knowledge about music in the application of different modes of scientific inquiry -- physics, psychology, neuroscience -- to this complex system. This knowledge is a valuable resource for musicians and music researchers. In this class we investigate how we can use the science of sound and auditory perception to explain aspects of musical practice, and apply it to aspects of musical performance, composition, and music theory. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
CFA MT 472
Music Perception and Cognition
4 credits. Spring
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning II Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Covers selected topics in empirical research on music perception and cognition. These may include the cognitive processing of melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre, the connection of music to emotion, computational study of musical corpora, the quantitative study of music performance, and the connection of music to other areas of human intelligence. Students learn to evaluate research articles, apply statistical models to musical and behavioral data, and propose their own studies. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Research and Information Literacy.
CFA MT 772
Music Perception and Cognition
3 credits. Spring
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning II Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
This course is designed to introduce students to scientific literature on music preparation, music performance, and related topics. It is designed as a readings course in selected topics with an introduction to statistical methods and methods of experimental design, flexible in response to the background of students and subjects of interest to them. Previous offerings have enrolled only music students from a variety of degree programs (Performance DMAs, Composition DMAs, Theory MMs, and undergraduates). This version of the course may be cross-listed with the new undergraduate HUB course in Music Perception and Cognition, MT472, and therefore will only enroll graduate students and remains a three-credit course to best fit into current graduate programs. 3cr Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Research and Information Literacy.
College of General Studies
CGS HU 425
Trauma in History, Art & Religion
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Today trauma haunts soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. It afflicts the survivors of 9/11 and witnesses to the Boston Marathon bombings. It colors the lives of victims in the rape epidemic still unfolding on college campuses. It shapes the way we talk about race after the deaths of Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and others. It is a lens through which we examine the unfolding climate crisis. And it provides novel ways to read literature, view art, and watch television and film. This course is an interdisciplinary seminar that explores the many ways that psychological trauma manifests itself. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Social Inquiry II. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Social Inquiry II.
CGS MA 121
Calculus
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Differentiation and integration of functions of one variable. Same topics as CAS MA 123, but with less emphasis on mathematical generality and more on applications. Especially suitable for students concentrating in the biological and social sciences. Carries MCS Divisional credit in CASv Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Quantitative Reasoning II. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
CGS SS 104E
Politics, Economies & Social Change in the West: Industrial Revolution to the Digital Revolution
5 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
This interdisciplinary course examines social change in the politics, economies, social structures, and culture of the West from the Industrial Revolution to the present. Students consider the impact of technological innovation, industrial capitalism, global war, genocide, and the ideologies that shaped these developments. The course concludes with the globalization of economies and social structures in an era of rising inequality. Visits to relevant sites in Britain will supplement classroom instruction. Class meets twice a week for 2h with two additional contact hours as assigned. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
CGS SS 104S
Politics, Economies, and Social Change in the West: The Industrial Revolution to the Digital Revol
5 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
This interdisciplinary course examines social change in the politics, economies, social structures, and culture of the West from the Industrial Revolution to the present. Students consider the impact of technological innovation, industrial capitalism, global war, genocide, and the ideologies that shaped these developments. The course concludes with the globalization of economies and social structures in an era of rising inequality. Visits to relevant sites will supplement classroom instruction. Class meets twice a week for 2h with two additional contact hours as assigned. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
College of Communication
COM CM 457E
SEM GLOBL STRTG
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
SEM GLOBL STRTG
COM JO 350
Law and Ethics of Journalism
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
This interactive course introduces the core legal and ethical issues affecting how journalists, including the student press, gather, verify and communicate news. This course offers an exciting deep-dive into the key concepts affecting newsgathering and dissemination today.Students will discover the underpinnings of a free press as well as practical tools to use when confronted with government efforts to block legitimate newsgathering. Students will gain a working knowledge of how and why the First Amendment protects them as they gather, verify and disseminate the news. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
COM JO 350S
Law and Ethics of Journalism
4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
Introduces the core legal and ethical issues affecting how journalists, including the student press, gather, verify, and communicate news. Offers an exciting deep-dive into the key concepts affecting newsgathering and dissemination today. Students discover the underpinnings of a free press as well as practical tools to use when confronted with government efforts to block legitimate newsgathering. Students gain a working knowledge of how and why the First Amendment protects them as they gather, verify, and disseminate the news. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
COM JO 530
Drafts of History
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO357) - Journalism has been called "the first rough draft of history." We consider several episodes from U.S. history and examine how the first drafts written by journalists compare to subsequent drafts written by historians. We analyze how new evidence and chronological distance alter understanding of important events. Four credits, fall semester. (Undergraduate Prerequisite: COM JO 150.) Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Kilachand Honors College
KHC AM 101
Whose Schools: Power, Equality and Public Education
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
How can we fulfill Thomas Jefferson's promise for public schools "which shall reach every description of our citizens'" The course examines significant eras, debates, and struggles for equality in U.S. education, with a particular focus on current policies in Boston. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy.
KHC EC 103
Housing Policy: An Economic Perspective
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning II Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
This course introduces students to economic analysis through the study of housing policy. The course covers both microeconomic issues related to housing affordability and macroeconomic issues related to the stabilization of the housing market and the Great Recession. Throughout, the course will teach students economic principles and how use data to assess economic arguments. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Research and Information Literacy.
KHC HC 302
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Challenges II
4 credits. Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
68.5 million people were displaced from their homes by wars and persecution by the end of 2017. What disciplines and methodologies will help us understand this unprecedented global crisis' A premise of this course is that any understanding of the contemporary refugee crisis requires interdisciplinary study, and the most effective solutions are developed by teams like the interdisciplinary groups you will form in this class. The refugee crisis will provide a lens through which to understand nation/states, culture, identity, technology, trauma, and human resilience. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration.
KHC LW 102
Marriage, Families & Gender: Contemporary Legal and Social Controversies
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This seminar will critically examine the family, marriage, and gender by asking several basic questions: What is family' What is marriage' Why do family and marriage matter to individuals and to society' What role does or should law have in supporting and regulating families and marriage' In defining parenthood' How do new technologies that provide new pathways to parenthood (assisted reproductive technology, or "ART") and new forms of control over reproduction (such as genetic testing and screening) pose ethical and legal challenges and how should law address those challenges' Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
KHC SM 102
Reforming the U.S. Health Care System
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
In this seminar, students explore the U.S. health care system and those of six other nations, analyzing policy challenges through team projects that evaluate evidence-based reform strategies, and take into account economic, social, political, managerial, ethical, legal, and regulatory factors. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
KHC SO 101
Social Networks and Culture
4 credits. Spring
This seminar will focus on the theories and applications of social network analysis to study culture. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I.
KHC SO 102
Health Justice
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Digital/Multimedia Expression Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
This course puts five pressing social problems related to human, animal, and planetary health under a microscope, examining the dynamics that led to these problems and innovative policies and practices that are being developed to address them. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Research and Information Literacy.
Questrom School of Business
QST BE 325
Strategy in the Health and Life Science Sector
4 credits. Spring
Undergraduate Pre-requisite: Sophomore standing. - This course examines the distinctive strategic and economic challenges that healthcare and life science firms face. It explores how innovators, providers, and insurers in the healthcare industry create and capture value. We will develop frameworks of competition specific to the healthcare industry. Public policy responds to the unique features of these markets, and we will examine how this generates new affects business opportunities. The course offers insights into the unique aspects of the U.S. healthcare system and how it compares globally. We explore questions such as: How does payment affect the types of drugs firms develop' How do insurers avoid expensive customers' Who is incentivized to offer high-quality health care' Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
QST BE 350
The Psychology of Decision Making: Implications for Business and Public Policy
4 credits. Fall
Undergraduate Pre-requisite: Sophomore standing. - We provide an introduction to how individuals make decisions, applying the tools of psychology and economics. We will learn to identify common mistakes and biases. Students will have the opportunity to evaluate their own decision- making ability and learn how to make improved decisions. We link each aspect of decision-making studied to current personal finance decision, business problem & public policy issue. This course will improve negotiation ability and prepare students to use social science data to support decisions. The course consists of cases, discussions, lectures & project. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
QST PL 325
Introduction to the Health Sector: Issues and Opportunities
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing - Formerly PL425. This course provides a dynamic introduction to the health sector, beginning with the burden and distribution of disease and current patterns of expenditures. While the primary emphasis will be on the U.S. healthcare system, a global context will be developed. The basic elements of insurance and payment, service organization and delivery, and life sciences products (drugs, diagnostics, and devices) will be described, and placed in the context of the unique economic structure of the sector. The intense challenges of the sector will be explored, including ethical, social and organizational dilemmas that arise as well as business opportunities that emerge. The roles that government policy, rapid technology growth, and practice development play as drivers of system change will be addressed throughout. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
QST PL 330
The U.S. Healthcare System in Transition
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing - Formerly PL430. The U.S. health care system has undergone sweeping change as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. Knowledge of how the reform law is affecting health care organizations, health professionals, consumers, and American businesses is essential for everyone, especially those planning careers in management or business. This rigorous seminar, which counts toward the Health & Life Sciences concentration and the Law and Public Policy concentration, provides an in-depth look at the economic, political, social and organizational challenges facing the nation as attempts to repeal-and-replace the ACA are debated by Congress. Students read and analyze articles, business cases, issue briefs, and legal opinions from diverse perspectives to learn how the U.S. health care system came to be and how it will change in the future. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
QST PL 350
The Psychology of Decision Making: Implications for Business and Public Policy
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Sophomore standing - We provide an introduction to how individuals make decisions, applying the tools of psychology and economics. We will learn to identify common mistakes and biases. Students will have the opportunity to evaluate their own decision- making ability and learn how to make improved decisions. We link each aspect of decision-making studied to current personal finance decision, business problem & public policy issue. This course will improve negotiation ability and prepare students to use social science data to support decisions. The course consists of cases, discussions, lectures & project. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
QST PL 425
Introduction to the Health Sector: Issues and Opportunities
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing - This course provides a dynamic introduction to the health sector, beginning with the burden and distribution of disease and current patterns of expenditures. While the primary emphasis will be on the U.S. healthcare system, a global context will be developed. The basic elements of insurance and payment, service organization and delivery, and life sciences products (drugs, biologics, diagnostics, and devices) will be described, and placed in the context of the unique economic structure of the sector. The intense challenges of the sector will be explored, including ethical, social and organizational dilemmas that arise as well as business opportunities that emerge. The roles that government policy, rapid technology growth, and practice development play as drivers of system change will be addressed throughout. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
QST PL 430
The U.S. Healthcare System in Transition
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing - The U.S. healthcare system has undergone sweeping change as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. Knowledge of how the reform law has affected health care organizations, health professionals, consumers, and American businesses is essential for everyone, especially those planning careers in management or business. This rigorous seminar, which counts toward the Questrom Health & Life Sciences concentration and the Questrom Law concentration, provides an in-depth look at the economic, political, social and organizational challenges that face the nation as elements of the ACA are being dismantled by the Trump administration. Students read and analyze articles, issue briefs, and legal opinions from diverse perspectives to learn how the U.S. healthcare system came to be and how it will change in the future. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry II.
QST SI 453
Strategies in Environmental Sustainability
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST SM131, or QST SI250, or QST SI480, or COM FT591, or SHA HF307; Jun ior standing - With the growing global call for climate action, firms are recognizing business imperatives for climate resiliency. This course broadens our vision of corporate strategy to incorporate environmental initiatives as a way to create value. If you are a student who embraces the power of the private sector to lead climate imperatives, you will find this course particularly applicable. You will leave this course with a clear and actionable framework for implementing sustainability initiatives at all levels of the firm. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Teamwork/Collaboration. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences
SAR HP 522E
HEALTH/LIFESPAN
4 credits. Fall, Spring, Summer
HEALTH/LIFESPAN
SAR HS 333
Queering Health
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course is about the unique physical and mental health needs, health disparities, and resiliency within the LGBTQ community. Students will learn about the psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity, intersectionality in LGBTQ communities, gender identity and sexual orientation development models, queer families and relationships, minority stress, hetero/cis-sexism, and other relevant topics. Students will also learn about LGBTQ affirming therapies, healthcare, public policy, and legislation. This course will take a constructively critical lens to medicalized/pathologizing constructions of sexual and gender diversity and examine topics within historical and modern social context. This course will explore strategies for advocacy, improving the healthcare experience of LGBTQ people, and addressing barriers to accessing healthcare from local, national, and global perspectives. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II.
SAR HS 348
Global Mental Health
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
This course provides an overview of critical issues in mental health and mental illness worldwide from a public health perspective. Globally, mental and neurological conditions are the leading cause of disability, and the World Health Organization estimates depression to be the largest contributor to the global disease burden by 2030. The burden of mental disorders on low- and middle-income countries is especially great while a large treatment gap persists. The course covers the concept of mental health, conceptualization and classification of disorders, cultural context, social determinants, causes and consequences of mental health disorders, strategies for intervention, policy development and implementation, human rights, women's mental health and research priorities. Special attention will be paid to the unmet need for mental health care globally (using case studies), disparities in access and use of services, stigma and attitudes towards treatment seeking. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
SAR HS 348S
Global Mental Health
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
This course provides an overview of critical issues in mental health and mental illness worldwide from a public health perspective. Globally, mental and neurological conditions are the leading cause of disability, and the World Health Organization estimates depression to be the largest contributor to the global disease burden by 2030. The burden of mental disorders on low- and middle-income countries is especially great while a large treatment gap persists. The course covers the concept of mental health, conceptualization and classification of disorders, cultural context, social determinants, causes and consequences of mental health disorders, strategies for intervention, policy development and implementation, human rights, women's mental health and research priorities. Special attention will be paid to the unmet need for mental health care globally (using case studies), disparities in access and use of services, stigma and attitudes towards treatment seeking. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II.
SAR HS 440
Qualitative Research Strategies in Global Health
4 credits. Fall and Spring
Qualitative research methods are increasingly used in public health, and provide valuable insights into the local perspectives of study populations. This course provides practical strategies and methods for using qualitative research and includes the basic assumptions, approach and rationale for making qualitative research decisions, framing qualitative research questions, and designing appropriate research strategies. Examples will be drawn from current global health issues. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
SAR HS 440S
Qualitative Research Strategies in Global Health
4 credits. Summer
Qualitative research methods are increasingly used in public health and offer valuable insights into the local perspectives of study populations. This course provides practical strategies and methods for using qualitative research and includes the basic assumptions, approach, and rationale for making qualitative research decisions, framing qualitative research questions, and designing appropriate research strategies. Examples are drawn from current global health issues. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
SAR HS 463
Beyond Germs and Genes
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Digital/Multimedia Expression Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Seniors only. - This course will focus on the social determinants of health--the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, age and die. We will examine case studies from around the globe that reveal the ways in which health inequities are shaped by the distribution of resources, money, and power at the local, national and global level, and the critical role played by social policies in reducing or exacerbating these inequities. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
SAR HS 480
Comparative Healthcare Systems
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Health systems play an important role in improving life and well-being. Yet there is a profound gap between the potential of health systems and their actual performance. Today, countries around the globe face difficult choices and increasing challenges in organizing, delivering, and funding high- quality health care. In this course students will: understand the components, determinants, and approaches to the structure and outcomes of health care systems in low- and middle-income countries; learn trends in global health care reform and reform outcomes in country-specific contexts; and gain basic knowledge and skills to understand health care systems evaluations with a goal toward designing effective policy strategies that would improve health system performance. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Creativity/Innovation.
School of Hospitality Administration
SHA HF 150
Experience Management
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Digital/Multimedia Expression Social Inquiry II
Central to the hospitality industry is the provision of memorable, high-quality customer experiences across digital and physical touchpoints. This allows hospitality and other service organizations to turn satisfied customers into brand evangelists. This course introduces the emerging domain of customer experience management (CEM)--the discipline of understanding and managing customer interactions with the organization to improve satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. CEM is a unique domain that draws on practices from the fields of marketing, marketing research, technology and data science, and operations and service science, with the aim of understanding and improving customer experiences with the organization. The course will cover the definitions and basic requirements of customer experience management, and also provide detailed frameworks and tools and techniques to allow students to gain proficiency in the language and practice of customer experience design and improvement. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II, Creativity/Innovation.
SHA HF 150E
Experience Management
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Digital/Multimedia Expression Social Inquiry II
Experience Management
SHA HF 150S
Experience Management
4 credits. Summer
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Digital/Multimedia Expression Social Inquiry II
Central to the hospitality industry is the provision of memorable, high-quality customer experiences across digital and physical touchpoints. This allows hospitality and other service organizations to turn satisfied customers into brand evangelists. This course introduces the emerging domain of customer experience management (CEM)--the discipline of understanding and managing customer interactions with the organization to improve satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. CEM is a unique domain that draws on practices from the fields of marketing, marketing research, technology and data science, and operations and service science, with the aim of understanding and improving customer experiences with the organization. The course covers the definitions and basic requirements of customer experience management, and also provides detailed frameworks and tools and techniques to allow students to gain proficiency in the language and practice of customer experience design and improvement. Effective Summer 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II, Creativity/Innovation.
Wheelock College of Education & Human Development
WED ED 431
CHILD POLICY: CREATING A SOCIETY WHERE CHILDREN THRIVE
4 credits. Fall
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent) - The course examines policies that address children's education, health, and social wellbeing in society. It takes an inter-disciplinary approach (developmental psychology, economics, sociology, and public health) to focus particularly on the needs, vulnerabilities, and strengths children. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
WED ED 540
Using Big Data to Address Educational, Social, and Economic Inequality
4 credits. Fall and Spring
This course will show how "big data" can be used to understand and address some of the most important educational, social and economic problems of our time. We will read current, peer-reviewed quantitative social science research with the goal of learning how data can be used to quantify current social issues and highlighting the potential for data analysis to inform policy. Students will complete a series of empirical problem sets, based on existing large-scale datasets, designed to put students in the shows of policy analysts. This course does not require prior coursework. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Social Inquiry II.
WED HD 265
Social Science Research for Community Impact
4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Oral and/or Signed Communication Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Students will collaborate with community organizations to design and conduct small-scale research projects (e.g., economic and educational equity, environmental justice, youth justice and mental health disparities). Research methodologies, qualitative and quantitative, will be determined based on the project. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.