Teaching

First Year seminar: sociology of Popular Culture (spring 2019)

Course Description: How do academics study popular culture? What IS popular culture, and how do we distinguish it from high culture? Through an examination of cultural objects including music, movies, books, video games, TV, and more we will explore how popular culture is produced and consumed and how our likes and dislikes are socially constructed. Special attention is given to issues of power, resistance, and representation in popular culture. This course draws on a mix of academic theory and real-world examples to make connections between social theory and everyday experience. Readings will include cultural theorists like Stuart Hall and Pierre Bourdieu, contemporary sociological research, and articles from popular media. Students will engage with course material through reflective journaling and class discussion. Research and writing skills are built into the curriculum, culminating in a research paper where students can explore any popular culture topic.

Sexuality and Society (sUMMER 2020, Summer 2021)

Course Description: This course will examine how society shapes sexuality, as well as how sexuality shapes society. Although many consider sexuality to be deeply personal, in fact social context greatly affects how individuals understand and experience sexuality. Questions this course will consider include: What is the relationship between individual identities and practices and broader social, cultural, and structural contexts? How does sexuality intersect with gender, class, race/ethnicity, geographic location, age, and nationality? What are sexual subcultures? The course will also consider how sexuality is related to different types of social inequalities. At the end of the course students will be able to discuss how studying sexuality helps us better understand complex social processes.

INTRODUCTION TO THE discipline (Fall 2020, Winter 2021)

Course Description: This is a two-quarter introductory course for all incoming graduate students in the sociology department at Northwestern University. The course’s objectives are to give incoming graduate students the opportunity to meet faculty and discuss faculty areas of research, as well as to provide advice and resources that will help students navigate their graduate school careers. In addition to discussions with the department’s faculty, this course will cover other important topics related to the profession, including: the structure of the program, managing work-life balance, campus and departmental resources for research, applying to fellowships and grants, and ethics of research practices. Basically, it aims to make the “hidden curriculum” less hidden.