Courses

Instructors: Bhallamudi, I. (PI) ; Williams, J. (PI)

The rapid platformization of daily life has transformed the way we live, work, relax, and engage with each other, and has created new forms of inequalities around the world. Platform life has also led to intense anxieties about how we should live ethically, create community, and enact our political values in the face of increasing state and corporate power. In this course, we will apply interdisciplinary theories to explore these questions and examine the social, financial, environmental, technological, and philosophical impacts of digital platforms. Each of these “big questions” will be combined with a session on participatory platform cultures: how audiences gather on social media platforms, how communities resist and subvert platform power, and how creative forms of platform manipulation can yield innovative, even activist results. We encourage students to reflect on their own engagements with online fandom, community and popular culture, increasingly merging with forms of political and social identity and affiliation.

Co-taught by Woody Powell  and  Aaron Horvath

Year-long workshop for doctoral students and advanced undergraduates writing senior theses on the nature of civil society or philanthropy. Focus...

Taught by Paul Brest

GSB graduates will play important roles in solving many of today’s and tomorrow’s major societal problems—such as improving educational and...

Taught by Vera Michalchik and Micah McElroy

This course teaches students how to pursue social change through philanthropy with a focus on sustainable development. Students learn about...

Taught by Robb Willer, Professor of Sociology, Psychology, and Organizational Behavior

Where do individuals’ political attitudes and behaviors come from, and how can they be changed? In this class we will...

Taught by Robb Willer, Professor of Sociology, Psychology, and Organizational Behavior

Advanced research workshop with a focus on new theory and research, recent publications, and current research by faculty and graduate...