Define and differentiate between sex and genderDefine and discuss what is meant by gender identityUnderstand and discuss the role of homophobia and heterosexism in societyDistinguish the meanings of transgender, transsexual, and homosexual identities

Introduction to Sociology is intended for a one-semester introductory sociology course. Conceived of and developed by active sociology instructors, this up-to-date title and can be downloaded now by clicking on the "Get this book" button below. This online, fully editable and customizable title includes sociology theory and research; real-world applications; simplify and debate features; and learning objectives for each chapter

Note: this resource now links to the third edition, released in 2021. Its record is in OER Commons to allow users to see endorsements, reviews, etc...

Provides an overview of the academic field of women’s studies, including the social and cultural consequences of living in a "gendered world." Socialization, communication, politics, crime, sexuality, and religion are examined, as well as the historical and cross-cultural aspects of gender relationships.

This course examines how a variety of cultural traditions propose answers to the question of how to live a meaningful life. It considers the meaning of life, not as a philosophical abstraction, but as a question that individuals grapple with in their daily lives, facing difficult decisions between meeting and defying cultural expectations. The course also provides tools for thinking about moral decisions as social and historical practices, and permits students to compare and contextualize the ways people in different times and places approach fundamental ethical concerns.

It is easy to think of love as a “universal language” - but do ideas about love translate easily across history, culture, and identity? In this course, we will encounter some surprising, even disturbing ideas about love and sex from medieval writers and characters: For instance, that married people can never be in love, that the most satisfying romantic love incorporates pain and violence, and that intense erotic pleasure can be found in celibate service to God. Through Arthurian romances, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, love letters, mystical visions, and more, we will explore medieval attitudes toward marriage, sexuality, and gender roles. What can these perspectives teach us about the uniqueness of the Middle Ages—and how do medieval ideas about love continue to influence the beliefs and fantasies of our own culture?

This course will focus on issues that arise in contemporary public debate concerning matters of social justice. Topics will likely include: euthanasia, gay marriage, racism and racial profiling, free speech, hunger and global inequality. Students will be exposed to multiple points of view on the topics and will be given guidance in analyzing the moral frameworks informing opposing positions. The goal will be to provide the basis for respectful and informed discussion of matters of common moral concern.

This course will focus on issues that arise in contemporary public debate concerning matters of social justice. Topics will likely include: euthanasia, gay marriage, racism and racial profiling, free speech, hunger and global inequality. Students will be exposed to multiple points of view on the topics and will be given guidance in analyzing the moral frameworks informing opposing positions. The goal will be to provide the basis for respectful and informed discussion of matters of common moral concern.

This course explores the nature of love through works of philosophy, literature, film, poetry, and individual experience. It investigates the distinction among eros, philia, and agape. Students discuss ideas of love as a feeling, an action, a species of ‘knowing someone,’ or a way to give or take. Authors studied include Plato, Kant, Buber, D. H. Lawrence, Rumi, and Aristotle.
This course is part of the Concourse program at MIT.

This course is a seminar on the nature of love and sex, approached as topics both in philosophy and in literature. Readings from recent philosophy as well as classic myths of love that occur in works of literature and lend themselves to philosophical analysis.

This issue contains estimates of the resident population of Australian states and territories as at 30 June of each reference year. Estimates up to 2006 are final, based on the results of the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. Estimates for June 2007 have been revised and estimates from June 2008 onwards are preliminary.

Development of the reproductive system is a complex process relying on numerous systems and conditions to ensure appropriate structures are formed and the rate of development is maintained within the embryo. There are several important criteria that determine appropriate reproductive system development; genetic sex which determines the sex of the embryo, gonadal sex and phenotypic sex which both determine sexual differentiation. Genetic sex determines gonadal sex which in turn determines phenotypic sex. Sex determination relates to the genetic or environmental process which determines the sex of an individual whilst sexual differentiation represents the development of internal and external genitalia.

Reproduction is the complex set of biological processes that result in the formation of a new organism; it is crucial that we understand how these processes occur normally and have a good grasp of the role of hormones in the reproductive process. Pathology and disease are common within the reproductive system and can not only lead to a sick animal but also to a loss in production. In this section we hope to cover all the main processes in domestic animals, laying a foundation for understanding the associated pathological states.

Define and differentiate between sex and genderDefine and discuss what is meant by gender identityUnderstand and discuss the role of homophobia and heterosexism in societyDistinguish the meanings of transgender, transsexual, and homosexual identities

This Chapter will address the current protections that are available to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT”) individuals who allege they have been victims of employment discrimination. The Chapter’s primary focus will be on federal statutory law, particularly Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although the focus here is on federal law, Appendix I to this Chapter lists the states that protect individuals from public and/or private discrimination under state laws.

This topic is explored in four parts: (1) a brief overview of congressional efforts to enact a statute to protect individuals from employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity; (2) discusses Title VII and sexual orientation; (3) discusses ways in which recent courts have handled sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII; and (4) similarly examines early judicial treatment of claims brought by individuals alleging discrimination on the basis of their gender identity and/or expression and explores how the law has developed in this area as well.

This course explores the issue of human trafficking for forced labour and sexual slavery, focusing on its representation in recent scholarly accounts and advocacy as well as in other media. Ethnographic and fictional readings along with media analysis help to develop a contextualized and comparative understanding of the phenomena in both past and present contexts. It examines the wide range of factors and agents that enable these practices, such as technology, cultural practices, social and economic conditions, and the role of governments and international organizations. The course also discusses the analytical, moral and methodological questions of researching, writing, and representing trafficking and slavery.

Is marriage a patriarchal institution? Much feminist scholarship has characterized it that way, but now in the context of the recent Massachusetts Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, the meaning of marriage itself demands serious re-examination. This course will discuss history, literature, film, and legal scholarship, making use of cross-cultural, sociological, anthropological, and many other theoretical approaches to the marriage question from 1630 to the present. As it turns out, sex, marriage, and the family have never been stable institutions; to the contrary, they have continued to function as flash points for the very social and cultural questions that are central to gender studies scholarship.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Housemates, science shows, share more than just space. The types of microbes that colonize the gut tend to be similar among members of the same family or household. But where does the sharing begin: through contact, environment, or diet? And do more social factors like status play a role? To find out, researchers recently examined the microbiomes of seven neighboring groups of wild Verreaux’s sifakas in Madagascar. Sifakas in the same group tended to have more similar microbiomes, but differences between groups weren’t explained by differences in diet, home range, or habitat. Maternal lineage was an important driver of similarity within groups and may also explain why adult group members, which are generally less related, shared the least similar gut microbiota. In addition, dominant males had different microbiomes than their group-mates, possibly because of rank-related differences in physiology and scent-marking behaviors..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This course explores the forms, contents, and context of world traditions in dance that played a crucial role in shaping American concert dance. For example, we will identify dances from an African American vernacular tradition that were transferred from the social space to the concert stage. We will explore the artistic lives of such American dance artists as Katherine Dunham, Pearl Primus, and Alvin Ailey along with Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, George Balanchine, and Merce Cunningham as American dance innovators. Of particular importance to our investigation will be the construction of gender and autobiography that lie at the heart of concert dance practice, and the ways in which these qualities have been choreographed by American artists.