What puts the “science” in social science? Today we’ll explore positivist sociology and how sociologists use empirical evidence to explore questions about the social world. We’ll also introduce two alternatives: interpretative sociology and critical sociology.

This course explores the political and historical evolution of the Soviet state and society from the 1917 Revolution to the present. It covers the creation of a revolutionary regime, causes and nature of the Stalin revolution, post-Stalinist efforts to achieve political and social reform, and causes of the Soviet collapse. It also examines current developments in Russia in light of Soviet history.

This semester long subject (11.521) is divided into two halves. The first half focuses on learning spatial database management techniques and methods and the second half focuses on using these skills to address a ‘real world,’ client-oriented planning problem. The first half of the semester may be taken separately using the class number 11.523 and the second half may be taken separately as 11.524.
In order to help shape and utilize the information infrastructure that will support the management and development of our metropolitan areas, planners need a basic understanding of the tools and technology for querying, analyzing, and sharing complex databases and maps. Managing online access to large and constantly-changing spatial datasets can be a powerful aid to planning and can facilitate inter-agency cooperation and collaboration in an increasingly decentralized world. But it requires the use of knowledge representation methods, client-server technologies and access control issues that are quite different from what are needed to model and visualize standalone datasets on a personal computer. Hence, planners should acquire basic skills in database management, digital spatial data analysis, and networking.
The 11.523 portion of the semester addresses these issues while retaining a focus on planning (rather than on computer science). This is an intensive, hands-on class that stresses learning by doing. Exercises and examples involving real-world data, maps, and images are used to develop skills with database query languages and the design development and use of structured databases. Class work utilizes web tools, GIS, and database software with lab exercises primarily on the new high-performance PC computing cluster. Specifically, we will access an Oracle 8i database using SQL (structured query language) and use ArcView for GIS. Each week there are two sixty to ninety-minute classes plus another 90+ minute hands-on lab in electronic classrooms. Class lectures will focus on concepts and case discussion, the scheduled lab time focuses on computer mechanics and skill building. Specific topics during 11.523 include:

finding, understanding and structuring digital spatial data that are available on the Internet using various browsing, visualization, and data management tools;
considerable work with relational database technologies and the Structured Query Language (SQL) to design, construct, query, and update urban planning databases;
some experience with so-called ‘client/server’ and ’enterprise GIS’ technologies for facilitating distributed access to complex spatial data and urban planning applications;
advanced GIS topics such as 3D visualizations and geospatial web services.

The 11.524 portion of the semester will treat the classroom like a professional planning office, working as a team to produce a two deliverables for their client, Lawrence Community Works, Inc. (LCW), a community development corporation located in the City of Lawrence, Massachusetts. LCW and DUSP recently agreed to work together for the next five years to design and implement a multi-tier web-based planning system that promotes democratic involvement and informs community development projects. Your involvement this semester is critical, because the implementation plan that you craft this semester will serve as the road map for both organizations for years to come and the simple web-based planning tool that you design will engage stakeholders by giving them a better sense of how technologies can aid decision-making processes. To assist you with the more technical aspects of the project, we hired Robert Cheetham, President of Azavea, Inc. (http://www.azavea.com/ ), to provide exactly 100 hours of consultancy services. Through their project work, students will enhance important professional skills by:

formulating an implementation plan for a real client;
designing a simple web-based tool for understanding problems;
engaging constituents and stakeholders in a real setting;
integrating theory and practice by evaluating the role of technology in community development;
learning to communicate effectively within a group and with a professional consultant;
working with such tools as the WWW, Access, ArcView, ArcIMS, SDE, etc.

The participants in this seminar will dive into learning basic conversational Italian, Italian culture, and the Mediterranean diet. Each class is based on the preparation of a delicious dish and on the bite-sized acquisition of parts of the Italian language and culture.  A good diet is not based on recipes only, it is also rooted in healthy habits and in culture. At the end of the seminar the participants will be able to cook some healthy and tasty recipes  and to understand and speak basic Italian.

This course provides an introduction to the vast literature devoted to public opinion. In the next 12 weeks, we will survey the major theoretical approaches and empirical research in the field of political behavior (though we will only tangentially discuss political  participation and voting). For the most part we will focus on American public opinion, though some of the work we will read is comparative in nature.

This intensive and brief 4-day seminar, taught during MIT’s Independent Activities Period in January, uses a case set in Hartford, Vermont to introduce economic development planning skills to students in the Master in City Planning (MCP) Degree Program. It introduces analytical tools that are used to assess local economic development conditions, issues, and opportunities as part of formulating economic development plans. The course is designed to provide MCP students with skills needed for applied economic development planning work in other courses, particularly Economic Development Planning (11.438) and Revitalizing Urban Main Streets (11.439).

This course will explore the rich diversity of women’s voices and experiences as reflected in writings and films by and about Latina writers, filmmakers, and artists. Through close readings, class discussions and independently researched student presentations related to each text, we will explore not only the unique, individual voice of the writer, but also the cultural, social and political contexts which inform their narratives. We will also examine the roles that gender, familial ties and social and political preoccupations play in shaping the values of the writers and the nature of the characters encountered in the texts and films.

A syllabus for Speech Class without a textbook. Includes Motivation, Class Basics, Learning Outcomes and Topics. The author has taught Speech for many years and worked in the film and television industries.

The Springfield Studio is a practicum course that focuses on the economic, programmatic and social renewal of an urban community in Springfield, Massachusetts by combining classroom work with an applied class project. The course content covers the areas of neighborhood economic development and the related analysis and planning tools used to understand and assess urban conditions from an economic and community development perspective.

The Springfield Studio is a practicum design course that focuses on the physical, programmatic, and social renewal of an urban community in Springfield, Massachusetts by combining classroom work with an applied class project. The course content covers the areas of physical design/urban design and the related analysis and planning tools used to understand and assess urban conditions from a design and development perspective. Urban design issues are investigated in the context of social and economic challenges within the community. Thus, the course has dual goals:

analyze physical conditions in the community, assess community need, propose physical design interventions; and
assess community capacity and programmatic needs.

The ultimate goal is to explore the integration of social, programmatic and physical development interventions in ways that reinforce community revitalization efforts, and to apply this knowledge through the development of a formal neighborhood revitalization plan that addresses community needs.

This StageNotes® education guide includes lessons in History, Langauge Arts, Life Skills, Behavioral Studies, and the Arts to be used in conjunction with an exploration of the Broadway musical, 13.

One way of thinking about family life says that there are stages that families move through: courtship, marriage, child-rearing, and family life in your later years. We’ll also discuss changing patterns of marriage and childbearing in the US, highlighting some of the varied family types that exist.

Facilitator’s Guide for Use with Post-Secondary Students

Short Description:
"Starting a Conversation about Mental Health: Foundational Training for Students" includes a facilitator’s guide with handouts and a PowerPoint presentation. This adaptable training resource covers foundational mental health and wellness information for post-secondary students and ways to respond to peers who are experiencing distress. It can be used for a two-to three-hour synchronous training session or for self-study.

Long Description:
Starting a Conversation about Mental Health: Foundational Training for Students includes a facilitator’s guide with handouts and a PowerPoint presentation. This adaptable resource covers foundational mental health and wellness information for post-secondary students and ways to respond to peers who are experiencing distress. It can be used for a two-to three-hour synchronous training session or for self-study. This resource has a decolonized perspective and was guided by the following principles: accessible, adaptable, culturally located, evidence-informed, inclusive, and trauma-informed. Handouts include a wellness wheel self-assessment tool, information on coping strategies, mental health resources, and scenarios and responses written by post-secondary students.

Word Count: 33363

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Short Description:
"Starting a Conversation About Suicide: Foundational Training for Students" includes a facilitator’s guide with handouts and a PowerPoint presentation. This adaptable resource offers sensitive, respectful, and detailed training on suicide awareness and response. It can be used for a two- to three-hour synchronous session, and it can be offered by counsellors and other trained staff to post-secondary students interested in creating safe and supportive environments on their campuses.

Long Description:
Starting a Conversation About Suicide: Foundational Training for Students includes a facilitator’s guide with handouts and a PowerPoint presentation. This adaptable resource offers sensitive, respectful, and detailed training on suicide awareness and response. It was developed to reduce the stigma around suicide and to help students acquire the skills and confidence to ask if a peer is considering suicide, listen in a non-judgmental way, and refer them to appropriate resources. It can be used for a two- to three-hour synchronous session, and it can be offered by counsellors and other trained staff to post-secondary students interested in creating safe and supportive environments on their campuses. It was created to be accessible, adaptable, culturally located, evidence-informed, inclusive, and trauma-informed.

Word Count: 33760

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Clif Saunders discusses self-determination in the Native American community. Barbara Barrow discusses the recent executive order issued by Massachusetts legislature recognizing Native Americans with Clif Saunders, Director of the Boston Indian Council. Topics include the implications that recognition will have for Native Americans, the services Native Americans requested of the state before the executive order was issued (both socioeconomic and legal), the hopes for federal recognition, the still unacknowledged issues of Native Americans in the Boston area despite the executive order, issues raised on a recent Today show about Native Americans not wanting their land back, the 'paternalism' of the the United States government, and the desire for self-determination. Additional segments include a 1974 interview with an unnamed aboriginal man from Australia conducted by Dighton Spooner, commentary by David Crippens from Say Brother program 103 and the 'Community Calendar.' Produced by Barbara Barrow. Directed by Conrad White.

A news story interviews a woman who claims that it was difficult for her to find employment because she had children. The story is used to examine the concept of statistical discrimination and whether public policy should be used to discourage statistical discrimination in this case.

Generative AI has forced universities to contend with complex ethical and social questions—namely because writing is so deeply entrenched as an institutional gatekeeping. For many students, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds or for whom English is not a first language, the pressure to translate ideas into “proper” English contributes to attrition rates and exacerbates feelings of inadequacy, alienation, and exclusion from many academic communities.

From an equity and inclusion perspective, AI has the potential to disrupt institutional barriers by offering accessible tools that level the grammatical playing field. By functioning as virtual tutors or co-writers, AI systems can assist students in producing more polished and coherent prose, thus challenging the traditional hierarchies that privilege certain grammatical and stylistic norms. Instead of attempting to ban these tools (which is, to say the least, impractical), I side with a growing number of technology scholars who argue that we should focus on teaching students how to use generative AI responsibly and effectively. However, I do so with the caveat that teaching responsible AI use means critically engaging the complex and often messy processes that make AI what it is.

In this presentation, I draw from Indigenous theorists and authors to situate generative AI and large language models (LLMs) within a long colonial history of extraction. Just as colonial states declare Indigenous lands terra nullius, allowing settlers to exploit resources through mining, clear-cutting, and other forms of extraction, generative AI similarly depends on the unchecked extraction of data, including Indigenous knowledge and cultural resources, often without consent. The late Gregory Younging refers to this process as gnaritas nullius, the colonial rendering of Indigenous knowledge into public property. The unchecked extraction of writing, including, but not limited to, Indigenous knowledge, represents a new frontier for colonial capitalism, where cultural and intellectual property are commodified by those with the most access and power. As Nando de Freitas notes, the future of AI development depends on scale: those who control the largest datasets will have the greatest advantage and profit the most from AI.

The numerous high-profile copyright cases against companies like OpenAI and Meta show that how this data is collected is treated as a secondary issue. This unbridled, dehumanizing race for data mirrors the extractive practices that have driven capitalist-colonial expansion for centuries. Building on these ideas, I mobilize the insights of Indigenous authors like Younging, Scott Lyons, and Cherie Dimaline to highlight strategies for resisting colonial extraction and challenging capitalist systems through rhetorical sovereignty and the concept of incommensurability. The goal is not to discourage the use of generative AI but, in the Faustian sense, to reveal the costs of embracing it, especially when it is employed to subvert oppressive institutional structures. The speaker was introduced by Erin Fields, Open Education and Scholarly Communications Librarian, UBC.

This lesson embarks on an exploration of how America’s deep-rooted car culture emerged and its lasting impact on modern life. Students will understand the decline of early public transportation systems and how World War II catalyzed rapid technological advancements, leading to a shift in infrastructure and business priorities. They'll analyze how post-war economic prosperity fueled mass motorization, with cars becoming a status symbol for Americans. Three key drivers—post-WWII technological advancements, urban sprawl, and the rise of car culture—serve as a framework for understanding the U.S.'s car reliance. Through evidence-based analysis, students will then apply these concepts to case studies, deducing why cities remains so car-centric. They will consider factors such as climate, geography, political and economic resistance to change, and cultural values. Ultimately, the lesson challenges students to reflect on the sustainability of current transportation systems and explore potential solutions to create a more equitable and environmentally-friendly future.

In our final episode of Crash Course Sociology we are going to talk about what the health care system in the US looks like, the five A’s of health care accessibility, and a couple of contributing factors to the affordability of health care: fee for service care and the structure of our health insurance system which encourage higher spending.

Thanks everybody for joining us for the past year on Crash Course Sociology!