Admission requirements
Required course(s):
None, but completion of Global Challenges: Diversity is recommended.
Description
This course is an introduction to the exercise of theorizing the social. Social Theory began in the 19th century with thinkers such as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. These classical thinkers are still informing contemporary scholarship. Built as a varied set of ideas ― concepts like capitalism, the state, the individual, society, bureaucracy― social theory forms the backbone of the social sciences, including anthropology and sociology. Social theory gives us a vocabulary to make sense of, and respond to, global issues such as institutional exploitation, digital politics, climate change, population displacement, and social anomie, among others.
In this course, students learn classical theories and contemporary ideas to think about the texture of their everyday life ―the ways we understand ourselves, others, and the overall shape of our interactions. Social theory allows us to think creatively and critically about the human relations that underpin the economic, scientific, political and cultural spheres of our lives; to understand their historical unfolding and distinct pathways on different continents; and to anticipate future challenges and imagine collective responses.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course students should develop:
An understanding of the emergence of classical social theories alongside sociology and anthropology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and how such foundational ideas are being refreshed and updated by social scientists today.
The capacity to appreciate the strengths and limits of foundational western social thought and examine the relevance of classic thinkers today, in a more multi-polar world.
The ability to use social theory to identify, understand, and analyze current political preoccupations and global entanglements. Therefore, bridging the presumed ideological gap between theory and practice.
A sociologically and anthropologically informed way of thinking about the constructed, contingent, and mediated aspects of everyday life.
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2024-2025 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
This course employs interrelated visual, audio, and textual modes of instruction. Each iteration of the course is taught by a different professor, with their own teaching style and methods. This reflects the plurality of formats through which one can learn, use, and engage with social theory. About the general content of the course, there are two common elements regarding modes of instruction across sections: this course requires the active engagement of students with (i) the material assigned to each session and (ii) the exercise of writing weekly reflections and learning to theorize the (many forms of the) social.
Please refer to the syllabus for more specific details on the mode of instruction by each instructor of this course and expectations regarding the weekly reflections.
Assessment Method
Across sections, students are assessed on three parameters corresponding to the course’s core learning aims:
Close reading comprehension and critical understanding of the material is assessed by a portfolio of weekly reflections to be submitted 24 hours before the second session each week (weeks 1 to 7): 42%
In-class group performance that uses social theory to describe and discuss a fictional scenario reflecting a contemporary situation (week 6): 30%
A final open book exam to assess the development of your analytical and interpretative skills (using the course material/portfolio) in week 8: 28%
Reading list
Readings will be available via Brightspace to students enrolled at the beginning of the course.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Daniela Vicherat Mattar, d.a.vicherat.mattar@luc.leidenuniv.nl (Block 2)
Dr. Ajay Gandhi, a.gandhi@luc.leidenuniv.nl (Block 3)
Aray Gaipova, a.gaipova@luc.leidenuniv.nl (Block 4)
Remarks
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