Living in childhood without a sense of home, I found a place of sanctuary in “theorizing,” in making sense out of what was happening. I found a place where I could imagine possible futures, a place where life could be lived differently. […] Fundamentally, I learned from this experience that theory could be a healing place (hooks 1991, p.2).
hooks, b. (1991). Theory as liberatory practice. Yale JL & Feminism, 4, 1.
What is power?
What is its role in social order?
How does it affect our everyday lives?
How do we participate in it?
How does it shape what might be possible in the future?
In this class we learn a wide range of sociological theories, and look at how streams of thought have unfolded over centuries. From the classics like Hegel and Hobbs to modern thinkers like Gramsci, Butler, Fanon, Du Bois and hooks, we look at how the operation of power can be identified and explained. We pay particular attention to the ways that these thinkers have focused on the movement between social structure and individual agency. We will be consistently using examples from our experiences and popular culture to talk through theories. At the end of the course, students will be able to talk about these foundational social theorists and use their frameworks to illuminate the power relations operating in everyday life.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Identify and describe different theoretical articulations of power
- Have their own working definition of power
- Discuss how different theories contribute to our understandings of the
operation of power in everyday life - Be able to use social theory to critique aspects of everyday life
Blog posts generated by students in the class are posted on https://socialtheoryforsustainability.wordpress.com
A sample course outline is available here: SOCI 302 – 2020 Course Outline.
This is a reworking of a course originally developed by Assistant Professor Katharine Legun.
WHAT STUDENTS SAID…
“Being able to interact and have discussion with Karly was extremely valuable and something not really done in other papers.”
“She goes above and beyond for her students. She is very clear about what is expected and is open to communication. Fantastic teaching. She is very clear in the lectures and tutorials also.”
“Karly is really nice, and does actually try really hard to cultivate relationships between classmates (which is something I have missed since high school).”
“I feel like I have learned more collaborative skills especially in my final year and also more confidence in speaking up.”
“Karly was able to bring the material to life.”
“Karly is very kind and understanding, and communicates theories and information well. It is great to have discussions with her.”
“As much as being interactive is hard and sometimes people don’t want to, it really helps people learn and relate things to real life – so the promotion of interaction was a good thing about the course.”
“Learning theories on their own can sometimes get slightly boring but applying them to modern situations that are occurring within current society allowed us to express our views on the world around us and use the theories we were learning about to do this at a deeper level.”
“Karly is knowledgeable and engaging. Has an obvious passion for the subject and strove to support everybody during a very unusual time with COVID-19. Very quickly adapted to the online environment and obviously took great care preparing material and providing appropriate readings, videos, and links to interesting supplementary material. Open, friendly and helpful.”
“I enjoyed the blog post task as it provided me with the opportunity to apply theories we learnt in class to current issues that interest me. I also enjoyed how Karly used relevant examples to keep us engaged.”
I enjoyed “[h]er willingness to let us contribute our opinions and thoughts on the topics at hand, treating us as if we have our own set of expertise.”
Karly was “[v]ery approachable and accomodating to students. Also made difficult theories easy to grapple with.”
KARLY BURCH, PHD 