Violence and Society

UCSD Sociology Professor Ivan Evans, who taught two great courses last quarter (previous post), is back for Spring 2009 with Violence and Society (website, feed).
With his trademark ironic wit, Evans reviews what the fields of psychology and sociology have to say about the sources of violence in human society. So far (we’re up to [...]

Time is running out for UCSD winter 09 courses

The last day of class for winter 2009 at UCSD is Friday, March 13. Soon after that most of the course podcasts at the UCSD podcast website will disappear.
Some courses you might want to grab before it is too late:
Enlightenment, Romanticism, Revolution/1660-1848 (website, feed) Eric Watkins.
This interdisciplinary course covers the philosophy, literature, science and art [...]

Hegemony? I just don’t buy it.

Comments on The Study of Society, lecture 9 (website, feed), Ivan Evans, UCSD.
Sometimes when I’m listening to a lecture podcast, I have the strong desire to shout out “Wait a minute! That just can’t be right.” So here is one of those moments.
Sociologist Ivan Evans would have us believe that power politics and hegemony [...]

Two great sociology classes from UCSD

What was the difference between the apartheid regime in South Africa and the Jim Crow regime in the American South?
According to UCSD sociologist Ivan Evans, the important difference was that South Africa used state power to terrorize and intimidate black Africans while the whites of the American South used non-state threats like mob violence and [...]

How the transistor transformed pop music

Here’s a puzzle: American popular music from the 1920s to the mid-1950s was all about Broadway and Hollywood show tunes and sentimental love songs in the Bing Crosby crooner style. So what happened circa 1955 to usher in the age of rock ‘n roll, rhythm and blues and country music? Did American tastes suddenly change? [...]

That’s showbiz

How does the American entertainment industry work and why does it work that way?  Why are media conglomerates getting bigger and bigger? What is the “superstar effect” and how does it help explain the marketplace for acting and musical talent?
You’ll find the answers in Sociology of Mass Communication (feed, website), a course taught by [...]