Teaching at University of Toronto (2015-2016)
Undergraduate Teaching
SOC 222: Measuring the Social World
This course provides an introduction to the logic and tools social scientists use to measure social phenomena in order to shed light on important research questions. Students will learn how to define and describe variables, develop and test the relationship between variables, and infer about the population using limited sample information. Students engage with the material on both conceptual and mechanical levels. Labs are an integral part of the course. Students will learn the basics of analyzing large data sets, like the General Social Survey, with a widely used software package, SPSS. The course draws from a variety of sociological examples – from crime to inequality to political participation to family and demography – across a variety of Canadian, American and international contexts. This class is intended to provide students with the skills needed to become an informed consumer of scientific research reported in the popular media as well as in scholarly articles and books. SOC 222 also prepares students for SOC 350 which provides a more advanced introduction to regression analysis.
SOC 350: Quantitative Analysis I
This course introduces students to more advanced applications of regression analysis. In addition to producing and interpreting regression models, this course also focuses on diagnostic tools for dealing with outliers and multicolinearity, as well as regression with categorical independent variables and dependent variables (including a basic introduction to logistic regression). This course is mainly project based. Students will develop their own research questions and hypotheses and use statistical software to analyze data in order to provide evidence for their hypotheses.
SOC 429: Disability, Politics and Society
This course situates disability within a social and political context. We will focus on how disability has served as a basis for exclusion from social, political and economic institutions as well as the ways in which actors (policymakers, activists, etc.) have sought to undermine this system of discrimination. We will investigate a variety of related themes including the “social model of disability,” policy and judicial transformations, the evolution of the disability rights movement, disability identity, intersectionality, and the future of disability politics.
Graduate Teaching
SOC 601: Political Sociology - Social Policy
This course examines the social and political context of policymaking – that is, how and why policies end up looking the way they do, and their social and political outcomes (whether intended or not). The course situates social policy within key theoretical debates in sociology. For instance, what is the relationship between individual actors and the institutional contexts within which they work? Does policy change come slowly or does it happen in bursts? How much say does the public and social movements have in the policymaking process? In addition, we will cover numerous case studies embedded throughout the course ranging from disability, to gender, to the environment, to immigration.
SPPG 1001: The Social Context of Policymaking
This course examines the social and political context of policymaking – that is, how social and political institutions and actors shape policies, and why do policies end up looking the way they do (i.e., their intended or unintended social and political outcomes). In addition to exposing students to important theoretical and empirical debates, we will examine contemporary issues affecting social policy. We will cover numerous social policy domains throughout the course ranging from economic inequality, to health and disability, to immigration.
SOC 222: Measuring the Social World
This course provides an introduction to the logic and tools social scientists use to measure social phenomena in order to shed light on important research questions. Students will learn how to define and describe variables, develop and test the relationship between variables, and infer about the population using limited sample information. Students engage with the material on both conceptual and mechanical levels. Labs are an integral part of the course. Students will learn the basics of analyzing large data sets, like the General Social Survey, with a widely used software package, SPSS. The course draws from a variety of sociological examples – from crime to inequality to political participation to family and demography – across a variety of Canadian, American and international contexts. This class is intended to provide students with the skills needed to become an informed consumer of scientific research reported in the popular media as well as in scholarly articles and books. SOC 222 also prepares students for SOC 350 which provides a more advanced introduction to regression analysis.
SOC 350: Quantitative Analysis I
This course introduces students to more advanced applications of regression analysis. In addition to producing and interpreting regression models, this course also focuses on diagnostic tools for dealing with outliers and multicolinearity, as well as regression with categorical independent variables and dependent variables (including a basic introduction to logistic regression). This course is mainly project based. Students will develop their own research questions and hypotheses and use statistical software to analyze data in order to provide evidence for their hypotheses.
SOC 429: Disability, Politics and Society
This course situates disability within a social and political context. We will focus on how disability has served as a basis for exclusion from social, political and economic institutions as well as the ways in which actors (policymakers, activists, etc.) have sought to undermine this system of discrimination. We will investigate a variety of related themes including the “social model of disability,” policy and judicial transformations, the evolution of the disability rights movement, disability identity, intersectionality, and the future of disability politics.
Graduate Teaching
SOC 601: Political Sociology - Social Policy
This course examines the social and political context of policymaking – that is, how and why policies end up looking the way they do, and their social and political outcomes (whether intended or not). The course situates social policy within key theoretical debates in sociology. For instance, what is the relationship between individual actors and the institutional contexts within which they work? Does policy change come slowly or does it happen in bursts? How much say does the public and social movements have in the policymaking process? In addition, we will cover numerous case studies embedded throughout the course ranging from disability, to gender, to the environment, to immigration.
SPPG 1001: The Social Context of Policymaking
This course examines the social and political context of policymaking – that is, how social and political institutions and actors shape policies, and why do policies end up looking the way they do (i.e., their intended or unintended social and political outcomes). In addition to exposing students to important theoretical and empirical debates, we will examine contemporary issues affecting social policy. We will cover numerous social policy domains throughout the course ranging from economic inequality, to health and disability, to immigration.
Teaching at University of Oxford (2014 Hilary Term)
MSc/MPhil Option in Political Sociology
This option begins with the theoretical foundations in political sociology, especially theories of power, the modern state, political participation, civil society and challenges to the state. The paper covers research on the social bases of politics, such as the roles of class, religion, gender and ethnicity, particularly as these create important social cleavages in established and developing democracies. We investigate the various ways in which citizens relate to the political process – through electoral participation, involvement in civic associations, and mobilization via social movements. The option concludes with a focus on how social attitudes change over time and how this in turn can affect policy outcomes, especially considering the institutional processes that also shape issue attention, agenda setting and policy outcomes.
Tentative Syllabus
Tentative Syllabus
Teaching at University of Washington (2007-2012)
SOC 247: Contemporary Social Movements
This course is designed to provide an introduction and survey of current theoretical and empirical questions in the study of social movements and collective action. The course is divided into four parts. We first begin with classical perspectives on participation in collective action and transition to more current explanations as to the reasons why individuals participate in social movements. The second part of the course introduces theoretical and empirical questions about the role of organizations and resources in understanding dynamics of social movements. The third section deals with the role of structural or contextual factors on social movements and collective action. Here, students will be introduced to political process theory in the study of social movements. In Part four, we examine current issues in social movements, including the Arab Spring and social media, Proposition 8, immigration protests, and the Tea Party Movement. We conclude the class by examining the role of social movements in wider politics and how movements work in conjunction with other political variables to bring about social change.
SOC 221: Introduction to Statistical Concepts and Methods
This course is designed to provide an introduction to the logic and tools social scientists use to quantify social phenomena so as to answer certain research questions. You will learn about the utility of quantitative work in the social sciences, how to define and describe variables, develop and test the relationship between variables, the tools necessary to infer about a population using limited sample information, and you will learn how to do this both conceptually and mechanically. You will also learn the basics of analyzing large data sets using a widely-used software package, SPSS. This class is intended to provide you with the skills needed to become an informed consumer of scientific research reported in the popular media as well as in scholarly articles and books.
Students Supervised
Katie Marriner. "Enemy Social Movements," Undergraduate thesis, University of Oxford.
Nicole Martin. "Political culture among ethnic minorities in Britain," Confirmation of Status, University of Oxford.
Juta Kawalerowicz."Hotbeds of Extremism and Unrest," Transfer of Status, University of Oxford.
Nicole Martin. "Political culture among ethnic minorities in Britain," Confirmation of Status, University of Oxford.
Juta Kawalerowicz."Hotbeds of Extremism and Unrest," Transfer of Status, University of Oxford.
