This course explores how marriage and the family have evolved over the past century, the changes both are undergoing now, and what the future may have in store for these two social institutions. The course will focus on the U.S. but students will be encouraged to make international comparisons. Using a variety of both scholarly and popular sources, we will explore cultural understandings of marriage and family life and topics like romantic love, Cinderella weddings, the nuclear family ideal, the Supermom syndrome, and the legal fight for gay marriage. Family diversity and variation are recurring themes throughout the course and particular attention will be paid to social class differences in family life and marriage, alternatives to the nuclear family like cohabitation and non-marriage, and the consequences of different living arrangements to individuals as well as to society as a whole. A primary goal of the course is to distinguish between the facts and many fictions surrounding family and marriage in contemporary society. In the process, the course will introduce the richness of the sociological approach and its use of surveys, in-depth interviews, analyses of film and literature, and other methodologies for understanding the family. ​

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 30

Prerequisites: None.

Instructor: Swingle

Distribution Requirements: SBA - Social and Behavioral Analysis

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered

Notes: