Among topical categories in contemporary Sociology, the study of emotions is relatively new, dating back only to the late 1970s. One of the facets that complicates it is the fact that emotions are not solely a social phenomenon. On the contrary, their physiology has been the subject of neurobiological research for decades. Psychology and evolutionary biology have claimed ownership over the realm of the emotions and philosophers of millennia past have pondered the nature of emotions’ changeability and their effect on one’s self-perception and well-being. However, given the ways that emotions arise in response to the actions and words of other people, they are – in addition to biological, psychological, and philosophical phenomena– incontrovertibly social. 

Our primary focus in this course will thus be to attempt to answer the question, “What is sociological about emotions?” In the course of our inquiry, we will also explore interdisciplinary approaches to emotion inasmuch as they help us see where a sociological approach can be limiting or obfuscating. In so doing, we will explore the trajectory of sociological theory about emotions, evaluating both what is revolutionary about it and what might be reevaluated in light of current disciplinary thought. We will intersperse our generalized examination with meaningful inquiries into our individual and social emotional lives.

Everyone. If you are queer, First Gen, trans, poor, disabled, a student of color, a formerly incarcerated student, a neurodivergent student, a working student, a student parent, a student in recovery, a student of non-traditional age, a student dealing with COVID-related health or financial issues, a student working with mental health concerns, a disabled student, a student with challenging family relationships, a person who just went through a difficult time because of a breakup or losing your housing, a student in recovery, a student who is newly confronting their own privilege, a person struggling with self-doubt....this course is for you. I am here to support you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know how I can help. 

when will class meet?

This is a hybrid *and* flipped course that focuses on digesting readings and lecture material in an asynchronous format, and engaging in active learning activities during in-person class. You will make actual friends in this class! (Please note that if you prefer passive lecture as your primary instructional modality, this course may not be the best choice for you.) 

We will meet in person from 1:20-2:25 pm, but only on Mondays on Wednesdays. Aside from the first week and a couple of mini-lectures later in the quarter, we will spend most of those class sessions engaged in active learning activities in small groups. Instead of a third weekly in-person class meeting, you'll be watching a short prerecorded lecture and working on assignments related to the readings. The deadline for those assignments will be Sunday night but you can always complete them earlier. 

Our classroom is Stevenson 175, which is my favorite classroom on campus to teach my large electives. It has floor-to-ceiling windows and lots of airflow, movable desks, and a beautiful courtyard that is perfect for working outside in small groups on nice days.  It's not exactly convenient to the Sociology Dept. at Rachel Carson, but it's worth the trip. 

There are no discussion sections for Socy 153.

In addition to our class sessions, some of our work will take place online, including assignment submissions. I won’t publish the course until the day before it starts, which means you won’t actually see it in your Canvas dashboard if you log in before then. Once it is published, you’re welcome to log onto Canvas and poke around to get a sense of what it feels like to interact with the platform. I’ll let you know when I have published it so you don’t have to keep checking. We will go over the assignments in detail on the first day of class and I will also orient you to the Canvas site. 

• If you are not able to log in to Canvas or your course site on the first day of classes, please contact help@ucsc.edu or click here to open a support ticket. 

• Written guides about how to use Canvas are available at https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-4121

• I’ve always found old-fashioned Google searches to be extremely helpful. The use of Canvas is so widespread at this point that just googling “How do I do ___ on Canvas?” is often all you need to get your question resolved.

Just show up to class on Monday. No readings are due ahead of time. 

I look forward to getting to you know all over the next few months. Please feel free to contact me before opening day if you have any questions: mmcnamar@ucsc.edu.

Take care,

Megan :-)