UCSP
Module 1: Nature, Goals, and Perspectives
Focuses on: anthropology, sociology, and political science.
Anthropology: Studies human species, ancestors, past cultures, biological/cultural differences.
Sociology: Studies human society, social behavior, interactions, and relationships.
Political Science: Studies governments, power, authority, and political institutions.
Anthropology: uses a cross-cultural perspective to accept human diversity by comparing cultures without judgment.
Sociology: uses sociological perspectives to find general patterns in the lives of particular people and understand problems in terms of public issues.
Political science: finds the principles on which human society should be based.
Module 2: Culture and Society
Culture: Complex whole of knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs, and habits acquired as a member of society.
Aspects: Learned, symbolic, shared, all-encompassing, integrated, adaptive/maladaptive.
Society: Group of people shaping their lives in patterned ways.
Sociological perspectives:
Structural Functionalism: Culture maintains social solidarity.
Social Conflict: Culture reinforces privilege based on race, sex, class, etc.
Symbolic Interactionism: Culture is dynamic, based on interpreted meaning.
Cultural change occurs through diffusion, acculturation, and independent invention.
Social change is caused by culture, conflict, ideas, and demographics.
Module 3: Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism means understanding cultural practices in their own cultural context, not judging by our standards.
There is no absolute right or wrong; morality is defined by each society.
Cultural relativism promotes open-mindedness and avoids ethnocentrism.
Cultural relativism is a tool, suspend personal viewpoints and cultural bias temporarily to understand the conditions of a particular cultural practice or problem
Module 4: Sociocultural Evolution
Symbols: Objects, words, or actions standing for something else with no natural relationship.
Cultural, social, political, and economic types.
Sociocultural Evolution: Theories of cultural and social change over time.
Types of Societies:
Hunting and Gathering, Pastoral, Horticultural, Agricultural, Feudal, Industrial, Post-Industrial
Module 5: Non-State and Economic Institutions
Non-State Institutions: Organizations not controlled by the government that participate in international affairs (e.g., banks, cooperatives, corporations, trade unions, international organizations).
Economic Institutions: Organize production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Types of Economic Exchanges:
Reciprocity (generalized, balanced, negative).
Redistribution.
Market Exchange.
Module 6: Education as a Social Institution
Education transmits knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to the next.
Formal, non-formal, and informal types.
Functions include training, character building, job preparation, cultural preservation, democratic participation, logical thinking and enriching lives.
Manifest (open, stated goals) vs. Latent (hidden, unintended consequences) functions.
Two most important goals of education for the individual and society are productive citizenry and self-actualization.
Module 7: Social Stratification
Social stratification is the categorization of people into socioeconomic tiers based on: wealth, income, race, education, and power.
Characteristics: Universal, social, ancient, diverse, consequential,
Bases: wealth, prestige, and power.
Ascribed vs. Achieved Status.
Open vs. Closed Systems.
Forms: slavery, estate, caste, and class systems.
Module 8: State and Non-State Institutions
State takes the responsibility to provide all the public goods such as:
Education
Health Care
Drinking Water
Basic Infrastructure in both Rural and Urban settings provide social security
Economic organizations:
Primary Sector, Secondary Sector, Tertiary Sector
Module 9: Functions of Education
Main purpose of education is to educate individuals within society, to prepare and qualify them for work in economy as well as to integrate people into society and teach them values and morals of society.
Citizen Education brings education’s institutional function of creating an informed electorate to the forefront in an interdisciplinary and holistic way, transformation of society and stronger world
Affects of Education:
Is important in the creation of any democratic society
Is needed to make a society geopolitically stable
Leads to economic prosperity in the global marketplace
Gives people the knowledge they need to elect capable leaders
Helps promote tolerance in a society and helps reduce common conflicts between diverse populations in an urban setting
It is the first step a society needs before giving rights to women and other minority groups
It reduces violence and crime in societies
Module 10: Social Inequalities
SOCIAL INEQUALITY is characterized by the existence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social positions or statuses within a group or society
Poverty is a state in which resources, usually material but sometimes