Sociology 164: Successful Societies: Markers and Pathways
Semester: Spring
Offered: 2013
This course analyzes the markers of societal success and the social conditions that sustain it. We will discuss various indicators ranging from the standard economic measures to the human development index, inequality, resilience to shocks, educational, child development and health measures. We will consider the role of cultural and institutional buffers (how cultural repertoires and myths feed strong collective identities, cultural and institutional resources provide support for coping with stigma, models of citizenship and immigration, and multi-level governance and their impact on welfare and poverty). We will addresses factors that present major challenges, like concentrated urban poverty and the well-being of racialized groups, and some of the solutions attempted. Particular attention will be put on the United States, Canada, France and other advanced industrial societies and to the role of space, institutions, and culture in shaping the conditions for successful societies. Public policy implications will also be discussed.
In recent years Lamont has taught undergraduate courses on “Successful Societies: Markers and Pathways,” "Culture, Power, and Inequality," "Racism and Anti-Racism in Comparative Perspective," and "Knowledge Production and Evaluation." At the graduate level, she taught "Qualitative Data Analysis," "Classical Sociological Theory," and "Culture and Inequality." Since 2004, she has co-organized the Culture and Social Analysis Workshop in the Department of Sociology, where faculty, post-doctoral researchers, graduate students and visitors come together to share their work in progress. Since 2005, she has also been the co-organizer of the Study Group on Exclusion and Inclusion at the Center for European Studies.
An active mentor of post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students, Lamont advises research on a wide range of topics. She received the 2010 Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award, given by the Harvard Graduate Students Council. For a list of current and past graduate students and post-docs, click here. She was also one of eight Harvard faculty across all schools to be recognized as "master mentor" by the Office of the Senior Adviser for Faculty Development and Diversity in 2010.