Recommended Course List : Social Thought and Political Economy : UMass Amherst

These courses are recommended to fulfill the STPEC requirements. Not all courses listed here will be offered every semester. We suggest that you look for courses you are interested in and search in Spire using the Professor’s last name. If the Professor is not offering that specific course this semester, they might be offering a similar one that fits that same category. New courses might not appear in the list. If the new course is 300 and above, for example, AFROAM 391, or WGSS391H, you can consult with Monica García, our Director of Undergraduate Advising, to find out if it would be appropriate to fulfill an Upper-Level Course category. Courses below 300 do not qualify for Upper-Level Course status.

If a course is listed under more than one category you may choose which category you wish the course to fulfill. No course may be used to satisfy more than one STPEC requirement. You may take additional STPEC Focus Seminars to fulfill upper level requirements.

If SPIRE will not let you register for a course on the STPEC course list because it is restricted to majors in a particular department or because it requires prerequisites, contact the instructor to ask if they are willing to override SPIRE to allow you to enroll.

(Edited 11/7/24)

A. PREREQUISITES

1. INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL THEORY

UM STPEC 101- Radical Visions of Social Thought and Political Economy-Salam- TuTh 11:30AM-12:45PM
UM STPEC 189 Introduction to Radical Social Theory-Salam-W 4pm-5:15pm

2. INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL ECONOMY

UM ECON 103 - Introduction to Microeconomics -P. Dolenc MoWe9:05AM-9:55AM
UM ECON 104 - Introduction to Macroeconomics Val Voorheis TuThu 1:25PM-2:15PM

B. UPPER LEVEL COURSES

1. MODERN SOCIAL THEORY & SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

UM ANTHRO 380 - Grassroots Community Organizing - Jennifer Sandler Th 4pm-7pm
UM ANTHRO 397L - Leadership & Activism - Jennifer Sandler- Mo1:00pm-3:45pm
UM ANTHRO 496W - IS-Advanced Critical Pedagogy - Jennifer Sandler- TBA-
UM ANTHRO 590STB- Relational Organizing in our Communities - Jennifer Sandler-Tu 5:30-8:00pm
UM HISTORY 364- Gender and Race in US Social Policy History Libby Sharrow TuTh 10am-11:15am
UM HISTORY 378 - Sex & the Supreme Court - Jennifer Nye Tu 1:00pm-3:30pm
UM HISTORY 378J Social Justice Lawyering – Jennifer Nye- Th 1:00pm-3:30pm
UM HISTORY 490A- Practical Magic- Diana Sierra Becerra- Mo We 4:00pm-5:15pm
UM LABOR 510- Organizing- Cedric De Leon- Mo-10:00am-12:00pm
UM LEGAL 375 - Human Rights & Wrongs - Jamie Rowen Tu Th 11:30pm-12:45pm
UM LEGAL 378- Sex & the Supreme Court - Jennifer Nye Tu 1:00pm-3:30pm
UM LEGAL 390T- Transnational Surveillance Tech- Brenda Garcia MoWe 2:30pm-3:35pm
UM LEGAL 432 - Environmental Justice - A. Leah Wing- Tu 4:00pm-6:30pm
UM LEGAL 460 Legalization of American Indians Kathleen Brown-Perez TuTh 1:00pm-2:15pm
UM LEGAL 484 Irish Peace Process: After the Good Friday Agreement- L. Wing- Th 4pm-6:30pm
UM POLISCI 499DD ‐ Hons Thesis-Healthcare Inequality/1st - Dean Robinson Tu 4pm-6:30pm
UM WGSS 492E Trans & Queer Color Thought- Cameron Awkward Rich Tu 11:30am-2:00pm
UM WGSS 494TI - Unthinking the Transnational - Svati Shah MoWe 2:30pm-3:45pm
UM STPEC 491H Political Economy of Race and Gender- Katherine Moos Mo 1:00pm-3:30pm
UM STPEC 492H Popular Struggles & Revolutionary Praxis in Brazil, South Africa and South Asia S. Shah Tu 4pm-6pm

2. POLITICAL ECONOMY

UM ANTHRO 341- Building Solidarity Economies- Boone Sheer-TuTh 1pm-2:15pm
UM ECON 305 - Marxian Economics - Vamsicharan Vakulabharanam TuTh 11:30-12:45pm
UM ECON 308 – Political Economy of the Environment- Juan Camilo Cardenas MoWe 4-5:515pm
UM ECON 330 - Labor in the American Economy - Noe Martin Wiener TuTh 2:30pm-3:45pm
UM ECON 338 - Compensation, Incentives & Prod - Fidan Kurtulus TuTh 11:30am-12:45pm
UM ECON 341 - Labor Economics - Fidan Kurtulus TuTh 10:00am-11:15am
UM ECON 362- American Economic History John Clegg- TuTh 1:00PM - 2:15PM
UM ECON 366 – Economic Development-Luis Angel Monroy Gomez Franco TuTh 4pm-5:15pm
UM ECON 394AI- Fundamentals of International Political Economy-TuTh 1:00pm-2:15pm
UM ECON 394CI - Econ of Cooperative Entrprs - Valerie Voorheis TuTh 11:30am-12:45pm
UM STPEC 491H -Political Economy of Race and Gender- Katherine Moos Mo 1:00pm-3:30pm

3. WOMEN, GENDER, SEXUALITY STUDIES, AND QUEER THEORY

UM HISTORY 364- Gender and Race in US Social Policy History-Libby Sharrow TuTh 10am-11:15am
UM HISTORY 378- Sex & the Supreme Court - Jennifer Nye Tu 1:00pm-3:30pm
UM HISTORY 378R - Hist/Reproductive rights law - Jennifer Nye TuTh 10:00am-11:15am
UM HISTORY 490A- Practical Magic- MoWe Diana Sierra Becerra- 4:00pm-5:15pm
UM WGSS 350-Global Mommy Wars: Reproductive Politics in Asia &Asian America- M.Kang TuTh 2:30-3:45
UM WGSS 492E Trans & Queer Color Thought- Cameron Awkward Rich Tu 11:30am-2:00pm
UM WGSS 494TI - Unthinking the Transnational – Svati Shah We 2:30pm-3:45pm

4. HISTORY AND POLITICS OF RACE IN THE UNITED STATES

UM AFROAM 390S Strike the Empire Back: Black Youth Culture in Neoliberal Age- Swiderski-TuTh 11:30-12:45pm
UM AFROAM 590STB Black Labor History Anne Kerth We 11:15-1:45pm
UM COMM 430 Stories of Race in the U.S.- Roopali Mukherjee-TuTh 5:30-6:45pm
UM HISTORY 364- Gender and Race in US Social Policy History-Libby Sharrow TuTh 10am-11:15am
UM HISTORY 390STA Utopias and Dystopias-Kevin Young- TuTh 1:00pm-2:15pm
UM LEGAL 460 Legalization of American Indians MoWe Kathleen Brown-Perez 2:30pm-3:45pm
UM SOCIOL 326 Asian American in Media & Popular Culture- C.N. Le, MWF 1:25-2:15pm
UM STPEC 491H Political Economy of Race and Gender- Katherine Moos Mo 1:00pm-3:30pm

5. NON-WESTERN PERSPECTIVES, GLOBAL SOUTH, AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

UM HISTORY 390STA Utopias and Dystopias-Kevin Young- TuTh 2:30pm-3:45pm
UM HISTORY 392E - The U.S. In Latin America - Kevin Young- TuTh 11:30-12:45pm
UM HISTORY 490A- Mo We Practical Magic- Diana Sierra Becerra- 4:00pm-5:15pm
UM POLISCI 343 - Gov&Pol East Africa - Carlene Edie TuTh 1:00pm-2:15pm
UM STPEC 492H Popular Struggles & Revolutionary Praxis in Brazil, South Africa and South Asia S. Shah Tu 4pm-6pm