Course Description

This course is designed with the assumption that novice students in this Faculty need to be introduced to the foundations of knowledge regarding social and political phenomena. They need to understand the fundamental questions that drive these knowledge-based activities and how scientists have attempted to answer them. “What is it that (is) to be known?” is a fundamental question in every scientific activity. “How do we know it?” Can the methods used to seek knowledge about rocks, viruses, stars, and other natural phenomena be applied to understanding social phenomena?

No matter how technical human actions in modern life (such as making decisions about antiviral vaccinations, exports, imports, or foreign policy), these actions do not occur in a vacuum. They always have a social context. This means that these actions are closely related to interpersonal relationships. This is especially true when making decisions about public policy, foreign policy, community organization, social welfare, and politics. Those studying these subjects must understand the social context surrounding them. In this course, students are encouraged to gain a comprehensive understanding of several fields of study that study social phenomena, namely the social sciences.

As one of the three categories of “science” (the other two being “natural science,” such as physics, and “formal science,” such as mathematics), social science studies the human side of life. Because the methods used are often qualitative and based more on personal interpretation, this branch of knowledge is often referred to as a “soft science,” distinguished from the “hard sciences,” namely the natural sciences and formal sciences.

Social problems only arise when human activities interact with each other. Therefore, efforts to study social phenomena require observing or examining relationships between people in various contexts. For example, such relationships can occur when people exchange goods and services in the marketplace, when they debate ideas for creating government regulations, when they resolve disputes through negotiation, when they design development projects, and so on. In this sense, social science encompasses various fields of study, which will be outlined in this syllabus.

Students will learn core social science concepts from these fields and apply them to analyze domestic and international societal and political phenomena. To this end, this course will present the fundamentals of various social science studies, primarily through the following questions: What phenomena or dimensions of social life are studied by these fields of study? How do scientists in these fields conduct their studies? Specifically, how do they describe or conceptualize social phenomena so that they can be understood? And how do they formulate ideas and arguments to provide convincing explanations of these social phenomena? What knowledge has been generated and accumulated as a result of scholarly work in these fields? This course encourages students to study concepts across various social science fields of study and use them to understand social and political phenomena.

Due to the fact that their data sources and targets of analysis are human beings, social researchers must be proficient in handling ethical issues. What ethical issues do social scientists face in conducting social research? How do they address them? Questions like these will also be discussed in class. In summary, the three main questions above serve to guide students in understanding various social science studies in a systematic manner.

As stated above, this exploration of various social science fields of study is designed to help students prepare themselves to become professionals in social and political analysis. To this end, lectures, reading materials and class discussions will focus on social science concepts, theoretical frameworks and arguments or propositions relevant to the study of social and political issues, both domestically and internationally.

Expected Learning Outcome

1. Describe key theoretical concepts and propositions in the relevant field of study.
2. Explain social phenomena by applying theoretical concepts and propositions learned from lectures and readings.
3. Assess the potential and shortcomings of social science and its theoretical propositions for analyzing problems.
4. Write analytical papers or essays on social phenomena, both theoretical and empirical.

Syllabus

Read the full syllabus here.