Week 1

What is a social problem?
More on social problems
Structural and individual explanations
Some basic questions to ask
Outline

Weeks 2 - 3

Are news media biased?
Individual vs structural explanations of bias
Some common techniques used to deceive
How is news 'filtered?'
Outline
Money and politics
Outline II

Week 4

Is the earth warming?
But is it a social problem?
What is the greenhouse effect?
Outline

Week 5

Natural resources--a primer
Who's using up the world's resources?
Have humans overshot their carrying capacity?
Outline

Week 6

A McDay in the McLife
McDonaldization--a primer
The four principles
Lecture outline

Week 7

When rationalization turns irrational
Lecture outline

Week 8

Orwell's 1984
Outline for 1984
Supersize that cage for you?
Social problem?
Outline

Week 9

War and terrorism
Some statistics
More stats

Week 10

Globalization--a very brief primer (optional)
Lecture outline (optional)
What to do?