3 credits
Prerequisite: FSoS 8001 or instructor consent; doctoral student in Family Social Science beyond 1st year

Concepts and principles of systems and ecosystems and their application in family science; emphasis on theoretical integration and development of research models with appropriate methodologies.

1. Fluency in using systems concepts and principles to think about and analyze families and family-relevant situations and in developing creative research ideas.

2. Skill at connecting family system analysis with macro-societal analysis--for example, relationship of what can be seen as oppressive economic and work situations to family functioning or of white privilege to the functioning of families of color and of white families.

3. Increased knowledge of historical and philosophical contexts of systemic thought and of critiques of that thought.

4. Increased skills at theorizing, at applying theory, and at generating research models--all with relevance to systems theory.

At least 9 hours per week, including class time

Rosenau, Pauline Marie (1992).  Post-Modernism and the Social Sciences.  Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Rosenblatt, Paul C. (1994).  Metaphors of family systems theory: Toward new constructions.  New York: Guilford.

Course packet.