Course Overview

Course Title: Sociocultural Perspectives on Inequality: Gender, Culture and Technology

Relevant SDGs: 05 Gender Equality，10 Reduced Inequities，12 Responsible Consumption & Production

1.Sustainable Future: The course emphasizes the importance of seeking a sustainable future in our ever-evolving world, focusing on the theme of sustainable development.

2.Inequality Issues: The course delves deeply into the subject of inequality, aligning with the SDGs’ goals of reducing inequality.

3.Sociocultural Perspective: The course underscores the examination of inequality and digitalization through a sociocultural lens, aligning with SDGs’ emphasis on sustainable societal development and cultural diversity.

Engagement in Societal Challenges: The course encourages students to apply their acquired knowledge to address pressing social issues, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This empowers them to become proactive agents of change, capable of tackling the complex problems of the world.

Credit(s): 2 Credits

Course Description:

In a rapidly evolving world, the pursuit of a sustainable future is paramount. In this course, we will tackle the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the intersection issue of inequality. Our approach will draw from extensive research and real-life case studies spanning multiple disciplines, including sociology, psychology, and communication. Our goal is to comprehensively grasp the diverse forms of inequality and explore strategies for their reduction. We aim to investigate the potential applications and extensions of sociocultural theoretical perspectives in understanding gender, cultural, and digital capital. We will adopt a multi-level approach, critically analyzing gender dynamics at individual, interactional, and structural levels. This analytical framework will be applied to various facets of social life, encompassing the self, family, school, and the workplace. Our exploration extends to the realm of language and social media content, where we will scrutinize how cultural goods are produced and consumed, emphasizing equitable and inclusive practices. Furthermore, we will dissect the role of technology and digital platforms in shaping access to cultural resources and opportunities, with a strong focus on bridging the digital divide and ensuring equal participation for all individuals. Throughout the course, discussions and assignments will challenge students to apply academic insights in addressing pressing societal issues. We will engage in a critical examination of common-sense assumptions related to culture, politics, and psychology, encouraging students to replace them with evidence-based reasoning and emphasizing the development of critical thinking skills.

Academic Team

PI:

• Yi Xu, Ph.D, Associate Professor, USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry, xyphoebe@sjtu.edu.cn

Collaborators:

• Thomas Hills, Ph.D, Professor, University of Warwick, t.t.hills@warwick.ac.uk
• Eugene Malthouse, Ph.D, Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, Eugene.Malthouse1@nottingham.ac.uk
• Allen Wang, Chairman, Soochow Management Academic, allwang@hotmail.com
• Christina Kefala, Ph.D, University of Amsterdam, xristinakefala@gmail.com

What skills will students get?

1. Understand the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their significance in addressing global challenges, enhance awareness of global sustainability objectives, and cultivate a sense of global citizenship.
2. Identify and analyze manifestations of inequality in society, and possess the capability to address these issues.
3. Analyze sociocultural theoretical perspectives to comprehend gender, cultural, and digital capital.
4. Develop critical thinking skills to challenge common-sense assumptions about culture, politics, and psychology.
5. Identify strategies for reducing inequality and promoting sustainable development.
6. Investigate the role of technology in shaping access to cultural resources and opportunities.
7. Foster equitable and inclusive practices in the production and consumption of cultural goods.

Mode of Teaching

1. Lecture
2. Discussion
3. Case Study

Grading

1. Attendance and Class Participation: 30% 
   Active participation in Problem-Based Learning (PBL) exercises and discussions.
2. Group Presentation: 50% 
   Final group presentation focused on a chosen topic related to inequality and its reduction. The presentation should leverage theoretical knowledge to analyze social phenomena or events critically. It should also offer insight and recommendations on how to address the identified issues.
3. Final Program Summary: 20%
   A written summary that provides an overview of your learning experience during the course. This should include your understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) topics, personal growth, feedback on the class.

Course-specific Restrictions

None.

Class Schedule

Instructors

Dr. Yi Xu

Dr. Xu Yi is an Associate Professor at the USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. She brings a diverse academic background to her interdisciplinary research. She earned her Ph.D. in social psychology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a master’s degree in developmental psychology from Columbia University in the United States, and a bachelor’s degree in microelectronics from Fudan University.

Her interdisciplinary research integrates psychology, technology, and cultural studies, focusing on: 1) Human-AI Collaboration: Examining AI’s influence on human decision-making, cognitive development, and social interactions; 2) Cyberculture: Studying the psychological aspects of digital cultural production, dissemination, and consumption, and its influence on broader cultural change; 3) Digital Divide: Exploring technology disparities among women and older adults, aiming to promote equitable access.

Dr. Thomas Hills

Dr. Thomas Hills is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick and a Research Fellow of the Royal Society. He specializes in cognitive science, focusing on search behavior and the trade-off between exploration and exploitation in diverse domains such as memory, decision-making, and creativity. His work integrates experiments, big data, network science, natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and mathematical models to explore how humans navigate and adapt to complex information environments. Dr. Hills is the author of Cognitive Search: Evolution, Algorithms, and the Brain (MIT Press) and the forthcoming Behavioral Network Science: Language, Mind, and Society (Cambridge University Press). He is the Director of the Behavioural and Data Science MSc program and previously directed the Bridges-Leverhulme Doctoral Training Centre. He collaborates globally and co-leads the Collective Decision Making and Culture Lab.

Dr. Eugene Malthouse

Dr. Eugene Malthouse is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics (CeDEx) at the University of Nottingham, working with Professor Simon Gächter on the European Research Council project PRINCIPLES, which seeks to develop a unified science of human cooperation. In 2022, he founded the Collective Decision-Making and Culture Lab (CDMCL), an interdisciplinary network of 71 researchers from 38 countries, focusing on global collective action problems such as climate change and pandemics. Dr. Malthouse’s research combines psychology, economics, and philosophy, using experiments to explore factors influencing individual and group decision-making in collective action scenarios. He also studies early life experiences, trust, and social capital across cultures. A Research Fellow at CogCo, he collaborates with companies to apply behavioral science insights to large-scale societal challenges. Dr. Malthouse holds a Ph.D. and an M.Sc. from the University of Warwick and a B.A. from the University of Bristol.

Allen Wang

Allen Wang has over 20 years of experience in strategic planning, team building, business development, and marketing within the IP licensing industry in the Greater China region. He previously served as Executive Director of Consumer Products for Greater China at The Walt Disney Company, overseeing the development of multi-category licensing operations in the region. In 2015, Mr. Wang joined Universal Studios as Vice President of Consumer Products for Greater China, where he built the licensing team and business from scratch, achieving years of rapid growth. In 2020, he joined Riot Games, establishing the licensing and e-commerce operations for League of Legends derivative products in China. He later became Head of Entertainment for Riot Games in China, managing the development of films, music, IP licensing, and offline events in the Chinese market. Mr. Wang has been invited to share his expertise by organizations such as Licensing International, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), and the China Toy Association, earning wide recognition and praise within the industry. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Soochow University and a MBA from Fordham University. Currently, he serves as Chairman of the Soochow Management Academic.

Dr. Christina Kefala

Dr. Christina Kefala holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam, where she conducted research as a part of the (ERC) - anthropological funded project China-White. A part of her PhD research was conducted at the University of California Berkeley as a PhD visiting researcher at the Center for Chinese Studies. Christina's expertise lies in Digital Anthropology, Media and Creative Entrepreneurship. Her recent research area is how AI technologies shape identity, representation and performance within digital and cultural landscapes. Her work has appeared at Global Media and China, Asian Anthropology, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Asiascape: Digital Asia, American Ethnological Society (online journal), SAPIENS, Sixth Tone.

Course Contact

Dr. Yi Xu: xyphoebe@sjtu.edu.cn