Family, Marriage, and Kinship

This course introduces students to sociological perspectives on the study of family, marriage and kinship. It will help students engage with classical and contemporary understanding of the three institutions and their relationship with other social structures. The course will frame disciplinary and theoretical perspectives on concepts such as procreation, relatedness, care and love -- all of which have continued to shape the multiple meanings of family, kinship and marriage across cultures. The course maps significant debates that have marked kinship and family studies, including the nature-culture divide, alternative forms of family and the shifts beyond genealogy.