Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description
Nuclear fallout: (re)conceptualizing "the american family"
Instructor(s): Corinne Moss-Racusin, Psychology
An exploration of the history, consequences, and opportunities of 鈥淭he Family鈥� in
the United States. In this course, students will examine the ways in which structures
of intimacy and caregiving have been created, recreated, and regulated over time.
We will consider the origins and impact of the compulsory nuclear family model, the
stigma that families encounter when they deviate from this social norm, and other
family forms that are both possible and prevalent. We will utilize varying lenses
of analysis, ranging from micro (individuals within acute family units) to more macro
(larger community networks and the state) in order to shed light on the ways in which
the organization of family is linked to social hierarchy, capitalism, and systems
of injustice. This course is fundamentally interdisciplinary鈥攄rawing upon perspectives
from Sociology, Psychology, Queer and Feminist Studies, Black Studies, Philosophy,
History, Family Science, Economics, Anthropology, Law, Public Policy, Geography, Biology,
Art and creative works, the popular media, and more鈥攁nd students will be challenged
to draw connections and identify contradictions between and within traditional disciplinary
boundaries, and from within our classroom to their lives outside it. Throughout, students
will contend with different models of kinship and care, contend with existing stereotypes,
and encounter expansive visions of both the struggles and joys of family life.
Course Offered: 2026