The University of Texas at El Paso
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
College of Liberal Arts
Drug Use, Abuse, Trafficking
Spring 2023
A cross-listed class taught online
SOCI 3312 (CRN 24658)
ANTH 3312 (CRN 24657)
Dr. Patrick Timmons, M.Phil., Ph.D., LL.M.
Email: ptimmons2@utep.edu
Office Hours
Virtually by appointment, via Zoom, usually on Tuesday afternoons from 1pm to 2.30pm.
Catalog Description
This course studies, from a cultural and social perspective, the use, abuse, and trafficking of drugs.
It examines cross-cultural uses and abuses of drugs in various contexts: private, public, ceremonial, medicinal, recreational, religious, etc.
It explores taboos, laws, prohibitions, beliefs, and stereotypes about drugs as well as representations of drug use and abuse in popular culture.
Additionally, the class will focus on the subject of drug trafficking and the public debates, crackdowns, and “cultural wars” associated with illegal drugs.
Recommended background: ANTH 1302 or SOCI 1301. ANTH 3312 is the same course as SOCI 3312.
Office Hours virtually via Zoom.
Please contact me via email if you would like to discuss course-related matters via Zoom.
Learning Outcomes
After the completion of this course, students should have the following skills or knowledge:
UTEP EDGE ADVANTAGE
You can learn about UTEP Edge, here: https://www.utep.edu/edge/about/index.html
This class fulfills the following targeted UTEP Edge Advantage skills:
• Communication: Mostly written (discussion boards per module, several writing assignments).
• Confidence: Periodic tests to give you a deeper command of the materials presented in the class before you begin a subject board.
• Critical thinking: scrutinizing materials about drug use, abuse and trafficking to build your own understanding of the subject.
• Entrepreneurship: going beyond facile stereotypes about a complex, controversial issue: the use, abuse and trafficking of drugs.
• Global awareness: Examining how people understand drugs, their use, abuse and trafficking across an international boundary.
• Problem solving: Tests, book reviews, film review, midterm and final.
• Social responsibility: examining in depth the way drug use, abuse and trafficking inform social interactions, especially in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.