Sociology 102
Fall 2003

Karen McCormack, PhD
PNE 330
Office hours: Tuesday 12:00-1:30, Thursday 9:00-9:50

THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

This course is designed to introduce you to what sociologist C. Wright Mills called "the sociological imagination," a way of understanding the intersection of biography and history, of the individual and the social structures within which we make our lives. We will cover the building blocks of social analysis in the first third of the course, then spend the remainder examining several significant areas of sociological intervention, specifically inequality, deviance, culture, and social change.

The most significant goal of this course is to provide you with modes of thinking and tools of analysis that will make you more critical observers of (and participants in) your world. We will frequently employ a variety of perspectives as we discuss particular topics; we will assess the utility and validity of these various ways of seeing the world. In doing so, I hope to convince you that sociology can provide you with insights that go beyond so-called common sense. I will not argue that sociology can lead you to "the truth" about the world around you; however, as we evaluate different ways of seeing the world, I will suggest that some perspectives are far more enlightening than others. It will be our task, together, to be always evaluating the ideas and material that we encounter, both in the classroom and the world around us. I strongly encourage you to lend your voice to this analysis and evaluation.

Course Requirements

Participation and attendance - 10%. You will be expected to come to class each day prepared to discuss the readings assigned for that day. The readings assigned for each week should be done before the first class meeting of the week or unit. Your active participation is essential in moving our class conversations along productively. If I sense that the discussion is faltering or flat, or if only a few people volunteer to participate, I will call upon students who have not volunteered. Active participation, in the form of raising substantive questions and contributing to discussion is vital in creating an interesting and productive class. Missing more than 2 classes will lower your course grade.
Three short (4-5 page) papers - 20% each. Each paper topic will require that you demonstrate an understanding of the material covered in class and in the readings and will encourage you to apply these concepts in new ways.
Research paper - 30% (Topic & Outline - not graded, but lateness will detract from final grade; Paper and Abstract - 30%). Over the course of the semester you will choose a topic related to the course material, develop a question or thesis, conduct library research, and write an 8-10 page paper and an abstract of this paper. This will allow you to explore in more depth an area of interest to you, and will help you develop skills in writing a research paper. We will visit the library and meet with the sociology specialist after you have chosen your topics. Please refer to the section in Cuba, A Short Guide to Writing About the Social Sciences, for reference. We will discuss the assignment in class and I will distribute guidelines in the next few weeks.

Course conference

There is a FirstClass conference set up for our class. I will use this to make announcements, post assignments, and ask questions. I hope that you will use this to talk with one another as well as to ask me any questions that you have.

Policies

All late papers will be penalized ½ letter grade per day late. Extensions must be requested at least 24 hours in advance of due date.

Any questions about proper citing of sources in written work should be addressed before handing in papers. The reference A Short Guide to Writing About the Social Sciences should help answer the questions that you have. A rule of thumb: representing someone else’s ideas as your own is plagiarism, even if you paraphrase. You may use either in-text citations or footnotes to cite your sources.

Books available at the WC Bookstore:

Bruce, Steve. 1999. Sociology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cuba, Lee. 1997. A Short Guide to Writing About the Social Sciences. New York: Longman.
MacLeod, Jay. 1997. Ain’t No Makin’ It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Newman, David and Jodi O’Brien. 2002. Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life: Readings. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. (in syllabus as Reader)
Scholinski, Daphne. 1997. The Last Time I Wore a Dress. New York: Riverhead Books.

***All readings marked with an asterisk are available online through links on our course conference.

Course Outline

Developing a sociological imagination

9/4 Introduction to the class

9/8 The Sociological Imagination
Karp, "Speaking of Sadness" in Reader
C. Wright Mills, "The Sociological Imagination"*

9/11 Sociology as a Science?
Bruce, chapter 1
MacLeod, appendix (pp 270-302 in Ain’t No Makin’ It)

9/15 Theoretical Orientations
Bruce, chapters 2 & 3

9/18 Bias, Objectivity, and the Social Sciences
Kristin Luker, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood, chapter 7: "The World View of the Activists"

9/22 Self and Society
Kelman & Hamilton, "The My Lai Massacre" in Reader
Jenness, "Coming Out" in Reader
Schmid & Jones, "Suspended Identity" in Reader
Charles Horton Cooley, "The Looking-Glass Self"*|
Paper 1 topic distributed

9/25 & 9/29 Social Institutions
Hochschild, "The Time Bind" in Reader
Levine and Cureton, "When Hope and Fear Collide" in Reader
Schor, "The Overworked American" in Reader
9/29 Paper #1 Due

Rethinking Culture

10/2 Cultural Identifications
Miner, "Body Ritual of the Nacirema" in Reader
Levine, "A Geography of Time" in Reader
Bruce, chapter 4

10/6 Video: The Devil’s Playground (in class)

10/9: Discussion
Topics for research paper due

Fall Break (10/13)

Inequality & Social Structure: Class

10/16 Library research session - class will be held in the library

10/20 Overview of U.S. class system
MacLeod, chapters 1-5
Kozol, "Savage Inequalities" in Reader

10/23, 10/27 Social Mobility & The Achievement Ideology
finish MacLeod
video: Children in America’s Schools

10/30: Discussion (of book and video)

Inequality & Social Structure: Race

11/3 - 11/6 Rethinking Race
Omi and Winant, "Racial Formation in the U.S."*
Amsden & Clark, "Software Entrepreneurship…"
Frankenberg, "Whiteness as an ‘Unmarked’ Cultural Category" in Reader
Thompson & Keith, "The Blacker the Berry" in Reader
Kaw, "’Opening’ Faces" in Reader
11/3 Paper #2 Due

Inequality & Social Structure: Gender

11/10 Unpacking gender
Tavris, "The Mismeasure of Woman" in Reader
Scholinski, The Last Time I Wore a Dress (read through page 101)
Outline, thesis, and preliminary bibliography for research paper due

11/13 video: Adventures in the Gender Trade

11/17 discussion
finish Scholinski

Deviance & Social Control

11/20 Deviance
Reinarman, "The Crack Attack" in Reader
Chambliss, "The Saints and the Roughnecks" in Reader
Conrad and Schneider, "Medicine as an Institution of Social Control" in Reader

11/24 video Hell House
11/24: Research papers due at the beginning of class

Thanksgiving Break (11/27)

Social Transformations

12/1 & 12/4 Social Change
Aho, "Popular Christianity and Political Extremism" in Reader
Krauss, "Challenging Power" in Reader

12/8 Last Class Meeting
Final paper topic distributed

12/15 Final paper due