Download SOCY1001.06: Introductory Sociology Spring 2017 Syllabus

SOCY1001.06: Introductory Sociology
Spring 2017 Syllabus
Tuesday and Thursday: Noon – 1:15pm
117 Devlin Hall, Boston College
Instructor: Monique Ouimette
Department of Sociology
410B McGuinn Hall, Boston College
[email protected]
Office hours: Tuesday 2-4pm and by appointment
Welcome to Introductory Sociology
This course will introduce you to sociology as an approach to understanding the social world. One of the
most powerful aspects of sociology is that it enables us to critically assess taken-for-granted
assumptions that influence everyday life. Through sociological analysis, we can employ a variety of
frameworks to explore and deepen our understandings of innumerable dimensions of human
interactions and impacts.
Some questions that we will explore over the course of the semester are:
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In what ways are human actions and behaviors structured by institutions and organizations?
To what extent are human actions and behaviors a result of individual agency?
How do members of different groups make meaning and engage in the world?
How can we empirically test assumptions about social phenomena?
What are factors that contribute to inequality in a variety of contexts?
How do power and privilege influence outcomes?
We will address these questions through a number of topics including: the environment, education,
health, consumption, class, race, ethnicity, and gender. Through this course, you will begin to develop
your own sociological imagination (Mills, 1959) that will serve you into the future whether you choose
to continue to study sociology or your academic pursuits take you on different paths.
Please review this syllabus for class policies and the assignment schedule. Note that I reserve the option
to modify the syllabus with ample written and verbal notice to students.
Course Objectives
Through participation in the course, you as a student will:
 Learn about a variety of sociological approaches to analyzing the social world.
 Challenge taken-for-granted assumptions as you explore topics from new perspectives.
 Start to develop your own sociological perspective.
 Build on your ability to discuss complex topics.
 Strengthen your critical thinking and analytical skills.
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Course Norms
 Complete readings before class and be prepared to participate in class discussions and activities.
 Attend all classes. Email instructor prior to any absence from class. Be prepared to provide
documentation for any absences.
 Computers and tablets may be used only for class purposes. No mobile phones are allowed to
be used during class.
 Submit assignments on time. Contact the instructor in advance if you think that you might have
trouble completing an assignment on time.
 Students are welcome to consult with the instructor about assignments, questions, and
concerns throughout the semester.
 Discussion norms: Be respectful of others, monitor your air time, and ask clarifying questions.
 As a group, and as need be as determined by the instructor, we may add more norms during the
semester.
Contributions to the Core
Introductory Sociology counts toward the social science requirements for the Boston College Core
Curriculum and contributes to Core learning outcomes in the following ways:
1. Fundamental questions: Introductory sociology helps students to explore different perspectives
and to grapple with issues and questions that are central to understanding the social world.
Course readings, lectures, class discussions, and written assignments will all provide
opportunities to explore fundamental questions.
2. Methods of inquiry and Disciplinary knowledge: Through course readings and lectures,
students will learn about various approaches to studying the social world. In particular, students
will learn how sociologists structure inquiry; collect and analyze data; and develop new
knowledge. Through written assignments and in-class activities, students will have the
opportunity to apply sociological methods and perspectives.
3. Breadth and diversity of human knowledge: Course materials include multiple perspectives and
will shed light on diverse approaches that different groups use to construct knowledge and
structure norms. Readings will also provide insight into the lived experiences of people from a
variety of economic, cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds.
4. Critical and analytic skills: Through course readings, class discussions, written assignments, and
exams, students will strengthen their critical thinking and analytical skills.
5. Examine values and integrate principles into their lives: This course is designed to provide a
number of opportunities for students to engage with material that is challenging and that
contradicts common sense assumptions as well as, perhaps, students’ own personally held
values. Through readings, lectures, class discussions, and written assignments, students will
have many opportunities to assess their own values in light of the perspectives with which they
engage in this course. This course will provide tools that students can use to reflect on social
conditions and assess how they would like to engage with and contribute to the world around
them.
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Grading and Assignments
Percent of Grade
Due Date
Class participation
Sociological reflection paper 1 (2-3 pages)
Midterm exam
Sociological autobiography (6-8 pages)
Sociological reflection paper 2 (2-3 pages)
15%
10%
20%
25%
10%
Ongoing
February 16
March 2
April 11
April 27
Final exam
20%
May 12
Grades will be assigned as follows:
A (94-100); A- (90-93); B+ (87-89); B (84-86); B- (80-83)
C+ (77-79); C (74-76); C- (70-73); D+ (67-69); D (64-66); D- (60-63); F (0-59)
The following is a brief description of each grading component. Each written assignment should be
submitted in hard copy at the beginning of class on its due date. More details will be provided in class.
Class participation (15%): Students are expected to attend all classes, to keep up with the readings for
each class, and to actively engage in class discussions and small group activities. Readings listed next to
the date of each class meeting should be read before that class meeting.
Two exams (40%): The mid-term and final exams will be based on the readings, lectures, and class
discussions. There will be an in-class review prior to each exam.
Sociological autobiography (25%): Using concepts from the course, you will trace the social, cultural,
and institutional influences on your own life. The paper should be 6-8 pages. More details will be
provided in class.
Two sociological reflection papers (20%): Each sociological reflection paper will be 2-3 pages and will be
based on an exercise that you complete outside of class. More details will be provided in class.
Academic Integrity
All work that you submit must be your own. When quoting or paraphrasing another author’s idea in
your work, always cite the author and the source in which you found the idea. Here is the address for
the BC library guide on how and when to appropriately cite work: http://libguides.bc.edu/citation . If
you plagiarize another person’s work or if you submit another person’s work as your own, you will
receive a failing grade for the assignment and may be reported to your respective academic dean. For
more information, review Boston College’s policy on Academic Integrity on the following webpage:
http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/academic/univcat/undergrad_catalog/policies_procedures.html#inte
grity .
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Accommodations
The course is designed to be welcoming and inclusive. If you need accommodations for a documented
learning disability, please contact Kathy Duggan at the Connors Family Learning Center (617-552-8093 or
[email protected] ). If you need accommodations for another type of disability, please contact Paulette
Durrett in the Disability Services Office (617-552-3470 or [email protected] ). Please speak with
me within the first two weeks of class if you are requesting any accommodations.
Readings
The following text is required and is also available through BC Library Course Reserves:
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Introduction to Sociology, 10th Edition (2016) by Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, Richard
P. Applebaum and Deborah Carr, W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.
Readings from the textbook start with “Chapter” in the reading schedule.
All other readings are available through course reserves. All articles are also available through the
Boston College library electronic databases.
If you need financial assistance to purchase books, contact the Montserrat Office, 36 College Road,
[email protected] .
Reading and Assignment Schedule
Readings listed next to the date should be read before attending class that day. The first two weeks
of class are a general introduction to sociology including methods. The rest of the semester focuses
on topics in sociology.
Tuesday
January 17
Introductions and review of syllabus
In-class: Short writing prompt
Thursday
January 19
Introduction to Sociology
Chapter 1: What Is Sociology?
Tuesday
January 24
Introduction to Sociology
Chapter 1: The Promise (pp. 3-24) in The Sociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills
Oxford University Press. 2000.
Body Ritual among the Nacirema
Horace Miner
American Anthropologist, 58(3): 503-507. 1956.
Thursday
January 26
Chapter 2: Asking and Answering Sociological Questions
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Tuesday
January 31
Chapter 3: Culture and Society
Thursday
February 2
Class and Culture
Watch the following:
People Like Us-- Social Class in America.
Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker, Directors
San Francisco, California, USA : Kanopy Streaming 2014.
Tuesday
February 7
Chapter 8: Stratification, Class, and Inequality
Thursday
February 9
Poverty and inequality
Positive Functions of the Undeserving Poor: Uses of the Underclass in America
Herbert J. Gans
Politics & Society 22(3):269-283. 1994.
These 8 Men Have as Much Money as Half The World
Emily Peck
The Huffington Post. January 15, 2017.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/income-inequalityoxfam_us_58792e6ee4b0b3c7a7b13616
Tuesday
February 14
Chapter 10: Gender Inequality
Thursday
February 16
Gender
Selling Feminism, Consuming Femininity
Amanda M. Gengler
Contexts, vol. 10, 2: pp. 68-69. May 27, 2011.
Tightening and Loosening Masculinity's (k)Nots: Masculinity in the Hearst Press
during the Interwar Period
Andrew P. Smiler, Gwen Kay, Benjamin Harris
The Journal of Men’s Studies, vol. 16, 3: pp. 266-279. 2009.
Sociological reflection paper 1 due at the beginning of class.
Tuesday
February 21
Chapter 11: Ethnicity and Race
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Thursday
February 23
Intersectionality and Privilege
Toward a New Vision: Race, Class, and Gender as Categories of Analysis and
Connection
Patricia Hill Collins
Race, Sex & Class, 1 (1): 25-45. 1993.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41680038
White privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack.(Reprint)(Essay)
Peggy Mcintosh
Best of Pact Press: A Collection of the Best Articles on Racial Identity
Oakland, CA: Pact - An Adoption Alliance. Feb, 1998, p.28(5).
Tuesday
February 28
In-class review for midterm
Thursday
March 2
Midterm exam
Tuesday
March 7
Spring Break – no class
Thursday
March 9
Spring Break – no class
Tuesday
March 14
Chapter 16: Education
Thursday
March 16
Higher Education
First-Generation Students Unite
Laura Pappano
New York Times. April 8, 2015
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/education/edlife/first-generation-studentsunite.html?_r=0
Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 58 (40). July 6, 2012
Read the following in the section on higher education's contributions to inequality:
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Magnifying Social Inequality. Richard D. Kahlenberg. pB6
Social Life and Social Inequality. Laura Hamilton and Elizabeth
Armstrong. pB7
The Great Sorting. Anthony P. Carnevale. pB8
Fading Glory Days. Richard Wolin. pB8
Growing Elitism.Thomas J. Espenshade. pB9-B9
The Role of Elite Institutions. William Julius Wilson. pB9
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Tuesday
March 21
Chapter 19: Population, Urbanization, and the Environment
Thursday
March 23
Environment
Poisoning the Planet: The Struggle for Environmental Justice
David Naguib Pellow and Robert J. Brulle
Contexts, vol. 6, 1: pp. 37-41. February 1, 2007.
The Greenwashing of America
Eric Krieg
Contexts, vol. 7, 2: pp. 58-59. May 1, 2008.
The Life and Death of the American Lawn
Megan Garber
The Atlantic. August 28, 2015
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/08/the-american-lawn-aeulogy/402745/
Sod it: Californians turn back to grass lawns as drought shaming ebbs
Rory Carroll
The Guardian. November 2, 2016
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/02/california-drought-lawns-grasssod
Tuesday
March 28
Chapter 18: The Sociology of the Body: Health, Illness, and Sexuality
Thursday
March 30
Body, Health, and Environment
Environments, Bodies, and the Cultural Imaginary: Imagining Ecological Impairment
Steve Kroll-Smith and Joshua Kelley
Chapter 16, pp. 304-322 in Contesting Illness: Process and Practices, Edited by
Pamela Moss and Katherine Teghtsoonian
University of Toronto Press. 2008.
Tuesday
April 4
Chapter 7: Conformity, Deviance, and Crime
Thursday
April 6
Chapter 15: Families and Intimate Relationships
Tuesday
April 11
Sociological autobiography due at the beginning of class.
Thursday
April 13
Easter Weekend – No Class
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Tuesday
April 18
Chapter 14: Work and Economic Life
Thursday
April 20
Work and Economy
Watch the following:
Frontline: Two American families
Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes, producers; Bill D. Moyers, reporter
Arlington, VA : Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) 2013.
Read the following:
Privatization and Racial Inequality
Vincent J. Roscigno and George Wilson
Contexts, vol. 13, 1: pp. 72-74. February 18, 2014.
Neoliberalism
Johanna Bockman
Contexts, vol. 12, 3: pp. 14-15. August 12, 2013.
Tuesday
April 25
Chapter 13: Government, Political Power, and Social Movements
Thursday
April 27
Social Movements
How Social Movements Matter
David S. Meyer
Contexts, vol. 2, 4: pp. 30-35. Aug 1, 2003.
Social Justice and the Next Upward Surge for Unions
Judith Stepan-Norris
Contexts, vol. 14, 2: pp. 46-51. May 25, 2015
Sociological reflection paper 2 due at the beginning of class.
Tuesday
May 2
Chapter 9: Global Inequality
Thursday
May 4
In-class review for final exam
Course wrap-up
Friday
May 12
Final Exam: 12:30 – 2:30pm
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