Download Contemporary Social Problems

Contemporary Social Problems
Fall 2015 University of California, Berkeley
Facilitators:
Irving Salas Barrios | [email protected]
Mary Lin
| [email protected]
Bradley Afroilan
| [email protected]
Description:
Social theory offers tools for thinking about our society and about the forces and actors that
have changed our communities, society, and world. Using a variety of classical and
contemporary material, this course offers a basic "sociologists’ toolkit" orientation in order to
take a critical look at contemporary social issues in America. We will touch upon issues
including the problems of race, poverty, gender and sexuality, drug abuse, crime, and violence.
Objectives:
1. Upon successful completion of class, students will identify how the discipline of
sociology is relevant to the study of contemporary society, critically analyzing current
societal-level problems impacting the United States.
2. Students will demonstrate a reasonable knowledge about current social problems,
including the ability to describe their effects on individuals as well as society at large.
Format:
Class meetings will take place every week for two hours and will follow a combined lecturediscussion format. Each week will focus on a particular issue raised in the media (both local
and national) and scholarly works.
Students are expected to complete all readings before the start of class. Readings are designed
to provide commentary and background on the issue at hand.
During the first few weeks, we will give an introduction and overview of major theorists and
perspectives through lectures, with remaining class time for discussion and possible guest
speakers. Once we reach week 4, class will begin with student-led current event discussions on
how contemporary examples might reflect content covered in previous weeks. If there is a film
or video scheduled, we will allocate time for that. The remainder of the class will be more
discussion. When feasible, guest lectures from professors and/or student leaders on the UC
Berkeley campus will frame our conversations.
Regular participation and preparation is expected.
Grading:
This class is graded on a one-unit pass/no pass (P/NP) basis. All assignments are designed to
provide background context, clarity, and theoretical working knowledge of the social issues
introduced and discussed in class.
Assignments (25%): Students will be given 2 assignment prompts connected to the course
throughout the semester, each of which will require a thoughtful (minimum) 2 page response.
Each assignment must be typed, 12 point font, and double-spaced.
Participation (40%): Each week, discussion will revolve around a few questions presented in
class to guide students in their interpretation and analysis of the given articles and series
episodes. Active contribution to the classroom dialogue will, accordingly, constitute a significant
portion of the final course grade. 10% of this will come from written reflections after each class
meeting.
Attendance (20%): Students who miss more than two class meetings will automatically fail the
course (NP). In cases of documented family or medical emergency, students may present the
course facilitators with appropriate documentation and receive an alternate assignment.
Students who miss more than two classes will receive a NP.
Final Project (15%): All students will complete a final project in the form of a 4 page doublespaced paper that reflects upon one topic of the class they found interesting and analyzes how
that topic’s portrayal in the show compares to analogous real-life historical or contemporary
situations. Students who fail to turn in a final project will not pass the class (NP).
Accommodations:
Students with verified disabilities should be enrolled in the Disabled Students’ Program (DSP)
which helps coordinate students’ needs in various aspects of Campus life. If you are a member
of the DSP, please contact the facilitators within the first two weeks of class so we are able to
implement any necessary accommodations and make the course as accessible as possible.
Also, if you have emergency medical information you wish to share with us, or if you need
special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please let us know
Class Schedule:
Unit 1: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Week 1: Introduction & Overview
After setting community guidelines and playing an icebreaker, we will begin by broadly discuss
the major theoretical perspectives and theorists associated with each perspective.
In Class: Most Important Problems: Then and Now | CBS News/New York Times Poll
Reading(s): None
Week 2: Analyzing Social Problems: Sociological Theory
In-Class: Structural-functional theory vs. Social conflict theory vs. Symbolic Interactionism
theory handout
Week 3: Analyzing Social Problems: Sociological Theory – Continued
In-Class: Applying Structural-functional, Social conflict, Symbolic Interactionism theory
handout
Unit 2: RACIAL INEQUALITY
Week 4: The Problem of the Color Line: Discrimination & Prejudice
Video(s): The social construction of race explained; The Backwards Brain Bicycle - Smarter
Every Day 133 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0; Brown eyes & blue eyes
Racism experiment Children Session) Jane Elliott |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLAqAtW1h-o;
Reading(s): The Souls of Black Folks excerpt | W.E.B. Du Bois; Bonilla-Silva, E. (2003). Racism
Without Racists: Color Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the U.S. Laham,
MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Ch. 1, 2 (R)
Week 5: Black Lives Matter: A Moment or a Movement?
Video(s): Students block Sather Gate to protest police brutality | Daily Cal;
Black Lives Matter: Oakland Speaks On Ferguson | AJ+; "Black Lives Matter" shuts
down Sanders event | CNN
Reading(s): A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement | Alicia Garza
Week 6: Reproducing Inequality - Assignment 1 Due
Videos: White Names vs. Black Names: Freakonomics Movie clip;
Readings: Lee, Robert G. 1999. “The Cold War Origins of the Model Minority Myth.” Pp 145-179
in Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.;
Unit 3: GENDER & SEXUALITY
Week 7: What is Gender?/Gender Stratification
Video(s): Killing Us Softly Part 4 video excerpt
Reading(s): Doing Gender excerpt | West & Zimmerman; Unfinished Revolution excerpt; "The
Weaker Sex." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 07 Mar. 2015. Web.
http://www.economist.com/news/international/21645759-boys-are-being-outclassed-girls-bothschool-and-university-and-gap
Week 8: Understanding Sexuality
Video(s): TBA
Reading(s): The History of Sexuality excerpt | Michel Foucault; "Answers to Your Questions For
a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality." (2006). PsycEXTRA
Dataset.
Week 9: Barriers Faced by the LGBTQ Community
Video(s): Transparent: bathroom scene; Transsexual Man Insulted by Employee | What Would
You Do?; It Gets Better | Jamey Rodermeyer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb1CaGMdWk
Reading(s): Daily Cal article compilation; Cowan, Sharon. 2009. “We Walk Among You": Trans
Identity Politics Goes to the Movies.” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 21 (1):91-117.;
"Answers to Your Questions About Transgender Individuals and Gender Identity." (2006).
PsycEXTRA Dataset
Unit 4: POVERTY & WEALTH
Week 10: Power and Privilege
Video(s): TBA
Reading(s): Gilbert, D. (2011). “Social Class in America”. In The American Class Structure in an
Age of Growing Inequality. Pp. 1-19. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, Sage Publications
Week 11: Problems Linked to Poverty - Assignment 2 Due
Video(s): Stop Saying “I’m So Broke | College Humor; The Line | Sojo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZxjb4gB93A
Reading(s): Reich, R. (2011) “Why Inequality is the Real Cause of Our Ongoing Terrible
Economy”, Sept. 4, 2011. http://robertreich.org/post/9789891366; Murray, C. (2012) “The New
American Divide”. Wall Street Journal, Jan. 21, 2012.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204301404577170733817181646.html
Unit 5: DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL
Week 12: Norms, Law, and Crime
Video(s): Getting to The Top: A Family's Struggle with Drugs and Poverty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHC1Eo13k_4;
Reading(s): The Elementary Forms of Religion excerpt | Emile Durkheim; Mcbride, D. C., and C.
B. Mccoy. 1993. "The Drugs-Crime Relationship: An Analytical Framework." The Prison Journal
73.3 : 257-78.;
Week 13: Social Policy: How’re We Responding to the Drug Problem?
Video(s): War on Drugs by Alice Goffman | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgPFfRsL0oM;
Reading(s): Alexander, Michelle. 2012. Introduction. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in
the Age of Colorblindness. New York: New, 1-19. Print.; On The Run excerpt | Alice Goffman;
Pogrebin, M. R., and Paul B. Stretesky. 2007.
Unit 7: PHYSICAL & MENTAL HEALTH
Week 14: The Seen & The Unseen – Final Project Due
Video(s): Elephant Man clip; “Now, After” | Kyle Hausmann-Stokes; Schizophrenia Simulation |
UC Davis Medical School
Reading(s): Stigma excerpt | Erving Goffman; Elliot Rodger Report Details Long Struggle with
Mental Illness | Santa Barbara Independent;