Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Social Darwinism wikipedia , lookup
Symbolic interactionism wikipedia , lookup
Sociology of terrorism wikipedia , lookup
Index of sociology articles wikipedia , lookup
Social group wikipedia , lookup
History of sociology wikipedia , lookup
Sociology of culture wikipedia , lookup
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY, SPRING 2K Professor: Lee Clarke Phone: 732.445.5741 Office: Lucy Stone Hall A-351, Livingston Campus Office hours: Tuesday 11:20-12:20, after class, Douglass student center Course number: 920:101:12-17 Lecture: Tuesday, Period 2, 9:50-11:10, Loree 22 Home page for the course: http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~lclarke/intro.htm I will introduce you to the key aspects of thinking sociologically. The course does not cover the field of sociology, for two reasons. First, it’s impossible to introduce an entire discipline in one semester. Second, to try to cover a field of study presumes that it is important for students to know the formal debates within a profession. I don’t make that presumption, so I spend most of the time understanding how some parts of society work. The excitement in sociology is not in what this or that group of scholars have to say to each other about society. The excitement is in the general perspective they bring to analyzing how and why people think and behave as they do. Teaching Assistants N ORIKO M ATSUMOTO Phone: See TA syllabus Office: See TA syllabus Office hours: See TA syllabus Section 13: F1, 8:10-9:30, Hickman 205 Section 14: F2, 9:50-11:10, Hickman 205 Section 16: F3, 11:30-12:50, Waller 203 A MITA PATEL Phone: See TA syllabus Section 12: TH1, 8:10-9:30, Hickman 202 Office: See TA syllabus Section 15: F2, 9:50-11:10, Hickman 202 Office hours: See TA syllabus Section 17: F3, 11:30-12:50, Hickman 202 Required: 1. Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia’s Dead End Kids, Donna Gaines, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Gaines will be available at the Coop Bookstore. Be sure to buy the version from University of Chicago (light cover), and not Harper Perennial (dark cover). This book may also be available at New Jersey Books. 2. Sociology, Jon Shepard, Wadsworth, 7 t h edition. Also available at the Coop Bookstore. This book may also be available at New Jersey Books. Exams 1 The 2 exams are multiple choice, and are not cumulative. I do not give extra-credit assignments, nor will I allow make-ups on the exams without a superb, legitimate explanation (bring me medical records, phone numbers of surviving relatives, etc.). Weddings, personal holidays, the Rutgers bus system, etc. are not acceptable excuses for missing exams or sections. Drop the course now if there is a conflict between the test days and your personal schedule. The makeups are essay tests, consisting of three questions for the midterm, four for the final. Since these tests must replace a 30 (or 40, in the case of the final) question exam, the answers for the makeup must be extremely thorough to warrant a high grade. It is not to your advantage to miss my scheduled tests. Completing the course You must complete all parts of the course to pass. This means you must complete both the midterm (worth 30%) and the final (worth 40%) and you must receive a grade in section (worth 30%) to avoid an F. To put this another way: not receiving a grade in recitation section means you will fail this course, even if you have perfect grades on the exams. Put yet another way: blow off section, fail the entire course, no exceptions. If you can’t attend section, drop this course now. I make no exceptions for people who work or have other scheduling conflicts that prevent them from completing the requirements of the course. Sections You must attend the section you are registered for. That is, you can’t trade across sections. The sections are large enough as it is, so we can’t make them larger by allowing cross-attendance. Readings Be sure to read the calendar of class meetings, readings, and exams. You should do the reading before the day on which they’re listed. Sometimes, I won’t cover the readings in class, because you’ll spend time on them in recitation. But the lectures will make more sense if you’ve done the reading ahead of time. Week number 1 Introduction To The Course & To Sociological Thinking What is the sociological perspective? Why is it important? This lecture covers some of the key ideas in the course, focusing especially on the notion of social structure. 2,3 Social Structure & Suicide Read for third week of class: all of Gaines, Teenage Wasteland 2 How can suicide, an intensely personal act, be a collective phenomenon? After looking at recent data on who is most likely to kill themselves in America, I develop one notion of social structure with an illustration from Emile Durkheim’s classic study of suicide. Then, I push those ideas further, using as an example Donna Gaines’ Teenage Wasteland. 4,5 The Self & Social Context The great philosopher René Descartes once said, “I think, therefore I am.” Sociologists say, less elegantly, “I am socialized, therefore I am.” These lectures are concerned with central ideas and theories on formation of self, agents of socialization, and resocialization. A central point of the lectures is that individual identity comes from social processes. 6 Language, Meaning, & Culture What is culture and what does it do? Explains what sociological concept of culture is, and the crucial place of language in shaping social reality. 7 NoN-nOrMaLiTy What is social about deviance? Outlines basic approaches to studying and theorizing what deviance is and how we recognize it. I also address the question: Are we suffering a drug epidemic? 8 MIDTERM The test will have 30 multiple choice questions, roughly half from reading, roughly half from lecture, with some from section. Bring a #2 pencil. You are responsible for all notes and all readings, even if I didn’t cover the readings in class. 9,10 Social stratification A widely believed ideology holds that with hard work and determination people can be anything they want to be. Sociologists, however, have discovered this is true only under certain conditions. The key condition has to do with a college degree, yet research shows most people don’t directly apply the knowledge they glean in college. So what are the connections between a college education and social sorting? Covers some key ideas, theories, and data on how and why people are stratified. Also covers some sociological ideas about discrimination. 11,12 Organizations & Rationalization 3 From cradle to grave organizations shape our lives, yet people are often unaware of the main forces behind organizational functioning. This is an introduction to the main ideas of organizational sociology, including the sometimes dry but always important ideas of Max Weber. I then use these concepts to analyze how the Nazi Holocaust developed. 13 Politics & Symbolism What does “political” mean? And how do culture and social structure shape political struggles over valued resources? 14 Risk & knowledge Why are some things considered more dangerous that other things? One answer is that those things are, in fact, more dangerous. A more sociological answer has to do with power, resources, and social organization Final Exam: Wednesday, May 10, 8-11am, location to be announced, Bring pencils. 4