Sociology is defined by some as the study of society; others see it as the systematic study of institutions and structures; some conceive it as the study of group life; and still others define it as the study of social relations. Some see sociology as a science dedicated to assembling facts in order to discover laws of society, while others view sociology as a method of inquiry - or rather, as a series of carefully crafted methods of interpretation. In this course we will 'try on' various approaches, but throughout we will treat sociology as a disciplinary way of seeing the world which produces a distinctive body of knowledge.
Rather than try to accomplish a comprehensive survey of the field as is done with the standard introductory sociology textbook that is a mile wide and an inch deep, we will read and discuss some exemplary works of sociological thought and analysis. Through our readings of these works we will explore the complex webs of institutions and relations that include schooling, labor markets, urban/suburban spaces, television and pop culture, family life, and peer groups. We will also focus on the social relations of inequality by class, race and gender, along with the tensions in contemporary life between individualism and community, freedom and dependence.
Jay MacLeod, Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations & Attainment in a Low Income Neighborhood. Westview. 1995.Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Really Are. Basic Books, 1997.
Arlie Hochschild, The Managed Heart. University of California Press.
Cornel West, Race Matters. Vintage. 1993.
Richard Sennett & Jonathan Cobb, The Hidden Injuries of Class. Vintage. 1973.
Reserve Readings
C. Wright Mills, "The Promise," in The Sociological Imagination. {Handout}Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Available on Internet
Barry Bluestone & Bennett Harrison, "The contradiction between capital and community," excerpt from The Deindustrialization of America. 1982.
Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death. Penguin. 1984, excerpt.
Joan Smith, "The Transformation of Society," in Social Issues and the Social Order.
Joan Smith, "The paradox of women's poverty: wage-earning women and economic transformation." reprinted from Signs, 1984. pp.182-193.
Preparation for class, attendance, and participation in class are compulsory aspects of this course. Doing the reading, coming to class, and contributing to the class are the basic prerequisites for this class. Those who fall short in terms of preparation, attendance, and participation could end up failing the course.
Class attendance. A basic obligation of being in a class is attending that class, and coming prepared to be an active participant. Attendance is required. If you have been in class every time then it can only work in your favor when it comes time you evaluate your work! No grade points towards the final grade are gained from attendance; however, absences will count against the final grade. Here is how it works. Attendance will be taken each class day. Over the course of the term, five absences will be permitted. On the sixth absence however, the student will be docked one letter grade off their final course grade. And so on, for every additional absence off comes a half grade point.
As an introductory sociology class aimed at attuning students to seeing the sociological significance of what goes on around them, I shall be pressing you to see the world around you through sociologically-coloured lenses -- or, put another way, I want to push you to try on a different frame of mind. Toward that end, I ask that you keep a Documented Learning Log of "sociological observations." In this learning log you will be accountable for critically assessing what you have read and observed, as well as making connections via your emergent sociological imagination.
At this juncture you are probably wondering about this perspective called the "sociological imagination." Well, no easy answers to that here, but hopefully its meaning will emerge as we go along. I encourage you to be attentive to items from newspapers, events attended, observed, experienced or participated in, and then struggle to put them into a context that will reveal their sociological significance. In this way, a sociological way of seeing usually evolves as the term unfolds. This is why you should be regularly keeping up with your learning log. Three entries a week is the minimum requirement. And, I want to encourage you to bring observations and queries to class. Every once in a while, we will probably spontaneously spend a class exploring the sociological significance of something that has been in the news or that one of you brings to the classroom. Periodically throughout the term, and without much warning, I will ask to see your log.
We will spend a portion of the term getting acquainted with how to do library research in sociology and learning how to search for, and critically evaluate, materials in this and related fields. During the term I will assign exercises aimed at making you conversant with the periodical (journal) literature in sociology. This will involve becoming skilled at navigating electronic (computerized) databases such as the Watzek Library's On-line Catalogue, FirstSearch, Sociological Abstracts, Sociofile, Proquest, and Social Science Index. And because it is becoming such a central part of the academic and commercial world, we will also begin some tentative explorations of the World Wide Web. The culminating assignment to evaluate the development of your research skills will be an annotated bibliography on a series of assigned topics. The learning log and bibliographic assignments will count for one third of the total course grade.
The remainder of your grade will be based on four page essays spaced throughout the term and about the books we have read. I will frame questions on the books to guide these writing assignments. There will be an in-class final examination covering the material read and discussed in the final weeks of the course. The management reserves the right to have a mid-term exam depending on the 'needs' of the class. The short essays and the exam(s) will count for two thirds of the total grade. We will discuss the written assignments in considerably more detail as we move through the term.