Syllabus - Intro to Sociology Spring 2021 PDF

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Introduction to Sociology Spring 2021 syllabus with assigned readings...

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230.101 Introduction to Sociology Spring 2021 Prof. Andrew Cherlin Virtual office Hours: Mondays, 3:00 - 5:00 PM, and by appointment at: https://zoom.us/j/5602834578 Email: [email protected]

Course Description: The course will introduce students to the discipline of Sociology. Students will learn about the major theoretical approaches in the field as well as the diverse research methods used in sociological investigations. These tools will be applied to a wide variety of specific topics studied by sociologists, including social class, gender, race and ethnicity, poverty and inequality, work, families, health, and organizations.

Grades: Grades will be assigned based on: -- Three hourly exams, 20% each -- Final essay: 20% -- Weekly assignments, 10% -- Participation in Sections, 10%

Lectures: They will be pre-recorded, and students can watch them at any time. Access them using the “Panopto recordings” page on the class Blackboard homepage. Typically, there are two playlists of videos that students will watch each week.

Sections: Attendance at Friday section meetings via Zoom is mandatory and no more than one unexcused absence is allowed. Here is the list of sections and teaching assistants. A teaching assistant will send the Zoom link that you will use to participate in the section. Section 1: 10:00 AM Rishi Awatramani [email protected] Section 2: 10:00 AM Alvin Camba [email protected] Section 3: 12:00 PM Manasi Karthik [email protected] Section 4: 11:00 AM Rishi Awatramani [email protected] Section 5: 11:00 AM Alvin Camba [email protected] Section 6: 11:00 AM Manasi Karthik [email protected] Section 7: 10:00 AM Jiwon Lee [email protected] Section 8: 11:00 AM Jiwon Lee [email protected] Section 9: 11:00 AM Rhiannon Miller [email protected] Section 10: 11:00 AM Yifeng Wan [email protected] Section 11: 10:00 AM Yifeng Wan [email protected]

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Course Books: Available in bookstore: Textbook: George Ritzer. Introduction to Sociology. 5th Edition. Los Angeles: Sage. (The 4th Edition is also acceptable.) School shootings: Katherine Newman, et al., Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings. New York: Basic. All other readings are accessible via the Blackboard class site. Schedule of Video Lectures and Examinations: Weeks of (starting date is a Monday): 1. January 25. Introduction: -- Ritzer, Chapter 1. Sociology in the Global Age. Entire chapter. 2. February 1. Theories of Society: -- Brown, “Social Theories.” Pp. 45-79, 93-95. -- Ritzer, Chapter 2. Thinking Sociologically. Entire chapter. 3. February 8. Research Methods / Culture Research Methods: -- Schuman, “Sense and Nonsense about Surveys,” Contexts, summer 2002, pp. 40-47. -- Ritzer, Chapter 3. Researching the Social World. Entire chapter. Culture -- Ritzer, Chapter 4. Culture. Entire chapter. 4. February 15. Socialization / Gender and Sexuality Socialization and the Life Course: -- Mead on the “generalized other,” from Collins, Four Sociological Traditions. -- Ritzer, Chapter 5, The Individual and the Self/ The Individual as Performer/ Socialization, pp. 106-123. (4th Ed. pp. 113-133) Gender and Sexuality: -- Friedman. “Tiger Girls on the Soccer Field.” -- Ritzer, Chapter 11. Gender and Sexuality. Entire chapter. 5. February 22. Review / Exam 1 2

6. March 1.

Class and Status / Political Sociology Class and Status: -- Brown, “Social Theories: Their Interplay and Contradictions.” Pp. 79-93. -- Ritzer, Chapter 8. Dimensions of Social Stratification, pp. 188-191 (4th Ed. pp. 203-206) Political Sociology: -- Ritzer, Chapter 15. Politics and the Economy. Pp. 380-388. (4th ed., 409-418)

7. March 8.

Poverty and Inequality I and II: -- Ritzer, Chapter 8. Social Stratification, continued, pp. 191- 213. (4th Ed., pp. 206-230) -- Halpern-Meekin et al – “A Hand Up for Lower Income Families”

8. March 15.

Race and Ethnicity / Immigration Race and Ethnicity: -- Winant, “Colorblind Racial Ideology and Its Discontents” -- Ritzer, Chapter 10. Race and Ethnicity. Entire chapter. -- Re-read Ritzer, Chapter 1, Critical Theories of Race and Racism pp. 46-47 (4th Ed., pp. 45-48.) Immigration: -- Zhou, “Are Asian Americans Becoming ‘White’?”

9. March 22.

Globalization and Global Inequality: -- Ritzer, Chapter 6, Organizations, Societies, and Global Relationships. pp. 144 - 154 (4th Ed. pp. 158-168) -- Ritzer, Chapter 9. Global Stratification. Entire chapter.

10. March 29

Review / Exam 2

11. April 5.

Education / Family Education: -- Ritzer, Chapter 13 Education. Entire Chapter. -- Downey and Gibbs, “How Schools Really Matter” Family: -- Ritzer, Chapter 12 Families. Entire Chapter.

12. April 12.

Challenger disaster / Networks and Organization: 3

The Challenger Disaster MSNBC documentary: Challenger: Beyond the Tragedy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMGQad4ik5I Groups, Networks, Organizations: -- Ritzer, Chapter 5, Micro-level social structures, pp. 124-127 (4th Ed. pp. 133-138) -- Ritzer, Chapter 6, Organizations; Contemporary Organizational Realities, pp. 129-148. (4th Ed. pp. 141-157) -- McCabe, “Friends with Academic Benefits”

13. April 19

Workplace / School Shooting The Workplace: -- Kalleberg, Good Jobs, Bad Jobs. Chapter 1. -- Ritzer, Chapter 15, The Economy: Major Forms and Changes, pp. 389-399. (4th Ed. pp. 419-428)

School shootings: Newman et al., Rampage, Chapters 1-7, 10, and 11. (Note: Exam 3 will not include school shootings. This topic will be covered in the final essay.) 14. April 26

Review / Exam 3 [No classes on Friday, so no section meetings]

Final examination day (to be determined): 1,200-word paper on school shooting based on the Newman et al. book, Rampage, and an archive on school shooting on the class Blackboard site. It will be due a 9:00 AM on the day that the final exam for the course would be scheduled to occur. (There will be no final exam.)

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