Course Syllabus SOC 2201/07, CRN# Principles of Sociology Kennesaw State University Spring 2013

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1 Instructor: Cristina Stephens, PhD, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Tel.: (770) , Please use the function in D2L; it is the best way for me to keep track of your s). Dept: Course Syllabus SOC 2201/07, CRN# Principles of Sociology Kennesaw State University Spring 2013 Required Text: The course uses one major textbook: Sociology: A Global Perspective, by Joan Ferrante, 7E, Thomson Wadsworth 2008 which is available at the campus bookstore. Everyone in the course is required to have a copy of this text. The textbook will refer you to its supporting website, which has a host of additional helpful learning services, so you will have to check it out: (then click on Student: Companion site) Course Content Description This course is intended as a general introduction to Sociology. Many students begin this course with basic questions such as: What do sociologists study? Is it something like psychology? Like other social scientists, sociologists are interested in people; but unlike psychologists, who focus mainly on the individual s perception of circumstances and his response to them, sociologists seek to understand primarily how society and social groups shape the individual. The academic discipline of Sociology encompasses analysis of a wide array of social issues, from a diversity of perspectives, including culture, inequality in society, deviance and crime, families and workplaces. They share a common approach of viewing society through the lens of a sociological imagination. This means that large institutions such as the family or the economy, or social structures such as gender, race, class, age, or the times one lives in (historical period), all external to the individual, become crucial in understanding personal troubles. As sociologist C. Wright Mills warned us, an honest understanding of our own experiences and chances in life comes only from locating ourselves within our period and from becoming aware of the experiences of individuals in our circumstances. In C. Wright Mills words, this can be a terrible lesson and in many ways, a magnificent one. The goal is to critically engage the issues and it is recommended that students attempt to think about how each theory and/or issue relates, or does not relate, to their own lives and experiences. By the end of this course, you should be able to develop your own sociological imagination - a trait that will aid you in any career or simply in understanding life itself.

2 Learning Objectives This is an introductory course with several broad and general objectives: 1. Students will become familiar with the broad themes of the discipline of Sociology. This will be measured by assessments [exams] that test comprehension of major themes and terms in each chapter. 2. Students will study the key concepts of Sociological thinking, and the key terms of the discipline, also tested in the exams. 3. Students will engage and interpret the course chapters and themes by participating in discussion forums for each chapter specified in the syllabus, and by preparing for the two examinations scheduled at the end of each module. 4. Students will translate the primary Sociological theories, methods and themes into their real life by expressing how these relate to themselves in the discussion threads. 5. Students will develop their communication and critical thinking skills by actively participating in class by practicing responsible and civil engagement of complex, varied and sometimes controversial issues. Communication skills will also be developed by careful consideration of key terms, comparisons and contrasts framed in the multiple choice questions on the exams. 6. Students will reflect on each chapter and determine what they need to understand better, what they do or do not agree with, and what questions they wish to ask. Course Guidelines D2L. This course requires use of the D2L platform. You will begin by logging in here: Learning how to effectively use this tool will be addressed during the first week of class. D2L may be used for announcements, assignments and the instructor may also post a variety of lecture notes. You will also be able to check grades, communicate with fellow classmates, access additional links to articles and communicate with me via . You should be checking D2L at least twice a week to stay current. Any questions, comments, complaints or concern can be addressed by in D2L. I do not recommend using my university as your message may get mixed with the slew of campus-wide and external messages faculty receive every day! I also recommend that you always save all of your work. This includes copies of drafts and final versions of online exams or papers. I will not accept excuses for lost work - even when printers are out of cartridges or computers crash. Always plan for the worst and hope for the best when it comes to technology. Readings. You are responsible for reading all of the assigned material each week, BEFORE class discussion. I strongly encourage all students to have ALL readings for the week completely covered before Monday s class. As you read the material, ask yourself: What are the main issue(s), main conclusion(s), and reason(s) for these conclusions?

3 What was the social, political, and cultural climate of the time? What are the historical links/connections? What do I know about the author? Are there any fallacies in the author s reasoning? How strong is the evidence? Any significant gaps? Are there any other reasonable conclusions? What should I ask the instructor in class? Taking notes during class. During class, I expect all students to take notes based on lectures and/or class dialogue - as some of the concepts discussed, albeit directly related to the readings, may not be specifically or explicitly mentioned in the book. Therefore you need to pay attention to what is being presented in class, all while jotting down key information. Course Requirements 1. Tests (Quiz, Midterm, Final). There will be a total of three take-home tests in this course: a quiz, a Mid-Term and a Final Midterm and a Final - which students will take in D2L. a. Strategy Please make a note of the test schedule and plan accordingly. Both the quiz and the exams are essentially open book; students will be able to take them wherever they can log on to a high-speed computer; but study and preparation are necessary because the tests are timed and the clock starts as soon as you begin, so there will not be no time to look up answers. You must be prepared in advance to do well on the tests. The quiz will have approximately questions and the exams will have approximately 50 questions (multiple-choice format), with an allotted time of 90 minutes. The Final will most probably include an essay or short answer question as well. The questions asked will primarily cover major issues and concepts discussed in the text as well as DURING class. Some questions will address aspects discussed in class only and may not be explicitly or directly addressed by the textbook. For this reason, as I will specify further below, regular attendance will be 100% necessary. b. Make-Ups Every semester it is inevitable that some students will produce more or less compelling and verifiable reasons as to why they could not come to class or be online on a specific date and time at which a test was scheduled. When teaching large numbers of students, lecturers can hardly afford to launch investigations into the worth of each and every one of such claims. To avoid requests for Make-Up Exams - which can affect the wellfunctioning of the entire course - I have included a Grace Day for each test. This means that once a test is open it will remain open through the end of the next day. Unlike the rigid schedule of an exam to be taken at a specific hour, you will have the option of taking the exam on the day scheduled OR any time during the next day. Again, do remember that once you open and begin taking the exam, you will only have the allotted time.

4 Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES will requests for make-ups be possible beyond the grace days. If a student is not able to take the exam during the days in which the exam is generously made available he/she will have to make do with a 0 score on that specific test. c. Exam Study Assistance and Study Guides To help you prepare for exams, the textbook comes packaged with a Study Guide. It also has a useful companion website with glossary and a host of exercises to help you study. Use these aids extensively when preparing for exams. However, for every exam, your best study guide will be the CORE CONCEPTS in each chapter. I will provide a brief Study Guide a few days before the test so you can insist, one more time, on aspects that are very likely to be covered on the exam. However, students should NOT rely strictly on this brief Study Guide as it will not be sufficient. Therefore you should not wait preparing for the exam until the Study Guide is posted. Good strategies for studying for tests include: - Regular attendance. - Taking notes during lectures, especially on issues that the instructor seems to insist on. - Reviewing the lecture notes online and the notes taken during class. - Highlighting and clarifying core/important concepts from the textbook and from class lectures and discussions. - Doing an additional recap on the issues mentioned in the Study Guide, once it is posted. 2. Real World Group Discussions Each student will be assigned to a 2-3 members discussion group. (A list with the assigned groups will be posted in D2L by the second week of the course when the class roaster will be more stable - after the add/drop period ends!) Each week, beginning January the 25, discussion groups will have the task of choosing a relatively current (five years old at the most) article from a reputable news source related to the subject of the week and discussing it in class. Good choices can be New York Times, Newsweek, Time Magazine, US News, World Report, etc. As a group you will organize and lead the discussion in class. You will also designate one student in your group who will post the article in D2L via an electronic link or an uploaded document, so that your classmates will have the time to read it in advance, before class. Please post your article under the chapter to which you were assigned. Your article should be posted at least one day prior to the presentation date (Tuesday is a good idea). Then, on your assigned Wednesday, you and your group members will lead the discussion in class. The in-class discussion will take place in the form of a panel in which you will be expected to engage in dialogue with your group mates, take questions from the class and provide answers. Groups that show an ability to engage in critical dialogue will be especially likely to

5 receive a high grade on this assessment. By critical dialogue I mean the ability to engage in a conversation in which you might disagree with your conversation partner without attacking the person in question. When critiquing a certain point of view, the arguments must be sound, well-reasoned (or based on evidence) and respectful. At the end of the class every student in the group will turn in a 2-3 pages typed paper (Times New Roman, 12 font) to receive credit for participation. The paper should include: - A brief summary of the article. - An explanation of how (some of) the concepts or theories we learned that week are relevant to the topic of the article. - A critical analysis of the topic. These aspects should also be the focus of the panel. You will have around minutes to conclude the panel. Your grade on this particular assignment will be calculated as follows: Class presentation per expectations above: 50% Summary in the written paper: 10% Linking topic of the week to your article in writing: 20% Critical analysis in writing: 20% Points can be deducted for poor language (grammar, syntax, spelling, clumsy phrases, etc). 3. Class Attendance and Participation (5%). Attendance will be taken every class and will significantly impact your grade. You cannot do well in this class if you do not regularly attend lectures and class discussions, regardless of how well you may do on the exams. However, a good grade on this requirement will require more than very good attendance. You will also have to read the assigned material BEFORE class in order to become familiar with the topic for discussion and be able to participate in class. What does this participation look like? As mentioned before, lectures and class discussions will go beyond what is assigned in the readings so it will be important to focus on what is being discussed in class. I will often ask questions in order to draw your attention to key concepts; as a result, texting, Net browsing or day-dreaming during lectures are absolutely unacceptable. I reserve the liberty to ask any student to leave the class if I see them involved with any sort of electronics instead of focusing on the lecture or class discussion. Keep in mind that when I ask questions during the lecture it will not be to test whether you have the correct answer, but rather to engage the class in dialogue and make you think through the theoretical concepts in the lecture in real world terms. Those who volunteer to answer questions in class or add comments - regardless of whether the answers or comments are correct or incorrect - will be more likely to receive the maximum participation grade. Likewise, interacting in class with the discussions panels (see above class requirement), will contribute to class discussions in a meaningful way and will go a long way in maximizing your participation grade.

6 Generally speaking, keep in mind the following guidelines for class participation, including the Real World discussion panels: critical thinking is highly advisable; questions are encouraged; polite disagreements are fine. However: - Students are required to address issues from a sociological perspective; mere talk about personal feelings (Oprah style), ideological venting, random anecdotes without placing such examples in sociological context or linking them to sociological themes/ theories, will not be good enough for a maximum score on participation. - Respect is a basic necessity in all face-to-face or online interactions. When critiquing a theory or point of view, the arguments must be sound, based on evidence or well-reasoned and respectful. DO differentiate between critiquing an idea (which is not only fine but highly encouraged) and ad-hominem attacks (which means attacking the person who expressed a point of view you tend to disagree with, instead of challenging the point of view itself). - Language and tone are important. According to KSU Computer Usage Policy and Guidelines [ you may not employ lewd or threatening language in any electronic communication. This would violate the bounds of good taste as well as official policy. Because instructors often teach many relatively large classes, they may have a hard time associating all names with the correct faces during the semester. Therefore, I would like everyone to upload a picture of themselves (any sort of picture) in D2L, under Student Introductions. More instructions about the actual place to upload will be provided during the first week of class. The picture will help the instructor make the correct decision on the Participation grade at the end of the semester. OPTIONAL Extra-Credit (maximum of 5 points added to your Final Grade) There will be one extra-credit opportunity for those of you who will want to excel in this class. The assignment will consist of reading the book Bottleneck: Humanity s Impending Impasse by William R. Catton, Jr. At the end of the semester, during the last week of class, you will post on the Discussion board in D2L a 2-3 page response paper for Catton s book. You will also use the conclusions you drew from reading the book to participate in class during that week. You will have to demonstrate in your response paper and your class participation that you both read and understood the book and its overall message. You are strongly advised to start reading this book from the mid part of the semester so you will have enough time to digest it over the following weeks. Realizing that you need extra points to your Final Grade at the last minute and starting to read the book a night before the extra-credit assignment is due will not work in this case. I warn you that this is not an easy, intuitive read, yet it is a work highly relevant to what is happening to all of us around the globe today!. This assignment is entirely optional and it will be the only extra-credit opportunity available in this class. It will add a maximum of 5 points to your final grade. Disabled Student Services Statement Kennesaw State University welcomes all students, recognizing that variations of abilities contribute to a richly diverse campus life. A number of services are available to help

7 students with disabilities with their academic work. In order to make arrangements for special services, students should visit the disabled Student Support Services office and/or make an appointment to arrange an individual assistance plan. For more information, visit the office's website at: or navigate to the Links Page in my Welcome Documents on the course's homepage. Please also feel free to contact the instructor directly with any questions or concerns you may have, using the WebCT platform. Website Links Item 6 in the Welcome Documents Folder on the course's homepage is a list of useful links you may refer to throughout the semester. These include links to: Disabled Student Services, the Department of Sociology, KSU Financial Aid, the Counseling Center [CAPS], computer Tech Support, the Writing Center, KSU's Student Code of Conduct, and the Student Development Center. Grading Formula 20% Quiz + 25% Mid-Term + 30% Final + 20% Real World Discussion Group + 5% Attendance and Class Participation + OPTIONAL Extra-Credit Points.

8 SUGGESTED SCHEDULE SOCI 2201 Spring 2013 W # Date Topic Readings MODULE 1: LIFE IS WITH PEOPLE (Society, its basic structures, what keeps society together) 01 Jan 11 Syllabus Chapter 1 The Sociological Imagination - What is sociology, what do sociologists do? - Having a sociological imagination. - Social Structure and Individual Agency: the eternal interplay - Founding Fathers of Sociology - and what prompted them to found this discipline in the first place. 02 Jan 18 Theoretical Perspectives and Methods of Social Research Chapter 2 - Sociological theories: Different ways of looking at society. - Methods of research: How do sociologists know what they know? 03 Jan 25 Jan Feb 1 Feb 1 Social Interaction - A social animal: solidarity and the ties that bind - Status and roles: Who s who and who does what? - Social life is a theater Real World Discussion Group: Group 1 Culture - How culture shapes us and our social lives. - Elements of culture - What does the contemporary American culture look like? How is it different from that of previous generations? Real World Discussion Group: Group 2 Chapter 5 Chapter 3 05 Feb 8 wk Deviance, Conformity and Social Control - Socialization as a means of social control: Why do most people conform? - When socialization fails: Why do some Chapter 7

9 people deviate from norms? - Labeling theory; Structural Strain theory Feb 8 06 Feb 15 (1 st part) Feb 15 (2 nd part) 07 Feb 22 Feb 22 Real World Discussion Group: Group 3 Module Review QUIZ to be taken at home in D2L Feb 15, 8:00 am- Feb 16, 9:00 pm MODULE 2: LIFE IS AGAINST PEOPLE (Social stratification and power; what pulls society apart) Formal Organizations Chapter 6 - Groups and organizations - Bureaucracy - Rationalization and the McDonaldization of society Real World Discussion Group: Group 4 08 March 1 March 1 Mar Mar 15 Mar Mar 22 1 st part 2 nd part Social Stratification I (Class): A Hierarchical Animal - Stratification systems - Theories of stratification/inequality - What is class? - Social Mobility and the American Dream Documentary People Like Us Real World Discussion Group: Group 5 SPRING BREAK Social Stratification II: (Race, Ethnicity) - Racism, Prejudice, Discrimination - Minority groups - Immigration in a diverse society: Melting Pot, - Salad Bowl or Pressure Cooker? Real World Discussion Group: Group 6 Gender: The social construction of sex differences - Is Biology Destiny?: Sociobiological interpretations of gender - Social Construction of Gender - Implications of gender inequality - Patriarchy, Feminism Module Review Ch 8 Ch. 9 Chapter 10

10 Real World Discussion Group: Group 7 11 Mar 29 MIDTERM EXAM D2L Mar 28- Mar 29 Mar 28, 8:00am Mar 29, 9:00pm MODULE 3: MAJOR SOCIAL INSTITUTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE 12 Apr 5 The Family: Is the oldest social institution Chapter 12 breaking down or merely changing? - Family structure, family functions. - Historical Changes in family structure: the traditional extended family; the modernnuclear breadwinner system; the contemporary dual-earner family and diversity in family forms. Apr 4 13 Apr 12 Apr Apr 19 Apr 18 Real World Discussion Group: Group 8 Economics and Politics - Technological revolutions and changes in economic systems - Modern economic systems: capitalism and socialism as ideal-types. - World-systems theory and The Story of Stuff - Power and power-sharing models Real World Discussion Group: Group 9 Social Change - How does society change if social structures are so rigid? - Changes since 1700 s and the Transition to Modernity - the most dramatic social change to date Real World Discussion Group: Group 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 16 + Handout PDF file posted under Module 3 15 Apr 26 Transition to Modernity, The Ecological Perspective Extra-credit due 16 May 1- May 2 Module Review FINAL EXAM in D2L Chapter 16 + Handout PDF files posted under Module 3 May 1, 8:00 am May 2, 9:00 pm Under no circumstances will Final Exam Make-Ups be allowed after May 2nd.

11 THE INSTRUCTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO BRING MODIFICATIONS TO THIS SYLLABUS AS NECESSARY, AT ANY POINT DURING THE SEMESTER.