There will be three examinations, including the final examination. Each of these exams is comprehensive in the sense that students are responsible for materials covered to that time. Each is curved by adding the difference between the highest possible and highest actual score to each grade. All exams including the final, are similarly weighted (exam 1 = 60 points; exam 2 = 65 points and exam 3 = 75 points). The curve does not apply to make-up exams unless prior arrangements have been made. The approximate time of examinations is indicated on the class outline and schedule. The exact day of the exams will be announced in class. Examinations will consist of objective questions.

Texts:

Richard T. Schaefer, Sociology: A brief Introduction, Fourth edition, 2002.

Kurt Finsterbusch, Sources: Notable Selection in Sociology  McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, Third Edition.

Other readings on library reserve (available electronically; see link from blackboard)

I. SOCIOLOGY, THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE AND SCIENCE

Orientation, introduction and course goals
What is Sociology?
Introduction to the discipline

Elements and motifs of the sociological perspective

    The order in social life
    The discovery of social facts
    The issue of the individual and free will
    Sociological concepts and theoretical perspectives
    Sociology as critical consciousness
    Sociological questions

Sociology and science

    The emergence of science
    Rationalism and empiricism
    Early sociologists

Assignments:

1. Chapter 1 of Schaefer (hereafter referred to as the text).

Film: "Obedience"

Assignments:

1. Chapter 2 of text.
2. Allan M Brandt, "Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study" from Garth Massey (ed.), Readings for Sociology, W. W. Norton, 2000. (on library reserve)
3. Robin Rodgers-Dillon, "The Dynamics of Welfare Stigma," from Garth Massey (ed.), Readings for Sociology, W. W. Norton, 2000. (on library reserve)

II. CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND BIOLOGY

The sociological problem of order
An overview of related concepts
The nature and characteristics of culture
The human basis for culture & language
Cultural relativity, ethnocentrism
Culture & Biology

Film: "Nanook of the North"
Film: short selection on FGM

Assignments:

1. Chapter 3 of text.
2. Clyde Kluckhone, from Mirror for Man: The Relation of Anthropology to Modern Life (selection 2.1 in Finsterbusch)
3. Horace Miner, from Body Ritual Among  the Nacirema (selection 2.2 in Finsterbusch)
4. Elijah Anderson, from The Code of the Streets (selection 2.4 in Finsterbusch)

EXAM 1 ABOUT HERE

III. SOCIETY, SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS, AND SOCIETAL CHANGE

Society and Social Structure
The Nature and Characteristics of Society
Social Institutions
Positions and Roles in Society
The Transformation of Societies and Modernization

Assignments:

1. Chapter 5 of text.
2. Ian Buruma, "The Joys and Perils of Victimhood," Garth Massey (ed.) Readings for Sociology, W. W. Norton, 2000. (on library reserve)
3. Robert D. Kaplan, The Coming Anarchy (selection 14.1 in Finsterbusch)
4. Samuel P. Huntington, from The Clash of Civilizations (selection 16.2 in Finsterbusch)

Socialization and Personality
Agents of socialization
Primary and secondary socialization

1. Chapter 4 of text.
2. Margaret Anderson, from Thinking About Women: Sociological Perspective on Sex and Gender (selection 3.2 in Finsterbusch)

Film: "Mother Love"

IV: DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL

Deviance Behavior and Social Control
The Nature of Deviance
The Deviant Career and labeling
Functions of Deviant Behavior
The Search for Causality
Deterrence and Prevention

Film: "Homosexuality: Nature vs. Nurture"

Assignments:

1. Chapter 7 of text.
2. D. L Rosenhan, from On Being Sane in Insane Places (selection 13.2 in Finsterbusch)
3. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, from Defining Deviance Down, (selection 5.1 in Finsterbusch)
4. James Q. Wilson, from What to Do About Crime (selection 5.4 in Finsterbusch)

EXAM 2 ABOUT HERE

V. GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS

The characteristics of groups
Primary groups and secondary groups
Other distinctions

Voluntary Associations
Bureaucracy
Work organizations
Scientific Management
Informal Structure

Assignments:

1. Chapter 6 of text.
2. George Ritzer, The McDonaldization of Society: An Investigation into the Changing Character of Contemporary Social Life (selection 11.3 in Finsterbusch)
 
 

VI. STRATIFICATION AND POWER

The Distribution of Desirables
The Consequences of Inequality (life chances and life styles)
Class relations (social conflict, mobility and status attainment)
Theories of Stratification
Inequality and Social Policy

 Assignments:

1. Chapter 8 of text.
2. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, from The Communist Manifesto (selection 7.1 in Finsterbusch)
3. Daniel Huff, from Upside-Down Welfare (selection 7.4 in Finsterbusch)

VII: POWER, THE ECONOMY AND GOVERNMENT (This unit if time permits)

Assignments:

1. Chapter 13 of text.
2.G. William Domhoff, from Who Rules America: Power and Politics in the Year 2000 (selection 10.1 in Finsterbusch)
 

Reprise

EXAM THREE on last day of class

Notes.

2. E-mail is not a substitute for class attendance and class discussion.

3. Attendance is not taken and there is no credit for class participation.  However, chronic late arrival or early departure is subject to sanction at the instructor's discretion. If you arrive late for class, your seat is in the back of the class room. Do not walk in front of other students.

4. The discussion of any social behavior or sociological issue from any perspective is appropriate in this class, subject only to the application of reason and empirical observation.

5. There will be a teaching assistant for this class and other resources will be available to students. If there is sufficient student demand, special study sessions can be scheduled.