Sociology 101-009

Introduction to Sociology

Fall 2006

 

Instructor:       M. Kyle Owens

Class:              MWF 12:00 pm ń 12:50 pm, Alumni Engineering Labs 279

Office Hrs:      Wed. 1-2 pm, Korman Ctr., Faculty Dev. Room      

Email:              mo54@drexel.edu

 

Course description

Sociology 101 is a 3-credit introductory course, which uses sociological concepts and methods to analyze major social trends. Sociology is the study of society, and as such is concerned with the social institutions in which individuals and groups carry out social interactions. In this course, we will take an approach that is historical, comparative and global in order to understand social structures such as class, gender and race. We will situate these structures of inequality in global processes.   Although our primary concern will be with gaining an understanding of the role structures of inequality play in modern society, we will also attempt to raise questions about the changing role of social institutions such as family, work, community, and government.  We will do this by drawing upon the tools and concepts provided us by sociology.

 

Course requirements

There are two textbooks that have been assigned to this class as well as additional readings that can be accessed via the web. The textbooks are available at the University bookstore.

 

Textbooks:

Ferrante, Joan (1995) Sociology A Global Perspective. 2nd Ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Pub.

 

Ritzer, George (2006) McDonaldization: The Reader. 2nd Ed. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press.

 

Assignments and Grading

There will be one research project, worth 40 points, and 4 quizzes, the first two worth 15 points each, the second two worth 30 points each. The quizzes may consist of a combination of true/false, multiple choice, and short answer questions. Students will have 40 minutes to complete a quiz and may refer to the text in answering the questions.  There will also be two small assignments worth 10 points each.  You will also be expected to collect and provide a brief summary of 4 relevant articles collected from either newspapers or news magazines.  These will be worth 5 points each.  Because this is a heavy discussion course, attendance and participation are particularly important and will account for another 30 points.   Five of the thirty points will derive from your participation in a group discussion of one of the articles in the McDonaldization text.

 

There will be no final exam.

 

General Procedures

Assignments are due on the date scheduled and must be submitted either through WebCT or in person. Deviations from the above must be cleared by me.

 

Assignments/Grading:

Attendance     

 

30

Quizzes, 4                              

90

Newspaper Articles, 4 @ 5 pts each           

 

20

Assignments, 2 @ 10 pts each                       

 

20

Research paper                      

 

40

Total

200 points

Final grades are calculated as follows:

A = 180 points or more

B = 160 ń 179 points

C = 140 ń 159 points

D = 120 ń 139 points

F = fewer than 120 points

 

Plagiarism

In accordance with University policies, I do not give grades to plagiarized work. Evidence of plagiarism could result in a failing grade for the class.


 

Introduction to Social Sciences Theories and Methodologies

Week 1: The Sociological Imagination

…      Introduction

…      Ferrante, ěThe Sociological Imagination,î pp. 3-24.

…      Excerpts from

Zinn, Howard (2003) A Peopleís History of the United States. New York: Harpers Collins - to be distributed online

 

…      Distribute assignment 1 guidelines

 

Week 2: Theoretical Perspectives

…      Ferrante, ěTheoretical Perspectives,î pp. 27-62.

…      Marx, Karl and Frederick Engels.  ěManifesto of the Communist Party,î In the Anthropology of Development and Globalization. Ed. Marc Edelman & Angelique Haugerud. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005, pp 91-94. Coser 1977.

…      Durkheim, The Work ń Individual & Society, From http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/CURRIC/soc/durkheim/durkw2.htm

…      Ross, Andrew. 1992. ěGetting Wasted.î Transition, No. 55, pp. 135-143. (Available on WebCT)

 

Optional

…      Wallerstein, Immanuel. The Modern World-System: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century. New York: Academic Press, 1976, pp. 229-233. From http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/courses/WORLDSYS.HTML

 

Week 3 ń Research Methods:

…      Ferrante, ěResearch Methods in the Context of the Information Explosion,î pp. 65-100.

…      Robert Putnamís ěThe Strange Disappearance of Civic America.î  http://www.prospect.org/print/V7/24/putnam-r.html

 

Optional

…      Infed. http://www.infed.org/thinkers/putnam.htm

…      Excerpts from Robert D. Putnamís Bowling Alone: the Collapse and Revival of American Community.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0684832836/ref=sib_dp_top_ex/102-9511070-4184107?ie=UTF8&p=S00E#reader-link

…      Saguaro Institute. http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/saguaro/index.htm

 

…      Quiz 1

 

Week 4 ń Application and Extension of Weber:

…      Weber, Max.  ěThe Evolution of the Capitalistic Spirit. In The Anthropology of Development and Globalization. Ed. Marc Edelman & Angelique Haugerud. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004, pp. 95-98.

…      Ritzer, ěAn Introduction to McDonaldization.î pp. 4-24.

…      Ritzer, ěPrecursors: Bureaucracy and Max Weberís Theory of Rationality, Irrationality, and the Iron Cage,î pp 26-30.

 

…      Distribute Assignment 2 Guidelines

…      Assignment 1 due

 

Week 5 ń Continuation of Weber:

…      Ritzer, ěThe Real Price of a Big Mac,î pp 75-79.

…      Ritzer, ěMcDonaldization of Americaís Police, Courts, and Corrections,î pp 88-101.

…      Ritzer, ěWhat do Hamburgers and Drug Care Have in Common?î pp 131-134

…      Ritzer, ěMcJobs: McDonaldization and Its Relationship to the Labor Process,î pp 171-181.

…      Ritzer, Supersizing Farms: The McDonaldization of Agriculture,î pp 183-195.

…      Ritzer, From Creeds to Burgers: Religious Control, Spiritual Search, and the Future of the World,î pp 197-202.

…      Ritzer, ěA Conversation with Eric Schlosser,î pp 70-73.

 

…      News article 1 due

…      Quiz 2

 

Social Stratification

Week 6 ń Social Class:

…      Ferrante, ěSocial Stratification,î 299-338.

…      The Economy; Capital: Is Inequality Over Wages Worsening?î David Wessel, Wall Street Journal. Jan. 19, 2006

…      ěMoving up: Challenges to the American Dream; Escalator Ride: As-Rich-Poor Gap Widens in the U.S., Class Mobility StallsÖî David Wessel, Wall Street Journal. May 13, 2005.

…      Bradshaw, et al., ěBiopiracy and Gene Theft,î pp. 197-203. (Available on WebCT).

 

…      News article 2 due

 

 

Week 7 - Race

…      Ferrante, ěRace and Ethnicity,î 341-382.

…      American Anthropological Association statement on race and statement on race and intelligence. http://www.aaanet.org/committees/minority/index.htm#statements

…      Brodkins, K. (2000). ěHow did Jews Become White Folks?î  How Jews Became White Folks & What That Says About Race in America. New Brunswick: Rutgers Univ. Press.

…      Black, E. ěIntroduction and chapter 1.î On the web Feb. 2005. Eugenics and Americaís Campaign to Create a Master Race. http://www.waragainsttheweak.com/

 

…      Film, ěRace the Power of an Illusion.î

 

…      News article 3 due

…      Quiz 3

 

Week 8 - Gender

…      Ferrante, ěGender,î pp. 385-423.

…      Bradshaw, et al., ěSex as a Global Commodity,î pp. 275-280.

…      Ritzer, ěMcDonaldization of the Sex Industries?î pp 103-117.

 

…      Film, ěRich Women, Poor Women.î

…      News article 4 due

 

Week 9 ń Social Change

…      Ferrante, Social Change, pp. 561-601.

…      Bradshaw, Economics and Politics, pp. 353-388 (Available on WebCT)

 

…      Assignment 2 due

 

Week 10 ń Sociology and Everyday Life

…      ěMcDonaldization and the Family,î pp 119-129.

 

You have a choice of reading either one of the following two chapters:

…      Ferrante, ěPopulation and Family Life,î pp. 427-472.

…      Ferrante, ěEducation,î pp. 475-520.

 

…      Quiz 4

 

 

Paper Due During Finals Week