Instructor: Dr. Cynthia M. Hewitt Office Hours: Mon. 3-4; Wed 9-10
Website: www.facstaff.morehouse.edu/~chewitt Office: Room 228 Wheeler Hall
Course Description
This course will introduce you to the field of sociology and provide a survey of some of the major theorists, concepts and research findings. The major topics covered are the basic social principles and processes, including the relation between culture, social structure, and individual action; the foundations of industrial society; institutional sources of inequality in the U.S. and world-wide, including class, racial and gender divisions; and issues of power, identity, and alienation. The concepts are introduced in the text and through discussion or short readings, applied to concrete issues in contemporary society.
Required Reading
Margaret L. Anderson and Howard F. Taylor, Sociology. 4th Edition.
Jay MacLeod, Ain’t No Makin’ It.
Course Requirements
A. Cover a chapter per week from the text. There will be five tests on this
material and the class lectures. One test score will be dropped. (10% each,
total: 40%).
B. Read the book by Jay MacLeod (see above) and write a paper using data you
collect. This will constitute your midterm. (25%)
C. Class assignments (1 or 2 writing or on-line assignments) (5%)
D. There will be a Final Exam (30%).
There will be some handouts and some articles to be downloaded over the internet. Some class sessions may be held as on-line class chat sessions through TigerNet, rather than meeting in the classroom.
Attendance and Make-Up Exams. Attendance is required and rewarded with three (3) points added to your final grade. You are permitted three (3) unexcused absences. You cannot make up class work, quizzes or exams during an unexcused absence. Make-up quizzes/exams for excused absences (requested in advance or when evidence of illness is presented) must be done within two days of the test, or they will be given on the day of the midterm or on the day of the final exam. Late assignments will lose 5% per day late (weekends included).
College rules against plagiarism and turning in work which you have not completed
yourself, will be strictly enforced.
Class Schedule
INTRODUCTION AND TOOLS OF ANALYSIS
Week 1 Introducing the Sociological Imagination 8/23-25
- Text, Ch. 1
Week 2 Culture and Society 8/28-9/1 - Text, Ch. 2
- Film: “CultureJam”
Week 3 Socialization 9/6-8
- Text Ch. 3
SOCIAL REPRODUCTION
Week 4 Society & Social Interaction 9/11-15
- Text, Ch. 4
- Ain’t No Makin’ It, Ch. 1-3
Week 5 Social Class and Social Stratification 9/18-22
– Text, Ch. 7
– Ain’t No Makin’ It, Ch. 4-6
Week 6 Deviance and Crime 9/25-29
- Text, Ch. 6
- Chapter on family and incarceration
Week 7 Education 10/2-6
- Ain’t No Makin’ It, Ch. 7 & 8
- Text, Ch. 13 (to page 363)
Week 8 Midterm Review 10/9-13
- “Turning the Tassel: Black Males in Education Conference”
- First Half of Paper (Rough Draft) due Wednesday, 10/11.
*** Education Bibliography***
THE SOCIAL CONTEXT – MACRO-SOCIOLOGY/
Week 9 Global Stratification 10/16-20
- Text, Ch. 8
- Film, “The Global Assembly Line”
Week 10 Social Change and Social Movements 10/23-27
- Text Ch. 16
INSTITUTIONS AND APPLIED SOCIOLOGY
Week 11 Politics and the Economy 10/30-11/3
- Chapters by Robert Reich
Week 12 Families and Religion 11/6-10
- Text, Ch. 13
Week 13 Racism, Ethnicity, and Immigration 11/13-17
- “Chicano!” – film
- Text, Ch. 6
Week 14 Racism, Ethnicity, and Immigration (continued) 11/20-22
- Chapters by Oliver & Shapiro
- THANKSGIVING BREAK
Week 15 Population, Urbanism, and Environment 11/27-12/1
- Text, Ch. 15
Week 16 Conclusion and Review 12/4-6
-
FINAL EXAM PERIOD
Assigned Readings
Optional Readings:
"Aggressors or Victims: Gender and Race in Music Video Violence," by Michael Rich, et. al. (Article downloard)
"The Effects of Gender and Music Video Imagery on Sexual Attitudes," by Linda Kalof (Article download)
Robert Reich, "The Work of Nations," 1996. Selected chapters. (Download Chapter 10, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 17, and Chapter 24.)
Davis and Moore, "Some Principles of Stratification." (Download).