Centre College Introduction
to Sociology Hours: Hub cafŽ
after class
Fall 2007 (SOC
110) Phone:
238-7580 (h)
This is my take on society and sociology.
I offer these claims as a starting point for your
critical reflection.
Human beings are essentially social.
Human society is essentially biosocial.
Human society is shaped by material and ideal
factors.
Human beings act for reasons they find
meaningful.
We come to embody ideal types of meaningfully
acting social characters.
Sociology is primarily focused on modern
society.
We perform our "selves" in
face-to-face interactions with socially constructed tools.
The three main social factors shaping our
selves are gender, race, and class.
The greatest of these is class.
Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the
Religious Life
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "The
Communist Manifesto"; online in many places.
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the
Spirit of Capitalism
Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in
Everyday Life
Elijah Anderson, The Code of the Street
Paul Fussell, Class
Samuel Huntington, Who Are We?
Quizzes [40% of final grade]
Weekly (more or less) questions on the next
day's reading, delivered through WebCT.
These will typically be available for 20 minutes beginning at a time of
your choosing, due by 9 p.m. the night before class. They are open-book tests,
and you are welcome – indeed, encouraged – to discuss the class
readings with others before you open the quiz. I will drop the lowest quiz grade. You may take additional (not substitute) quizzes up to the
last day of class.
Webpage [30%]
Social Solidarity Page
(Durkheimian collective effervescence report): An account, based on first-hand
information, of the sense of solidarity created by a shared emotional
experience within a face-to-face group. Posted as a web page. This paper may be
written with a partner. Some examples from Fall 2006 are here.
Final
Examination [20%] A comprehensive take-home essay, due at the
scheduled time. Will include your
four-generation sociological narrative.
Participation [10%] We have fascinating things to talk about. For
the good of all, do it.
SCHEDULE
8/27 Introduction:
Sociology is the Science of Modern Society
8/29 Who
Am I? Who Are We? How Are These Identities Connected?
Elijah Anderson. The Code of the
Street, Introduction (20 pp)
Weston,
"My four generation sociological narrative."
In class: Weston hometown pictures
and
Rutgers film (http://sociology.camden.rutgers.edu/curriculum/code_film.htm)
8/31 Samuel Huntington, Who Are We? chs. 1 & 2 (35)
9/3 What Was the Material Life of Pre-modern Societies Like?
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and
Steel, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 (skim Introduction for
ÒYaliÕs questionÒ) (65)
9/5 Diamond,
Guns, Germs, and Steel, 7 – 10
(75)
9/7 Diamond,
Guns, Germs, and Steel, 11 & 12 (45)
9/10 What Was the Ideal
Life of Pre-modern Societies Like?
Emile Durkheim, Elementary Forms
of the Religious Life, Bk. I, ch. 1; Bk. II
chs. 1 & 7 (85).
9/12 Durkheim,
Elementary Forms, Bk. III ch. 1, and ch.
2 sec. 5, Conclusion (55)
9/14 Webpage
instruction with Keeta Martin, Olin 107
[Sociology
Date Night: "Casablanca"
7:30 Vahlkamp Theater]
9/17 Why
Did Each Continent's Pre-Modern Societies Develop as They Did?
Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel,
13 & 14 (55)
9/19 Diamond,
Guns, Germs, and Steel, 16, 18, 19 (55)
9/21 Diamond,
Guns, Germs, and Steel, 15, 17 (45)
[9/23 Solidarity
webpage due, 9 p.m.]
9/24 Why are Modern
Societies Different?
Weber, The Protestant Ethic and
the Spirit of Capitalism, chs. I & II
[pagination varies by edition]
9/26 Weber,
Protestant Ethic, ch. III
9/28 Weber, Protestant
Ethic, ch. V
10/1 How
Are Modern Societies Rational?
Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels, "The Communist
Manifesto" [Library reserve or web]
10/3 Max
Weber, "Class, Status, Party" [on library reserve]
10/5 Wikipedia entry for
"Sociology" Your assignment is a wiki hunt. Start with the entry for
"Sociology." Follow some
chain of links. Reflect on what
you learned. Write up what you
found in a brief WebCT quiz.
10/8 How
Does American Sociology Study the Rationality of Modern Societies?
Film:
"The First Measured Century" (shown in class)
10/10 Film:
"The First Measured Century" (shown in Vahlkamp Theater)
10/12 BREAK
10/15 What
Parts of Our Identity Do We Choose (Sort of)?
Paul
Fussell, Class, chs. 1 & 2 (50)
10/17 Fussell,
Class, ch. 3 (25)
10/19 Fussell
Class, chs. 4 & 5 (50)
10/22 Fussell,
Class, chs. 6 & 7 (50)
10/24 Fussell,
chs. 8 & 9 (25)
10/26 Selections
from film "People Like Us" (in class)
10/29 How
Do We Present Our Identity in Society?
Erving Goffman, Presentation of
Self in Everyday Life, Preface, Intro, ch.
1 (75)
10/31 Goffman,
Presentation of Self, chs. 6 & 7
(50)
11/2 How Do We Present
Our Identity Against Society?
Elijah Anderson, Code of the
Street, chs. 1 & 2 (70)
11/5 Anderson,
Code of the Street, 3 - 5 (100)
11/7 Anderson,
Code of the Street, ch. 7 (55)
11/9 Anderson,
Code of the Street, Conclusion (35)
[Sociology Date Night:
"Crash" 7:30 Vahlkamp Theater]
11/12 What
Might the Identities of Americans and America Become?
Huntington,
chs. 3 & 4 (45)
11/14 Huntington,
chs. 5 & 6 (60)
11/16 Huntington,
chs. 7 & 8 (80)
11/19 Huntington,
chs. 9 & 10 (70)
11/21 THANKSGIVING
11/23 THANKSGIVING
11/26 Huntington,
ch. 11 (40)
11/28 Huntington,
ch. 12 (30)
11/30 Who
Am I? Who Are We? How Are These Identities Connected?
12/7 FINAL EXAM Take-home exam. Due 10 a.m. Includes your
four-generation sociological narrative