California State University, Sacramento Spring 2003
Section 9, T/Th 1:30-2:45
Yosemite 135
Professor Todd A. Migliaccio
Office: Amador 451D
Hours: Tu/Th 12-1, Tu 3-4, or by appointment
Phone: 278-7573
WebCT http://online.csus.edu
Sociology is the study of society. It helps us to better understand social behavior. It makes us aware of the vast majority of ways people behave as well as shows us how most behaviors are common patterns in a specific culture. This aids us in the comprehension of how we are molded to behave in certain ways and the difficulty involved in any attempts to change these behaviors. This class will focus on introduction students to the field of sociology; its basic theories, concepts and principles; and the analysis of understanding and explaining the social world, i.e. the development of the sociological imagination.
This class will include the learning objectives of the Sociology Department, which include learning the basic concepts, theories and ideas that encompass the field of sociology, thinking critically about your own culture, exercising the sociological imagination by making connections between personal experience and larger social forces and engaging in cross-cultural analyses. Students will be introduced to various research methods for studying the social world, which utilize both qualitative and quantitative data. The class will also assist students in learning about and understanding human diversity, including ethnic, racial, gender, age, sexuality and socio-economic diversity, which will be introduced through class discussions and texts that are written by and about people of diverse backgrounds.
The learning objectives will be assessed through class discussions, online discussions, quizzes, and assignments, as well as through performance on three exams, which will cover lectures, assigned readings and videos. The exams specifically consist of objective questions that measure student’s progress towards understanding the issues listed above. The assignments, quizzes and online discussions also require the student to demonstrate understanding of the issues documented above.
The GE writing requirement for this course is met as follows: Students will write two papers that stem a social experience that they are expected to engage in. The first paper will be a two-page paper which will be an ethnographic record of the experience, describing the event in detail. The second paper is a three-four page argumentative thesis paper that requires the students to use the experiences of they and their classmates have to support an argument about a sociological concept taken from the class.
Course Reader.
The due dates for each of the papers are stated in the syllabus. No late papers will be accepted. The paper guidelines are on the web. As well, a brief statement in class about what is expected will be given. The due dates for each assignment are listed in the course calendar at the end of the syllabus. While I will attempt to offer reminders to impending due dates, it is ultimately your responsibility to insure that all papers are ready to be turned in by the expected due date.
Throughout the course, each student will be allotted three extensions for the papers or assignments. You do not need permission from the professor. You may use these extensions whenever you want, subject to the rules given below:
1) You get three extensions.
Don’t ask me for more- you won’t get them. Hence, you should use extensions wisely when you really need
them, such as sickness or an athletic event.
2) You may use a maximum of two extensions
on any one paper; by using two on one paper, you can turn the paper in one week
late (two classes late)
3) You may use only one extension for a late
assignment, meaning it can be turned in only one class period late.
4) Any paper that is submitted later more
than two classes after it is due (regardless of your extension situation), or
is turned in late after you have used all of your extensions will be penalized
two full grades.
5) Any assignments submitted after one class
period (regardless of extension situation), or after you have used all of your
extensions, the assignment will not be accepted.
6) No extension can be used for posting assignments. If you fail to post before the end of the allotted time, then you lose those points.
All papers must be typed and stapled and not placed in any covers, folders or any other such contraption. A title page is expected, which will contain the following information: Title of the paper, your name, and the name of the class (Sociology 001 for those of you not paying attention). Thank you.
Use of the website. While there are times when the site will be down, this is not an excuse for a missed assignment or late paper. The material will be up with sufficient time to copy it before it comes due. Ultimately it is your responsibility to either obtain it, or let me know of any problems you are having with it. I will attempt to correct any problems, but on occasion they are not always my fault (I know, that is hard to imagine, but it is true).
If you are a student who has a disability that may necessitate accommodations being made in the classroom, please contact SSD, (916) 278-6955.
Turn off all pagers and cell phones before entering class. I accept the right to answer any that ring (and make up any wild stories about you to the person who has called).
Finally, cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you are caught engaging in either of these activities, you will receive an F.
The class is located on the webct campus server. Accessing this site requires a login and password, which are the following: Login: your saclink account; Password: saclink password. If you do not have a saclink account at this time, you are required to get one. You will be able to access the outlines for the course, any overheads used in class, any material that was handed out, a glossary of terms (if there is one not listed that you can not locate elsewhere, please let me know so I can include it), all of the assignments, as well as the posting questions and syllabus. You will also be able to locate your grade on-line if you desire.
POSTINGS: Each Thursday afternoon I will be putting up posting questions/assignments on-line. I will let you know which it will be that Thursday in class. As for the postings, they will be questions that you will be required to answer that engage the ideas in the class, the readings and possibly current events. As well, you will be required to respond to at least two other student’s comments, preferably on a different day than you originally posted. If you are not talking in class, this is a good place to get participation points by responding in greater detail and more often. This is to help in the comprehension of the material, ideas and readings from the class, as well as to generate topics of discussion within the classroom.
Four exams will be given over the course of the semester, but only three will be counted toward your grade (yes, that means your lowest score will be thrown out). Each will consist of short answer questions, coupled with matching, true/false and/or multiple-choice questions. Each exam will be worth 15% of your total grade (for those of you who have not taken math as of yet, that is a total of 45% of your total grade). Each test will only examine your knowledge from the previous test until the class period just prior to the exam. The final will not be a comprehensive final. You will need to bring blue books and scantrons for all of the exams.
Breach (2 papers): This paper requires you to perform a breaching experiment in which you will break a norm. The write up will be broken up into two parts, with both guidelines for paper expectations being made available on the web. The first will be a one-two page vivid description of the breach. This section of the paper will be worth 10% of your total grade, which will be based on the quality of the breach as well as how you perceive it to be a breach, not to mention the vividness of the description (offering a ethnographic write up of an experience). The second paper will be an argument about some point made in class or in the readings concerning a sociological concept. You will draw on information offered in class (lecture, section, readings) to assess the reactions in a theoretical frame. In other words you will use the breach as supporting evidence for whatever sociological concept you are arguing to support or display. A list of possible norms to break will be given to you along with a deeper explanation of the project. If you desire to breach another norm, check with me first. If you do not and then do it anyway, the paper will not be accepted. The paper is to be three-four pages. It is worth 15% of your total grade.
- Further guidelines on this project and the accompanying papers are available on my website. If you have difficulty accessing it, please let me know so that I can print you out a copy. I suggest you print one out as soon as you are able.
Class
assignments, postings and quizzes: Throughout the semester a series of
short assignments will be given that incorporate the concepts of the class into
your own lives. They will be both given
out during class and on the web, so you will need to periodically check the web
for new assignments. They will be due
the class following when the assignment was given, as we will discuss them
then. In terms of late assignments, see
the policy discussion above. Quizzes
will be given periodically, and will be specifically to test your knowledge of
the readings, so keep up on them.
Assignments (which includes postings) and quizzes will be worth 15% of
your total grade.
Group Project:
Your group will need to determine an aspect of society they wish to study. Pick something small, yet interesting. Most likely your project will be descriptive and not interpretative. This will be furthered explained later. You can also check the web for a more thorough explanation of what will be expected of you. Your group will also be expected to turn in a two-page literature review that cites at least three academic sources. Examples of how to write this up will be given throughout the class and on the website. This paper will need an introduction, state why you have chosen to study this (contradictory points-of-view in the literature, not enough studies conducted upon it, etc.- this is where your citations will be given). Also, you will give your hypothesis (what do you expect to occur, or an educated guess of the outcome), theory (why it occurs), method (questionnaire, interviews, observations- include also sampling procedure and number in sample) and a brief conclusion (respond only to whether the hypothesis was correct or not). If your hypothesis was not validated, then offer a plausible explanation as to why. You are required to turn this in, with the bibliography, exam questions, and group grades on the first day of the assigned days. You will be expected to have visual aid of some type to go along with the project (graph, chart, hand-out, guest speaker, video, etc.). Questions from the class will follow your presentation. Finally, exam questions will need to be turned at the time of the presentation. These will be multiple-choice, and there should be an equal number of questions for the number of group members (meaning, each group member needs to make up a question). These questions need to be usable, as they will be used on exams. The break-down for grading on this assignment will be: topic- 5 points; theory/hypothesis- 5 points; methodology- 10 points; conclusion- 5 points; literature review- 10 points; sources/bibliography- 5 points; presentation- 5 points; visual aid- 5 points; exam questions- 5 points; and group grade- 20 points (which needs to be turned in by each member on the day of your presentation. If it is late, your grade will be reduced for each late day. This is your grade given to each of your group members concerning their participation to the project. The grade will be the average score of all the grades given for that individual- This will insure that anyone who does not contribute to the group will have their grade seriously affected.). The total project will be graded on a 75 point scale, and will be worth 15% of your total grade in the class.
- Further guidelines on this project are available on my website. If you have difficulty accessing it, please let me know so that I can print you out a copy. I suggest you print one out as soon as you are able.
TOPIC: READING DUE:
January 28: Introduction
January 30 & February 4: Sociology, the Sociological Collins: “The Nonrational…”
Imagination and the
beginning
February 6 & 11: History and Theory Turner: Chapters 1 & 2
February 7:
Last day to drop/add classes
February 13 & 18: Research
Methods and Obedience Adler:
“Researching Dealers…”
February 20: Exam 1
February 25 & 27: Society, Culture and Groups Sumner: “Ethnocentrism”
Harris, “India’s Sacred Cow”
March 4, 6 & 11: Micro Sociology and Social Interaction Cahill: “Erving Goffman”
March 7: Last day to drop with professors consent Schmid & Jones: “Suspended….”
March 13 & 18: Social Control and Deviance Chambliss: “Policing the Ghetto…”
Rosenhan: “On Being Sane…”
March 20: Exam 2
March 25 & 27: Inequality McIntosh: “White Privilege…”
Churchill: “Indians R US?”
April 1, 8 & 10: Inequality Madriz: “Nothing Bad…..”
April 1: Ethnography paper due Messner: “Boyhood, Organized….”
April 3: NO CLASS- Off for a conference Steinem: “If Men Could…”
April 22 & 24: Social Relationships Weber: “Losing, Leaving…”
Rubin: “Approach-Avoidance…”
April 29: Exam 3
May 1: Family Walzer: “Thinking about baby…”
Hochschild: “Second Shift”
May 6 & 8: Presentations
May 6: Breach as Evidence paper due
May 13: Education Sadker & Sadker: “Failing…”
May 15: Collective Behaviors Best & Horiuchi “The Razor….”
May 22: Exam 4
Thursday: 12:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.