INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II[1]

Briercrest College

SOC101

 

Joel L. From, Ph.D                                                                   Office: Room 132

Winter 2010                                                                     Office Hours: By Appointment.

3 Credit Hours                                                                  Office Phone: 756-3203

jfrom@briercrest.ca                                                         Home Phone: 756-2847

Web-page: www.joelfrom.com

 

 

COURSE TEXTBOOKS:

 

Henslin, James M. et al. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 5th Canadian ed. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada, 2010.  ISBN: 9780205601493

 

Each student is required to purchase an Introduction to Sociology II course package.

 

Each student is required to purchase the Introduction to Sociology II in-class notes which will be distributed each day in class. They will be charged to your student account after add/drops.

 

Quick Reference Format Guide 2009-2010: Each student is required to have a copy of the current Briercrest College Format Guide.

 

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

 

A.      Cognitive Objectives

 

          1.       To provide a foundation for understanding contemporary social thought and trends

          2.       To prepare the student for further academic work in the social sciences

          3.       To acquaint the student with perennial issues in social science

 

B.      Affective Objectives

 

          1.       To cause the student to feel the force of well-crafted arguments, especially when their conclusions differ from his or her own view

          2.       To help the student appreciate the beauty of new and penetrating insights

          3.       To initiate the student into the realm of fundamental ideas

          4.       To infuse this rich heritage of great minds into the student's own thinking

 

C.      Skill Development Objectives

 

          1.       To initiate the process of sociological analysis and written composition

          2.       To assist the student in detecting and appreciating sound sociological argument

3.             To encourage the student to read with sociological understanding


COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

 

A.      Dialogue with the readings is extremely important! Therefore, unannounced quizzes will be periodically given on the Required Reading(s) for that day.

          Value:          10%

 

B.      Each student will choose one of the tables in the class notes for SOC101 posted on your instructor’s website (joelfrom.com). Please note that there are 54 tables numbered with Roman numerals (please do not choose either of the first two tables). You are asked to research the material presented in the table and give a brief (5 minute) oral presentation on it as well as a 2-page written report which includes the substance of your oral report. You could, for instance, update (or correct) some of data or provide a compelling illustration of the underlying social reality. In any case, you should be prepared to offer analysis and insight into the data. The tables will be assigned on a first-come basis. Your written reports are due at the time you present in class.

          Value:          15%

 

C.      Each student will write a 2500+ word Thesis Defense Paper. Your paper should deal with an important (and controversial) sociological issue. It is very important that your paper defend a thesis, that is, it must rationally persuade your reader to adopt a certain (contestable) viewpoint with respect to your topic. Please do not merely chronicle what others have said. Please append a photocopy of the first page of each reference cited.

          Due Date:    March 25, 2010

          Value:          25%

 

D.      Each student will write a Midterm Exam on March 2, 2010 and a Final Exam (as scheduled by the Registrar’s office). The Midterm is worth 20%, and the Final, 30% of the final grade.


COURSE UNITS, TITLES, AND REQUIRED READINGS:[2]

 

 


Unit

Section Title

Required Readings

 

 

 

Unit 4

Social Stratification

 

  I.

Introduction

 

  II.

Stratification Variables

 

     A.

Economic Class

SOCIOLOGY, Chapter 6

     B.

Social Status

Weber, “Class, Status, Party” [CP]

     C.

Power

Mills, "The Power Elite" [CP]

     D.

Income

 

  III.

Functions/Dysfunctions of Stratification

Davis & Moore, "Some Principles of Stratification" [CP]

Tumin, "Some Principles of Stratification" [CP]

  IV.

Ascriptive Processes

 

     A.

Introduction

SOCIOLOGY, Chapter 8

     B.

 

Racial and Ethnic Stratification

Satzewich, "Social Stratification: Class and Racial Inequality" [CP]

Lemann, "The Origins of the Underclass" [CP]

     C.

Gender Stratification

SOCIOLOGY, Chapter 7

 

 

 

Unit 5

Social Institutions

 

  I.

The Family

SOCIOLOGY, Chapter 13

Whitehead,  "Dan Quayle Was Right" [CP]

  II.

Education

SOCIOLOGY, Chapter 14, 308-25

Cote and Allahar, “Troubles in Paradise” [CP]

  III.

Religion

SOCIOLOGY, Chapter 14, 325-42

Bibby, "The Imminent Crisis" [CP]

  IV.

Mass Communication

Meyrowitz, "New Group Identities" [CP]

  V.

Health Care

SOCIOLOGY, Chapter 15

 

Unit 6

Social Issues

 

  I.

Urban Sociology

SOCIOLOGY, Chapter 17, 390-97

  II.

Rural Sociology                    

Bolaria et al., "Rural Issues and Problems” [CP]

  III.

Modernization

SOCIOLOGY, Chapter 18

Drucker, "The Age of Social Transformation" [CP]

 

 

 

Unit 7

Selected Canadian Issues

 

  I.

Demography

SOCIOLOGY, Chapter 17, 383-90

  II.

Quebec Society

Denis, "Quebec Society" [CP]

  III.

Aboriginal Peoples

Frideres, "First Nations: Walking the Path of Social Change" [CP]

 

 


BIBLIOGRAPHY

          (Materials Used Directly in the Course)

 

 

Bailyn, Bernard.  “An Interpretation.”  Education in the Forming of American Society. New York: Vintage Books, 1960.

 

Bibby, Reginald W.  "The Imminent  Crisis." In Unknown Gods. Toronto: Stoddard Pub. Co., 1993.

 

Bolaria, B. Singh et al. "Rural Issues and Problems." In Social Issues and Contradictions in Canadian Society. 2d ed. Toronto: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, Canada, 1991, 393-416.

 

Coleman, James. "The Rational Reconstruction of Society." American Sociological Review 58 (Feb. 1993): 1-15.

 

Comte, Auguste. "The Positive Philosophy." Excerpts from The Positive Philosophy. Translated by Harriet Martineau.  London: John Chapman, 1853.  Reprinted in Sociological Perspectives, 18-32.

 

Contemporary Sociology.  Edited by Peter S. Li and B. Singh Bolaria.  Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman Ltd., 1993.

 

Cote, James E. and Anton L. Allahar. “Troubles in Paradise.” In Ivory Tower Blues: A University System in Crisis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007.

 

Davis, Kingsley, and Wilbert E. Moore. "Some Principles of Stratification." American Sociological Review 10 (April 1945): 242-49. Reprinted in Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective, 39-46.

 

De Coulanges, Denis. The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome [1864].  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980.

 

De Tocqueville, Alexis.  “The Omnipotence of the Majority in the United States and Its Effects.” In Democracy in America. Translated by George Lawrence. Edited by J. P. Mayer. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Anchor Books, 1969.

 

Denis, Wilfred.  "Quebec Society." In Contemporary Sociology, 518-43.

 

Drucker, Peter. "The Age of Social Transformation."  The Atlantic Monthly. November 1994, 53-80.

 

Durkheim, Emile.  "The Normality of Crime."  Excerpts from The Rules of Sociological Method.  8th ed.  New York: The Free Press, 1938.  Reprinted in Sociological Theory: A Book of Readings. 4th ed.  Edited by Lewis A. Coser et al.  New York: Macmillan Pub. Co., 1976.

 

Durkheim, Emile. "What is Social Fact?" In The Rules of Sociological Method.  8th ed.  New York: The Free Press, 1938.

 

Fishman, Robert. “London: Birthplace of Suburbia.” In Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia.  New York: Basic Books, 1987.

 

Frideres, James.  "First Nations: Walking the Path of Social Change." In Social Issues and Contradictions in Canadian Society, 3d. ed., 195-227.

 

Henslin, James M. et al. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, 4th Canadian Edition. Scarborough, Ontario: Pearson Canada, 2007.

 

Henslin, James M. et al. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, 5th Canadian Edition. Toronto: Pearson Canada, 2010.

 

Lemann, Nicholas. "The Origins of the Underclass." Atlantic Monthly, June 1986.  Excerpted in Individualism and Commitment in American Life.  Edited by Robert Bellah et al. New York: Harper and Row, 1987.

 

Marx, Karl. "Classes in Capitalism and Pre-Capitalism."  Excerpted from The Communist Manifesto, The Poverty of Philosophy, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, and Capital. Vol. 3. Reprinted in Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective, 69-76.

 

Meyrowitz, Joshua. “New Group Identities.” In No Sense of Place.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.

 

Mills, C. Wright. "The Power Elite." Excerpted from The Power Elite, [1956]. Reprinted in Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective, 161-70.

 

________. "The Promise of Sociology." Excerpted from The Sociological Imagination. Reprinted in Seeing Ourselves. 4th ed.  Edited by John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benekraitis.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998, 1-5.

 

Nisbet, Robert. “The Problem of Community.” Excerpted from The Quest for Community, [1953]. Reprinted in Communitarianism: A New Public Ethics. Edited by Markate Daly. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub. Co., 1994.

 

________. “The Two Revolutions.” In The Sociological Tradition. Revised Edition. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, Rutgers—The State University, 1993.

 

________. “The Unit Ideas of Sociology.” In The Sociological Tradition. Revised Edition. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, Rutgers—The State University, 1993.

 

Novek, John and Kampen, Karen. “Sustainable or Unsustainable Development? An Analysis of an Environmental Controversy,” Canadian Journal of Sociology 17 (1992). Excerpted in Society in Question. Edited by Robert Brym. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada, 1996, 289-300.

 

Satzewich, Vic. "Social Stratification: Class and Racial Inequality." In Social Issues and Contradictions in Canadian Society, 3d ed., 165-94.

 

Social Issues and Contradictions in Canadian Society. 3d ed. Edited by B. Singh Bolaria. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2000.

 

Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective. Edited by David B. Grusky. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994.

 

Sociological Perspectives.  Edited by Kenneth Thompson et al. Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1975.

 

Sociological Theory: A Book of Readings.  4th ed.  Edited by Lewis A. Coser et al. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co., 1976.

 

Sociology. 5th ed. Edited by Robert Hagedorn.  Toronto: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994.

 

Tumin, Melvin. "Some Principles of Stratification: A Critical Analysis." American Sociological Review  18 (August 1953). Reprinted in Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective, 47-54.

 

Weber, Max. “Class, Status, Party.” In Social Class and Stratification: Classic Statements and Theoretical Debates. 2d ed. Edited by Rhonda F. Levine. Lantham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006, 49-62.

 

Whitehead, Barbara D. "Dan Quayle Was Right." Atlantic Monthly. April 1993, 47-84.

 

Wuthnow, Robert. "Introduction." In Sharing The Journey: Support Groups and America's New Quest for Community.  New York: The Free Press, 1994.


COURSE PACKAGE

SOC101

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

Bibby, Reginald W. "The Imminent  Crisis." In Unknown Gods. Toronto: Stoddard Pub. Co., 1993.

 

Bolaria, B. Singh et al. "Rural Issues and Problems." In Social Issues and Contradictions in Canadian Society. 2d ed. Toronto: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, Canada, 1991.

 

Cote, James E. and Anton L. Allahar. “Troubles in Paradise,” In Ivory Tower Blues: A University System in Crisis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007.

 

Davis, Kingsley and Wilbert E. Moore. "Some Principles of Stratification." American Sociological Review 10 (April 1945): 242-49. Reprinted in Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective. Edited by David B. Grusky. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994.

 

Denis, Wilfred. "Quebec Society." In Contemporary Sociology.  Edited by Peter S. Li and B. Singh Bolaria. Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman Ltd., 1993.

 

Drucker, Peter. "The Age of Social Transformation." The Atlantic Monthly, November 1994, 53-80.

 

Frideres, James. "First Nations: Walking the Path of Social Change." In Social Issues and Contradictions in Canadian Society. 3d ed. Edited by B. Singh Bolaria. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2000.

 

Lemann, Nicholas. "The Origins of the Underclass." Atlantic Monthly, June 1986. Excerpted in Individualism and Commitment in American Life. Edited by Robert Bellah et al. New York: Harper and Row, 1987.

 

Meyrowitz, Joshua.  “New Group Identities.” In No Sense of Place.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.

 

Mills, C. Wright. "The Power Elite." Excerpted from The Power Elite, [1956]. Reprinted in Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective. Edited by David B. Grusky. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994.

 

Satzewich, Vic. "Social Stratification: Class and Racial Inequality." In Social Issues and Contradictions in Canadian Society. 3d ed. Edited by B. Singh Bolaria. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2000.

 

Tumin, Melvin. "Some Principles of Stratification: A Critical Analysis." American Sociological Review 18 (August 1953). Reprinted in Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective. Edited by David B. Grusky. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994.

 

Weber, Max. “Class, Status, Party.” In Social Class and Stratification: Classic Statements and Theoretical Debates. 2d ed. Edited by Rhonda F. Levine. Lantham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.

 

Whitehead, Barbara D.  "Dan Quayle Was Right."  Atlantic Monthly, April 1993, 47-84.

 



[1]Course content, requirements, and examinations are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances.

[2]The abbreviation after a required reading indicates its location. [CP] refers to the course package. [AL] refers to the Reserve Desk in Archibald Library.