SOAN 114/A                                                       Brad Bullock

Contemporary U. S. Society                                 606 Leggett

Spring, 2004                                                       Office Hours: TTH 11:00-12:30

TTH 9:25-10:40                                                   Office phone: 947-8559

Course Summary

Sociology, the science of society, offers a perspective and a framework for understanding human social arrangements.  This course presents a sociological approach to the study of contemporary “America.”  Using a sociological perspective to study social life in the United States provides at least three benefits.[1]  First, it encourages students from the U. S. to "see the strange in the familiar" of their own culture, to take a second look at common things experienced every day.  Second, it "depersonalizes the personal" so that aspects of social life may be studied more objectively and relatively free from personal biases or value judgments.  Third, it finds "the general in the particular," helping students to discover basic social patterns which organize social life in the U.S., and in other societies as well. 

The first part of the course introduces and explores important sociological principles, concepts, and theories that we'll use to analyze U. S. social structure.  This knowledge lays an essential foundation for the rest of the course, when students will examine how U.S. social structure and culture shape human relationships and personalities here, and how they explain some of the rapid social changes that characterize U.S. society today.

Course Objectives

1.       To introduce students to sociology as a discipline through exposure to a           broad range of sociological issues, principles, and concepts.

2.       To identify and discuss some important aspects of the contemporary U.S., including those of social structure, social interaction, and social change.

3.       To encourage students to adopt a "sociological eye"-- that is, to use sociology as a perspective for making sense of the social world around them.  Students who apply sociology in this way should gain a deeper, more critical understanding of how U.S. society works, and thereby develop a fuller appreciation for other societies.

4.       To give students practice in how to read: critically, analytically, dismantling readings to discern what is most critical toward understanding.

5.       To give students a foundation for more advanced work in sociology.

Course Requirements

Instead of a standard textbook, this course will rely on two readers and, during the second half of the course, occasional films.  The short weekly readings and films both illustrate course concepts and serve as catalysts for discussion.  Therefore, please complete weekly assignments before the material is covered in class.  All readings and class films are on reserve at the Lipscomb Library.  Beside frequent quizzes over the readings, there will be a midterm, a course project, and a final exam.

Texts

Required texts:

          Brezina, Paul B., et al. (eds.), Seeing Society: Perspectives on Social Life

          Henslin, James M. (ed.), Down to Earth Sociology

Additional text on reserve:

          Landis, Judson R., Sociology: Concepts and Characteristics

Quizzes

Throughout the semester, unannounced quizzes will be given over the weekly readings.  These short quizzes will address only the material assigned for the current week.  Quiz scores will be combined for an average quiz grade; the lowest quiz grade will be dropped.  There will be no make-up quizzes.

Course Projects

Students select one of four options:

Student Presentations

Alone or teamed with a classmate, a student may take responsibility for a presentation to the class about a topic examined in our course.  The presentation should summarize the major points from the weekly readings and films, and then should use these and other materials to illustrate key concepts associated with the topic.  Those presenting are expected to stimulate class discussion about specific issues raised by the course material.  This option requires a brief meeting with the instructor at least two class periods prior to the presentation date.

Weekly Discussion Groups

Students may form discussion groups (of four) to further explore subjects or issues raised in class that week.  This option requires up to eight additional class meetings held on selected Fridays from 3:00 to 3:50, when students will convene and dismiss themselves.  Discussion questions will be formed and distributed to the group prior to each meeting by a facilitator, a responsibility that rotates every meeting so that each group member will need to serve as facilitator no more than twice during the semester.  Other group members will have opportunities to offer responses to the distributed questions and to pose alternative questions for the group. Grades are earned on a contract basis.

RESULTS

If there is sufficient interest, students may participate in a grassroots organization of political activists called RESULTS.  This non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) of volunteers lobbies governments to pass legislation addressing hunger and poverty issues.  As an active member of a Lynchburg chapter, you will learn, by doing, how such a volunteer organization works and will participate in some monthly conference calls involving hundreds of volunteers nationwide.  Students, as activists, may contact national political leaders, e.g., or write newspaper editorials under the direction of the group.

Academic Journal

Students may choose to keep a biweekly journal that records their critical thoughts about ideas or concepts from the course as they relate specifically to some aspect of modern life in the U.S.  Each entry must focus on the application of one key concept from class that helps you to understand your topic.  Beyond this general requirement, personal experiences, insights, and ideas from this or other courses are welcome toward fashioning a concise, well-balanced entry.  There will be a trial entry and four graded entries, assessed using the following criteria: quality of the application (demonstration of how thoroughly one comprehends chosen concepts); integration of other relevant ideas or insights; creativity; and clarity of expression (argumentation, precision, spelling, grammar, syntax).  The journal earns a comprehensive grade at semester’s end based on progressive performance -- if the quality of your entries steadily improves over the semester, your project grade will reflect this trend.

Class Participation

Given the importance of class interaction for learning, students are expected to participate actively in class -- attendance alone constitutes only minimal participation.  An assessment of class performance will be based on the degree to which each student:  regularly attends classes, prepared to contribute by completing prior assignments; contributes to class discussion by making pertinent observations or comments; and, finally, by asking relevant questions of classmates or the instructor.  NOTE: cell phones, pagers, and similar personal electronic gadgets that beep, buzz, wheeze, or otherwise create disruptions are strictly forbidden in our classroom.

Attendance Policy

If possible, advance notice of class absences is appreciated.  After two unexcused absences, each additional unexcused absence will lower the course average by one percentage point.  Excused absences are: those required by varsity team members for events involving travel, accompanied by a note from the coach; those involving deaths in the immediate family or personal crises, with a note from a Dean's office; those for serious illness, with a note from the campus health center or an attending physician.

Grading

The midterm exam, the project, the quiz average, and the final will each count equally (25%) toward your course grade.  The grading scale follows:

          93 - 100           =          A

            90 -  92            =          A-

            87 -  89            =          B+

            83 -  86            =          B

            80 -  82            =          B-

            77 -  79            =          C+

            73 -  76            =          C

            70 -  72            =          C-

            67 -  69            =          D+

            60 -  66            =          D

            0  -   59            =          F

In borderline cases, a student's class participation will determine the course grade.

Course Schedule

I.        Introduction to Sociology:  Some Principles and Concepts

          Week 1.                 Sociology and the Sociological Imagination

                                      Readings:  #1, #2, #3

          Week 2.                 Paradigms and Theories

                                      Readings:  #4, #5, #6

II.       Social Organization

          Week 3.                 Bureaucracy and the American Workplace

                                      Readings:  #7, #8

          Week 4.                 Informal Peer Groups

                                      Readings:  #9, #10, #11

III.      Social Institutions

          Week 5.                 Kinship and the American Family

                                      Readings:  #12, #13

          Week 6.                 Sport in America

                                      Readings:  #14, #15

IV.     Social Stratification and the U. S. Class Structure

          Week 7.       Education and Inequality

                                      Readings:  #16, #17

                                      Midterm

                                      ***SPRING BREAK***

          Week 8.       Gender and Inequality

                                      Readings:  #18, #19, #20

V.      Society and the Self

          Week 9.       Socialization and Personality

                                      Readings:  #21, #22, #23

                                      Film:  Being There, 3/22, LG 537, 6:30 pm

          Week 10.     Deviance and Social Control

                                      Readings:  #24, #25, #26

                                      Film:  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 3/29, LG 537, 6:30 pm

VI.     Social Change

          Week 11.     De-personalization and Alienation

                                      Readings:  #27, #28, #29

          Week 12.     Electronic Media

                                      Readings: #30, #31, #32

                                      Film:  The Truman Show, 4/15, LG 537, 6:30 pm

          Week 13.     The Evolving Concept of Community

                                      Readings:  #33, #34

          Week 14.     Future Shock: The Pace of Change

                                      Readings:  #35

                                      ***FINAL EXAMINATION PERIOD***

Readings

#1        P. Berger, "Invitation to Sociology," Ch. 1, DTES

#2        C. Wright Mills, "The Promise," Ch. 3, DTES

#3        H. Miner, "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema," Ch. 7, DTES

#4        H. Gans, "The Uses of Poverty," Ch. 30, DTES

#5        M. Gordon, "Assimilation in America: Theory and Reality," Ch. 24, SS

#6        E. Martin, "The Romance Between the Egg and the Sperm," Ch. 36, DTES

#7        R. Moss Kanter, "Men and Women of the Corporation," (reserve)

#8        S. Zuboff, "New Worlds of Computer-Mediated Work," Ch. 32, SS

#9        D. Tannen, "’But What Do You Mean?’ Women and Men in Conversation," Ch. 16,             DTES

#10      M. Snyder, "Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes," (reserve)

#11      P. Y. Martin and R. Hummer, “Fraternities and Rape on Campus,” Ch. 28, DTES

#12      A. Hochschild, "When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work," Ch. 33, DTES

#13      A. Cherlin and F. Furstenberg, "The Shape of the American Family in the Year 2000," Ch. 27, SS

#14      D. S. Eitzen, "Upward Mobility Through Sport," Ch. 35, DTES

#15      E. Devereux, "Backyard vs. Little League Baseball: The Impoverishment of Children's Games," Ch. 9, SS

#16      S. Tobias, "Tracked to Fail," Ch. 20, SS

#17      S. Higley, "The U.S. Upper Class," Ch. 31, DTES

#18      B. Ehrenreich and D. English, "Blowing the Whistle on the ' Mommy Track'," Ch. 21,             SS

#19      S. Katz, “The Importance of Being Beautiful,” Ch. 27, DTES

#20      R. Freedman, "Beauty Bound" (reserve)

#21      E. Goffman, "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life," Ch. 11, DTES

#22      B. Thorne and Z. Luria, "Sexuality and Gender in Children's Daily Worlds,” Ch. 15,             DTES

#23      D. Eder, "On Becoming Female: Lessons Learned in School," Ch. 14, DTES

#24      W. J. Chambliss, "The Saints and the Roughnecks," Ch. 24, DTES

#25      P. Meyer, "If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably,"     Ch. 21, DTES

#26      D. Rosenhan, "On Being Sane in Insane Places," Ch. 26, DTES

#27      R. Leidner, "Over the Counter at McDonald’s," Ch. 42, SS  

#28      G. Ritzer, "The McDonaldization of Society," Ch. 47, SS

#29      J. Kilbourne, " Beauty and the Beast of Advertising," Ch. 37, DTES

#30      J. Caughey, "Social Relations with Media Figures" (reserve)

#31      A. Waldman, “Lonely Hearts, Classy Dreams, Empty Wallets,” (reserve)

#32      N. Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Ch. 7, "Now...This" (reserve)

#33      J. Savells, “Social Change Among the Amish,” Ch. 43, DTES

#34      H. Bromberg, “Are MUDS Communities?  Identity, Belonging, and Consciousness in Virtual Worlds” (reserve)

#35      B. Rothman, "Cheap Labor: Sex, Class, Race, and Surrogacy" (reserve)