PRELIMINARY REMARKS Students entering
college are typically imbued with the American philosophy of individualism: They
see their successes and failures, as well as the successes and failures of
others, as solely caused by individual decisions and personal effort. Although
this is a good philosophy to encourage hard work and success, and no one would
deny its truth, it is misleading. The directions we go in life, our successes,
our failures, our actions, and our thoughts—all of these—are intimately
connected with forces larger than the individual. Sociology introduces these
larger forces to the student and attempts to show their relevancy to all
aspects of his or her life. Among these “larger forces” are social structure,
culture, institutions such as the family and the economy, and the group. The
“larger forces” that will be of particular interest to us in this class will be
those which encourage the growth and resolution of social problems (including
poverty, crime, the population explosion, hunger, environmental pollution,
rebellion, war, racism, sexism, addiction, and divorce).
GOALS The primary goal of this course is to
get you to understand the world around you as it pertains to contemporary
social problems. Why does poverty
persist amidst affluence? Why do people commit crime? What makes people violent?
Why do people persist in having large families when some 50 million individuals
die of hunger and malnutrition every year? Why have we failed to achieve
economic equality between men and women? What are the causes of divorce? Such
problems make the news almost every day. What are the systematic, recurring,
underlying causes of each of these social problems? By the end of this course
you will know these causes and be able to apply them in your analyses of media
reports about social problems and in your understanding of those social problems
which touch you personally. As part of this process, you will learn to apply
some of the universal principles of “causal analysis” in your interpretations
of empirical facts and in your critiques of interpretations offered by others.
Sociological concepts tend to be quite abstract and difficult to appreciate at
first wash. As such, they need to be approached from more than one angle. In
this course, our approaches emphasize readings, lectures, discussions, and actually
“doing” sociology (with the assistance of a computer software package called Student Chip). The flavor of the
readings is decidedly cross-cultural and international, as well as being
“solutions” oriented.
READING & COMPUTER EXERCISES Our
primary text is Solutions to Social
Problem: Lessons from Other Societies (Allyn and Bacon, 2001); we will supplement
this with selected exercises in Analyzing
Contemporary Social Issues 2nd Ed. (A Workbook with Student CHIP
Software)—Allyn & Bacon, 2001. Reading and computer assignments are
given out on a week-to-week basis.
CLASS TIME is divided between lectures,
focused discussions, and participation in sociological exercises. You are
expected to take notes (some lecture areas are not covered in the books) and to actively participate in
discussions and exercises. Attendance is mandatory!
STUDY PARTNERS Very early in the semester you should find a “study partner.”
Many of your homework assignments will be turned in as two-person projects (you
and your study partner). On rare occasions, I allow 3 individuals to form a
study-partner team, but never more than 3. Your study partner will serve as a
valuable resource in preparing for tests and for better understanding the
lectures and workbook assignments.
GRADES Your final grade in this course is based
on the following:
1. Two examinations (a midterm and a
final—the final is not cumulative). Each exam will have two parts: a set of
objective items and a component based on your homework (computer exercises; note:
no knowledge of computers or data analysis is assumed—everything will be taught
to you). At least one of these may be a take-home exam.
2. Homework. Most of your homework
will be from Analyzing Contemporary
Social Issues. As the semester progresses, you can expect to usually do at
least one set of computer exercises each week. I collect homework randomly,
usually grading at least 2 or 3 of your assignments. Homework that I collect
that is handed in late will receive a heavy grade penalty. The homework is not
time-consuming, but you must keep up with it if you are to complete this course
successfully. Graded homework is temporarily
returned and discussed in detail in class; non-graded homework is not returned,
but doing it is very important to doing well on the exams and keeping up with
class discussion; indeed, the home-work
ideally represents the last line in the Confucian homily:
I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand
.
I
keep all exams and graded homework assignments on file for 60 days after the
end of the semester, after which they are discarded.
3. Class attendance & participation.
The
above are weighted as follows:
Exam
#1 1/3 of your final course grade
Exam #2 1/3 "
Homework 1/3 "
(#3,
Class attendance and participation,
will be invoked only if your grade falls on or very near the borderline between
two grades, e.g., say an “A” versus an “A/B”).
Please let me know if you have a physical condition or
learning disability that may impact your academic activities in this class.
