Part I. Invitation to Thinking Sociologically
 

What does the world look like through the eyes of a sociologist? What kind of 'mind-set' does the sociologist adopt? What will the course cover? What are the requirements for students? What can you expect to gain?  I recommend that you review/skim Michael Kearl’s “A sociological tour through cyberspace”.  

The sociological perspective invites us to look beyond the obvious, searching for the invisible rules of social organization which direct social behavior.  What distinguishes sociology from other social sciences?  What are the central questions raised? 

Jan 20:  Film: Obedience
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Jan 21:   Sociology as a way of seeing
    Kelman & Hamilton, "The My Lai massacre" (ER)
    Crandall, "Social contagion of binge eating" (ER)
    Turner &  Edgley, "Death as theater" (ER)

 
Jan 22:  The sociological imagination, and the social construction of meaning

    Holmes, "It's awful!  It's terrible!  It's...Never mind" (ER)
    Charon, Ten Questions, Question 5: Why do we believe what we do? (ER)
    Riche,  “America's diversity and growth: Signposts for the 21st century” pp. 1-26
     (read: “Introduction” thru “Households & Families” skipping “Where Americans Live”)

When you shift your gaze away from the constructed "social forms" to study social processes, we often discover the conformity and differences are less "individual behavior" and more the by-products of social forces.  What are the basic outcomes of social interaction? 

Jan 28:  Discussion of Norms & Norm Violations Research Exercise
            Mills, "The sociological imagination" (ER)
              Miner, “The body ritual of the Nacierma” (ER)

Jan 30:  Culture & socialization

    Levine, "A geography of time" (ER)
    Mitford, "Fashions in childbirth" (ER)
    Martin, “Medical metaphors of women’s bodies: Menstruation & menopause” (ER)
    Madriz, "Nothing bad happens to good girls: Fear of crime in women’s…" (ER)
  Feb 4:  Self & society – Development of (gender & ethnic) identities     Mead, "The self" (ER)
    Adler & Adler, "The glorified self" (ER)
    Thorne, "Girls and boys together...but mostly apart" (ER)
    Lorber, "’Night to his day’: The social construction of gender" (ER)
    Messner, "Boyhood, organized sports, & the construction of masculinities" (ER)

 Part III. The Architecture of Society: Patterns of Inequality

What is socioeconomic stratification?  What are the basic characteristics of the class and caste structures within American society?  Social mobility--is there really such a thing as rags to riches?  What constitutes a culture of poverty explanation?  blaming the victim?  What is life like for the working class?  the middle class?  Does income inequality yield different social worlds and different opportunities?  
 Feb 6:  Class inequalities, Part I    Purrucci & Wysong, " The new American class structure" (ER)
   Mantsios, "Media magic: Making class invisible" (ER)
   Granfield, “Make it by faking it: Working-class students in an elite academic 
      environment” (ER)
Unzipping census tracks paper due


Feb 11:  Class inequalities, Part II

   Ostrander, "Upper class women: Class consciousness" (ER)
   Coles, "The children of affluence" (ER)
   Brooks, Bobos in paradise, entire book 

Feb 13: Class inequalities, Part III

    Kozol, "Savage inequalities in America's schools" (ER)
    Edin & Lein, "Making ends meet: Single mothers survive welfare & 

low-pay work" (ER)

    Acs, Phillips, & McKenzie, "Playing by the rules but losing the game:

America's working poor" 

Feb 18: Class inequalitiew, Part IV
              Ehrenreich, Nickel and dimed, entire book 

   Feb 20: Class inequalities, Part V      Discussion of Data Analysis and Testing Hypotheses Research Exercise
Data analysis and testing hypotheses paper due
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         Mar 11:   Group Discussion, Symbolic Racism Research Exercise    Kaw, “’Opening’ faces: The politics of cosmetic surgery and Asian American  women (ER)
  Midterm Exam (March 13)

Mar 18:  Excursus: Revisiting culture & socialization

    Kingston, China men, pp. 152-159, 85-118, 125-151 

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  Mar 20:  Excursus: Revisiting self & society -- Development of        Kingston, China men, pp. 3-73, 235-255, 263-304

Three social institutions – medicine, family and work – help to define our social lives.  How have social expectations about families and the "normal way of live" affected our lives?  What effects on families arise from the changing work culture and workplace?  Can you distinguish the boundaries between wellness and sickness, or the home and the workplace?  How does deviance and "doing deviance" help maintain social order, at the costs of some individuals and subordinate groups?  Do you think that social and moral dialectics (e.g., good-evil, normal-deviant) are necessary?

Mar 25:  Medicine as an institution of social control
    Conrad, "Medicine as an institution of social control" (ER)
    Karp, “Speaking of sadness,” (ER)
    Rosenhan, “On being sane in insane places” (ER)
    Team 1 members’ paper is due


Mar 26:  Film, Girl, Interrupted, evening

Mar 27:  Disquieting realities: Constructing personal order

    Kaysen, Girl, interrupted, entire book 


  Apr 1:   Discussion of Gender Ideologies & Tolerance of Sexual Assault

    Hill & Fischer, "Does entitlement mediate the link between masculinity and 
        rape-related variables" (ER)
    Hinck & Thomas,  “Rape myth acceptance in college students: How far have 
        we come?” (ER)


 Apr 3:    Age & gender and identity-maintenance

    Crane, "Gender and hegemony in fashion magazines" (ER)
    Film:  Still Killing Me Softly


 Apr 8:    Age and gender constructions

    Discussion of Age and Gender Representations Research Exercise
    Carrigan & Szimigin, “Representation of older people in advertisements” (ER)


 Apr 10:  Age & gender and identity-maintenance

    Gimlin, "The hair salon: Social class, power, & ideal beauty" (ER)
    Furman, Facing the mirror, pp.1-90 


Apr 15:   Age & gender and identity-maintenance

    Furman, Facing the mirror, remainder of the book

Apr 22: Modernization: Social and economic change
             Van Maanen, “The smile factory” (ER)
             Ritzer, Enchanting a disenchanted world, Chapters 1-3 
            Team 2 members’ paper is due

Dec 10: Modern life 
            Ritzer, Enchanting a disenchanted world, Chapters 4-7
           Team 3 members’ paper is due