Texas State University
Sociological Thought 4306
Spring 2011
Instructor: Dr. Barbara Trepagnier (aka Dr.T)
Office: Derrick 203 Phone: 245-8054*
Office Hours: T 1-3; W 2-3 Email: bt03@txstate.edu Class Location: Derrick 229 Class Time: MW 3:30 – 4:50
GA: Jamie Hornbuckle Email: jh1082@txstate.edu
*The best way to contact me is by email or by coming by my office.
Course Description
Sociological Thought (SOCI 4306) focuses on classical sociological theories and the modern and contemporary theories that follow from them. The major approaches we will explore are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction. We will also study
phenomenology, an approach closely related to symbolic interaction. This course
challenges students to understand the concepts and theories that are the foundation for sociological thought, not merely memorize facts about it.
Course Objectives
I expect students to achieve the following capabilities:
• An understanding of the three approaches that make up sociological thought
• The ability to express sociological knowledge concisely and logically in written form • The ability to think critically—recognize strengths and weaknesses of arguments • The ability to think abstractly—recognize relationships among ideas and assumptions
underlying them
Students will accomplish these objectives through the following activities: • Reading assigned materials
• Participating in class discussions and exercises
• Analyzing fiction and current events using sociological theory • Mapping sociological concepts
Learning is discovering
what you didn’t know
Course Materials
The following items are required for the course. The course packet is a workbook as well as a text for the course, and therefore every class member must buy a course pak, and every course pak must be new. It can be purchased at the campus bookstore only.
Course Packet (Sociological Thought 4306 – Trepagnier—2010) Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology, 2nd Edition by Allan Johnson
Coursework
The coursework for Sociological Thought consists of exams and written work.
Exams: During the semester there will be two section exams plus a semi-comprehensive final exam. The section exams have 40 multiple-choice questions and one essay question; the final exam has 60 multiple-choice questions (no essay on the final exam). Open-ended review questions for all exams including the final exam can be found in the course packet.
Written work: Sociological Thought is a writing intensive course. This means that your writing assignments (papers, cognitive maps) and essay questions count for 65 percent of your grade. You are expected to put a good deal of thought and effort into your writing assignments.
Essays. Two of the essays consist of analyzing fictional stories according to classical sociological concepts (“The Lottery” and Animal Farm), and the third consists of analyzing a current social problem using modern or contemporary sociological concepts. Specific directions for these essays are in the course packet. Due dates are in the calendar that follows.
Sociology majors: Please make a copy of your essays for your portfolio, and include your student ID number on the cover page. Turn in both copies at the time they are due. I will deliver the "portfolio copy" to the sociology department office. Cognitive maps. A cognitive map is a “mental picture” of a set of concepts that illustrates how concepts relate to each other. We will construct a practice map in class. The maps are homework assignments. Do NOT collaborate on these projects. The written assignments in this course are required. Failure to turn in the assignments will result in F in this writing intensive course.
Yoda says: Try? No!
Do or do not.
Evaluation
In order to figure out your grade at a given time during the semester, you may divide the sum of your grades to date by the total number of possible point to date. The key to letter grades is as follows:
A+ = 98 B+ = 88 C+ = 78 D+ = 68
A = 95 B = 85 C = 75 D = 65
A- = 92 B- = 82 C- = 72 D- = 62
2 section exams 200 points (100 ea) 1 final exam 200 points 3 essays 300 points (100 ea)
3 maps 300 points (100 ea)
Course work 1000 possible points
Attendance
Sociological Thought meets once a week this semester (15 weeks). That means if you miss one class, you miss the equivalent of two periods, and therefore, the consequences are doubled. The following schedule will be used to determine the outcome of your
attendance:
Class missed % time present Point outcome
0 100 +1 1 93 +/- 0 2 86 -3 3 79 -5 4 72 -7 5 65 -10 6 58 F in the course
I check attendance regularly. Excused absences must be verifiable. Decide now to attend every class. At the end of the semester, you will be glad you did!
I not only expect you to attend class, but also to be engaged in the work we will do. Come prepared to participate.
That’s a fine idea in practice,
Additional Course Policies
Late essays & maps—Assignments are due in class on the date listed in the calendar or announced. If you miss class on the day an assignment is due, you send email it to me—missing class is NOT an excuse for late papers and maps.
For each day late, the assignment will receive a penalty. If an essay or maps is late, it must reach me before I return the assignment to the class. If you have an
emergency, contact me.
Exam Scores—If you make an F or a D on an exam, I expect you to come to my office hours to talk about why your performance did not meet expectations for the course. If you made C or above and would like to do better on future exams, please also come to my office hours. We may be able to figure out how to improve your test-taking skills on the multiple choice exams.
You may contest an answer on an exam if you feel that your answer is correct, even though it was marked wrong. Your argument must be in writing—typed. It must be handed in no later than three days after the exams are returned. Emailed arguments are accepted. Your argument must be based on class materials for this course (use page numbers from the course packet or dictionary for reference).
Missed exams—If you miss a section exam (the only excuse would be an emergency), you should contact me that day, preferably before exam time. You will make up the missed exam at the time of the final exam. If you miss more than one section exam, you are advised to drop the course. There is no make-up for the final exam. Check the dates and time for exams and mark your calendar now.
Academic honesty—Scholastic dishonesty (cheating, collusion, plagiarism) will not be tolerated. Any attempt to seek assistance during an exam from another student or from notes, books, or any other source will be regarded as cheating. Working
together or seeking help from classmates on essays or maps assigned as homework is considered collusion. Plagiarism is also not tolerated. Do not use papers on the Internet for this course and do not copy or quote from the course packet in your essays. Paraphrase. That means to capture the meaning of the idea in your own words—three or more words copied from another source constitutes plagiarism. Ignorance of what constitutes scholastic dishonesty does not excuse it. Any student charged with cheating, collusion, or plagiarism may appeal in writing in accordance with Texas State University policy. If you are found to have been dishonest in this course, you will be “written up,” and the citation will become a part of your permanent record at TXSTATE.
Technology—No technological devices are allowed in the classroom during lectures or exams. This includes cell phones, Blackberries, computers, or any other electronic device that you may own. Please turn all of these mechanisms off during class and stow them out of sight.
Disabilities—Students with a disability who need accommodations should contact me early in
the course. Please provide documentation. Failure to do so may delay your accommodations.
Course Calendar
W 1/19 Welcome to Social Theory
Preface i-v M 1/24 Emergence 1-5 W 1/26 Birth of sociology 6-8 Review 9-11 M 1/31 Overview 13-15 Review 18-19 W 2/2 Sociological imagination 16-17 Practice map M 2/7 Emile Durkheim 21-28 Review 32-33 W 2/9 Max Weber 29-31 Review 34-35 M 2/14 Talcott Parsons 37-39 Robert Merton 40-41 Review 45-46
W 2/16 Robert Merton (con’t) 42-44 Map due
Review 46-47
M 2/21 Jeffrey Alexander 49-50
Neil Smelser 50-51
W 2/23 Review Essay due
First Exam M 2/28
W 3/2 Karl Marx 53-58
Review 64-66
M 3/7 Max Weber 59-63
W 3/9 “Roger & Me”
M & W 3/14 & 16 SPRING BREAK YIPPEEE!!!
M 3/21 "Roger & Me"
W 3/23 C. Wright Mills 69-71
The Frankfurt School 72-73 Map due
Review 74-75
M 3/28 Janet Chafetz 76-78
Review 80-81
W 3/30 Pierre Bourdieu 79
Review for exam 80-81 Essay due
Second Exam Wed 4/4
M 4/11 George H. Mead 83-87 Max Weber 88-89 Georg Simmel 90 Review 91-93 W 4/13 Herbert Blumer 95-97 Erving Goffman 98-100 Review 101-102 M 4/18 Barbara Trepagnier 103-105 David Wellman 105-106 Review 107-108 W 4/20 Library Day
M 4/25 Alfred Schutz 109-110 Map due
Peter Berger 113-114
Review 111, 117
W 4/27 Harold Garfinkel 115-116
Dorothy Smith 119
Review 120 Essay due
M 5/2 Review for final exam (mandatory) 121-123
Final Exam Wed May 11 2:00 – 4:30
The calendar in this syllabus is an approximation only. We will cover the material in the order listed, but the exact days may vary from the calendar. However, the exam dates are
certain, and the material covered on each exam will be that listed in the section above the exam date.
Final words: There are sections on writing in the appendix of the course packet that will support you in writing good papers. Do not ignore this material.
My lectures are provided for you in the course packet and must be read before class in order for you to participate in discussions. Come prepared to reflect on the readings for that day. Plus, I will occasionally give pop quizzes.
You are expected to spend on average of three to six hours a week outside of class on the preparation for class and on assignments.
Please do not call or email me for your grade on any exam or at the end of the semester. During the semester, exams will be returned as soon as I get them graded. Final grades will be turned into the registrar as soon as they are calculated, and she will post them online. Prepare to work hard and have fun in this class—they are not mutually exclusive…
