Sociology 211
Fall 2007
Introduction to Sociology

Monday lecture at noon in PSYCH 105
Wed/Fri conferences in ETC 205

Kjersten Whittington
Office: Vollum 133
503-517-7628
whittington@reed.edu

Alexandra Hrycak
Office: Vollume 223
Telephone ex. 7483
hrycak@reed.edu

 William Tudor
Office: Vollum 225
Telephone ex. 7777
tudor@reed.edu

The following books can be purchased from the Reed College Bookstore:

Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism
Michael Burawoy, Manufacturing Consent
Robert Dahl, Who Governs?

These and other course readings have been placed on reserve at the library. Please consult the sociology department website for links to on-line syllabi for Soc 211 as well as other departmental offerings: http://academic.reed.edu/sociology/

Most journal articles are available through JSTOR, a web-based archive of academic journals that is available at any networked computer on campus (http://www.jstor.org/). JSTOR can also be located through the Reed College Library web page. Note that only one or two paper copies of electronically available "JSTOR" articles have been placed on reserve. Using JSTOR means you don’t have to wait for reserve articles to be returned, and it wastes less paper.

Readings and written assignments: This is a lecture and discussion based course. The class will challenge you to reexamine classical questions (e.g., what caused the industrial revolution, why did industrialization create new kinds of racism, sexism) in order to push you to clearly articulate sociological efforts to test alternative theories empirically. The readings are demanding and require intensive examination of a broad variety of issues and methods. You are likely to encounter strong opinions and it is inevitable that at least some of these opinions will make you or your classmates uncomfortable. You will be expected to strike a healthy balance in conference between arguing your own position on these issues, listening to others, and helping the class as a collectivity to explore how the sociologists you read defend their approaches. Each member of the class is expected to abide by the Reed Honor principle, according to which you must both take responsibility on yourself to think about how your actions and words affect others, and share responsibility with your peers for enabling the class as a whole to achieve its highest intellectual aims without alienating, humiliating or marginalizing anyone. Your regular attendance at lectures and active participation in conference are necessary for the class to work. Themes and approaches will shift considerably from one week to the next, and in-class discussions will be necessary for you and your colleagues to demonstrate to each other how they fit together. Written work will include a mid-term exam, occasional computer labs and a final exam. We will expect written work to be submitted on time.

Reading Assignments

Week 1 Thinking sociologically

8/27 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

8/29

8/31

Week 2 The Foundations of Modernization

9/3 LABOR DAY: No lecture

9/5 Selections from the following readings:

9/7

Week 3 Marx: The Study of Industrial Capitalism

9/10 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

9/12

9/14

 

Week 4 Weber: The Study of Power, Domination, and Rationalized Authority

9/17 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

9/19

9/21

Week 5 Durkheim: The Study of Social Solidarity

9/24 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

9/26

9/28

Week 6 Symbolic Interaction

10/1 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

10/3

Transcripts of Mead's lectures, including most of the above, may also be found in George Herbert Mead, The Social Psychology of George Herbert Mead (edited by Anselm Strauss) B945 .M43 S6 1956 as follows:
"The Self and the Organism," pp. 212-221;
"Play, the Game and the Generalized Other," pp. 229-241;
"The 'I' and the 'Me'," pp. 242-247;
"Mind as the Individual Importation of the Social Process," pp. 247-251;
"A Contrast of Individualistic and Social Theories of Self," pp. 255-260

10/5

Week 7 Social Stratification

10/8 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

10/10 Review

10/12

Week 8 FALL BREAK

Week 9 Empirical social science: Introduction to the General Social Survey

10/22 Lecture (Psych 105)

10/24 Computer Lab (ETC 205)

10/26 Computer Lab (ETC 205)

Week 10 Empirical social science: Variables and typologies

10/29 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

Key resources for the next two weeks:

10/31 Computer Lab (ETC 205)

11/2 Computer Lab (ETC 205)

Week 11 Empirical social science: Controlling the effects of extraneous variables

11/5 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

11/7 Computer Lab (ETC 205)

11/9 Computer Lab (ETC 205)

 

Week 12 The Social Construction of Order

11/12 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

11/14

 

Week 13 Deviance

11/19 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

11/21 Selections from the following:

11/23 Thanksgiving Holiday

Week 14 Political Sociology

11/26 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

11/28

11/30

 

Week 15 Social Movements and Change

12/3 Lecture (PSYCH 105)

12/5 LAST DAY OF CLASSES

Final exam due Monday, DECEMBER 10

*Reed College policy: No work for fall courses may be submitted after DECEMBER 13*