Sociology 101

THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

College of the Holy Cross, Fall 2014
Section 01: T/R 8:00-9:15 AM, Stein 301

Professor: Ara Francis

Office: Beaven 211
Telephone Numbers: 508-793-2487 (campus office), 530-574-8736 (cell)
Email Address: afrancis@holycross.edu
Office Hours: M 9-11, T 10-11, W 12-2 & by prior appointment

Society provides us with warm, reasonably comfortable caves, in

which we can huddle with our fellows, beating on the drums that
drown out the howling hyenas of the surrounding darkness.
Ecstasy is the act of stepping outside the caves, alone, to face the
night.

Peter Berger, Invitation to Sociology (1963: 150)

COURSE OVERVIEW
This course is an introduction to sociology, but you should think of it as an
intellectual expedition. Sociology leads us to consider some of lifes most
interesting questions. What does it mean to be human? Where does
morality come from? Is there such a thing as free will? In the context of
addressing these questions, we will touch upon the dominant perspectives
and methods that sociologists employ in their research. We also will
examine basic dynamics of social order, social control and inequality in the
contemporary United States. Our journey promises to cover interesting
terrain, and when all is said and done, we will have delved into substantive
topics ranging from this history of white bread to adolescent masculinity.
The ultimate goal of this course is for you to see sociology not just as a
collection of knowledge, but as a unique way of thinking about the world.

COURSE GOALS
By the end of this course, you should
Know what sociology is and understand how it differs from other
academic disciplines.
Be familiar with common methods of data collection and overarching
theoretical orientations to studying social life.
Be able to think sociologically about race, gender, and other phenomena
that might otherwise seem natural, physical or psychological.
Be familiar with multiple dimensions of social inequality in the
contemporary United States.
Have considerable knowledge of the following three substantive topics:
the social history of white bread; the everyday construction and
regulation of masculinity; and marriage and childbearing among low-
income women in the contemporary United States.

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REQUIRED READING
Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective by Peter Berger

White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf by Aaron Bobrow-

Strain

Dude, Youre a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School by C.J. Pascoe

Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage by
Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas

In addition to the books listed above, I have posted a number of readings to

our Moodle page. These are designated by (M) in the schedule of topics and
readings below.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND SCORE BREAKDOWN

10% Participation
20% Paper #1
20% Paper #2
20% Midterm Exam
30% Final Exam

Engagement & Participation. I score your engagement and

participation out of 100 points, 75 of which are based on your active and
informed involvement during class. You can earn a high in-class score by
attending all sessions, completing and reflecting on the assigned readings,
making thoughtful contributions to discussion, and listening carefully to
peers questions and comments. You can earn the remaining 25 points in
these two ways:

Do a beyond-the-lecture assignment. There will be times during the

semester when someone has a question that I cant answer or raises an
interesting topic that we do not have time to pursue as a class. When this
happens, I will provide you the opportunity to explore the question or idea
for participation credit. Such assignments earn up to 10 points and
typically require a little bit of research and a two-page report. When I
announce a beyond-the-lecture assignment in class, I will provide you with
all of the relevant details via group email and Moodle. Keep in mind, the
frequency of these assignments is related directly to the frequency of your
questions and comments during class.

Create your own assignment. Here I encourage you to pursue any project
that makes connections between the ideas were exploring and your life
outside of the classroom. You are welcome to critically analyze a personal
experience or a relevant song, film, blog post, etc. If you sing, dance, draw,
or paint, you can tap into your talent and produce something creative. You

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can interview someone about something youve learned in class and report
back on your conversation. You might even organize a sociologically-
relevant event for your peers. These are just a few ideas. My only
stipulation is that you clearly link your project to something weve examined
in class. Such assignments earn up to 15 points, depending on their degree
of relevance and thoughtfulness.

Paper #1. The Social Construction of Material Reality.

As you will see from the schedule of topics below, the second segment of this
course examines how symbols mediate our relationship to the environment,
how culture is an integral component of human evolution, and how human
realities are socially constructed. During this time, we will also read Aaron
Bobrow-Strains White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf, a
nice illustration of how the meanings we attach to food are socially and
historically shaped. In this five-page essay, you will use the sociological
perspective to analyze a material object. I will provide you with further
details later in the semester.

Paper #2. History, Biography, and Inequality.

The fifth segment of our course examines stratification and inequality in the
contemporary United States. During this time, we will critically examine
sociological understandings of social class and consider how hierarchical
location shapes personal opportunity and experience. This five-page essay
requires you to examine your own social class background from a
sociological perspective. I will provide you with further details later in the
semester.

Exams.
The midterm and final examinations require you to define concepts (in a
sentence or two), address short-answer questions (in four to seven
sentences), and respond to essay questions (in two to three paragraphs).
Questions cover all course materials including lectures, readings, and
discussions. The final exam has a cumulative component.

OFFICE HOURS
Need guidance on an assignment? Feedback on a rough draft? Want to talk
about something that you saw in the news? Or are you just looking for a
cup of tea? Find all of these things and more during my office hours! In all
seriousness, mentoring you is one of my central priorities. Dont think twice
about dropping by.

ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY

Attendance is compulsory. More than a few absences will jeopardize your
participation score and make it difficult to earn passing grades on
assignments and exams. I also encourage you to be mindful of all starting
times, timelines and deadlines. Lectures and discussions begin promptly at
the start of class, and you should arrive to each meeting having completed

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all of that days assigned readings. I do not accept late work, schedule make-
up exams, or accept electronic assignments except in cases of emergency. If
you experience an emergency that prevents you from meeting any of the
course requirements on time, notify me immediately in order to make
necessary arrangements.

NOTE: Thank you for reading the syllabus carefully. Send me an email with
the subject heading I read the syllabus so I know that you completed the
assignment.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
I will sanction and report to your Class Dean all cases of plagiarism,
cheating, and collusion. According to Holy Cross policy on academic
honesty, these are defined as follows:

Plagiarism is the act of taking the words, ideas, data, illustrative material,
or statements of someone else, without full and proper acknowledgment,
and presenting them as ones own.

Cheating is the use of improper means or subterfuge to gain credit or

advantage. Forms of cheating include the use, attempted use, or improper
possession of unauthorized aids in any examination or other academic
exercise submitted for evaluation; the fabrication or falsification of data;
misrepresentation of academic or extracurricular credentials; and deceitful
performance on placement examinations. It is also cheating to submit the
same work for credit in more than one course, except as authorized in
advance by the course instructors.

Collusion is assisting or attempting to assist another student in an act of

academic dishonesty.

Please see the full policy for details (www.holycross.edu/catalog/academic-

honesty-policy.pdf). If you have any questions or concerns regarding
academic integrity, see me.

IMPORTANT DATES
R Oct. 9 Midterm exam
R Oct. 23 Paper #1 Due
R Dec. 4 Paper #2 Due
TBA Final exam

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS

PART I: THE DISICIPLINE OF SOCIOLOGY

DATES TOPICS READINGS

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 Introductions and review of
R Sept. 4 No Reading Today!
the syllabus

Berger, Chapter 1
T Sept. 9 Sociology as a social science
(M) Doing Social Research,
by Lisa J. McIntyre

(M) The Promise, by C.

Wright Mills

Sociology as a way of (M) Getting Past the Sound

R Sept. 11
thinking Bites: How History and
Sociology Can Help Todays
Families by Stephanie
Coontz

(M) Responding to Chaos: A

Brief History of Sociology, by
Lisa J. McIntyre
T Sept. 16
(M) Excerpt from The Division
of Labor in Society by Emile
Durkheim
The Sociological Canon in
Historical Context
(M) Excerpt from The
Communist Manifesto by Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels
R Sept. 18
(M) Excerpt from The
Protestant Ethic and the Spirit
of Capitalism by Max Weber

Suggested fiction: Kristin Lavransdatter, a series of novels by the Nobel

Laureate Sigrid Undset, follows the life of a woman in 14th-century Norway.
If you like historical fiction, the books are a fun way to get a sense for the
pre-industrial Western communities that sociologists so often position in
contrast with modern and late-modern societies. Here you will get a flavor
for the rhythms of life in a subsistence economy, the central role of families
and households in the organization of social life, and a notably different
understanding of what we call childhood. The book might even move you
to re-read your lecture notes on Gemeinschaft and mechanical solidarity!

PART II: CULTURE & THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY

DATES TOPICS READINGS

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T Sept. 23 White Bread, Intro & Ch. 1

(M) Culture and Human

Nature, by Clifford Geertz
Symbols, Culture &
(M) Grammar, Identity, and
The Social Construction of
the Dark Side of the
R Sept. 25 Reality
Subjunctive TED talk by
Phuc Tran (use Moodle link to
stream online)

White Bread, Chapters 2 & 3

T Sept. 30

Receive White Bread, Ch. 4 & 5

Instructions
for Paper #1
Constructions and
(M) Understanding Racial-
Consequences:
ethnic Disparities in Health:
Race in the Contemporary
Sociological Contributions by
United States
David R. Williams and
R Oct. 2 Michelle Sternthal

(M) Discrimination in a Low-

Wage Labor Market: A Field
Experiment

Concluding Discussion & White bread, Ch. 6 &

T Oct. 7
Review Conclusion

R Oct. 9 Midterm Exam Midterm Exam

T Oct. 14
Fall Break Fall Break
R Oct. 16

Suggested film: Morgan Spurlocks 2004 documentary film Supersize Me is

a fun but incisive critique of the American fast food industry. It is also part
of the alternative food movement described by Bobrow-Strain. Spurlocks
film is compelling, but, after reading White Bread, it would be interesting to
think about whether or not Supersize Me privileges the sensibilities of
middle-class whites.

PART III: SELF AND SOCIALIZATION

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DATES TOPICS READINGS

T Oct. 21
The Social Nature of Self Berger, Chapter 5

R Oct. 23 (M) Childhood Socialization

Socialization as a Recruitment Process, by
Paper #1 Due Spencer Cahill

(M) Pp. 1-16, 22-30 and 70-

The Performance of Self in 76 of The Presentation of Self
T Oct. 28
Everyday Life in Everyday Life, by Erving
Goffman

Suggested television: If you liked BBCs The Office, you will no doubt
enjoy Extras, a television series about an aspiring actor played by Ricky
Gervais. Like The Office, this series humor is often premised on failed
presentations of self and the embarrassment of social order. If youve done
your reading for this class, it will be hard to watch without thinking of
Erving Goffman.

PART IV: SOCIAL ORDER & SOCIAL CONTROL

DATES TOPICS READINGS

Social Order and The

R Oct. 30 Multiple Dimensions of Berger, Chapter 4
Social Control

Dude, Youre a Fag, Preface &

T Nov. 4
Ch. 1 & 2

Regulating Gender and Dude, Youre a Fag,

R Nov. 6
Sexuality Ch. 3 & 4

Dude, Youre a Fag,

T Nov. 11
Ch. 5 & 6

Suggested film: Boys Dont Cry is a moving film about a teenager who
identifies and performs as a man but has a normatively female body. The
story ties in well with the material explored in this segment of the class,
particularly the intersection of masculinity, sexuality, and violent
aggression.

PART V: INEQUALITY AND STRATIFICATION

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DATES TOPICS READINGS

R Nov. 13 Stratification & Inequality in (M) Dimensions of Inequality

the United States: in the United States by
Receive An Overview Harold Kerbo
Instructions
for Paper #2 Promises I Can Keep,
Introduction & Ch. 1

Promises I Can Keep,

Ch. 2
T Nov. 18 Class and Social Structure
(M) Nickel-and-Dimed: On
Not Getting By in America,
by Barbara Ehrenreich

R Nov. 20
Promises I Can Keep,
Class and culture
Ch. 3 & 4

Promises I Can Keep,

Ch. 6 & Conclusion
T Nov. 25 Concluding Discussion
*Note: Ch. 5 is optional

R Nov. 27 Thanksgiving Holiday Thanksgiving Holiday

Suggested film: The new documentary film Inequality for All explores
income inequality in the United States and is hosted by the economist and
political commentator Robert Reich. The filmmaker has a clear political
agenda and makes the argument that our growing income gap has negative
effects on the entire economy. Rent it and see what you think, given your
sociological introduction to stratification in this class.

PARTING THOUGHTS: AGENCY & SOCIAL CHANGE

DATES TOPICS READINGS

Free Will, Sociologically

T Dec. 2 Berger, Chapter 6
Speaking?

(M) "Sociology and Social

Guest Lecture: New Social
R Dec. 4 Change: Creating a More Just
Movements and Ethical
and Sustainable World" by
Consumerism, Dr. Ellis
Paper #2 Due Brett Johnson, Ross Haenfler,
Jones
and Ellis Jones

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 The Sociological Perspective
T Dec. 9 Berger, Chapter 2
in 3 Motifs

R Dec. 11 Catch-up & Review Catch-up & Review

TBA Final Exam Final Exam

Suggested fiction: Herman Melvilles classic novella Bartleby, the Scrivener

(1853) is a compelling story that dovetails nicely with Peter Bergers
discussion of freedom and bad faith in Invitation to Sociology. The text is
short, so its probably worth reading the hard copy, but the story is also
available for free in a podcast posted on iTunes.

Please Note: Our schedule of topics and readings is subject to change

throughout the semester. No changes will be made without plenty of advance
notice.