Swaged

Ferris State University

Course Syllabus

Introductory Sociology

(Spring 2013)

Professor: Shahram Parastesh
Office: ASC 2079
Phone: 231- 591- 2739
E- mail: Parasts@ferris.edu

Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 3–5 pm and Fridays 3-4 pm only by appointments
Sociology 121 - Introductory Sociology: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

Course Description

This course seeks to introduce the manners through which sociologists observe the world. Achieving this point of view requires a two-fold understanding of sociology and culture. To better perceive the sociological perspective, we will cast a glance at history of sociology and its main domains. Three main paradigms of sociology will be briefly reviewed theoretically and methodologically from a comparative perspective. Thereupon, the main themes and concepts of sociology will be discussed. Afterward, we proceed to investigate some areas of cultural sociological researches such as everyday life and cultural production. The remainder of the course will be devoted to looking at sociological researches based on student presentations.

Course objectives:

1. To describe why we need sociology as a scientific discipline to understand society and culture

2. To introduce the discipline of sociology and its key concepts

3. To introduce the ontological, epistemological and methodological levels of three main paradigms in sociology

4. To introduce qualitative and quantitative approaches in sociological research

5. To introduce Pierre Bourdieu’s approach to cultural sociology

6. To analyze how people live in different worlds based on the division of world into “traditional” and “modern”

7. To understand the relation of sociology as a discipline with modern world

8. To formulate how people encounter their social problems

9. To proceed how studying different sections of everyday life help sociologists to excavate peoples’ cultural worlds

10. To employ media ( photography, movie, etc…) as a means of sociological studies

Required Texts:

Ritzer, George, 2013 Introduction to Sociology, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.

Recommended Texts:

Notes: Regarding the different themes we explore, there are some extra articles and books for those interested and desire to read more. You are always more than welcome to ask for more resources and references on any topic that interests you.

Berger, Peter L., and Thomas Luckmann 1967; 1966 The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Doubleday.
Giddens, Anthony
1991 Introduction to Sociology. 1st ed. New York: Norton.
McCarthy, Patrick, and Incebrary, 2004, Albert Camus, the Stranger. 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Simmel, Georg, 1971, On Individuality and Social Forms :Selected Writings. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Swartz, David,1997, Culture & Power :The Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Student’s responsibilities

• Attendance in all scheduled class meetings on time and participation in discussions

• Participation in online class

• Students are expected to come to class having done the required course readings in advance.

• Two take home exams ( Deadlines TBA)

• Individual 10 minutes presentations of a social phenomena (Assign for your topic and schedule by week 3)

• A social photo album focused on a chosen theme with a minimum of 3 pages analysis

• Taking multiple question exams of the required reading ( dates TBA)

• to avoid offenses such as plagiarism, cheating, and double submission

Details of the requirements for all written assignments, take home and the final exam will be given in class.

Forbidden:

Checking email, texting, twittering and cell phone use is not allowed during class time.

Evaluation

Final course grades will be based upon:

|Five Multiple Questions Tests |10 % each |
|A Social Photo Album and Its Analysis (According to the attached guidelines) |10 % |
|Individual Presentation (According to the attached guidelines) |10% |
|Two Take Home Exams |10% each |
|Participation in class |10 % |
|Total |100 points |

Note: All the class assignments, including take home exams, photo album, and the presentation report should be submitted via email. Please remember that hard copies will not be accepted.

Final grad calculations:

|A |(A = 93 to 100, A- = 90 to 92) |
|B |(B+ = 87 to 89, A = 83 to 86, A- = 80 to 82) |
|C |(C+ = 77 to 79, C = 73 to 76, C- = 70 to 72) |
|D |(D+ = 67 to 69, D = 63 to 66, D- = 60 to 62) |
|F |( 59 and below ) |
| | |

Course schedule:

Below is the schedule that covers the outline of this course and illustrates the journey we pass to become familiar with cultural sociologists’ perspective. However, my personal theoretical orientation supports modifications that might be necessary to be made to this schedule. Probable changes of the schedule will be announced via email.

I. Introduction and general orientation to the course.

II. Two aspects of social reality (The dialectical method of thinking)

III. The birth of social sciences and modern world (Modernity as the bithplcae of “the social”).

IV. Sociology in the global age
Reading: Ritzer, Chapter 1: An Introdution to Sociology in the Global Age. ,

TEST 1 WILL OCCUR AT THIS POINT IN THE COURSE.

V. Social thoughts and thinking sociologically Chapter 2: Thinking Sociologically

VI. Quntitative and qualitative methods of sociological research
Reading: Ritzer, Chapter 3: Researching the Social World

TEST 2 WILL OCCUR AT THIS POINT IN THE COURSE.

VII. Society and culture
Reading: Ritzer, Chapter 4: Culture

VIII. Becoming a Social Being: Socialization
Reading: Ritzer, Chapter 5: Socialization and Interaction

TEST 3 WILL OCCUR AT THIS POINT IN THE COURSE.

IX. Social institutions: family, education, religion, politics and economy

Reading: Ritzer,Chapter 11: Family, Chapter 12: Politics and economy, Chapter 16: Religion and education.

TEST 4 WILL OCCUR AT THIS POINT IN THE COURSE.

X. Deviance and crime
Reading: Ritzer, Chapter 7, Deviance and Crime

XI. Social forms, Social Slass and Social Stratification
Reading: Ritzer, Chapter 8: Social Stratification

XII. Social Change and revolution
Reading: Ritzer, Chapter 15, Social Change, Social Movements, and Collective Behavior

THE FINAL EXAM WILL OCCUR FOR THE COURSE ACCORDING TO THE ANNOCED SCHEDULE. NO FINAL WILL BE GIVEN PRIOR TO THIS OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED EXAMINATION PERIOD.