Elements of Sociology

Prep

• Conley (2019), Ch. 15 (‘Authority and the State’): ‘Types of Legitimate Authority’; ‘Obedience to Authority’; ‘Authority, Legitimacy, and the State’; ‘Radical Power and Persuasion’; ‘Beyond Strawberry and Vanilla: Political Participation in Modern Democracies’; ‘Policy: What if the House Is Too Small?’; ‘Conclusion’

Zoom Session 

1. Attendance
2. Democracy and Dictatorship
3. Keywords: hegemony and soft power
4. Keywords: paranoid style, the
5. Keywords: power
6. Keywords: democracy  
7. Review of Midterm Guidelines
8. Review of Class Participation Self-Evaluation Guidelines
9. Q&A

For Next Time

• HW: Annotated Bibliography Assignment
• Lennie Irvin, ‘What Is “Academic” Writing?’, in Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing (Parlor Press)
• Conley (2015), Ch. 5 (‘Groups and Networks’): ‘Social Groups’; ‘From Groups to Networks’; ‘Network Analysis in Practice’; ‘Organizations’; ‘Conclusion’. Keywords: iron cage of rationality, the

Prep

• Conley, (2019), Ch. 14 (‘Capitalism and the Economy’): ‘A Brief History of Capitalism’, ‘Theorizing the Transition to Capitalism’; ‘Recent Changes in Capitalism’; ‘The Reign of the Corporation’; ‘Conclusion’

Zoom Session 

1. Attendance
2. Q&A

For Next Time

• Conley (2019), Ch. 15 (‘Authority and the State’): ‘Types of Legitimate Authority’; ‘Obedience to Authority’; ‘Authority, Legitimacy, and the State’; ‘Radical Power and Persuasion’; ‘Beyond Strawberry and Vanilla: Political Participation in Modern Democracies’; ‘Policy: What if the House Is Too Small?’; ‘Conclusion’

Prep

• Dalton Conley (2017), Ch. 3 (‘Culture and Media’): ‘Definitions of Culture’; ‘Material vs. Non-Material Culture’; ‘Media’; ‘The Media Life Cycle’; ‘Media Effects’; ‘Mommy, Where Do Stereotypes Come From?’; ‘Political Economy of the Media’; ‘Conclusion’

Zoom Session 

1. Attendance
2. Q&A

For Next Time

• Lennie Irvin, ‘What Is “Academic” Writing?’, in Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing (Parlor Press)
• Kyle D. Stedman, ‘Annoying Ways People Use Sources’, Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 2 (2011)

Prep

• Conley (2015), Ch. 2 (‘Methods’):  ‘Research 101’; ‘Samples: They’re Not Just the Free Tastes at the Supermarket’; ‘Policy: The Political Battle over Statistical Sampling’
• Conley (2015), Ch. 2 (‘Methods’): ‘Ethics of Social Research’

Zoom Session 

1. Any Un-Introduced Intro-ers?
2. Q&A: The Porn Myth
3. For Next Time

For Next Time

• Dalton Conley (2017), Ch. 3 (‘Culture and Media’): ‘Definitions of Culture’; ‘Material vs. Non-Material Culture’; ‘Media’; ‘The Media Life Cycle’; ‘Media Effects’; ‘Mommy, Where Do Stereotypes Come From?’; ‘Political Economy of the Media’; ‘Conclusion’

Prep

• Ground Rules for the Classroom
• Caroline Hodges Persell, Kathryn M. Pfeiffer, and Ali Syed, ‘What Should Students Learn After Taking Intro Sociology?’, Teaching Sociology 35 (October 2007)
• Michael Gazzaniga, ‘Humans: The Party Animal’, Daedalus 138:3 (Summer 2009), pp. 21-34

Zoom Session 

1. Introductions
2. Ground Rules
3. Q&A: Ten Core Themes

For Next Time

• Conley (2015), Ch. 2 (‘Methods’):  ‘Research 101’; ‘Samples: They’re Not Just the Free Tastes at the Supermarket’; ‘Policy: The Political Battle over Statistical Sampling’
• Conley (2015), Ch. 2 (‘Methods’): ‘Ethics of Social Research’

• Read Christopher Cox, ‘‘The Vulnerable Can Wait. Vaccinate the Super-Spreaders First’, Wired (10 November 2020). Who gets priority when Covid-19 shots are in short supply? Network theorists have a counterintuitive answer: Start with the social butterflies.
• Review Malcolm Gladwell, ‘Designs for Working’, The New Yorker (11 December 2000)

Zoom Session

1. Review: Final Exam
2. Social Network Analysis and COVID-19
3. Course Evaluations

For Next Time

• Turn in Your Final Exams by 12/13

Prep

• Malcolm Gladwell, ‘Designs for Working’, The New Yorker (11 December 2000)

Asynchronous Work

• Turn in any missing work; read the final exam instructions carefully and begin work on the essay if you haven’t already.

For Next Time

• Christopher Cox, ‘‘The Vulnerable Can Wait. Vaccinate the Super-Spreaders First’, Wired (10 November 2020). Who gets priority when Covid-19 shots are in short supply? Network theorists have a counterintuitive answer: Start with the social butterflies.

Prep

• Review Conley (2015), Ch. 5 (‘Groups and Networks’): ‘Organizations’; ‘Conclusion’
• Review Conley (2015), Ch. 15 (‘Authority and the State’): ‘Types of Legitimate Authority’, specifically ‘Characteristics of Bureaucracy’

Zoom Session

1. Discussion: Bureaucracy and Formal Organisations

For Next Time

• Malcolm Gladwell, ‘Designs for Working’, The New Yorker (11 December 2000)

Prep

• Conley (2015), Ch. 5 (‘Groups and Networks’): ‘Organizations’; ‘Conclusion’

Asynchronous Work

1. You should be working on your Class Participation Self-Evaluation Essay this week, as well as beginning to revise your midterm essays.

For Next Time

• Conley (2015), Ch. 15 (‘Authority and the State’): ‘Types of Legitimate Authority’, specifically ‘Characteristics of Bureaucracy’

Prep

• Instructions for Class Participation Self-Evaluation Essay
• Instructions for the Final Exam

Zoom Session

1. Review: Class Participation Self-Evaluation Essay
2. Review: Final Exam

For Next Time

• TBA