Elements of Sociology

Nice to meet you all today. Introductions ate up a good bit of time, so we’ll go over the syllabus and do a broad course overview on Wednesday.

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)

In Class

1. Low-Stakes Writing Assignment: What Are Your Goals for the Course?
2. Prologue: What Is Sociology?
3. Ten  Things You Should Understand (Better) After This Course
4. Review for the Final
5. Review of the Syllabus
6. For Next Time

For Next Time

• C. Wright Mills, ‘The Promise’ (Mills 2000)

Welcome to SOC 1101! I’m Professor George Murray, and this space will tell you everything you need to know in order to walk into each day of class fully prepared. So here’s our agenda for the first day of class:

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)

In Class

• Attendance and Introductions
• Prologue: What Is Sociology?
• Ten  Things You Should Understand (Better) After This Course
• Low-Stakes Writing Assignment: What Are Your Goals for the Course?
• For Next Time

For Next Time

• C. Wright Mills, ‘The Promise’ (Mills 2000)

Prep

• Due: Final Exam, 12/15, by the end of the day
• Review Rebecca Tuvel,  ‘In Defense of Transracialism’,  Hypatia (2017). You can find it in the library databases here: https://doi-org.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/10.1111/hypa.12327.

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. TBA
   3. Discussion: Transracialism, For and Against
   4. BREAK
   5. Wrap-Up/Missing Work

Prep

• Kyle D. Stedman, ‘Annoying Ways People Use Sources’, Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 2 (2011)
• Review Caroline Hodges Persell, Kathryn M. Pfeiffer, and Ali Syed, ‘What Should Students Learn After Taking Intro Sociology?’, Teaching Sociology 35 (October 2007)

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Annotate a Scholarly Article HW Review
   3. Final Exam Review
   4. COURSE EVALUATIONS
   5. For Next Time
   6. END at 1900 hours (7pm)

For Next Time

• Due: Final Exam, 12/15, by the end of the day
• Review Rebecca Tuvel,  ‘In Defense of Transracialism’,  Hypatia (2017). You can find it in the library databases here: https://doi-org.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/10.1111/hypa.12327

Prep

• HW Due:  Annotate a Scholarly Article Assignment
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 11 (‘Race and Ethnicity’), Sections 11.4 (‘Intergroup Relations and the Management of Diversity’), and 11.5 (‘Race and Ethnicity in Canada’)
• Rebecca Tuvel,  ‘In Defense of Transracialism’,  Hypatia (2017). You can find it in the library databases here: https://doi-org.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/10.1111/hypa.12327.

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. What News?
   3. HW: A Review of the Logistics
   4. Tuvel Q&A
   5. BREAK
   6. TBA
   7. For Next Time

For Next Time

• Kyle D. Stedman, ‘Annoying Ways People Use Sources’, Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 2 (2011)
• TBA

Prep

• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 11 (‘Race and Ethnicity’), Sections 11.1 (‘Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups’), 11.2 (‘Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination’),  and 11.3 (‘Theories of Race and Ethnicity’)
• David Reich, ‘How Genetics Is Changing Our Understanding of “Race”‘ , New York Times (23 March 2018)

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Reminder: Cell Phone Policy
   3. In the News
   4. Review: Class Participation for People with Stage Fright
   5. Thesis: There are ethnic groups and populations, but no races. I also seek to eschew bogus pseudo-scientific categories like ‘Caucasian’. Here’s a brief explanation as to why.
      1. Q&A
   6. BREAK
   7. Keywords: Social Constructionism
   8. For Next Time
      1. Annotate a Scholarly Article HW
   9. Final Questions

For Next Time

• HW:  Annotate a Scholarly Article Assignment
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 11 (‘Race and Ethnicity’), Sections 11.4 (‘Intergroup Relations and the Management of Diversity’), and 11.5 (‘Race and Ethnicity in Canada’)
• Rebecca Tuvel,  ‘In Defense of Transracialism’,  Hypatia (2017)

Here’s the Krugman essay I mentioned in class that offers some good reasons to be sceptical of the claim that successful businessmen would make good presidents (go here if you prefer to read a PDF version). This is not assigned reading, but check it out if you have a moment!

Prep

• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 12 (‘Gender, Sex, and Sexuality’), Section 12.3 (‘Sex and Sexuality’)
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 14 (‘Marriage and Family’), Sections 14.1 (‘What Is Marriage? What Is a Family?’) and 14.2 (‘Variations in Family Life’)

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Update: Midterms & Resubmits
   3. BREAK
   4. TBA
   5. For Next Time
   6. Two-Minute Essay

For Next Time

• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 11 (‘Race and Ethnicity’), Sections 11.1 (‘Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups’), 11.2 (‘Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination’),  and 11.3 (‘Theories of Race and Ethnicity’)

Prep

• Anne Fausto-Sterling, ‘Why Sex Is Not Binary’, New York Times (25 October 2018)
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 12 (‘Gender, Sex, and Sexuality’), Sections 12.1 (‘The Difference Between Sex and Gender’), 12.2 (‘Gender’)

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. TBA
   3. BREAK
   4. TBA
   5. For Next Time

For Next Time

• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 12 (‘Gender, Sex, and Sexuality’), Section 12.3 (‘Sex and Sexuality’)
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 14 (‘Marriage and Family’), Sections 14.1 (‘What Is Marriage? What Is a Family?’) and 14.2 (‘Variations in Family Life’)

Prep

• Kristen Ghodsee, ‘Why Women Had Better Sex Under Socialism’, New York Times (12 August 2017). Short!
• Review Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Communist Manifesto, (New York: Verso, 1998)

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Marx & Engels (1848): Mapping the Argument
   3. BREAK
   4. TBA
   5. For Next Time

For Next Time

• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 12 (‘Gender, Sex, and Sexuality’)
• TBA

Prep

• Midterm due by 23:59, 10/23
• Milton Friedman, ‘The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits’, New York Times Magazine (13 September 1970)
• Karl Marx and Frederick Engels,The Communist Manifesto, (New York: Verso, 1998)

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Friedman (1970): Mapping the Argument
   3. Marx & Engels (1848): Mapping the Argument
   4. BREAK
   5. TBA
   6. For Next Time

For Next Time

• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 12 (‘Gender, Sex, and Sexuality’)
• TBA