Elements of Sociology

Hey y’all, slight change of plans: we didn’t get a chance to really discuss the Ritzer article, so let’s go over that, and then begin our discussion of social stratification (we’ll save the Communist Manifesto for next week) with a look at the textbook discussion of it.  Please take some time to look over the Ritzer article again. Finally, here’s that video I mentioned Friday on the 1%, the 9.9%, and the rest of us.

Prep

• HW due 10/13: Class Participation Self-Evaluation
• HW due 10/14: Annotated Bibliography
• Review George Ritzer, ‘The McDonaldization of Society’ Journal of American Culture (1983), pp.100-107
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 9 (‘Social Stratification in Canada’), esp. Sects. 9.1 (‘What Is Social Stratification?’) and 9.4 (‘Theoretical Perspectives on Social Stratification’)

In Class

1. Attendance
2. Small Groups Exercise: Mapping Ritzer’s Argument
3. Small Groups Exercise: McDonaldisation in Brazil
4. Belated Introduction: Max Weber and the Rationalisation Process
   1. Rationalisation in Bed
5. BREAK
6. Q&AL Social Stratification
7. Review: Submitting the Midterm
8. For Next Time
   1. On Reading Marx

For Next Time

• 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)

Prep

• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 6 (‘Groups and Organization’), esp. Sects. 6.2 (‘Groups and Networks’), and 6.3 (‘Formal Organizations’)
• George Ritzer, ‘The McDonaldization of Society’Journal of American Culture (1983), pp.100-107

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Impeachment Watch
   3. Small Groups Exercise: Mapping Ritzer’s Argument
   4. Small Groups Exercise: McDonaldisation in Brazil
   5. Belated Introduction: Max Weber and the Rationalisation Process
      1. Rationalisation in Bed
   6. BREAK
   7. TBA
   8. For Next Time
      1. Annotating the Communist Manifesto

For Next Time

• HW due 10/13: Class Participation Self-Evaluation
• HW due 10/14: Annotated Bibliography
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 9 (‘Social Stratification in Canada’), esp. Sects. 9.1 (‘What Is Social Stratification?’) and 9.4 (‘Theoretical Perspectives on Social Stratification’)
• Karl Marx and Frederick Engels,The Communist Manifesto, (New York: Verso, 1998)

For those of you who would like to get a little clearer on the details of impeachment, given that this week we’ll be turning our attention to politics, here’s a brief guide published in the New York Times (they’ve also published a useful timeline of important events leading up to the opening of the inquiry. As I mentioned in class, the impeachment inquiry turns on the details of a telephone conversation between Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, in which the former is alleged to have enlisted the latter’s aid in digging up dirt on a political opponent. Here is the reconstructed transcript of that conversation. You can also read (this is all optional reading, remember) the official whistle-blower’s complaint. Finally, for an appreciation of how good writing can play a pivotal role in such history-making events, see this appreciation of the whistle-blower’s writing.

Prep

• Review Matthew Desmond, ‘In order to understand the brutality of American capitalism, you have to start on the plantation’, Times Sunday Magazine (14 August 2019)

• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 17 (‘Government and Politics’), esp. Sections 17.1 (‘Power and Authority’) and 17.2 (‘Democratic Will Formation’)

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Review: Submitting the Class Participation Essay and Midterm
   3. Impeachment Update
   4. Slavery and Capitalism
      1. Mapping the Argument
   5. BREAK
   6. Politics from a Sociological POV
   7. For Next Time

For Next Time

• HW: Annotated Bibliography
• HW: Class Participation Self-Evaluation
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 6 (‘Groups and Organization’), esp. Sects. 6.2 (‘Groups and Networks’), and 6.3 (‘Formal Organizations’)
• George Ritzer, ‘The McDonaldization of Society’Journal of American Culture (1983), pp.100-107

Prep

• Matthew Desmond, ‘In order to understand the brutality of American capitalism, you have to start on the plantation’, Times Sunday Magazine (14 August 2019)
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 18 (‘Work and the Economy’), esp. Section 18.1 (‘Economic Systems’)
• Review Rebecca Jones, ‘Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother With Logic?’,  pp. 156-71. This can be a light skim.

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Current Events: Holy Shit! Impeachment!!?
   3. Review for Midterm Exam
   4. Logical Argumentation
      1. Slavery and Capitalism: Mapping Desmond (2019)
      2. Intro to Hypothes.is
   5. BREAK
   6. Economic Systems
   7. For Next Time

For Next Time

• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 17 (‘Government and Politics’), esp. Sections 17.1 (‘Power and Authority’) and 17.2 (‘Democratic Will Formation’)
• TBA

`A few of you asked if there was any homework at the end of class. Let’s be clear: beyond any particular written assignments, you always have homework — namely, doing the assigned reading! If you look over these assignments and you decide that it’s too long or looks too difficult, then you haven’t done your homework. And that’s not a good strategy for doing well in (or even passing) this class. Come to class prepared.

Prep

• Review Michael A. Caulfield, Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers (2017), Part I (‘Four Strategies and a Habit’); Part II (‘Look for Previous Work’), Chs. 4 (‘How to Use Previous Work’), 5 (‘Fact-Checking Sites’), 6 (‘Wikipedia’); Part III, Ch. 7 (‘Going Upstream to Find the Source’); Part IV (‘Reading Laterally’), Chs. 16 (‘What Reading Laterally Means’), 17 (‘Evaluating a Website or Publication’s Authority’), 18 (‘Basic Techniques: Web Domains, WHOIS’); 20 (‘Stupid Journal Tricks’); 21 (‘Finding a Journal’s Impact Factor’); 22 (‘Using Google Scholar to Evaluate Author Expertise’), 23 (‘How to Think About Research’), 24 (‘Finding High Quality Secondary Sources’), 25 (‘Choosing Your Experts First’), 26 (‘Evaluating News Sources’), 27 (‘What Makes a Trustworthy News Source?’), 28 (‘National Newspapers of Record’); Part V (‘Field Guide’), Chs. 42 (‘Avoiding Confirmation Bias in Searches’), and 44 (‘Finding Old Newspaper Articles’)
• Rebecca Jones, ‘Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother With Logic?’, Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 2 (2011), focusing on pp. 156-71.
  • Here’s an optional audio clip on writing that you might check out. It’s an interview with Trish Hall, who for many years edited the Op-Ed page of the New York Times.

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Web Literacy and Fact-Checking
   3. BREAK
   4. Logical Argumentation
   5. For Next Time

For Next Time

• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 18 (‘Work and the Economy’), esp. Section 18.1 (‘Economic Systems’)
• Matthew Desmond, ‘In order to understand the brutality of American capitalism, you have to start on the plantation’, Times Sunday Magazine(14 August 2019

Prep

• Review Michael A. Caulfield, Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers (2017), Part I (‘Four Strategies and a Habit’); Part II (‘Look for Previous Work’), Chs. 4 (‘How to Use Previous Work’), 5 (‘Fact-Checking Sites’), 6 (‘Wikipedia’); Part III, Ch. 7 (‘Going Upstream to Find the Source’); Part IV (‘Reading Laterally’), Chs. 16 (‘What Reading Laterally Means’), 17 (‘Evaluating a Website or Publication’s Authority’), 18 (‘Basic Techniques: Web Domains, WHOIS’); 20 (‘Stupid Journal Tricks’); 21 (‘Finding a Journal’s Impact Factor’); 22 (‘Using Google Scholar to Evaluate Author Expertise’), 23 (‘How to Think About Research’), 24 (‘Finding High Quality Secondary Sources’), 25 (‘Choosing Your Experts First’), 26 (‘Evaluating News Sources’), 27 (‘What Makes a Trustworthy News Source?’), 28 (‘National Newspapers of Record’); Part VI (‘Field Guide’), Chs. 42 (‘Avoiding Confirmation Bias in Searches’), 44 (‘Finding Old Newspaper Articles’), and 45 (‘Using the Facebook Live Map to Find Breaking Coverage’)
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 3 (‘Culture’)

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Review of the Methods of Sociological Research
   3. Culture
   4. BREAK
   5. Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers: Four Strategies and a Habit
   6. For Next Time

For Next Time

• Rebecca Jones, ‘Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother With Logic?’, Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 2 (2011), focusing on pp. 156-71
• TBA

Prep

• Little, William, and Ron McGivern. n.d. Introduction to Sociology, 1^stCanadian Edition, Ch. 2 (‘Sociological Research’), esp. Sections 2.1 (‘Approaches to Sociological Research’) and 2.2 (‘Research Methods’)
• Michael A. Caulfield, Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers (2017), Part I (‘Four Strategies and a Habit’); Part II (‘Look for Previous Work’), Chs. 4 (‘How to Use Previous Work’), 5 (‘Fact-Checking Sites’), 6 (‘Wikipedia’); Part III, Ch. 7 (‘Going Upstream to Find the Source’); Part IV (‘Reading Laterally’), Chs. 16 (‘What Reading Laterally Means’), 17 (‘Evaluating a Website or Publication’s Authority’), 18 (‘Basic Techniques: Web Domains, WHOIS’); 20 (‘Stupid Journal Tricks’); 21 (‘Finding a Journal’s Impact Factor’); 22 (‘Using Google Scholar to Evaluate Author Expertise’), 23 (‘How to Think About Research’), 24 (‘Finding High Quality Secondary Sources’), 25 (‘Choosing Your Experts First’), 26 (‘Evaluating News Sources’), 27 (‘What Makes a Trustworthy News Source?’), 28 (‘National Newspapers of Record’); Part VI (‘Field Guide’), Chs. 42 (‘Avoiding Confirmation Bias in Searches’), 44 (‘Finding Old Newspaper Articles’), and 45 (‘Using the Facebook Live Map to Find Breaking Coverage’)

In Class

1. 1. Attendance
   2. Review of Syllabus
   3. How to Submit the Semester Goals HW
   4. Ten Core Themes, cont’d
   5. Applying the Scientific Method to the Study of Human Beings
      1. Example: The Porn Myth Thesis
      2. The Scientific Method and the Research Process
   6. BREAK
   7. Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers: Four Strategies and a Habit
   8. ‘Activity: Find Top Authorities for a Subject’
   9. For Next Time

For Next Time

• HW due 9/7: Semester Goals
• William Little and Ron McGivern, Introduction to Sociology, Ch. 3 (‘Culture’)
• TBA

Welcome! I know it’s not easy to hit the ground running after a long summer, but please take some time at least to skim the readings below. The rest of this post provides a brief outline of what we’ll be doing on the first day.

Prep

• Ground Rules for the Classroom
• Caroline Hodges Persell, Kathryn M. Pfeiffer, and Ali Syed, ‘What Should Students Learn After Taking Intro Sociology?’, Teaching Sociology35 (October 2007)

In Class

1. Review: Ground Rules for the Classroom
2. Attendance/Introductions
3. Ten  Things You Should Understand (Better) After This Course
4. Q&A: What Is Sociology? Towards a Working Definition
5. BREAK
6. Low-Stakes Writing Assignment: What Are Your Goals for the Course?
7. For Next Time

For Next Time

• Little, William, and Ron McGivern. n.d. Introduction to Sociology, 1^stCanadian Edition, Ch. 2 (‘Sociological Research’), esp. Sections 2.1 (‘Approaches to Sociological Research’) and 2.2 (‘Research Methods’)
• Michael A. Caulfield, Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers(2017), Part I (‘Four Strategies and a Habit’); Part II (‘Look for Previous Work’), Chs. 4 (‘How to Use Previous Work’), 5 (‘Fact-Checking Sites’), 6 (‘Wikipedia’); Part III, Ch. 7 (‘Going Upstream to Find the Source’); Part IV (‘Reading Laterally’), Chs. 16 (‘What Reading Laterally Means’), 17 (‘Evaluating a Website or Publication’s Authority’), 18 (‘Basic Techniques: Web Domains, WHOIS’); 20 (‘Stupid Journal Tricks’); 21 (‘Finding a Journal’s Impact Factor’); 22 (‘Using Google Scholar to Evaluate Author Expertise’), 23 (‘How to Think About Research’), 24 (‘Finding High Quality Secondary Sources’), 25 (‘Choosing Your Experts First’), 26 (‘Evaluating News Sources’), 27 (‘What Makes a Trustworthy News Source?’), 28 (‘National Newspapers of Record’); Part VI (‘Field Guide’), Chs. 42 (‘Avoiding Confirmation Bias in Searches’), 44 (‘Finding Old Newspaper Articles’), and 45 (‘Using the Facebook Live Map to Find Breaking Coverage’)

In class I mentioned a Paul Krugman article on the negative externalities associated with fracking; you can find it here. As Krugman so aptly puts it,

Economics 101 tells us that an industry imposing large costs on third parties should be required to “internalize” those costs — that is, to pay for the damage it inflicts, treating that damage as a cost of production. … So it’s worth pointing out that special treatment for fracking makes a mockery of free-market principles. Pro-fracking politicians claim to be against subsidies, yet letting an industry impose costs without paying compensation is in effect a huge subsidy.

Prep

• John Atlas and Peter Dreier, ‘Is The Wire Too Cynical?’, Dissent (25 March 2008)

In Class

1. Attendance
2. Video: The Wire (Season 1, Episode 1)
3. BREAK
4. Writing Workshop
5. For Next Time

For Next Time

• TBA

Prep

• Due 8/7/2019, 23:59:  Final Exam
• Claude S. Fischer, ‘Inventing the Social Network’, Boston Review (19 December 2013)
• ‘Conclusion: Understanding and Changing the Social World’

In Class

1. Attendance
2. What Was the Most Important Point from Yesterday?
3. Keywords: Negative Externalities
4. Social Network Analysis
5. Public Sociology
6. BREAK
7. Review: Kyle D. Stedman, ‘Annoying Ways People Use Sources’, Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 2 (2011):
   1. Armadillo Roadkill
   2. Uncle Buddy’s Encyclopedia of Useless Facts
   3. Am I in the Right Movie?
   4. I Can’t Find the Stupid Link
   5. I Swear I Did Some Research!
8. Review: FInal Exam
   1. Decoding Cryptic Grading Comments
   2. When Should I Use Dictionary Definitions? (Hint: Rarely)
9. For Next Time

For Next Time

• John Atlas and Peter Dreier, ‘Is The Wire Too Cynical?’, Dissent (25 March 2008)