Dr. Sarah G. Whiteford
SOCI 119B- INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
Mondays & Wednesdays 3-4:15pm; Armington 417
Course Description
What sociologists do and how they think; the study of the interaction of individuals and groups with their
physical and social environment; consideration of the basic sociological conceptual repertoire and major
explanatory frameworks used by sociologists.
Instructor Information
Professor: Dr. Sarah G. Whiteford
Office Location: Armington 305
E-mail: sarahwhiteford@upike.edu
Office Phone: 606-218-5022
Office Hours: Monday 2-3pm; Tuesday 11:15-noon & 2:15-3pm; Wednesday 2-3pm; Thursday 11:15noon & 2:15-3pm
If you need to see me, it is best that you let me know ahead of time so that I can expect you and plan
accordingly. Please contact me via e-mail at least 24 hours prior to the time which you would like to
schedule an appointment.
Required Text
Conley, Dalton (2015). You May Ask Yourself: Core 4th Edition. Norton Publishing. ISBN: 978-0-39393774-9
The Conley text is REQUIRED. You will be reading from it prior to most every class period and taking a
corresponding quiz on Joule. Additional reading materials will be posted in PDF format on Joule so
please be sure to also have a PDF reading program such as Adobe.
Course Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate:
1. Understanding and application of key theoretical paradigms (e.g., Functionalism, Conflict, and
Symbolic Interactionism).
2. A working knowledge of the basic quantitative and qualitative methods used in sociology.
3. Knowledge of American cultural components, media influence, and socialization processes.
4. An understanding of social interaction (microsociology) and social structures (macrosociology)
5. Understanding of social stratification based on race, class, gender, and/or sexual orientation.
Course Structure
This course will make use of individual assignments and shared assignments (i.e., group projects)—both
in and out of the classroom—to assess student understanding of key sociological concepts. Standardized
grading rubrics will be used when applicable to evaluate the accomplishment of learning objectives.
Assessment of this course will be made based on four key course components: exams, homework
(including online quizzes), attendance, and participation.
Evaluation & Grading
Final grades will be assigned using the following grading rubric:
90.00-100.00% = A
60.00-69.99%
=D
80.00-89.99% = B
59.99% and below
=F
70.00-79.99% = C
11 or more absences
= FN
Thus, in order to pass this course you must earn an overall average of 60 percent or better. Be forewarned
that I do NOT round up grades. Thus an overall average of 59.99 percent is not enough to pass the course
and I do NOT allow for make-up work (see “Additional Instructor Policies” section for exception). Just as
you must successfully complete 60% of the coursework to pass this course, you must attend at least 60%
of classes to avoid earning an FN as your final grade. As there are 29 scheduled classes, missing more
than 11 classes will automatically result in a grade of FN.
Course Requirements
As stated in the previous section, student grades will be evaluated using four course components: exams,
homework (including online quizzes), attendance, and participation. Each of these components will
contribute to the calculation of a final course grade but these components will not be weighted equally.
An average grade for each component will be calculated by dividing the number of points earned by the
number of points possible for each of these components. This will result in an average grade on exams,
an average grade on homework, an average grade on attendance, and an average grade on participation.
Once an “average” grade for each of these components has been calculated, the average grades will be
weighted and summed to derive a final grade for the course. The contribution of each grade component is
listed below:
Exams (best 2 of 3 exams)
20%
Homework (including online quizzes; dropping lowest 4)
70%
Participation (dropping lowest 2)
5%
Attendance (dropping 3 absences)
5%
TOTAL
100%
Exams. During the semester you will take three exams. I will count the best 2 out of 3 exam grades.
Each exam will cover materials presented and assigned during that segment of the course but will not pull
material from previous segments of the semester. There will be NO cumulative final exam. The third
exam will simply examine your understanding of course materials covered in the last third of the
semester. If you have performed well on tests 1 and 2, there is a chance you may opt not to take the third
exam. If you miss an exam (even for an excused reason), you will simply count that as your one dropped
exam. Thus, make up exams will NOT be offered. See the schedule of important dates below for the
tentative dates of each exam.
Exams are designed to be supplemental to the online quizzes (see homework section for more
information) and will focus more on general concepts and themes addressed in lecture. You will not be
held accountable for textbook content on these exams since you will have already been tested over those
materials in the online quizzes. The materials you will be held accountable for come from my personal
lectures and may be found on Joule under the “Presentations & Study Tools” folder. Exams will consist
of objective questions such as multiple choice and true/false.
Homework (including Online Quizzes). Throughout the semester, you will complete regular reading
assignments and corresponding quizzes as well as additional homework assignments and projects.
Homework assignments will be posted under the “Assignments” folder on the course Joule site. Prior to
every class you will be assigned a required reading. After completing the readings, you will take the
corresponding online quiz to assess your comprehension of the reading. Quizzes will be posted at least 24
hours before they are due in the “Assignments” folder on Joule. Quizzes consist of only 5 objective
questions, will be timed allowing you 7.5 minutes to complete them, and will allow you only one attempt
at the quiz so please be sure that you are ready to take it. Because I recognize the potential for
technological problems, inability to complete a particular assignment prior to class, and other such
excuses, I will drop the 4 lowest quiz grades. However, this means I will NOT reset attempts to take a
quiz, will not allow make-ups or extensions, etc. regardless of the excuse as to why you missed the
assignment. Any missed quiz will simply count as 1 of your 4 dropped quiz grades. I suggest that you
not waste those misses early in the semester since there’s always the potential for problems later on.
In addition to online quizzes, you will receive a variety of other homework assignments that may be
assigned either individually or as partnered/group assignments. All assignments—online or in paper—are
due at the beginning of class (i.e., 3pm) on the day they are due. See “Additional Instructor Policies”
below for information regarding my late work policies. It is important that you keep up with assignments
as they are assigned in class and/or on Joule. I will NOT grant additional assignments or the possibility of
makeup work at the end of the semester.
Attendance. Your success in this course is largely dependent on your attendance and participation in
class. You must be present at the time that class begins when attendance is taken in order to receive
credit for attendance. If you are late, it is your responsibility to talk to the professor after class and sign
the attendance sheet in order to get points for being present. Each class will count as 1 point towards your
attendance grade. I understand that sometimes—due to unforeseen circumstances—a student may miss
class for a completely legitimate reason. Thus, I’m granting you leeway to miss up to 3 classes before
your attendance grade falls below 100 percent. However, there is the potential to earn above 100% if you
don’t even miss those 3 classes. All absences—regardless of being excused or unexcused—still counts as
a miss. The FN policy for this course requires you to not miss more than 40 percent of classes (11
classes) or you will receive an FN for the course—regardless of if you were able to pass the course based
on knowledge. If I should have to cancel class at any time I will try my best to make alternative
arrangements for class to still go on in my absence. If I cannot, the number of classes will simply be
adjusted accordingly.
Physical presence in the classroom is not sufficient for earning your attendance points. You must also be
intellectually present and engaged. Involvement in other behaviors that detract from your learning (i.e.,
texting or playing on your cell phone, surfing the internet, reading outside materials, completing
homework for other courses, chatting with fellow classmates during lecture, etc.) will result in the loss of
your attendance point for that class period. Furthermore, if you are disruptive or distracting behavior is
deemed inappropriate or excessive by the professor, you will lose both your attendance for that class
period and one of your online quiz grades will be transformed to a zero. On your second violation of this
policy, you will lose an additional attendance point and I will drop an additional 2 quiz grades thus
totaling 3 dropped quiz grades. On the third violation, another attendance point lost and 3 additional
quizzes dropped (6 dropped total) and so on.
Participation. Participation grades will be earned for various activities during class time and will require
participation in group discussions, applying lecture materials to games and activities, etc. I will grade
participation assignments randomly. Some participation assignments will earn all students full credit for
simply completing them while others will be graded more rigorously. Participation activities must be
completed in class and there is no way to make up missed participation activities. Thus, I will drop the
lowest 2 participation activities.
Tentative Instruction Sequence
The sequencing of topics covered in this course is listed below but is subject to change based on time
constraints and the speed at which we are able to cover materials. Most assigned readings are listed but
other readings may be added to the list.
1. What is Sociology, the History of Sociology, Social Theory & Social Theorists
A. Readings include Conley Chapter 1 and “The Myth of Common Sense”
2. Research Methods for Studying Sociology
A. Readings include Conley Chapter 2 and “One Thousand and Forty-Nine Reasons Why
It’s Hard to Know When a Fact is a Fact”
3. Culture
A. Readings include “Body Ritual of the Nacirema”, Conley Chapter 3 (First half), and
“Uncovering Hidden Facts that Matter When Interpreting Individuals’ Behaviors: An
Ethnographic Lens”
4. The Media
A. Readings include Conley Chapter 3 (Second half) and “The More You Subtract, the
More You Add: Cutting Women Down to Size”
Exam 1
5. Socialization
A. Reading includes Conley Chapter 4 (First half)
6. Social Interaction & the Social Construction of Reality
A. Readings include Conley Chapter 4 (Second half) and “Precarious Situations in a Strip
Club: Exotic Dancers and the Problem of Reality Maintenance”
7. Social Structures and Institutions
8. Social Groups & Organizations
A. Reading includes Conley Chapter 5
Exam 2
9. Class Inequality & Stratification
A. Readings include “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of
Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies”, Conley Chapter 7,
and “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America”
10. Race & Ethnicity
A. Reading includes Conley Chapter 9
11. Gender, Inequality, & the Family
A. Reading includes Conley Chapter 8 (first and last sections)
12. Sexuality, Dating, & Marriage
A. Reading includes Conley Chapter 8 (middle section)
13. Social Movements & Social Change
Exam 3
Important Dates
Monday, January 11th
Monday, January 18th
Monday, February 15th
Friday, March 4th
Monday, March 14th-Friday, March 18th
Friday, March 25th
Friday, April 1st
Friday, April 22nd
Monday, May 2nd
Monday, May 2nd
Wednesday, May 4th (3pm)
First Day of Class
No Classes—MLK day
Exam 1
Midterm Grades Available
No Classes—Spring Break
No Classes—Good Friday
Exam 2
No Classes—Hillbilly Days
Last Day to Withdraw
Last Day of Class
Exam 3
Academic Honesty
The University of Pikeville is an academic community, and like all other communities, it can function
properly only if its members adhere to clearly established goals and values. Essential is the commitment
to the principles of truth and academic honesty. In order to articulate fully its commitment to academic
honesty and to protect members of its community from the results of dishonest conduct, University of
Pikeville has adopted the following policies to deal with cases of academic dishonesty. Academic
dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:
(a) Cheating: intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study
aids in any academic exercise.
(b) Plagiarism: the deliberate or accidental taking of another's ideas, work, or words as one's own
without properly documenting or crediting the original source in any academic exercise.
(c) Fabrication: the deliberate falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic
exercise.
(d) Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help
another violate any provision of this policy.
If an act of academic dishonesty is determined to have occurred, sanctions will be imposed depending on
the perceived intent and extent of the offense. Possible sanctions may include, but are not limited to, the
following actions:
(a) giving a warning;
(b) reducing the grade for the academic exercise;
(c) giving an "F" or zero for the academic exercise;
(d) giving a failing grade in the course with the inability to withdraw;
(e) reporting the matter to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for further possible action.
In addition to University of Pikeville’s stance on Academic Honesty, I want to add that my personal
policy requires students to complete work alone unless otherwise assigned. For some projects I will
actually require you to work together and I will make it clear when that is the case. But you are not
permitted to work together on individually assigned homework assignments including quizzes.
Therefore, the following would be considered violations of my Academic Honesty policy: discussing
questions or answers to online quizzes until both parties have completed the quiz, copying or letting
someone copy your work, or any other form of collaboration on individually assigned work. If you need
help on anything, you are more than welcome to discuss the assignment with me or seek help from a tutor
in the library.
ADA (American Disabilities Act) Policy
Pikeville College works to ensure that students with disabilities receive appropriate accommodations in
accordance with the requirements of the American Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Students with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact the
Disabilities Resources Office located in the Student Services Counselor’s Office. Accommodations are
made on an individual basis according to documented need. Additional information can be found in the
College Catalog and the Student Handbook. For information regarding disability accomodations, please
contact Kathy Petot in the Disabilities Resource Office/Student Counselor’s Office by phone at 606-2185232 or via e-mail at katherinepetot@upike.edu.
Failure for Non-Attendance/Non-Participation Policy
For financial aid purposes, students are required to participate (attending, taking exams, turning in work,
etc.) in all of their classes. At the end of the semester, a student who has all final grades of FN, F, I or W
may be subject to the University’s Unofficial Withdrawal Policy -- withdrawal initiated for financial aid
purposes -- which can result in a significant portion of the student’s financial aid and scholarships being
returned to the appropriate aid source. In turn, the student will be responsible for reimbursing the
University for the amount of returned aid. To avoid loss of financial aid and the incurring of additional
debt to the University, any UPIKE student who no longer wishes to remain in classes must complete the
academic withdrawal process.
Each professor is responsible for developing his/her own FN policy. For the purpose of this course, a
grade of FN will automatically be submitted if a student misses more than 40% of scheduled class
meetings. Therefore, missing more than 11 classes during this course will automatically result in a grade
of FN—regardless of if you were able to pass the course based on knowledge of the material. Your
learning in this course depends upon your participation in class.
Harassment & Sexual Harassment Policies
The University of Pikeville is committed to maintaining a humane atmosphere in which individuals do
not abuse their personal authority or power in interpersonal relationships. More specifically, faculty, staff
and students will not condone actions or words that a reasonable person would regard as discrimination or
harassment. Harassment in any form — verbal, physical or visual — is strictly against University of
Pikeville policy and will result in corrective action. Defining harassment precisely is not easy, but it
certainly includes slurs, threats, derogatory comments, unwelcome jokes, exposure to sexually oriented
literature or pictures, unwelcome teasing or sexual advances, and other similar verbal or physical conduct.
Some forms of harassment, including physical contact of a blatant sexual nature or behavior that
constitutes clear and wanton intimidation, are grounds for immediate dismissal.
The University of Pikeville is committed to providing its students with an environment free from implicit
and explicit cohesive behavior used to control, influence or affect the well-being of the student. Sexual
harassment can include physical conduct or verbal comments of a sexual nature that creates an
intimidating, hostile or offensive environment. Sexual harassment of any person is inappropriate and
unacceptable and is grounds for disciplinary action up to separation from the university. Examples of
sexual harassment, but not limited to, include the following:
1. Verbal or written harassment or abuse
2. Sexist remarks or suggestive comments, insults, humor or jokes about sex or gender specifications
3. Unnecessary touching, petting or pinching
4. Pressures for sexual activity
5. Constant brushing of another’s body
6. Demanding sexual favors accompanied by implied threats
7. Physical assault
8. Electronic media pornography, including use of the university’s Internet connections.
While matters of sexual harassment are covered under civil rights legislation and under matters of
discrimination, the University of Pikeville assumes a position to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment
on campus by any faculty, staff, administrator or student. It is the policy of the university that any practice
or behavior that constitutes sexual harassment or any other unreasonable interference with performance
will not be tolerated. The University of Pikeville is committed to ensuring that the institution is free of
sexual assault or harassment. Students who feel sexual harassment has occurred should file a report with
the vice president for student services. Full cooperation will be extended by the University of Pikeville to
law enforcement agencies when cases are being investigated.
Tobacco Free Campus Policy
Effective August 1, 2010, the University of Pikeville campus became completely tobacco-free.
Specifically, smoking or use of other tobacco products will not be permitted on any University campus
property or in University-owned vehicles.
Additional Instructor Policies
1. E-mail Response Policy: Allow 24 hours for responses to any e-mails or phone calls. I do not
respond to work related e-mail after 5pm in the evenings nor from Friday at 5pm until Sunday at
noon. Even in this age of technological advancement, it is unreasonable to expect your faculty to
available to you 24/7.
2. Extentions & Make-Up Policy: Basically, there isn’t one. I do NOT allow for make-up work or
extensions except under the most extenuating circumstances (i.e., unplanned, unavoidable, and
life altering events). If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to have all assignments
completed on time and turned in to the professor at the beginning of class on the day they are due.
They may be e-mailed to the professor before class time or sent with a classmate to submit in
hard copy. Under only the most extenuating of circumstances might an extension even be
considered. Under such circumstances, it is the student’s responsibility to communicate to the
instructor and provide documentation of said circumstances at the time when the situation is
occurring—not after. Extensions will not even be considered if the request is made more than 24
hours after the assignment was due.
3. Late Work Policy: Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day they are due (3pm).
If you turn it in any time after 3pm (due to whatever excuse) and until the end of class (4:15pm),
you will lose ¼ of the points the assignment is worth. Turning in the assignment later than
4:15pm on the day it is due will result in the loss of ½ points possible. For every day that the
assignment is late, you will lose an additional ½ credit for the assignment. Thus if an assignment
is worth 20 points and it is turned in later that day, the very best grade you could earn would be a
10/20. If it were turned in the next day, the best you could do would be a 5/20. Therefore, it is
important that you keep up with assignments as they are assigned in class.
4. Grade Inquiry Policy: Once grades are posted, you may find that you did not “receive” the grade
you expected. Keep in mind that I abhor comments suggesting that I “gave you” a grade rather
than you having “earned a grade”. Because students often send questions or concerns regarding
grades when emotions are high, I refuse to answer grade inquiry questions if the student contacts
me within the first 24 hours of a grade being posted. If you would like to e-mail me after that 24
hour lag time and you are thinking more rationally about the grade you earned, I will be glad to
discuss your grade with you at that point.