Jennifer Silva
456 William James Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday 1-3
Spring 2012: M 1-3
Sociology 98S
William James Hall 601
COMING OF AGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
What does it mean to grow up today? Fifty years ago, by age twenty-two, the average person in
industrialized societies was married, had at least one child, and was perhaps on the way to a
mortgage. In the latter half of the twentieth century, however, traditional markers of adulthood –
leaving home, completing school, becoming financially independent, getting married, and having
children – have become increasingly delayed, disorderly, reversible, or even foregone, both in
the US and worldwide. This course will turn a sociological lens on the changing transition to
adulthood, investigating the changing economic, social, and cultural forces that have disrupted
the standard life course. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which race, class, gender,
and sexuality shape young people’s experiences of, and pathways to, adulthood.
Existing literature suggests that young people are redefining what it means to be an adult.
Students will be asked to identify a research question concerning the changing meanings of
adulthood. They might, for example, conduct interviews with members of a particular
demographic group about what it means to be an adult, or analyze archival evidence to uncover
how cultural conceptions of adulthood for men and women have changed over time. Weeks 5
and 6 of the course will explore techniques for collecting, interpreting, and analyzing qualitative
data. Students will then apply these techniques to their research question. We will spend the
remainder of the course discussing and analyzing how “adulthood” is being reconstructed in
various ways today. Students will present their results during the last two weeks of the course.
Course Aims and Objectives
This course is a collaborative effort: we will each get out of it what we put into it. I expect
students to take responsibility for completing assignments, asking questions, challenging takenfor-granted ideas, and participating actively in seminar discussions. I encourage you to attend
office hours at least twice during the semester.
This class has five broad goals that we will work toward over the course of the semester:
1. You will think critically about the social construction of adulthood; the economic, social,
and cultural forces that are reshaping it; and your own expectations and experience of the
transition to adulthood.
2. You will participate in building a learning community.
3. You will learn how to synthesize concepts, critique existing scholarship, formulate new
research questions, and use qualitative methods to answer these questions systematically.
4. You will be prepared to embark on a senior thesis.
5. You will write clearly and persuasively.
Course Policies and Expectations
1
Jennifer Silva
456 William James Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday 1-3
Spring 2012: M 1-3
Sociology 98S
William James Hall 601
Please note the following important dates:
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January 27 (Friday): Last registration deadline (fees apply); Study Card Day; Deadline to
cancel spring registration without payment of tuition.
February 6 (Monday): Deadline to change grading option for course (letter to P/F, P/F to
letter) without a fee.
February 20 (Monday): Final deadline to Add/Drop course with fee; Final Deadline to
change grading option for course with fee (letter to P/F, P/F to letter).
Regarding attendance and late work:
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Per Harvard University guidelines, you must attend every class meeting. In addition, this
course is seminar-based, so you must come to every meeting prepared to thoughtfully
participate. This means that you must complete the day’s assigned reading and writing
prior to coming to class. Remember: attending class is not the same thing as
participating in it.
You must notify me prior to an absence from class if you would like it to be excused.
Excuses after the fact will not be accepted unless you have a doctor’s note.
Late work will not be accepted.
Academic Integrity:
You are expected to adhere to the Harvard University guidelines regarding academic standards
and behavior. I expect that all work you turn in will be your own. If you synthesize or rely on
other people’s ideas or words to make your argument, you must cite them. A useful reference:
http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k70847&pageid=icb.page342054
Materials and Access
The course will rely on the following books, available for purchase at the Harvard Coop.
Additional readings will be posted to the course website.
Required:
Cherlin, Andrew. 2009. The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family
in America Today. Knopf.
Luker, Kristen. 2008. Salsa Dancing in the Social Sciences. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press.
Waters, Mary, Patrick Carr, Maria Kefalas, and Jennifer Holdaway. 2011. Coming of Age
in America: The Transition to Adulthood in the Twenty-First Century. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
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Jennifer Silva
456 William James Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday 1-3
Spring 2012: M 1-3
Sociology 98S
William James Hall 601
Recommended:
Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2001. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. New
York: Metropolitan Books.
Assignments and Grading Procedures
I. Class Participation: 30%
I expect you to come to class fully prepared and ready to analyze the readings or discuss your
research. For four weeks of the course, you will compose a response to the reading that you will
post on the class’s website (these weeks are marked with an asterisk). This response should be
about 300 words long. It should include observations and arguments about the reading that
culminate in a set of questions (3-4) for discussion. It should not simply summarize the reading.
You should also post one multimedia contribution (a video clip, a song, a picture, a news article,
etc) that relates to the topic at hand. Students are expected to read each other’s posts and view
each other’s media contributions before coming to class. This will help us jump-start our
discussion.
II. Mini-Assignments: 30%
In order to keep you on track and make sure you’re prepared to write your final paper, you will
complete a series of mini-assignments (10% each) throughout the semester. These assignments
are due at the beginning of class in hard copy and should also be submitted online through the
course website.
1. Research Question (due in class 2/27)
2. Description of Methods (due in class 3/5)
3. Preliminary data collection and analysis (due in class 4/2)
III. Final Paper: 30%
In this 15-20 page paper, you will ask a question about the transition to adulthood, provide a
literature review and theoretical framework, and build a coherent argument based on your
empirical findings. This paper is due 5/3/2012 and should be submitted online and in hard copy.
Useful writing help:
http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k74149&pageid=icb.page367244
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/writing-for-specificfields/sociology
IV. Class Presentation: 10%
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Jennifer Silva
456 William James Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday 1-3
Spring 2012: M 1-3
Sociology 98S
William James Hall 601
In the last two weeks of class, you will lead a short discussion on your findings. The goal of this
presentation is twofold. First, you will have a chance to practice communicating your ideas
publicly. Second, you will receive feedback from your peers on the organization and clarity of
your work before handing in the final paper. I expect students to be actively engaged in
evaluating each other’s work.
Accommodations for students with disabilities
In compliance with the Harvard University policy and equal access laws, I will be available to
discuss academic accommodations that may be required for students with disabilities. Any
student needing academic accommodations because of a documented disability is requested to
present their letter from the Accessible Education Office (AEO) and speak with me by the end of
the second week of the Spring 2012 term. All discussions will remain confidential, although
AEO may be consulted to discuss appropriate implementation.
Course Schedule
Jan. 23. The Changing Landscape of “Adulthood”
Furstenberg, F. F., Kennedy, S., McLoyd, V. C., Rumbaut, R. G., & Settersten, R. A., Jr.
2004. “Growing Up is Harder to Do.” Contexts 3: 33-41.
“The Kids are Actually Sort of Alright.” New York Magazine. Available online:
http://nymag.com/news/features/my-generation-2011-10/
*Jan. 30. The “Stable Endings” of Traditional Adulthood
Lee, Nick. 2001. “What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?” Pp 7-19 in
Childhood and Society: Growing Up in an Age of Uncertainty. Philadelphia, PA: Open
University Press.
Milkman, Ruth. 1997: “Prisoners of Prosperity: Auto Workers in the Postwar Period.”
Pp. 22-50 in Farewell to the Factory: Auto Workers in the Late Twentieth Century,
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Cherlin, Andrew J. 2009. “The Rise of the Companionate Marriage: 1900-1960.” Chapter
Three in The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family in America
Today. New York: Knopf.
Coontz, Stephanie. 1992 “‘Leave It to Beaver" and ‘Ozzie and Harriet’: American
Families in the 1950s.” Pp. 23-41 in The Way We Never Were: American Families and
the Nostalgia Trap. New York: Basic Books.
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Jennifer Silva
456 William James Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday 1-3
Spring 2012: M 1-3
Sociology 98S
William James Hall 601
*Feb 6. Growing Up in a Risk Society: From the Fordist to the Flexible Economy
Sewell, William Jr. 2009. “From State-Centrism to Neoliberalism: Macro-Historical
Contexts of Population Health Since World War II.” Pp. 254-287 in Peter Hall and
Michèle Lamont, eds, Successful Societies: How Institutions and Culture Affect Health.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Danziger, Sheldon and David Ratner. 2010. “Labor Market Outcomes and the Transition
to Adulthood.” Pp. 133-158 in Transition to Adulthood. Special Issue of the Future of
Children 20(1), edited by Gordon Berlin, Frank Furstenberg, Jr. and Mary C. Waters.
Hacker, Jacob. 2006. “The Privatization of Risk and the Growing Economic
Insecurity of Americans.” The Privatization of Risk Web Forum. Social Science
Research Council. Available online at: http://privatizationofrisk.ssrc.org/Hacker/
Silva, Jennifer. 2011. “Prisoners of the Present.”
Recommended:
Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2001. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. New
York: Metropolitan Books.
Brinton, Mary C. 2010. Pp. 63-97 in Lost in Transition: Youth, Work, and Instability in
Postindustrial Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press.
*Feb 13. The Transformation of Intimacy: From the Nuclear to the Negotiated Family
Hill, Shirley. 2005. “Love, Sex, and Relationships: The Pursuit of Intimacy.” Pp. 93-116
in Black Intimacies: A Gender Perspective on Families and Relationships. Walnut Creek,
CA: Altamira Press.
Gerson, Kathleen. 2010. “High Hopes, Lurking Fears.” Pp 103-123 in The Unfinished
Revolution: How a New Generation is Reshaping Family, Work, and Gender in America.
New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Cherlin, Andrew J. 2009. “Blue Collar Blues/White Collar Weddings.” Pp. 159-180 in
The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family in America Today. New
York: Knopf.
Silva, Jennifer. “Insecure Intimacies.”
Feb 20: President’s Day: No class.
Feb 27: Asking Sociological Questions
5
Jennifer Silva
456 William James Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday 1-3
Spring 2012: M 1-3
Sociology 98S
William James Hall 601
Luker, Kristen. 2008. Chapters Two, Four, and Five in Salsa Dancing in the Social
Sciences. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. **Note: try the exercises at the end
of each chapter.
Recommended:
McCorkel, Jill and Kristen Myers. 2003. “What Difference Does Difference Make?
Position and Privilege in the Field.” Qualitative Sociology 26: 199-233.
Due in Class: Research Question
March 5: Data Collection and Analysis
Luker, Kristen. 2008. Chapter Eight in Salsa Dancing in the Social Sciences. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press. **Note: try the exercise at the end.
Anselm Straus and Juliet Corbin, 1998. “Open Coding.” Pp. 61-74 in Basics of Qualitative
Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Due in class: Research Design
March 12th : Spring Break! No class.
*March 19. Beyond the White Picket Fence: New Identities, Persistent Inequalities
Brinton, Mary C. 2010. Pp. 63-97 in Lost in Transition: Youth, Work, and Instability in
Postindustrial Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Waters, Mary, Patrick Carr, Maria Kefalas, and Jennifer Holdaway. 2011. Pp. 133-168 in
Coming of Age in America: The Transition to Adulthood in the Twenty-First Century.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
March 26. Moving Forward: Policy Implications
Settersten, R. A., Jr. 2005. “Social Policy and the Transition to Adulthood: Toward
Stronger Institutions and Individual Capacities.” Pp. 534-560 in R. A. Settersten, Jr. et
al.. Eds., On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research, and Public Policy. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Cherlin, Andrew. 2009. “Slow Down” in The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of
Marriage and the Family in America Today.
April 2: Discussions of ongoing data collection and analysis
Due in class: Preliminary Data and Analysis
6
Jennifer Silva
456 William James Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday 1-3
Spring 2012: M 1-3
Sociology 98S
William James Hall 601
April 9: Discussions of ongoing data collection and analysis (you should have a good idea of
your lit review by now!)
April 16: Class Presentations
April 23: Class Presentations
Final Paper Due: May 3, 2012
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