Welcome to INTD212: Perspectives on Social Institutions! Self-understanding and the quest for
personal and professional realization are mediated by a host of social and institutional forms
including the family, social class, the economy, schools, and modern governmental and corporate
structures. This course will select and organize readings and other relevant materials in
sociology, political sciences, and economics to enable you to analyze some contemporary
institutional forms and to appreciate the dynamic interaction between such forms and your
personal experiences and areas of study.
In other words, we will explore the meaning of institution within the Western Tradition your
place in them by examining different worldviews and life experiences as they relate to
institutions: those in which you live and work, and those you may enter later. Students will
integrate personal experiences, knowledge gained in their degree concentrations in order to
discover, reflect, and appreciate the development of institutions, and how and why they evolve,
thrive (and, in the end) expire. Students will accomplish this through books, video, presentation,
and online written format (short reflective pieces, papers, forum posts).
The textbook for this class is Skolnik, J.E. & Currie, E. (2007). Crisis in American Institutions.
(14th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN-10: 0205610641.
Finally, just a little bit about me… I have been part of Family Services and Hudson Valley
Mental Health since July 2013 as the Director of HR and Risk Management and I have been an
adjunct instructor for Marist since 2014. I am passionate about two things I love to do in my
professional life – working for a non-profit whose mission I believe in and teaching based on my
experience/education. I also have a philosophy as a leader that drives who I am and what I do
and I’ll share that philosophy with you so that you can hold me to it and so that you know the
expectations I’ll have of you as students. Beyond my professional life my wife and I reside the
Poughkeepsie area with our dog Remy and we enjoy being a part of the community and enjoying
all the Hudson Valley has to offer! I look forward to working with all of you more closely over
the next 10 weeks. Sincerely,
Dr. Christopher R. Pels