Intro Soc (Birk) – Page 1
Introductory Sociology – Spring 2013
SC001.04 ǀ MWF 2-2:50 p.m. ǀ Gasson 210
Lara Birk ǀ birk@bc.edu
Office Hours: MWF 1:15-2 p.m. in Gasson 2nd floor lounge
“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”
– Nelson Mandela
“If you have come here to help me, then you are wasting your time… But if you have come because your
liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
– Lila Watson
“The trouble around difference is really about privilege and power—the existence of privilege and the lopsided distribution of
power that keeps it going. The trouble is rooted in a legacy that we all inherited, and while we’re here, it belongs to us. It isn't
our fault. It wasn't caused by something we did or didn't do. But now that it's ours, it's up to us to decide how we're going to deal
with it before we collectively pass it along to the generations that will follow ours.”
– Allan G. Johnson
Welcome to Introductory Sociology!
Whether you are new to sociology or a seasoned major catching up on requirements, you should find this course
challenging but reasonable. My philosophy as an instructor is that you have as much to teach one other as I
have to teach you. As such, discussion will be a substantial part of this course. By enrolling in SC001.04, you
hereby agree to do each set of readings **prior** to the class in which we will discuss them and that you will be
an active participant in all class discussions and activities.
Course Objectives:
 For you to develop a sociological imagination that helps you think in new ways about society, the world
around you, people who are different from you, and your own life and self
 For you to strengthen the critical thinking, reading, writing, and speaking skills necessary for success in
college and beyond
 For us to discuss openly important if sensitive topics that affect us all as social beings
 For us to practice engaging in civil discourse with one another whether we agree or not
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Required Texts:
1. Readings for Sociology (7th edition), edited by Garth Massey [Hereafter referred to as “RS”]
2. Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology (8th edition), edited by
John J. Macionis & Nijole V. Benokraitis [Hereafter referred to as “SO”]
3. Additional Readings in Course Reserves [Hereafter referred to as “Reserves”]
Course Requirements:
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•
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•
•
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10%
10%
10%
20%
20%
30%
Attendance & Participation
Co-Leadership of One Class Discussion
In-Class Quizzes (5 of 7 total unannounced quizzes worth 2 points each)
First Paper – 5-6 page Sociological Autobiography due Monday, February 25
Second Paper – 5-6 page Sociological Analysis due Friday, April 5
Final Exam (Cumulative) on Saturday, May 11 from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Introductory Sociology & the Social Science Core:
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Perennial Questions: Is society “fair”? Why do some groups have more power than others? Are we
completely free agents or does society exert some control on and influence over our lives and choices?
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Cultural Diversity: We will sustain an intense focus on race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability.
We will examine different groups’ relations to power and attend to the many ways in which these
factors intersect and affect our own lives.
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Historical Perspective: The development of a “sociological imagination” is the heart of this course.
Throughout, we will take up C. Wright Mills’ call for us to investigate the relationship between “personal
troubles” and “public issues.” In other words, we will analyze the connections between the seemingly
private events of our own lives on the one hand and history and social structure on the other.
•
Writing: While the majority of college students think of writing as something you do once and turn in,
good writing is actually an iterative process—meaning it is something you return to again and again.
Ideas shape writing, and writing shapes ideas. Writing and critical thinking are together the most
important skills you will develop at college.
•
Creating a Personal Philosophy: I will challenge you to use the course to critically examine your
previously held assumptions and unarticulated beliefs and to develop a thoughtful and informed
approach to life. You should come away with a richer sense of your own place in society and your
potential to make a difference in it.
A Note on Academic Integrity:
Violations of academic integrity are a serious breach of the honor code implicit in the everyday operations of
university life. Presenting another’s work as your own is not only intellectually dishonest but also wasteful.
Engaging in any form of cheating, plagiarism, and the like only cheats you of the education you are here to get.
As such, you are expected to present only your own work, ideas, and insights as your own and, in cases where
you do borrow the words or ideas of another, to give credit where credit is due. For a full statement on the
University’s academic integrity policies, please see: http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/academic/integrity.html.
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Section 1: Introduction to Sociology
Date Due
Assignment
Topic
Class 1:
Introductions
Mon. 1/14
Wed. 1/16
RS Ch. 2 (Mills: Sociological Imagination); SO Ch. 2 (Berger:
Invitation to Sociology) & SO Ch. 4 (Miner: Body Ritual of the
Nacirema)
Class 2:
The Sociological Imagination
Fri. 1/18
RS Ch. 3 (Durkheim: What Makes Sociology Different)
Class 3:
What is Sociology?
Mon. 1/21
NO CLASS
SO Ch. 6 (Babbie: The Importance of Social Research) & RS
Ch. 6 (Best: Telling the Truth about Damned Lies and
Statistics)
Wed. 1/23
MLK DAY
Class 4:
Sociological Research
Section 2: Micro Sociology: The Self & Social Interaction in Everyday Life
Date Due
Assignment
Topic
Fri. 1/25
SO Ch. 15 (Mead: The Self); RS Ch. 18 (Goffman: On
Facework); SO Ch. 20 (Goffman: Presentation of Self in
Everyday Life)
Class 5:
The Self
Mon. 1/28
Garfinkel: Studies of the Routine Grounds of Everyday
Activities (Reserves)
Class 6:
Social Norms
Section 3: Social Structure & Identity: Gender, Class, Race, Sexuality, & Disability
Date Due
Assignment
Topic
Wed. 1/30
RS Ch. 14 (Messner: Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the
Construction of Masculinities); Kilbourne: The More You
Subtract, the More You Add (Reserves)
Class 7:
Gender Socialization
Fri. 2/1
SO Ch. 39 (Lorber: Night to His Day: The Social Construction
of Gender); West & Zimmerman: Doing Gender (Reserves)
Class 8:
Social Construction of
Gender
Mon. 2/4
Herek: Beyond Homophobia (Reserves); Kimmel: Masculinity
as Homophobia (Reserves)
Class 9:
Sexuality & Homophobia
Wed. 2/6
RS Ch. 15 (Lareau: Concerted Cultivation and the
Accomplishment of Natural Growth); MacLeod: The World of
Work (Reserves)
Class 10:
Social Class
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Lubrano: The Bricklayer’s Son (Reserves); RS Ch. 20 (Bettie:
Women without Class)
Class 11:
Social Construction of Class
Cohen: Millennials and the Myth of the Post-Racial Society
(Reserves); Brunsma, et al: Teaching Race at Historically
White Universities
SO Ch. 21 (Rothenberg: Invisible Privilege); McIntosh: White
Privilege and Male Privilege (Reserves);
Bonilla-Silva: Racism without Racists, Ch. 1 (Reserves)
RS Ch. 22 (Waters: Optional Ethnicities); SO Ch. 44 (Brodkin:
How Did Jews Become White Folks?); SO Ch. 45 (Zhou: Are
Asian Americans Becoming White?)
SO Ch. 41 (DuBois: The Souls of Black Folk);
RS Ch. 46 (Benton-Cohen: from Borderline Americans);
Miville, et al: Chameleon Changes (Reserves)
RS Ch. 8 (Brandt: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study);
Sue, et al: Racial Microaggressions and the Asian American
Experience (Reserves)
Class 12:
Talking about Race in “PostRacial” America
Class 13:
White Privilege &
Colorblindness
Class 14:
Social Construction of Race
& Ethnicity
Fri. 2/22
Powell, et al: Toward a Transformative View of Race
(Reserves)
Class 17:
Structural Racism
Mon. 2/25
Garland Thomson: Theorizing Disability (Reserves)
Class 18:
Disability
Mon. 2/25
5-6 PAGE PAPER DEADLINE TODAY
SOCIOLOGICAL
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Fri. 2/8
Mon. 2/11
Wed. 2/13
Fri. 2/15
Mon. 2/18
Wed. 2/20
Class 15:
Race
Class 16:
Racism
Section 4: Macro Sociology: Capitalism, Democracy, & Economic Inequality
Date Due
Assignment
Topic
Wed. 2/27
SO Ch. 11 (Marx and Engels: Manifesto of the Communist
Party); RS Ch. 39 (Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit
of Capitalism)
Class 19:
Capitalism
Fri. 3/1
SO Ch. 49 (Mills: The Power Elite); Rothkopf: Superclass,
Introduction (Reserves)
Class 20:
Democracy
NO CLASS
NO CLASS
NO CLASS
RS Ch. 31 (Gans: Uses of the Underclass in America); SO Ch.
37 (Eglitis: The Uses of Global Poverty: How Economic
Inequality Benefits the West)
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
Mon. 3/4
Wed. 3/6
Fri. 3/8
Mon. 3/11
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Class 21:
Economic Inequality
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Wed. 3/13
RS Ch. 23 (Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed); RS Ch. 42 (Ritzer:
The McDonald’s System)
Class 22:
Low Wage Labor
Fri. 3/15
SO Ch. 48 (Newman: Getting a Job in Harlem); RS Ch. 30
(Wilson: The Economic Plight of Inner-City Black Males)
Class 23:
The Inner City
Mon. 3/18
RS Ch. 24 (Thomson: Hanging Tongues): RS Ch. 25 (Paules:
“Getting” and “Making” a Tip); RS Ch. 28 (Romero: Maid in
America)
Class 24:
Resistance
Section 5: The Sociology of Education: The Reproduction of Inequality
Date Due
Assignment
Topic
Wed. 3/20
SO Ch. 58 (Bowles and Gintis: Education and Inequality); SO
Ch. 59 (Kozol: Savage Inequalities: Children in US Schools);
Aronson: Breaking Barriers or Locked Out (Reserves)
Class 25:
Educational Inequalities
Fri. 3/22
Ferguson: Bad Boys, The Punishing Room (Reserves);
RS Ch. 29 (Chambliss: The Saints & the Roughnecks)
Class 26:
Labeling Theory
Mon. 3/25
Gaztambide-Fernández: Best of the Best, Introduction
(Reserves); Deresiewicz: The Disadvantages of an Elite
Education (Reserves)
Class 27:
Elite Boarding Schools
Wed. 3/27
Khan: Getting In: How Elite Schools Play the College Game
(Reserves)
Class 28:
Reproduction of the Elite
Fri. 3/29
Mon. 4/1
NO CLASS
NO CLASS
Wed. 4/3
Bogle: Hooking Up, Ch. 6 (Reserves);
Armstrong et al: Sexual Assault on Campus (Reserves)
Fri. 4/5
RS Ch. 28 (Eitzen: Upward Mobility Through Sport); Eitzen:
Big Time College Sports (Reserves); Engstrom & Sedlacek: A
Study of Prejudice (Reserves)
EASTER BREAK
EASTER BREAK
Class 29:
Hookup Culture & Campus
Sexual Assault
Fri. 4/5
5-6 PAGE PAPER DEADLINE TODAY
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Class 30:
Sports in Higher Education
SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Intro Soc (Birk) – Page 6
Section 6: Deviance & Social Control
Date Due
Assignment
Topic
Mon. 4/8
SO Ch. 28 (Durkheim: The Functions of Crime); SO Ch. 30
(Anderson: The Code of the Streets); SO Ch. 31 (Farley:
Prostitution: A Worldwide Business of Sexual Exploitation)
Class 31:
Deviance
Wed. 4/10
Goffman: Stigma and Social Identity (Reserves); Link &
Phelan: Conceptualizing Stigma (Reserves)
Class 32:
Stigma
Fri. 4/12
Conrad: Medicalization and Social Control (Reserves); Szasz:
The Myth of Mental Illness (Reserves)
Class 33:
Medicalization of Deviance
Mon. 4/15
NO CLASS
PATRIOT’S DAY
Wed. 4/17
SO Ch. 29 (Rosenhan: On Being Sane in Insane Places);
Goffman: The Mortified Self Ch. 6 (Reserves)
Class 34:
Total Institutions
Fri. 4/19
RS Ch. 5 (Kelman and Hamilton: The My Lai Massacre);
Meyer: If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would
You? Probably (Reserves)
Class 35:
Obedience
Mon. 4/22
RS Ch. 32 (Shearing and Stenning: From the Panopticon to
Disney World); Williams: Death of the Profane (Reserves)
Class 36:
Social Control
Wed. 4/24
RS Ch. 33 (Rhodes: Total Confinement: Madness and Reason
in the Maximum Security Prison) & RS Ch. 36 (Hunt: Police
Accounts of Normal Force
Class 37:
Police & Prison
Fri. 4/26
Alexander: The New Jim Crow, Introduction (Reserves) &
Street: Felony is the New “N” Word (Reserves)
Class 38:
Racialized Social Control
Mon. 4/29
BRING QUESTIONS FOR EXAM REVIEW
Class 39:
Review Session
Wed. 5/1
NO READINGS
Class 40:
Wrap-Up
Sat. 5/11
12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
CUMULATIVE FINAL EXAM
**I reserve the right to make changes to this syllabus at any time, provided I give you fair and ample warning.**
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