Chabot College
Fall 2010
Course Outline for Sociology 1
PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY
Catalog Description:
1 – Principles of Sociology
3 units
Designed to illuminate the way students see their social world. Uses a sociological perspective:
scientific study of human interaction and society, with emphasis on impact of groups on social
behavior. Includes the systematic examination of culture, socialization, social organization, social
class, race, gender, deviance, social change and empirical methodology. These content areas
are woven throughout the fabric of the course, particularly as they affect the lives of at least three
of the following groups: African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Native
Americans, Middle Eastern Americans and/or women. 3 hours.
[Typical contact hours: 52.5]
Prerequisite Skills:
None.
Expected Outcomes for Students:
Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. use the sociological perspective as an analytical tool when interpreting social phenomena;
2. apply sociological concepts and delineate how society shapes people and people shape
society;
3. discuss with clarity the sociological concepts through which social processes may be viewed
in an objective fashion;
4. identify the major research methods utilized by sociologists;
5. delineate the major substantive areas in sociology (e.g., race and ethnic relations, social
stratification, socialization) and address the major issues of concern for each area;
6. discuss the contributions made by a broad spectrum of sociologists including African
American, Latino American, Asian American, Native American and women;
7. analyze the major institutions in U.S. society and how social forces impact upon one’s
experience with these institutions dependent upon race, class or gender;
8. distinguish between the study of the individual, i.e., psychology, and the study of sociology,
i.e., the study of the group or groups.
Course Content:
1. Introduction to Sociology
a. Historical roots and early sociologists
b. DuBois, E. Franklin Frazier, Harriet Martineau
c. Scientific method
2. Culture
a. Components of Culture
b. Cultural patterns/variations
c. The symbolic nature of Culture
d. Cultural competence i.e. cultural relativity
e. Culture and the development of social systems
f. Culture and individualism
3. Individual in Society
a. Socialization, Norms and Roles
b. Individual in interaction
c. Roles and their internal structure
d. Role impact and the social situation
e. Social integration and social change
f. Status and master status with attention to black males and women
g. Social integration and social change
Chabot College
Course Outline for Sociology 1, Page 2
Fall 2010
h. Aging and the elderly, Jose Cuellar, Fernando Torres-Gil
4. Groups
a. Properties and purposes
b. Types of groups
c. The group as an element of social organization and social control
d. Social Stratification
e. William Julius Wilson and the underclass
f. Gender stratification
5.
Social Organizations
a. The Urban Community
b. The Rural Community
6.
Social Institutions
a. Definition
b. Function
c. Health Care and the medical industrial complex
7.
Race and Minorities
a. Definitions
b. Problems
c. Social Change
d. Harry Kitano, William Julius Wilson, Derrick Bell, Paul Robeson
e. Japanese Internment
8. Population and Social System
a. Problems of over and under population
b. Population and social control and organization
c. Ecology and population
Methods of Presentation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Lecture
Guided discussion about text and videos
Group projects
Small group activities and presentations
Audio-visual material selected from a variety of racial and ethnic videos on hand e.g. Children
of the Camps, Eyes on the Prize, Biography W.E.B. DuBois, Tuskeegee Study, Joy Luck
Club, etc.
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
1. Typical Assignments may include, but are not limited to:
a. Write a two-page paper on breaking a norm
b. Watch and analyze video clips using instructor prepared worksheets on topics including
research, feral children, deviance, crime, race and social class
c. Write a two-page paper on gender socialization in pre-adolescence through adolescence
d. Write a four-page paper autobiography on your “looking glass self” as Coolely describes
the concept and process of developing the self
e. Group presentations on different theories of deviance and their implications for social
policy
f. Group assignment students are to develop and create a social class board game that
incorporates concepts from the text on social inequality and upward social mobility
2. Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
a. Quizzes, midterm, final
b. Group presentations
c. Written assignments
d. Oral presentations
e. In-class demonstration of critical thinking in analyzing social processes
Textbook(s) (Typical):
Chabot College
Course Outline for Sociology 1, Page 3
Fall 2010
Sociology: The Essentials, Margaret L. Anderson and Howard F. Taylor, Thompson/Wadsworth,
2009.
You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist, Dalton Conley, W. W.
Norton & Company, Inc., 2008.
Special Student Materials:
None.
SOCI 1, revised 9/09: cs