1
Self and Society General Syllabus (See
details in the course
website)
4 units
Auguste Rodin’s Thinker, 1902
Instructor: Ligia Toutant, Ph.D.
Email: ltoutant@ucla.edu
Skype (skyligia)
Office Hours: send me a request and we will arrange a meeting
Course Dates: January 6 – March 17, 2015 (11 meetings)
UCLA Extension Contact for this Course: Melony Varnado, Program Representative
310.825.7093 | journalism@uclaextension.edu
Student Records: Students can access and update student records by visiting: www.uclaextension.edu and
clicking on My.Extension on the left navigation bar. My.Extension lets you view your grades, request an
official transcript, change credit status on a current course, obtain enrollment verification, update your
personal information, and much more.
Student Conduct:
Student Conduct: By enrolling in this course, all students are expected to have reviewed the
Student Conduct and Sexual Harassment information provided in the current Quarterly catalog
(print or online) under “General Information.”
Accommodations: If you need accommodations for a disability, please contact the UCLA Extension
Disabled Student Services at: (310) 825-7851 or via e-mail: access@uclaextension.edu.
Course Description
What is reality and where does it come from? Why do we understand the world in the ways we do? How are society's rules
enforced and experienced? Where does society end and your "self" begin? This course examines the social processes that shape
experience, definition, and enactment of self and personal identity. Designed to provide an overview of how the social environment
affects human behavior and how the individual affects the social environment, the course immerses students in the theories and
research associated with Social Psychology, not only through reading and writing, but also through personal experience. The main
goal of this course is for you to understand how, through our everyday interactions with one another, we make and remake our
social worlds and how these worlds make and remake us. The course has also a virtual world and virtual self added materials,
because technology influences significantly our everyday life, behaviors, and interactions.
Course Prerequisites – Any introductory sociology courses
Basic computer skills are preferred, which include the use of Internet browsers such as FireFox, Safari or Internet Explorer, ability
to install plug-ins, ability to attach and upload files to or download files from the Internet, basic understanding of how to use email
and MicroSoft Office for Windows or Mac.
Welcome to Self and Society!
2
This course requires active, regular participation in order for you to do well. Throughout the course, you will be encouraged to
apply sociological perspectives to your personal knowledge of social relations. A sociological perspective means wearing a
sociologist’s hat and viewing and analyzing the self in its interplay with society. It assumes awareness and an investigative spirit
that goes beyond what is considered truth and common sense to discover patterns in people’s behavior and insights into the social
world. Be sure to check your Blackboard messages and course announcements regularly for any general updates or
clarifications. I encourage you to use Skype to chat live with me.
Dr. Ligia Toutant ltoutant@ucla.edu Skype: Skyligia
Required Texts
Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach to Social Psychology and Sociology,
Jan. 2013 (4th edition) by Sandstrom, Lively, Martin, and Fine.
In addition, other multimedia materials will be uploaded every week.
These are readings to study and analyze, not simply skim over. Don't be discouraged if you find some readings difficult at first. A
second reading will help (and is often necessary). As you read, you will want to be watchful for the main argument, and when you
find it, circle or underline it or copy it into your notes.
How the class is designed
Each week starts on Tuesday and ends on Monday evening at 11:59 p.m. PDT. You have three days to post (Saturday, Sunday, and
Monday). For full credit, you need to post three times every week (one is your original comment and two comments to your
colleagues’ posts). If you post fewer than three times, you will still get partial credit. You can start posting your original post on
Saturday. The second and third posts, which are comments made on your colleagues' posts, should be posted by Monday@ 11:59
p.m. PDT.
Do not post all your comments on one day as you need to return to the discussion forum and see what others have posted.
To pass the class you need to post three times on different days, every week, to complete two artifacts and two written
assignments. If you post fewer than 3 posts, you will earn partial credit.
3
•
•
•
•
•
Posts 2 points X 10 weeks = 20 points
Artifact1 (due on week 5) = 10 points
Artifact2 (due on week 7)= 10 points
Short paper (due on week 9) = 20 points
Final paper (due on week 11) = 40 points
Late assignments will receive a penalty equivalent to one letter grade. After three days, the assignment will not be accepted and a
zero grade will be recorded. There is no extra credit for this class.
Academic Dishonesty
You are expected to demonstrate integrity in all of your academic endeavors and plagiarism is a violation of that integrity. There
are different forms of academic dishonesty:
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Cheating: “I copied off of someone else’s exam.”
Fabrication: “I made up the results for that lab exercise.”
Plagiarism: “I didn’t write that part of my paper—I just cut and pasted the text directly from the Web.”
Multiple Submissions: “I submitted the same paper for two of my classes.”
Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: “I let my roommate copy my homework—it’s no big deal.”
Avoiding plagiarism http://guides.library.ucla.edu/citing
Percentage of
Grade
Assignments
20 points
Participation
10 points
week 5
Digital artifact1
10 points
week 7
Digital artifact2
20 points
week 9
Short paper
40 points
week 11
Final paper; the length may vary (10 pages); reference list
of at least 5 academic sources is required.
Weekly postings week 1 to 10
(2 points for three postings)
100 points
*See specific instructions on the class website.
A = 100-94 A- = 93-90
C+ = 79-77 C = 76-73
F = 62 and below
B+ = 89-87 B = 86-83
C- = 72-70 D+ = 69-67
B- = 82-80
D = 66-63
Participation: You need to post three times on different days, every week. If you post fewer than 3 posts, you will earn partial
credit. You should respond only to the discussion board pertaining to each week.
Standards for participation - I will evaluate your posts based on their quality, timing, and quantity.
Quality of postings - Your postings should demonstrate your comprehension of the concepts under discussion. Your personal
opinion is typically not enough to demonstrate your comprehension. Similarly, responses such as “I agree with what you wrote” do
not contribute to the development of the discussion.
Timing and Quantity - Each week’s postings are part of a continuous discussion; I will not grant extensions for your postings.
You will make our discussions develop more concretely if you post on the days marked in the calendar of the syllabus.
I endeavor to create a classroom atmosphere where students are actively engaged in dialogue similar to that in a traditional
classroom. Class contribution is 20% of your grade, so your active participation is very important.
4
You will be graded on the quality of participation. This means:
Content (accuracy, relevance, thoughtfulness). Succinct original threads should generally demonstrate your understanding of course
materials. Responses to others should be substantive and pithy.
Interaction (meaningful responses to others’ postings). Comment on at least one response. Responses that state simply “I enjoyed
reading your post” or “I agree” contribute nothing to the discussion.
Timeliness (not all at one time or at last minute). Make your original post by the due date on the calendar
Response posts should be spread out over at least three days throughout the duration of the unit.
What my feedback means:
“Excellent” or “Very Good” – Means high level performance. Asks/posts thought provoking questions and generates comments
that demonstrate deep understanding based on course materials. Offers thoughtful and constructive criticism of classmates’ work,
which demonstrates deep understanding based on course materials. Postings offer original insights or responses that build on the
ideas of classmates and provide support from the course materials. Ideas are clearly expressed. Content of postings elicits reflection
and responses from other participants. Just posting “I agree/disagree” with your comment or “I think the same” to someone else’s
thoughts is not considered very good.
“Good” - Means competent performance. Asks/posts questions that demonstrate general understanding based on course materials.
Offers constructive criticism of classmates’ work, which demonstrates general understanding based on course materials. Postings
offer some original insights or responses that build on the ideas of classmates. Ideas are clearly expressed. Content of postings
elicits some reflection and responses from other participants. Just posting “I agree/disagree” with your comment or “I think the
same” to someone else’s thoughts is not considered good.
“Adequate” – Means average performance; there is room for improvement. Asks questions for clarification, occasional
participation. Offers few comments on classmates’ work and ideas. Postings offer few original insights or responses that build on
the ideas of classmates. Ideas are somewhat clearly expressed. Content of postings elicits little reflection and responses from other
participants.
“Re-do” - Means poor performance: Minimal participation of any kind.
Services for students with disabilities
The UCLA Extension website states:
In accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, UCLA
Extension provides appropriate accommodations and support services to qualified applicants and students with
disabilities….Accommodations and types of support services vary and are specifically designed to meet the disability- related needs
of each student based on current, verifiable medical documentation….Arrangements for auxiliary aids/services are available only
through UCLA Extension Disabled Student Services at (310) 825-7851 (voice/TTY) or by email. Please request such arrangements
with at least five working days' advance notice. All assistance is handled in confidence. Accommodations must be pre-approved.
Requests for retroactive accommodation will not be accepted.
For more information, go to http://uclaextension.edu/ and click on “student resources” and “students with disabilities.”
Student Conduct
UCLA takes academic integrity very seriously, as do I. The Extension policy is that the instructor will refer the student to UCLA
Extension Student Services. The following excerpt from the UCLA Extension web site applies to the online environment as well as
to face- to-face classes:
UCLA Extension takes pride in offering its students a first-class university learning environment. To preserve this environment,
UCLA Extension will intervene on matters of conduct. Students are subject to disciplinary action for several types of misconduct
or attempted misconduct, including but not limited to: Dishonesty, such as cheating, multiple submission, plagiarism, or knowingly
furnishing false information to the University; theft or misuse of the intellectual property of others; or violation of others'
copyrights….
Unauthorized entry to or use of University properties, equipment, computer systems, or other resources. Willful disruption of
teaching, research, administration, or other University activities ("disruption" is defined as any expression intended to impair or to
5
limit the expression of others or to interfere with the normal progress of University activities); "public flaming," "spamming," and
other forms of electronic/e-mail harassment also shall be deemed forms of disruption.
Sexual Harassment
Physical abuse, threats of violence, rape, other forms of sexual assault, or other conduct that threatens the health or safety of any
person on University property or in connection with official University functions
Disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, or failure to comply with directions of a University official or Extension instructor acting
in the performance of his/her official capacity ….
For more information – including Extension’s disciplinary action procedures and your rights related to them – go to
http://uclaextension.edu/ and click on “student resources,” “general information,” and “sexual harassment and student conduct
policies.”
Online Etiquette (this section adopted from University of Wisconsin Colleges Online)
A key distinguishing feature of an online course is that communication occurs primarily via the written word. Because of this, the
body language, voice tone, and instantaneous listener feedback of the traditional classroom are all absent. These facts need to be
taken into account both when contributing messages to a discussion and when reading them. Following the guidelines below will
prevent misunderstandings.
• Be professional. Think carefully about the content of your message before contributing it. Once sent to the group, there is
no taking it back. Poor grammar and spelling reflect poorly on you. It is a good practice to compose and check your
comments in a word-processor before posting them.
• Tone down your language. Given the absence of face-to-face clues, written text can easily be misinterpreted. Avoid the use
of strong or offensive language and the excessive use of exclamation points. If you feel particularly strongly about a point,
it may be best to write it first as a draft and then to review it, before posting it, in order to remove any strong language.
• Keep a straight face. In general, avoid humor and sarcasm. These frequently depend either on facial or tone of voice cues
absent in text communication or on familiarity with the reader.
• Be forgiving. If someone states something that you find offensive, mention this directly to the professor. Remember that
the person contributing to the discussion is also new to this form of communication. What you find offensive may quite
possibly have been unintended and can best be cleared up by the professor.
• Test for clarity. Messages may often appear perfectly clear to you as you compose them, but turn out to be perfectly obtuse
to your reader. One way to test for clarity is to read your message aloud to see if it flows smoothly. If you can read it to
another person before posting it is even better.
A Course is a Course
You may be familiar with many of the previous points if you have participated in other forms of electronic communication in the
past. But web-based courses have some added constraints not present in other arenas. Keep in mind these additional points:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Remember your place. A web-based classroom is still a classroom, and comments that would be inappropriate in a regular
classroom are likely to be inappropriate in a web-based course as well.
Treat your instructor and your fellow students with respect.
Be as concise as possible when contributing to a discussion. Web-based courses require a lot of reading, and your points
might be missed if hidden in a flood of text. If you have several points that you want to make, it might be a good idea to
post them individually, in several more focused messages, rather than as a single, lengthy, all-encompassing message.
Stick to the point. Contributions to a discussion should have a clear subject header, and you need to stick to the subject.
Don't waste others’ time by going off on irrelevant tangents.
Read first, write later. Don't add your comments to a discussion before reading the assigned readings and comments of
other students unless the assignment specifically asks you to.
All postings must link to the assigned readings and any outside resources. Also, not reading the comments posted by your
classmates is like ignoring their comments and contributions.
Comments related to the content of previous messages should be posted under them to keep related topics organized, and
you should specify the person and the particular point you are following up on.
Make sure you use subject lines that let the reader know what you will be posting.
Citations and Other Etiquette Sources
Many of the points made here were taken from The Core Rules of Netiquette, excerpted from the book Netiquette, by Virginia Shea.
The Core Rules of Netiquette can be accessed at http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html. Further, information was taken
from Arlene H. Rinaldi's The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette. http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs3604/lib/Netiquette/Rinaldi/
6