SYG 2430 MARRIAGES AND FAMILIES (092G)
Diversity, Inequality, and Social Change
Spring 2015
Tuesdays, 4th Period and Thursdays 4th and 5th Periods
Room L- 005 Turlington Hall
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Constance Shehan, Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies
Office Address: 304 Ustler Hall
Phone: 273-0392
Email contact: cshehan@ufl.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays 5th and 6th periods (11:45 to1:45) and Thursday 6th period (12:55 to
11:45). Wednesdays by appointment.
GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT:
Ms. Stephanie Dhuman, 3357 Turlington Hall; Office Hours: 6th and 7th periods on Wednesdays;
Contact her at sdhuman@ufl.edu
Course Communication Procedures:
1)
Email: Use the email addresses listed above to reach me and/or Stephanie. Please give us 24
hours to respond. We will do our best, however, to respond more quickly than that.
2) Course list serve: You will frequently receive information about the course through the course
list serve. Your official UF Gatorlink email address is the one to which course-related
messages will be sent. PLEASE CHECK THIS REGULARLY. [If you don’t use your Gator link
email, please have the mail that is sent there forwarded to the email account you do use on a
regular basis.]
3) Canvas Announcements: Important updates will also be posted on the course website.
CHECK THIS REGULARLY.
4) Office hours: As noted above, Stephanie and I will have regular office hours. If these hours
conflict with your schedule, please contact us through email to set up an appointment.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Throughout the course, we consider variations in families and intimate relationships that are
associated with race/ethnic diversity, religion, gender, social class, and national origin.
In the first part of this course, we focus on couple relationships (both heterosexual and homosexual)
at various stages of their development. We will look at the ways in which people search for intimate
partners, including historical and cross-cultural variations in this process. We will examine the qualities
that are most highly desired in partners today and how these vary by gender. We will also consider
the demographic matching by age, race, religion, and social class that typically occurs in partner
selection. We will look in detail at the idea of commitment and examine the ways in which this is
demonstrated and acted upon in intimate relationships. We will also consider the role of sexual
involvement in the development of intimacy and commitment. We will also consider committed
couples who do not marry, either because they choose not to or because they are legally unable to do
so.
In the second part of the course, we look at families from a developmental perspective. We focus on
parent-child relationships, from the initial decision to become a parent through the aging of family
members. We look at parents and children in middle and later life and examine intergenerational
relationships involving grandparents and grandchildren. In our examination of couples in middle and
later life, we will look at the impact of employment and retirement. We will consider the ending of
couple relationships through divorce and widowhood. We will also look at factors that are associated
with the emergence of violence and abuse in intimate relationships, paying attention to gender
differences in the use of violence.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
It is our goal to help you achieve the following by end of this semester:
(1) Be able to put the family values debate into perspective by understanding the causes and
consequences of the changes in family forms and functions that have been occurring over the
past several decades.
(2) Know how to find and interpret reliable statistics about couples, families and households;
(3) Become better “consumers” of social science research.
(4) Understand how diversity based on race/ethnicity, social class, religion, and national origin
influences people’s intimate and family relationships.
(5) Improve your critical thinking skills through consideration and debate about controversial issues
associated with contemporary family life.
(6) And last, but certainly not least, we hope you will gain valuable information that you can use in
developing and maintaining your own intimate relationships.
REQUIRED FOR THE COURSE:
Textbook: The Family: Diversity, Inequality, and Social Change (written by Philip N.Cohen),
published by W.W. Norton and Company, 2015. Please be sure to buy the right edition of this
book. There are many textbooks with a similar title.
Please note that the author of the text, Professor Cohen, also publishes a blog entitled
FamilyInequality.com. We will visit that blog throughout the course.
Top Hat Monocle: During the semester, we will frequently use a classroom response system that
allows students to respond to questions posed by the instructor by submitting answers via a
mobile device (e.g., phones, iPads, lap tops). We can get instantaneous information about your
experiences, attitudes, and knowledge. Research shows that use of classroom response systems
greatly enhances students’ experiences in large classrooms. You must register for this service and
pay a $20 fee. More information will be provided in class.
COURSE WEB-SITE: I will post all course materials on Canvas. You can access the course web-site
through Myufl (from the UF homepage). All assignments will be submitted through the web-site.
GENERAL EDUCATION CREDITS: This course meets two General Education Requirements – Social
Science (S) and Diversity (D). IT DOES NOT MEET GORDON RULE REQUIREMENTS!
CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE:
When you are in this classroom, your major concern should be learning as much as you can about the
subject matter of the course. Thus, you should be physically and mentally engaged in the material that
is being presented and discussed without disturbing your classmates or your teacher.
Please be in your seat and ready to begin when class officially starts. If you have personal questions
or concerns about the class, please hold them until after class or during office hours. Please do not
start packing up your books and backpacks until class has been officially dismissed. I promise that I
will keep track of the time and will end the class promptly.
This is a course in which very interesting – and sometimes controversial – issues are considered.
Ideally, each of you will be actively involved in classroom discussions. In order for everyone to feel
comfortable voicing their opinions or asking questions, a climate of mutual tolerance and respect is
essential.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
By enrolling in this course, you are indicating your consent to the University of Florida Honor Code:
“We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the
highest standards of honesty and integrity. On all work submitted for credit by students at the University
of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: “On my honor, I have neither given nor
received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.”
Violation of the Honor Code will not be tolerated and can result in immediate failure and additional
disciplinary action. If you do not know what behaviors are considered a violation, it is your
responsibility to find out. Visit the following website for more information:
http://www/dso.ufl.edu/judicial/honorcode.php)
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Students who require in-class accommodations must first register with the Disability Resource Center
in the Dean of Students Office (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/). The Disability Resource Center will
provide documentation for you to submit to your instructors. Please give this documentation to me
no later than the second week of class. For more information, contact the Disability Resource Center
(which is located at 001 Reid Hall, south side, ground floor) by phone at 392-8565. Please let me
and/or Stephanie know if there is anything else we can do to make your experiences in the course
more effective and rewarding.
REQUIREMENTS/ASSIGNMENTS
Class attendance and participation. As noted above, we will use a student response system called Top
Hat Monocle in class sessions. This is a high-tech version of raising your hands to register an opinion
when the teacher asks a question. The high-tech aspect involves having all student responses
summarized (anonymously) and presented on the screen. It will allow us to keep track of your
attendance patterns. More information will be provided in class. Each class session you attend and
participate in contributes 4 points to your final grade. MAXIMUM TOTAL POINTS: 100
In-class quizzes: There will be four equally weighted quizzes given throughout the semester. They will
consist of multiple choice, True-False, and Matching questions. Each quiz is worth 25 points. Quizzes
are scheduled for Thursday class sessions (except for Quiz z 4, which will be on the last day of class,
which is a Tuesday). See the section of the syllabus called TOPIC OUTLINE AND READING
ASSIGNMENTS for dates on which quizzes will be given. Quizzes are not cumulative. MAXIMUM
TOTAL POINTS: 100
Application Papers: This course uses films, documentaries, and video clips to illustrate key concepts
and theories field of family sociology and to facilitate class discussion. Every student will be required
to write five short (i.e., 250-300 word) application papers, based on questions I will distribute prior to
class. These will be submitted on-line through the Canvas web-site. These papers will be graded on a
satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Satisfactory papers will be worth 20 points. Unsatisfactory papers
will awarded 0 points. Papers that are partially satisfactory will receive an S- and will earn 15 points.
Please note: films and/or documentaries are shown frequently so you will have some choice in deciding
when – and on what topics – you will write papers. MAXIMUM TOTAL POINTS: 100
Components of Final Grades
Attendance/Participation:
Quizzes
Application Papers
100 points
100 points
100 points
TOTAL POINTS:
300 points
Computation of Course Grade:
A+
AB+
B
B
C+
C
CD+
D
DE
282-300 points
270-281points
261-269 points
252-260 points
240-251 points
231-239 points
222-230 points
210-221 points
201-209 points
192-200points
180-191 points
190 and below
For more information about the number of grade points associated with each letter grade (as established by UF
policy), please go to the following website: http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationgrades.html
Optional Study Materials
The course web-site contains a number of activities (including practice quizzes, vocabulary flash cards,
etc.,) designed to help you learn and understand the material covered in the text and in class
lectures/discussions. You will find this material under the Modules button on the home page. You are
not required to submit any of these quizzes or assignments. None of them contribute any points to
your course total. However, they can help you review material for the graded quizzes.
TOPIC OUTLINE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
Please note: It may occasionally become necessary for me to change the dates of topics/reading
assignments. I will give as much advance warning of changes as possible.
WEEK 1 (January 6, 8) Introduction to the Course and to the Subject: A Sociology of Families
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text: Chapter 1
WEEKS 2 and 3 (January 13, 15 and January 20, 22): Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text, Chapter 2 and 3
QUIZ 1: January 22 (Covers Chapters 1-3)
WEEK 4 (January 27, 29): Families and Social Class
READING FOR THESE WEEKS: Text, Chapter 4
Optional Campus Lecture: Dr. Suzanne Donata Walters, discussing same-sex marriage laws in Florida.
January 27, noon, in the Atrium of Ustler Hall.
WEEK 5 (February 3, 5): Gender
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text, Chapter 5
WEEK 6 (February 10, 12): Sexuality
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text, Chapter 6
QUIZ 2: February 12 (Covers Chapters 4-6)
WEEK 7: (February 17. 19): Love and Romantic Relationships
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text, Chapter 7
WEEK 8 (24, 26): Marriage and Cohabitation
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text, Chapter 8
SPRING BREAK: February 28 – March 9
WEEK 9 (March 10, 12): Families and Children
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text, Chapter 9
QUIZ 3: March 12 (Covers Chapters 7-9)
WEEK 10 (March 17, 19): Divorce, Remarriage, and Blended Families
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text, Chapter 10
WEEK 11 (March 24, 26): Work and Families
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text, Chapter 11
Optional Campus Lecture: History of Sexual Assault in America. March 24 at 6 PM. Location to be
announced.
WEEK 12: (March 31, April 2): Family Violence and Abuse
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text, Chapter 12
WEEK 13 (April 14, 16): The Future of Families
READING FOR THE WEEK: Text, Chapter 13
QUIZ 4: April 21 (Covers Chapters 10-13)