Sociology 115
College Microcultures:
Academics Meets Student Life
Spring Term, 2011
Dr. Keith A. Roberts
Office: 203 F.O.B.
e-mail: robertsk
Office Phone: 866-7353
Home Phone: 866-2449
Purpose and Focus of the Course
My own research has led me to believe that college students and a college professor enrolled in a particular
class are not really experiencing the same course or the same classroom. Professors and students experience
the classroom as different environments. Further, any college is made up of diverse cultures which may or may
not contribute to the explicit and intended purpose of a college—to foster deep learning in students and to
expand human knowledge.
This course examines the culture and structure of a campus as a social environment—misunderstandings in
classrooms because of different assumptions in student and faculty cultures; barriers to deep learning; history of
Greek and athletic organizations and cultures; evolution of student life; formal and informal structures; student
riots in the eighteenth century resulting in physical assaults on professors; race, class, and gender issues;
McDonaldization of the academy via “business model” management; and other issues of the sociology of a
college. This course counts as an elective toward a major or a minor in sociology.
Course Objectives
Students who complete the course successfully will be able to:
• view things from alternative perspectives—to take the role of a person in an unfamiliar status in order to
evaluate a college microculture.
• make critical reflective judgments—to integrate, to distinguish and define individual parts, and to show
their relationship to each other and to the whole.
• recognize and analyze the interplay of various microcultures within an organization, and specifically
evaluate how these multiple cultures impact learning within a college.
• discuss key elements and consequences of modernization and bureaucratization of American college.
• describe, evaluate, and analyze how external environments—local, national, and global—shape the
internal decisions and processes of an educational institution.
• illustrate the fact that, regarding human behavior, causality is often complex and multifaceted.
• demonstrate skills in independent thinking by developing an original thesis statement, supporting that
thesis with logical rationale and appropriate evidence, and presenting the thesis in a convincing fashion in
writing.
Course Procedure
Guided discussions, a simulation exercise, videos, special guest discussants, and original inquiry study will all
be employed as learning techniques in this course. I am responsible for the basic design and materials.
However, there will be very little lecture in this course. If this is to be a truly stimulating and dynamic course,
your active involvement is critical.
Readings will be designated for specific class periods and students are expected to come prepared to ask
questions and discuss the assigned material. Students should be learning to take themselves and their
colleagues seriously as scholars.
It is my intent that the course will be enjoyable—indeed, I think it is going to be fun to analyze the environment
in which we live and work every day. I expect students in this course to be thorough in their work, but the
format of the course can be flexible. If some aspect of the course is not working, then I want you to help me
change it! The course is here for us—including the instructor—to learn. Let's create an interesting culture of
learning together!
Required Reading
Books:
 Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz. Campus Life: Undergraduate Cultures from the End of the Eighteenth
Century to the Present. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1987.
 Rebekah Nathan. My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student. Ithaca,
New York: Cornell University Press, 2005.
 John Tagg. The Learning Paradigm College. (on reserve in Duggan Library)
 Stephen Sweet. College and Society. (on reserve in Duggan Library)
 The Sociology of a College Campus. (A reader produced locally--$6.00).
 Daniel Chambliss, “The Mundanity of Excellence”
 David A Karp and William C. Yoels. “The College Classroom: Observations on the Meanings of
Student Participation.”
 Keith A. Roberts. "Ironies of Effective Teaching" Teaching Sociology.
 Howard, Jay and Roberta Baird. 2000. "The Consolidation of Responsibility and Students’
Definition of the Classroom.” Journal of Higher Education
 John Finley Scott. “Sororities and the Husband Game"
 Sam Dillon. "Sorority Evictions Stir Anger"
 Alexandra Berkowitz and Irene Padavic. “The Contrasting Agendas of Black and White
Sororities.”
 Susan Ostrov Weisser, “Believing in Yourself as Classroom Culture” Academe
 Patricia Martin and Robert Hummer. "Fraternities and Rape on Campus"
 Laurel Johnson Black. "Stupid Rich Bastards"
 Keith A. Roberts and Karen Donahue. "Professing Professionalism: Bureaucratization and
Deprofessionalization in the Academy." Sociological Focus.
Course Policy on Plagiarism
All scholarly endeavor is based on one fundamental principle—the honesty and integrity of those engaged in
the search for truth. If a researcher fabricates facts or intentionally distorts materials in interpreting data, a
great disservice has been done to his or her colleagues and to the academic discipline in question. Truth and
knowledge cannot be attained in an atmosphere of dishonesty and distrust. As persons engaged in academic
work, we expect students to adhere to this ethic of honesty in writing papers and taking exams. Plagiarism
(copying the work of someone else or having someone else write one's papers) is such a gross violation of the
integrity of academia, that its incidence could result in the failure of the entire course for the student(s)
involved. We trust that the above is unnecessary information for this group.
2
Producing Written Work for Systematic Reflection and Assessment of Learning
One of the things we will negotiate is the process for externalization of learning in written form—both for more
systematic reflection by each student and to provide a product of reflection and analysis that the instructor can
evaluate. In this class I am anticipating that there would be no one-hour "in-class examinations." Any
"examinations" would be essentially "take-home exams” in the form of Analysis Essays. However, I am
willing to give in-class examinations (essay style) if that is the wish of the class. Here are some ideas—
explained in more detail in Appendix A—that we might consider.
• Class engagement: attendance, participation, and active involvement in all aspects of the course.
• Reading Responses to the assigned reading—submitted each time a reading assignment is submitted.
• A daily Intellectual Journal reflecting on assigned reading—submitted each time a reading assignment is
submitted.
• Original research and analysis of an aspect of the academic culture of Hanover, culminating in a paper
analyzing findings. This project is described in Appendix A.
• Analysis Essays of three or four pages. We might do from one to four of these depending on what other
assignments the class chooses. I am willing to give in-class examinations (essay style) if that is the class
preference.
• A final examination might also be given—also as a take-home essay which might involve either (1) an
educational autobiography (applying concepts and theories from the course to your own learning
experiences) or (2) a constructive proposal for how to make a true culture of deep learning. Appendix B
provides details.
• Teaching a class (i.e. leading the discussion) with two other students on the reading for the specified day.
• Presenting constructive proposals for how to improve learning and college life at Hanover.
We would not do all of these. My plan is for the class to decide as a group how we will proceed, using some
combination of these or some other plan to be agreed upon by the class. By the end of the first day of class, we
should have a mutually acceptable contract. I do need about five different grades in order to evaluate student’s
analytical work in this class.
Narrative Description of Evaluation Standards for Written Materials
A:
Perhaps the principle characteristic of the A paper is its rich content. Some people describe that content as “meaty,” others as
“dense,” still others as “packed.” Whatever, the information delivered is such that one feels significantly taught by the author,
sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph. The A paper is also marked by stylistic finesse: the title and opening
paragraph are engaging; the transitions are artful; the phrasing is tight, fresh, and highly specific; the sentence structure is varied;
the tone enhances the purposes of the paper. Finally, the A paper, because of its careful organization and development, imparts a
feeling of wholeness and unusual clarity. Not surprisingly, then, it leaves the reader feeling bright, thoroughly satisfied, and
eager to reread the piece.
B:
It is significantly more than competent. Besides being almost free of mechanical errors, the B paper delivers substantial
information—that is, substantial in both quantity, and interest-value. Its specific points are logically ordered, well developed, and
unified around a clear organizing principle that is apparent early in the paper. The opening paragraph draws the reader in; the
closing paragraph is both conclusive and thematically related to the opening. The transitions between paragraphs are for the most
part smooth, the sentence structures pleasingly varied. The diction of the B paper is typically much more concise and precise
than that found in the C paper. Occasionally, it even shows distinctiveness—i.e., finesse and memorability. On the whole, then,
a B paper makes the reading experience a pleasurable one, for it offers substantial information with few distractions.
C:
It is generally competent—it meets the assignment, has few mechanical errors, and is reasonably well organized and developed.
The actual information it delivers, however, seems thin and commonplace. One reason for that impression is that the ideas are
typically cast in the form of vague generalities—generalities that prompt the confused reader to ask marginally: “In every case?”
“Exactly how large?” “Why?” “But how many?” Stylistically the C paper has other shortcomings as well: the opening
paragraph does little to draw the reader in; the final paragraph offers only a perfunctory wrap-up; the transitions between
paragraphs are often bumpy; the sentences, besides being a bit choppy, tend to follow a predictable (hence monotonous) subjectverb-object; and the diction is occasionally marred by unconscious repetitions, redundancy, and impression. The C paper, then,
while it gets the job done, lacks both imagination and intellectual rigor, and hence does not invite a re-reading.
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D:
Its treatment and development of the subject are as yet only rudimentary. While organization is present, it is neither clear nor
effective. Sentences are frequently awkward, ambiguous, and marred by serious mechanical errors. Evidence of careful
proofreading is scanty, if nonexistent. The whole piece, in fact, often gives the impression of having been conceived and written
in haste.
F:
Its treatment of the subject is superficial; its theme lacks discernible organization; its prose is garbled or stylistically primitive.
Mechanical errors are frequent. In short, the ideas, organization, and style fall far below what is acceptable college writing.
Values of Various Assignments:
Reading Responses (no RR due on the day of A & A Papers):
Class Engagement (attendance/participation)
Leading class discussion
Application & Analysis Paper #1
Application & Analysis Paper #2
Final Exam or Constructive Proposal
Original Research Project
Oral Presentation on Research Project:
TOTAL
70
70
70
70
70
70
100
50
points
points
points
points
points
points
points
points
500 points
Course Outline and Assignments
May 2
(Mon.): Negotiating the contract for the course;
Understanding “culture,” “subculture,” “microculture,” and “counter-culture”;
Barnga Simulation
May 3
(Tues):
May 4
(Wed.): Cognitive Economy of College Experience and Deep versus Surface Learning
Read:
• John Tagg. The Learning Paradigm College. Pp. 48-86; 89-97.
Assignment: • Begin reading in the literature and thinking about a question you want to
research in your original inquiry project.
May 5
(Thurs): Two Classrooms in One: Student and Faculty Cultures Meet (or Collide?);
Read:
• David A Karp and William C. Yoels. “The College Classroom:
Observations on the Meanings of Student Participation.”
• Howard, Jay and Roberta Baird. "The Consolidation of Responsibility
and Students’ Definition of the Classroom.”
• Keith A. Roberts. "Ironies of Effective Teaching".
May 6
(Fri.):
May 9
(Mon.): Student Cultures and Student Life: The Early Period
Read:
• Helen Horowitz. Campus Life.
Chapter 1—The Worlds that Undergraduates Make
Chapter 2—College Men: The War between Students and Faculty
May 10
(Tues.): Student Cultures and Student Life: Deep Learning or Deep Opposition?
Read:
• Helen Horowitz. Campus Life.
Chapter 3—Outsiders: The Loyal Opposition
Chapter 4—Rebels: The Idol Breakers
Deep Learning and Surface Learning: Students’ and Professors’ Different Expectations.
Read:
• John Tagg. The Learning Paradigm College. Pp 1-6; 12-34; 39-47.
• Daniel Chambliss: "The Mundanity of Excellence"
Understanding the Elements of Deep Learning on a Residential Campus
Video: “Dead Poet’s Society”
4
Analysis Paper #1 Due
May 11
(Wed.): College Athletics and other Extracurricular “Sideshows”;
Video: “In Whose Honor”
Read:
• Helen Horowitz. Campus Life.
Chapter 5—The Sideshow and the Circus
Chapter 7—Jacobins and Other Rebels
May 12
(Thurs.): Greek Life and How it Changed Colleges
Read:
• Helen Horowitz. Campus Life.
Chapter 6—The Organized
Chapter 9—College Women and Coeds
May 13
(Fri.):
A Deeper Look at Sororities and Fraternities: Frivolous or Substantive Culture?
Video: “Calling the Shots”
Read:
• John Finley Scott. “Sororities and the Husband Game"
• Alexandra Berkowitz and Irene Padavic. “The Contrasting Agendas of
Black and White Sororities.”
• Sam Dillon. “Sorority Evictions Stir Anger”
May 16
(Mon.):
“Awake Up and Live” discussion; Fraternities and Deviance
Guest Panel: Student Life Staff
Read:
• Patricia Martin and Robert Hummer. "Fraternities and Rape on Campus"
May 17
(Tues.): Campus Activism; College Administration and Multiple Constituencies
Class Guest: Dr. Sue DeWine
Read:
• Helen Horowitz. Campus Life.
Chapter 10—The 1960s
May 18 (Wed.)
Social Class and Lack of “Class”—College Elitism
Video: “Merchants of Cool”
Read:
• Helen Horowitz. Campus Life.
Chapter 8—Meatballs and Other Outsiders
• Laurel Johnson Black. "Stupid Rich Bastards"
May 19
(Thurs.): Bureaucracy, Professionalism, and the Professorate: Impacts on Faculty Culture and the
Classroom
Read:
• Stephen Sweet. “The Janus Face of College Bureaucracy” in College and
Society (on reserve in Duggan Library).
• Keith A. Roberts and Karen Donahue. "Professing Professionalism:
Bureaucratization and Deprofessionalization in the Academy."
May 20
(Fri):
Student Life in AnyU State University
Read:
• Rebekah Nathan. My Freshman Year.
Chapter 1—Welcome to “AnyU”
Chapter 2—Life in the Dorms
Afterward: Ethics and Ethnography
Analysis Paper #1 Due
May 23
(Mon):
Community, Diversity, and Identity in College
Read:
• Rebekah Nathan. My Freshman Year.
Chapter 3—Community and Diversity
Chapter 4—As Others See Us
May 24
(Tues.): Academics, Learning, and Bureaucracy
Read:
• Susan Ostrov Weisser, “Believing in Yourself as Classroom Culture”
• Rebekah Nathan. My Freshman Year.
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Chapter 5—Academically Speaking
Chapter 6—The Art of College Management
May 25
(Wed.):
May 26
(Thurs.):
May 27
(Fri.):
Video: ??
Share the findings of our research projects for the term?
Written copy of Term Project Due
Share the findings of our research projects for the term
constructive Proposals for Improvement
Share the findings of our research projects for the term
Course wrap-up
Submit Final Exam (Take-home exam—if we have one)
6
Appendix A
Students should have some ownership of this course, so we will be negotiating the process by which learning
will be externalized—made available for others to view. The process of externalization of one’s reflections
serve two purposes: (1) it makes one’s thoughts more systematic and more carefully developed and (2) it
provides a product of reflection that the instructor can evaluate. In what follows, we will see several possible
ways this might be done. What combination of these should we use?
Class Engagement
Class attendance and the level of participation—including depth of engagement in the materials and ideas of
the course—would be assessed each day. This involves active involvement in all aspects of the course. I need
to have either this or one of the daily writing assignments described below—and perhaps both.
Daily Intellectual Journal
A daily Intellectual Journal would reflect on what you are learning from class and from the reading materials.
We would like do this or the Reading Responses described below. Which of these options sounds like a better
learning opportunity? Each journal entry would be valued at up to 6 points.
Reading Responses
Each time we do a reading assignment, students would submit a response to the readings. This response may be
in a number of possible ways that enhance your own learning style. Respond to the text in ways that help you
master the material and that help me see that you are engaging the material and keeping up with the reading. Do
one of the following when there is a "reading response" due. (You can vary your approach to this assignment;
you need not always use the same strategy.)
a. Visualizing the key ideas (visual/spatial and/or verbal processing)
Do one of the following (you may want to use graphic organizers for this):
 Make a visual or graphic organizer that includes the important concepts for that chapter.
 Make a chart that shows the most important concepts.
 Make several lists of organized ideas related to the chapter.
b. Intellectual Journal: After reading each section of the chapter, respond with a question or two or several comments
in a response journal. Read on and repeat the journal response (verbal-visual processing).
c. Connecting to the Text: visualizing, questioning, responding (verbal processing)
 Underline key ideas—mark in margins, make comments, put question marks, visualize concepts and ideas in
your mind.
 Then go back through your underlining and margin notes: write five “big” questions that represent key
concepts in the chapter.
 Answer at least two of the questions or write a commentary on why you think these are the core issues in this
reading material.
d. Studying as a Group: Talk with one or two peers about the important aspects of the text (interpersonal or verbalauditory processing).
One person should serve as recorder who will list who participated in the study group and what key concepts were
discussed.
e. Create a song or a rap: Create a song or a rap about the reading assignment which you then audiotape and turn in
to the instructor.
Entries that demonstrate a basic or minimal effort to comprehend and retain the material will result in 3 points;
solid summaries result in 4 points; indicators of significant depth will be awarded 5 points; really extraordinary
responses (with unusual depth, creativity, and/or thoroughness) will earn 6 points.
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Analysis Essays
Each student would write several essays, each of which will be about three or four typed (word-processed)
pages. There would be choice involved in the essays you write. We might have four such essays—each worth
50 points—or we might limit this to two such papers and have reading responses, or journals, and/or a final
exam.
Unless otherwise specified, your audience for these essays should be an intelligent person with an
understanding of basic sociological vocabulary but not with a background in the materials of this course. Many
of these essays involve formulation and defense of an informed opinion. On those essays, you will be graded
on the persuasiveness of your answer. (The specific position you take is irrelevant to the grading process as
long as the reasoning and support is persuasive. The emphasis is on developing a compelling argument.)
Criteria for evaluation will be provided for each assignment. The criteria may vary somewhat from one paper to
the next, so read them carefully.
Leading Class Discussion
In teams of perhaps three, students would lead class discussion on two chapters assigned for that day.
Evaluation would be based on how effectively the leaders got the class involved and seemed to engage the class
in “deep learning.”
An Original Research Paper: interviews, content analysis, or observations of
campus cultures.
Because I want lots of active learning in this course, I would like to have the class involved in an original study
in which students gather and analyze data. So I have an extremely strong preference for this being one aspect
of the course. Each student (or this could be done in pairs) would write an original, research paper based on
direct observations and/or on interviews with students and/or professors at Hanover College. This project
involves gathering data to test a theory in micro-sociology—a theory having to do with the many cultures at
Hanover and how the classroom is influenced by one or more of these cultures.
The audience for this paper is professors at Hanover who are interested in your analysis of this campus. It will
likely run 8 to 10 pages.
The first step of your project will be to identify or generate a central question. Any paper and any essay that
you write in college should have a central question. The central question is the key question that the entire
essay or research project is designed to explore. A central question is valuable for your research because it
helps you sort through literature and through your data to choose those bits of information that are relevant. A
study or a comment in an interview or an observation of behavior may be interesting and may be related
broadly to your topic, but if that study does not help you to answer your central question, it should be set aside.
You may want to meet with the instructor early in the course to clarify your central question and discuss your
method of gathering data. Having a clear focus will help you know what you will want to observe or what
questions you will want to ask. You might want a topic in which the data can be gathered through observation
and interviews (e.g. the impact of Greek affiliation on deep learning) or you may prefer one with unobtrusive
measures that involve a content analysis (e.g. the art/poster displays on doors of students or of faculty
members). If you have a basic idea, let’s talk.
An important step in any study is the review of literature. In any study, one first reads empirical research by
others who have studied your particular setting, your topic, or question. The review of literature helps one to
put a study in the larger social context, and it also enables the researchers to see what gaps still exist in the
literature, and what theories were used to explain the particular phenomena studied. The review should
summarize specific previous studies and indicate what questions remain to be answered. I have already
selected materials that we will be reading together that will provide your literature review. You might need one
other original source.
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Though this paper will have a thesis, usually a one-sentence summary that answers your central question, the
placement of a thesis in a field research paper (or empirical study) is different from an essay. In an essay, the
thesis would appear at the beginning and help the reader anticipate and clarify the arguments to be presented.
For a field research paper, a thesis would appear at the end in the conclusion section and be based on the results
of the data gathering. The researcher reports the results and then through the analysis comes to a conclusion.
In both the essay and the field research paper, the central question and the thesis provide a logical integration of
the paper.
You will probably want to meet with your instructor at some point mid-term to discuss your project.
The paper should be organized like a field research paper in the social sciences:
 Introduction - including clarification of the central question, important subsidiary questions, and
relevant theories.
 Literature Review - discussing what other scholars who have investigated this or similar issues have
found.
 Methodology - describing the setting, the sample of people observed, and data gathering procedure.
 Findings and Discussion – organizing and presenting the data; describing and analyzing the results,
relating the results to sociological theories, and exploring possible weaknesses in this particular study.
 Conclusion - summarizing what the study suggests about the topic using a thesis statement.
Criteria for evaluation of written paper:
 Sophistication and originality of the thesis.
 Complexity of the argument (including an awareness of counter-arguments).
 Clarity of the reasoning
 Accuracy, relevance, and quality of the evidence that supports the argument.
 Ability to support the thesis with concepts, theories, and/or data from course readings.
 Composition and mechanics of effective writing.
A Take-Home Final Exam
A final examination may also be given—also as a take-home essay. One option would be for this to involve
either (1) an educational autobiography (applying concepts and theories from the course to your own learning
experiences) or (2) a constructive proposal for how to make a true culture of deep learning. Appendix B
provides details. If we were to do this, we might then have fewer Analytical Essays (perhaps two?). I am
willing to be persuaded either way.
Possible Values of Various Assignments:
We would not do all of these, but I probably need about 500 points worth of student work to evaluate your
analysis of the materials to assign a grade. I feel very strongly that we must have either daily reading responses
or Journals or Class Engagement grades, and I am inclined to class engagement and one of the other two, but
daily written responses and class participation should probably not count for more than 150 points combined.
You will help make those decisions.
Application & Analysis Paper #1
Application & Analysis Paper #2
Application & Analysis Paper #3
Application & Analysis Paper #4
Class Engagement (attendance/participation)
Reading Responses or Journals:
Leading a class discussion
Oral report on Research Project
Original Research Project and Analytical Paper
Final Examination:
TOTAL
50
50
50
50
50
75
25
25
100
100
500
9
points
points
points
points
points
points
points
points
points
points
points
(???)
(???)
(could be increased)
(could be increased)
(???)
(???)
(???)
(???)
Appendix B
Possible Take-Home Final Examination
Option 1: An Educational Autobiography
This assignment is to write an educational autobiography, exploring the issues, social processes, and personal factors that
have led to or detracted from “deep learning. Examine and describe your own educational career being careful to use some
of the sociological concepts we used in class (and in readings). Describe your educational career in general but also include
specific examples where relevant.
Types of things to look for:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
School structure
Peer group structures
Impact of your parents, peers, teachers.
Type of hidden curriculum that was present in your school.
Types of teachers that had an impact — positively or negatively. Why did they influence you?
For the really good ones, what made them effective in encouraging you to seek deep learning?
Types of testing and other assessment of your learning that enhanced or retarded deep learning.
These topics are illustrative only. Make the paper a thoughtful, creative, synthetic, well-written analysis of your educational
career as seen through the eyes of someone else who took this course. (In other words, you do not have to define each term
as you go.) Note: you need to write this utilizing a sociological perspective, not just personal reminiscences.
The criteria used in grading this paper are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
number of different concepts/issues dealt with
extent to which key sociological concepts are effectively applied or illustrated.
extent to which the essay examines deep learning
extent to which relevant ideas from readings in the course are incorporated.
composition and mechanics.
This essay should be word processed and double-spaced and should run about six to eight pages.
Option 2: A Constructive Proposal on How to Improve our Campus Culture for Learning
This assignment is to write a constructive proposal exploring the steps you think would genuinely improve deep learning at
colleges, and especially Hanover College.
Types of things you might explore:
•
•
•
•
•
•
the various microcultures that must be involved in any transformation of learning on the campus.
the social environment of a classroom.
extracurricular and student life issues as they impact the classroom.
the issues of bureaucracy and social organization of a college—including liability of the administration.
the responsibility of students to make a college a better learning experience.
potential problems that will make it hard to implement your proposals.
These topics are illustrative only. Make the paper a thoughtful, creative, synthetic, well-written analysis and set of
suggestions for reform as seen through the eyes of someone else who took this course. (In other words, you do not have to
define each term as you go.)
The criteria used in grading this paper are:
1. sophistication (complexity) of your analysis and proposal.
2. support for your proposal with empirical evidence (data that think your ideas are well supported by reliable
findings).
3. quality of your reasoning.
4. ability to see the issues from more than one point of view.
5. composition and mechanics.
This essay should be typed and double-spaced and should run about eight to ten pages.
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