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SYLLABUS
SOC 4050: Basic Sociological Theory
Fall 2013
Thursdays, 1:55-5:35pm
37 State Hall
Nicole Trujillo-Pagán, Ph.D.
Bb3729@wayne.edu
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10-11:30am or by appointment
2256 FAB or 3315 FAB
Description:
Sociological theories try to render the social world understandable. They are tools of logic
that have empirical implications. In this course, we will explore both the internal logic of
sociological theories and how theory explains social processes. We will also work at
developing students’ analytical skills.
Course Policies
Differently-Abled Students
If you have a documented disability that requires accommodations, you will need to
register with Student Disability Services for coordination of your academic
accommodations. The Student Disability Services (SDS) office is located at 1600 David
Adamany Undergraduate Library in the Student Academic Success Services department.
SDS telephone number is 313-577-1851 or 313-577-3365 (TTY: telecommunication
device for the deaf; phone for hearing impaired students only). Once you have your
accommodations in place, you or SDS should contact me via email to discuss your needs.
Student Disability Services' mission is to assist the university in creating an accessible
community where students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to fully participate
in their educational experience at Wayne State University.
The Syllabus and Course Outline:
The syllabus and its outline will guide the course. Students are expected to keep up
with the class syllabus and outline. The syllabus is subject to change. Any changes
will be announced in class and on blackboard.
Blackboard:
The instructor expects student familiarity with blackboard software. All course
information will be posted on Blackboard. Any notices, revisions on this syllabus, lastminute class cancellations, and other information will be posted on Blackboard. Not
checking blackboard is no excuse for missing assignments or other information relevant
to this course. You can learn about Blackboard at:
http://computing.wayne.edu/blackboard/
Email:
Each student has been assigned an email account by WSU. If you decide to use a
different account, be sure you figure out how to forward any email to that alternative
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account. Not checking or not getting your email is no excuse for missed communication
with the instructor regarding information relevant to this course.
Reading
You should read assigned work in advance of class lectures. Bring required reading to
class.
Written Assignments
No assignments will be accepted by email.
Students must submit written assignments on blackboard using the dropbox feature. DO
NOT send an email to the instructor duplicating a blackboard submission.
Written assignments should be in MSWord. If there is a problem with your file, the
instructor will post a note in blackboard to this effect. If this note is posted on your
blackboard account, you are responsible for checking your grades and resubmitting
an incompatible file within one week of your original submission. If necessary, you
should work with CIT to prevent a recurrence of corrupt or incompatible submissions.
You will not have the opportunity to resubmit a written assignment for a revised grade.
Due Dates
Written assignments are due by 11:59pm the night before the next session begins, e.g.
Wednesdays at 11:59pm.
Late assignments will not be accepted without a documented medical emergency.
Incomplete grades will not be assigned in the course.
Missed Assignments and Late Penalties
Time-on-task is one of the major predictors of success in college. Don’t procrastinate.
Late assignments lose 5% for each week they are late. In other words, an assignment
uploaded to blackboard will lose 5% regardless of whether it is 30 minutes or 6.5 days
late. This means an assignment that would have earned a A will be lowered to A- for the
first week it is late, a B+ for the second week it is late, etc.
There are no make-up opportunities for missed in-class assignments, which includes
quizzes and presentations.
If you miss an assignment or assignment deadline and wish to avoid the penalties
outlined above, you must submit a signed and dated doctor’s note indicating your lack of
availability to submit the assignment on its due date. You have one week from the due
date of the assignment to contact and provide documentation to the instructor.
Academic Protocol:
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Wayne State University severely penalizes cheating, making up false information for
papers, and copying from other students. If you are caught doing any of these, you
may fail the specific assignment, fail the class, lose your eligibility for LEM, be dropped
from CLLAS, or expelled from the University. Avoid plagiarism [misrepresenting the
words, ideas or work of others as your own], cheating [copying from another student's
term papers and exams, knowingly sharing information or answers of exams and papers
to be turned in for evaluation and grading, taking an exam for another student, using
unauthorized notes during exams, etc.], and fabrication [making up false information for
papers, citing work you never actually read, etc.].
Classroom Protocol:
Students are expected to observe classroom “etiquette” in the interests of promoting a
productive learning environment for themselves and their peers. It includes:
 Arrive and depart from class at the scheduled times.
 Do not pack up until the class is dismissed.
 Turn off cell phones when you get to class.
 Focusing on class material during class time. (Sleeping, talking to others, doing work
for another class, reading the newspaper, checking e-mail, and exploring the Internet
dishonor your peers who are similarly engaged in a collective effort).
Minimize Disruptions
 Handle any non-classroom related business (cellphone calls, text messages, emails,
bathroom breaks, parking meter feeds, eating, drinking, etc.) outside of the session.
 Late arrivals disrupt the session. Refrain from entering the classroom if you are more
than fifteen (15) minutes late.
Acceptance of Course Policies
Your continued enrollment in the course past the add/drop deadline indicates your
understanding and acceptance of these policies.
Format:
Class meetings will begin with an orienting lecture, but will run as discussions in seminar
format. Students are expected to arrive to classroom sessions prepared to engage in
discussion.
Through discussion, students will develop and refine their understanding of social theory.
Written assignments help students review the content of reading, lecture and discussion.
These assignments reinforce students’ understanding of the deeper meanings and
implications of social theory. They also promote students’ ability to apply their developing
understanding of social theory to everyday life.
Assignments:
 Attendance and participation: 10 points
 Five (5) Quizzes (10 points each): 50 points
 Other Written Assignments: 40 points
o Paper: Contemporary Theoretical Approach and its Classical Roots (15 points)
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o Paper and Presentation: Contemporary Theories (15 points)
o Final Take-Home Essay Exam (10 points)
Grading Criteria:
The grading scale is as follows:
A
100-93
A-
92.9-90
B+
89.9-87
B
86.9-83
B-
82.9-80
C+
79.9-77
C
76.9-73
C-
72.9-70
Attendance and participation
Your attendance and participation grade will be lowered by two points for each
unexcused absence > 2.
The attendance record will not be revised after attendance is called. In other words, if
you arrive late, your attendance will not be counted for that session.
Participation includes graded in-class exercises. It may include participation in online
discussions via blackboard.
Quizzes








…are held either at the beginning or the end of a classroom session.
… will NOT be redistributed to individual students who arrive late/leave early for
any reason (see course policies above).
…vary in length.
…are timed. You will be given 1.5 minutes to complete each question.
…consist of true/false, multiple choice, and short-answer type questions.
…include readings for the week in which they occur, e.g. Quiz 1 includes
readings from weeks 2 and 3.
…are open book.
…are not cumulative.
Other Written Assignments
Contemporary Theoretical Approach and its Classical Roots (3-5 pages)
In this paper, students will write an essay that answers the following question:
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Sociological theory is often categorized into theoretical approaches (Conflict,
Functionalism, Symbolic Interaction) or Schools (Chicago, Frankfurt). These
approaches influence contemporary theorists, but have their roots in the work of
specific classical theorists. Trace the development and influence of a theoretical
approach or school. Discuss the found and his/her concepts. Trace the
development of the approach to two contemporary theorists. In your discussion of
these developments, be sure to compare and contrast classical and contemporary
understandings of the source and nature of social change according to the
approach or school. Be specific about how the contemporary theorists have
adjusted or modified key concepts, or developed new ones, to make up for
limitations in the classical theorist’s work.
Paper and Presentation: Contemporary Theories
Preliminary list of tasks for developing a good individual paper and presentation:
1. Do a preliminary search on the internet of your selected theorist and get sense
of
a. His/her biography,
b. the major works he/she has published,
c. themes in his/her work,
d. notes about major contributions to theory,
e. notes about other theorists that he/she responded to and/or that
responded to her/him.
2. Read a sample of your theorist’s work, beginning with the piece uploaded to
blackboard.
3. Keep notes about other sources you read and maintain a clear bibliography to
add to your paper.
4. If applicable, meet with your study group to compare/contrast your theorist to
other thematically-organized theorists in the group.
5. Consider how your theorist was influenced by classical and contemporary
theory. What questions was your theorist attempting to answer? How did
she/he differ from earlier generations of thinkers? What are the implications
of social context on your particular theorist’s ideas and/or perspective?
6. Your paper should follow a conventional essay format:
a. Introduction identifies key ideas to be discussed in the paper,
b. Body discusses theorist and organizes the information gathered in each
of the above outlined steps,
c. Conclusion revisits the key ideas framing the paper, but with a
summary of the theorist’s contribution to a broader set of questions
and concerns in social and sociological theory.
Social Theory Groups and Theorists
Globalization 1. Aimé Césaire
2. David Harvey
3. Stuart Hall
4. Saskia Sassen
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Race
Gender
Queer
Theory
5. Amartya Sen
6. Edward Said
7. Elijah Anderson
8. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri
9. W. E. B. DuBois
10. Frantz Fanon
11. C.L.R. James
12. Audre Lorde
13. E. Franklin Frazier
14. Oliver Cromwell Cox
15. Anna Julia Cooper
16. Cornel West
17. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
18. William Julius Wilson
19. Charlotte Perkins Gilman
20. Harriet Martineau
21. Charlotte Perkins Gilman
22. Ida Wells-Barnett
23. Marianne Weber
24. Nancy Hartsock
25. Donna Haraway
26. Julia Kristeva
27. Angela Davis
28. Paula Gunn Allen
29. Arlene Stein and Ken Plummer
30. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
31. Jeffrey Weeks
Final Take-Home Exam
The essay question will be posted on blackboard one (1) week before it is due.
Required Texts:
The following materials are REQUIRED for the course. The texts complement one
another. Neither should be considered supplementary reading. Please buy them as soon as
possible online or at Barnes and Noble Bookstore.
1. (F): Farganis, James. 2014. Readings in Social Theory: The Classic Tradition to
Post-Modernism. 7th edition. McGraw Hill.
2. (R): Ritzer, George and Jeffrey Stepnisky. 2014. Sociological Theory. 9th edition.
McGraw Hill.
Note on alternate editions:
If you use earlier editions of either/both texts, you are responsible for ensuring
compatibility between both. Check the earlier edition against the required one identified
above. Compare editions early in the semester so that you have enough time to make
copies of any missing materials in earlier editions. The table of contents for both required
texts will be posted to blackboard to facilitate this process for you.
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COURSE OUTLINE
Required Reading 1 (complete
before arriving to class)
Topic
1
8/29
2
9/5
Organizational Meeting none
Classical Sociological Theory
Thinking about
R, 1-75; F, 1-54
Social/Sociological
Theory
Marx
3
9/12
Week
Date
Marx, continued
R, 76-111; F, 55-80
Evaluation Due
Quiz 1
Durkheim
4
5
9/19
9/26
Weber
R, 112-157; F, 81-108
Simmel
R, 158-188; F, 109-124
Modern Sociological
R, 189-236
Theory
Contemporary Sociological Theory
Structural
R, 237-261; F, 139-178
Functionalism
Conflict Theory
R, 266-277; F, 179-216
Neo-Marxian Theory
R, 278-331; F, 303-330
Symbolic
R, 332-376; F, 125-138, 271-302
Interactionism
Macro-Micro
R, 487-538
Agency/Structure
Postmodernism and After
Late Modernity
R, 539-570
Globalization
R, 571-601; F, 437-449
Race
R, 642-647; F, 403-434
6
10/3
7
8
9
10/10
10/17
10/24
10
10/31
11
11/7
12
11/14
Gender
Queer Theory
R, 440-487; F, 357-392
R, 648-654; F, 393-402
13
11/21
Postmodernism
R, 602-641; F, 331-356
14
No Class
Quiz 2
Quiz 3
Quiz 4
Theory
Presentations
Theory
Presentations
Theory
Presentations x
2
Quiz 5
Happy Thanksgiving!
15
12/5 Summary and Review
Final Essay Exam, due 12/12 @ 5pm
1
F= Farganis, Readings in Social Theory. R= Ritzer, Sociological Theory. Letters are followed by page numbers, e.g.
F, 1-26 indicates the required reading for that week includes Farganis, pages 1-26.
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