Introduction to Sociology
SOC 151 (Section 2)
Allbritton 103
Tues-Thurs 2:40pp-4:00pm
Fall 2014
Instructor: Kerwin Kaye
Email: kkaye@wesleyan.edu
Office: PAC 105
Office Hours: Tuesdays 8-10am and by appointment
Class Description
This course offers a critical exploration of sociological approaches to understanding everyday
social worlds. From the unequal distribution of wealth and economic opportunities, to the
complex histories and cultural struggles embedded in an individual’s sense of style, social life is
entangled with often invisible structures of power. Social structures influence our most important
life decisions, as well as our most mundane activities and desires.
Course Requirements
There are five requirements for the class:
—attend all classes and be prepared to discuss the assigned readings
—five short response papers in relation to the reading (1-2 pages each)
—a mid-term essay (to be explained — 4-5 pages)
—a final exam
Response Papers are due the night before class, no later than 9pm
— the first response paper is due Monday, September 8th
— you select the dates of the other four response papers (two before the midterm,
and two after)
Grading
Class participation:
Five short response papers:
Midterm Essay:
Final Exam (in class):
15%
10% (each)
20%
15%
Course Materials
Most course materials are available in Moodle. They are also available via a Dropbox link:
www.dropbox.com/sh/uv5gfdp9zt8y369/AAAnGaBX3UipS6QtWOpbiO4va?dl=0
There are also four books required for the class: (1) Dude, You’re a Fag (CJ Pascoe), Wannabes,
Goths, and Christians (Amy Wilkins), Ain’t No Makin’ It (Jay MacLeod)
Key Dates
Monday, Sept. 8th (no later than 9pm): First Response Paper due
Thursday, October 2nd: Midterm Essay distributed
Thursday, October 16th: Midterm Essay due
Thursday, November 20th: NO CLASS (professor at conference)
Tuesday, November 25th: Media Evaluation Due
Thursday, November 27th: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Break)
Thursday, December 4th: Last Day of class
Saturday, December 13th, 2pm: Final exam
Paper Guidelines
All papers should be well organized and proof-read. Please double-space all of your papers,
and use one inch margins. Please use Times New Roman (12 point) as your font. If you
email me your paper, send it both as an attached file and with the text pasted into the
body of the email (in case I have difficulty with the attachment). Plagiarism will not be
excused; if in doubt, provide a citation. Late papers will suffer as grade deduction as
follows: between 15 minutes and 1 hour (3.5%); between 1 hour and 2 hours (5%);
between 2 and 24 hours (10%); each additional day follows the same rate of loss (3.5%
after the first 15 minutes, up to 10% more/day)
Use of Electronic Devices within the Classroom
Use of electronic devices is not allowed. Permission will be granted in exceptional cases.
Disability Resources
I am happy to accommodate concerns regarding disabilities. Wesleyan also asks that the
following statement be included on all course syllabi:
Wesleyan University is committed to ensuring that all qualified students with disabilities
are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from its programs and
services. To receive accommodations, a student must have a documented disability as
defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the ADA Amendments
Act of 2008, and provide documentation of the disability. Since accommodations may
require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact
Disability Resources as soon as possible.
If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact Dean Patey in
Disability Resources, located in North College, Room 021, or call 860-685-5581 for an
appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations.
Schedule and Assigned Readings
Week 1: What is Sociology? / The Social Construction of Reality
Tuesday, September 2nd:
Course Overview
Thursday, September 4th:
Mills, C. Wright. 1959. “The Promise.” Chapter 1 from The Sociological
Imagination (4 pgs)
Berger, Peter, and Thomas Luckman. 1966. “Society as a Human Product,” in
Social Theory: The Multicultural & Classic Readings, pp. 418-23 (6 pgs)
Rosenhan, DL. 2005 [1973]. “On Being Sane in Insane Places,” in Mapping the
Social Landscape, pp. 230-40 (10 pgs)
Condry, John, and Sandra Condry. 1976. “Sex Differences: A Study of the Eye of
the Beholder,” Child Development, 47(3): 812-9 (7 pgs)
Martin, Emily. 2003 [1991]. “The Egg and the Sperm” in Social Construction: A
Reader. Original publication in Signs, 16(3): 485-501. (4 pgs)
Fausto-Sterling, Anne. 2000. Sexing the Body, Chapter 2 (15 pgs)
Oliver, Mike. 1990. “The Individual and Social Models of Disability.” (6 pgs)
First response paper due Wednesday, September 3rd, no later than 9pm
Week 2: The Social Construction of Reality — Race
Tuesday, September 9th:
Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant. 2005 [1994]. “Racial Formations in the
United States,” in Mapping the Social Landscape, pp. 380-90 (7 pgs)
Foley, Neil. 2002. Becoming Hispanic: Mexican Americans and Whiteness,” in
White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism, pp. 4959 (9 pgs)
Dyer, Richard. 2002. “The Matter of Whiteness,” in White Privilege: Essential
Readings on the Other Side of Racism, pp. 9-14 (4 pgs)
Brodkin, Karen. 2002. “How Jews Became White Folks,” in White Privilege:
Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism, pp. 35-48 (11 pgs)
Thursday, September 11th:
Dávila, Arlene. 2001. Latinos Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People, pp.
56-87 (31 pgs)
Sanjek, Roger. 1996. “Intermarriage and the Future of Races in the United
States,” in Race, pp. 103-30 (20 pgs)
Optional: Epstein, Steven. 2007. Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in
Medical Research, pp. 1-11, 139-45, 219-22, 228-31 (24 pgs)
Week 3: Seeing Social Structures, Part I
Tuesday, September 16th:
Biographical Sketch of Émile Durkheim from Classical Sociological Theory by
George Ritzer (2 pgs)
Durkheim, Émile. 1895. The Rules of Sociological Method, pp. 50-9, 119-25
(16 pgs)
Durkheim, Émile. 1908. “The Method of Sociology,” in The Rules of
Sociological Method, pp. 245-7 (3 pgs)
Durkheim, Émile. 1898. “The Nature of Society and Causal Explanation,” in The
Rules of Sociological Method, pp. 251-2 (2 pgs)
Durkheim, Émile. 1897. Suicide, pp. 46-52, 254-8 (9 pgs)
Gaines, Donna. 2005 [1990]. “Teenage Wasteland,” in Mapping the Social
Landscape, pp. 7-20 (13 pgs)
Thursday, September 18th:
Newman, Katherine. 2004. Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings.
Parts of chapter 3, all of chapter 6, and parts of chapter 10 (51 pgs)
Week 4: Learning Social Roles / “Deviance”
Tuesday, September 23rd (Learning Social Roles):
Parsons, Talcott. 2005 [1951]. “The Social Structure of Medicine,” in Mapping
the Social Landscape, pp. 540-4 (4 pgs)
Lorber, Judith. 2005 [1993]. “Night to His Day,” in Mapping the Social
Landscape, pp. 119-32 (11 pgs)
Gracey, Harry. 1991 [1975]. “Learning the Student Role,” in Down to Earth
Sociology, pp. 364-76 (13 pgs)
Dyer, Gwynne. 2005 [1985]. “Anybody’s Son Will Do,” Mapping the Social
Landscape, pp. 161-72 (11 pgs)
Ferguson, Ann. 2005 [2000]. “Bad Boys,” Mapping the Social Landscape, pp.
592-600 (8 pgs).
Meyer, Philip. 1991 [1970]. “If Hitler Asked You…” in Down to Earth
Sociology, pp. 231-7 (7 pgs)
Thursday, September 25th (“Deviance”):
Becker, Howard. 1963. Outsiders, Chapters 1 and 8 (34 pgs)
Adler, Patricia, and Peter Adler. 2005 [1998]. “Peer Power,” in Mapping the
Social Landscape, pp. 173-188 (14 pgs)
Conrad, Peter. 1975. “The Discovery of Hyperkinesis,” Social Problems, 23(1)
Week 5: Being an Outsider (Seeing Social Structures, Part II)
Tuesday, September 30th:
Goffman, Erving. 1963. “Information Control and Personal Identity,” from
Stigma: Notes on the Management of a Spoiled Identity, pp. 41-8, 91-104
(21 pgs).
Granfield, Robert. 2005 [1991]. “Making It by Faking It: Working-Class
Students in an Elite Academic Environment,” in Mapping the Social
Landscape, pp. 147-61 (12 pgs)
Petrunik, Michael and Clifford Shearing. 1987 [1983]. “Stutterers’ Practices,” in
Deviance, pp. 319-29 (10 pgs)
Marvesti, Amir. 2005. “Being Middle Eastern American,” in Symbolic
Interaction, 28(4) (21 pgs)
Thursday, October 2nd: Midterm essay distributed
Berger, Peter. 1963. Selections from Invitation to Sociology, pp. 18-24, 42-8 (13
pgs)
Collins, Patricia Hill. 1986. “Learning from the Outsider Within,” Social
Problems, 33(6) (16 pgs)
Smith, Dorothy. 1987. “Sociology: Women are Outside the Frame,” in The
Everyday World as Problematic, pp. 61-9 (9 pgs)
Becker, David. 1997. “Growing Up in Two Closets: Class and Privilege in the
Lesbian and Gay Community,” in Queerly Classed, pp. 227-34 (7 pgs).
Week 6: Power in Everyday Life
Tuesday, October 7th:
Pascoe, CJ. 2007. Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High
School, chapters 2-3 (58 pgs)
Thursday, October 9th:
Pascoe, CJ. 2007. Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High
School, chapter 5 (41 pgs)
Week 7: Agency and Resistance
Tuesday, October 14th:
Wilkins, Amy. 2008. Wannabes, Goths, and Christians, chapters 2 and 4 (59 pgs)
Thursday, October 16th: Midterm Essay due
Recap of Part I. Discussion of essays.
Week 8: Class and Society in a Marxist Frame
Tuesday, October 21st:
NO CLASS — Fall break!
Thursday, October 23rd:
Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. 2005 [1848]. “The Manifesto of the Communist
Party,” in Gasper, pp. 37-71 (35 pgs)
Messinger, Eli. 1978. “Capitalist Origins of Mental Distress,” Catalyst: A
Socialist Journal of the Social Service, 3 (12 pgs)
Navarro, Vicente. 1980. “Work, Ideology, and Science: The Case of Medicine,”
pp. 538-42 (5 pgs)
Ritzer, George, and Douglas Goodman. 2004. “Karl Marx: a Biographical
Sketch,” in Classical Sociological Theory, pp. 134-5 (2 pgs)
McChesney, Robert. 2004. “The Market Über Alles,” chapter 5 of The Problem of
the Media, pp. 175-209 (35 pgs)
Mills, C. Wright. 2005 [1956]. “The Power Elite,” in Mapping the Social
Landscape, pp. 421-8 (8 pgs)
Clawson, Dan, Alan Neustadtl, and Mark Weller. 2005 [1998]. “Dollars and
Votes,” in Mapping the Social Landscape, pp. 429-42 (13 pgs)
Film viewing: Roger & Me (time and location to be announced)
Week 9: Racial Inequalities
Tuesday, October 28th:
Lewis, Amanda. 2001. “There is No ‘Race’ in the Schoolyard,” American
Educational Research Journal, 38(4): 781-811 (25 pgs)
Lewis, Amanda, Mark Chesler, and Tyrone Forman. 2000. “The Impact of
‘Colorblind’ Ideologies on Students of Color,” Journal of Negro
Education, 69(1/2): 74-91 (15 pgs)
Lipsitz, George. 1998. The Possessive Investment in Whiteness, pp. 1-23 (23 pgs)
McIntosh, Peggy. 1998. “White Privilege, Color and Crime,” from Images of
Color, Images of Crime (7 pgs)
Thursday, October 30th:
Steinberg, Stephen. 1989. The Ethnic Myth, pp. 82-105 (22 pgs)
Bonacich, Edna. 1972. “A Theory of Ethnic Antagonism,” American Sociological
Review, 37: 547-59 (12 pgs)
Prashad, Vijay. 2000. Of Antiblack Racism,” from The Karma of Brown Folk, pp.
157-83 (27 pgs)
Optional: Hughey, Matthew. 2009. “Cinethetic Racism,” Social Problems, 56(3):
543-77
Week 10: Gendered Inequalities
Tuesday, November 4th:
Pascoe, CJ. 2007. Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High
School, chapter 4 (31 pgs)
Wilkins, Amy. 2008. Wannabes, Goths, and Christians, chapter 5 (33 pgs)
Thursday, November 6th:
Hochschild, Arlie. 2003 [1975]. “Inside the Clockwork of Male Careers,” in The
Commercialization of Intimate Life, pp. 227-54 (28 pgs)
Crittenden, Ann. 2005 [2001]. “The Mommy Tax,” in Mapping the Social
Landscape, pp. 614-25 (10 pgs).
Stacey, Judith. 1990 [1987]. “Sexism by a Subtler Name?” in Women, Class, and
the Feminist Imagination, pp. 338-56 (15 pgs)
Week 11: Reproducing Economic Disadvantage
Tuesday, November 11th:
MacLeod, Jay. 1995. Ain’t No Makin’ It, chapters 1-3 (46 pgs)
Thursday, November 13th:
MacLeod, Jay. 1995. Ain’t No Makin’ It, chapters 5, 7, 11 (72 pgs)
Week 12: Habitus, Cultural Capital, and the “Culture of Poverty”
Tuesday, November 18th:
Lewis, Oscar. 1966. “The Culture of Poverty,” Scientific American, pp. 19-25 (5
pgs)
Crossley, Nick. “Capital” and “Habitus,” in Key Concepts in Critical Social
Theory, pp. 28-33, 104-13 (14 pgs)
Lareau, Annette. 2003. Unequal Childhoods, pp. 1-8, 14-103 (94 pgs)
Thursday, November 20th:
NO CLASS — (conference presentation - American Society for Criminology)
Week 13: Poverty, Welfare, and Gender (Part I)
Tuesday, November 25th:
Stack, Carol. 1974. All Our Kin, chapter 7 and conclusion (22 pgs)
Bourgois, Philippe. 2005 [1994]. “In Search of Respect,” in Mapping the Social
Landscape, pp. 253-65 (12 pgs)
Sharon Hays, Flat Broke with Children, chapters 5, pp. 121-214 (94 pgs)
Thursday, November 27th:
Thanksgiving Break
Week 14: Poverty, Welfare, and Gender (Part II)
Tuesday, December 2nd:
Kerwin Kaye. 2007. “Sex and the Unspoken in Male Street Prostitution,” in
Journal of Homosexuality, 53(1/2): 37-73 (33 pgs).
Thursday, December 4th:
Open topic (class choice)
Final exam: Saturday, December 13th, 2pm