Mr. Nelson
Sociology 101 (Sociology for college credit)
Fall 2015-2016 (½ year elective)
Course Syllabus
Contact: nelsonsaphumangeography@gmail.com
/
@nelsonshumangeo (Twitter)
Class Website: http://nelsonssociology101.weebly.com/
*This is a modified (shortened) version of the syllabus on the website – you are responsible for looking over that that as well in more detail, but the major points are covered here.

More to the point, is this the class you think it is? Juniors &
Seniors may take this class are taking it for college credit through St. John’s University – therefore, EVERYONE will be taught at a college level, with college level work, whether you’re taking the class for credit or not. You will be expected to complete the level and type of work that an undergraduate college student would expect.
*If you took this class because you believed that you can sit there, not participate, do no work, and watch videos all semester, this is the wrong course, and you should seek one that better fits your needs. If this is unclear at all, please speak to me after class or via email.

College Credit: (*For current 11 th or 12 graders only)!
You DO NOT have to take this course for college credit. However, if you do choose the college credit option, a few notes, most of which I went over when I presented the course to you in February.
1. It costs $325 dollars, payable to St. John’s University, due by the end of this month (it cannot be late).
2. You must get the equivalent of a B+ or higher (so, an 85 or above
average) to receive the 3 credits.
3. There are no traditional tests during the year – this course is project and writing based, as is the case with college level courses (no scantrons!)
4. The 3 credits are transferable to all local colleges (Molloy, CW Post,
Hofstra, Nassau Community College, Adelphi, Stony brook,
Queens College, etc.), and a handful of others

• If you’re not someone who normally participates let me challenge you by stating that you have an opinion, you have a voice, and you add value to this class. Believe it or not I’m the quiet one in my own classes – I’ve had to learn to share my opinions, and I think it will be of tremendous value for you to do the same. My job is to provide a safe and interesting environment where you feel comfortable doing so, which I will, but you must meet your half of the social contract by attempting to step outside of what’s sometimes comfortable to make class what it should be.
• *See participation grading rubric on syllabus as to how I actually grade participation…

Class Discussion & Sensitivity Issues
• The topics in this class are a double-edged sword – the characteristic which them interesting can also lend themselves to offense, anger, or discomfort – but this largely has to do with how we handle discussion.
• I encourage honest, open, discussion without offensive, personalized comments that anger people. Let me offer an example of a touchy topic, and the difference between good and bad comments…

• Cultural practices not your own! (e.g., veiling in certain cultural interpretations of Islam)
• Use of the “N” word
• Race and Racism, in general
• The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender)
Community (e.g.,
*A good general rule is to avoid offensive terms, phrases like
‘them’ or ‘those people’, or any other generally ignorant expression – there’s nothing wrong with asking questions
(e.g., what does it mean to be transgendered? Is a transman necessarily homosexual?” – but NOT OK to use slurs or offensive language.

GOOD: I believe that institutional bias exists against black Americans as evidenced by the disproportionate number of incarcerations, discrimination in the labor force, and recent police violence. This is an argument
(a thesis) that is based on evidence. And, even though this can be argued or disagree with (even passionately), it isn’t offensive to any one person, nor directed towards someone in class.
BAD: “All white people are racists” (the white kid next you now feels angry, offended, and is correct in that feeling). *If you can’t see why this is bad you’re in the wrong class!

• I play devil’s advocate in class – don’t get angry, don’t think I necessarily disagree with you – don’t get easily defeated. The purpose of playing devil’s advocate is to challenge your ideas – to make you think more analytically than just your first reaction to something. It doesn’t
mean I think you’re wrong, or even that I agree with the position I’m taking.

Grading
To mirror a college level class, your grades will come from a handful of written projects, your class participation (*see how this is graded below) and my overall impression of your contributions and understanding of materials, based on projects and participation.
1. Projects: Will be writing based (minimum of 2 pages each) and you will have
1 for each major unit (e.g., gender, culture, race)
2. Participation: In this case this means speaking in class – I format class so that in class we have discussions – therefore a major part of your grade is participation.
Grading Equation (how I actually do the math to calculation your grade)
A point system where all of the points you earn are divided by the total points
I’ve offered. For example, if all of the assessments total 500 points in value and, of those, you earn a total of 450 points; your average will be a 90% (450/500).
*The only exception to this is your final project, which is worth a substantial portion of your total course grade.

Topic: “The Social Matters” - An Introduction to
Sociology
Aim: How can we look at our world with a Sociological
Imagination?

…the scientific study of behavior and human groups, focusing on social relationships: how those relationships influence people’s behavior; and how societies (the sum total of those relationships) develop and change.

Perennial Questions of Sociology
What drives human behavior?
How do individuals engage with their society?
How are power relationships
Structured in society?
What role do class, race, gender,
Sexual orientation play in
The organization of society?
Who benefits from these
Relationships, and who is harmed by them?
How are individual’s
Personal experiences
Reflective of the larger
Society in which they live?

• Anything can be analyzed and studied sociologically from macro issues of racial and gender inequality, to the social meaning behind the filters you use on Instagram
(or not, #nofilter)
• The goal here is not just the work, but the work as a means to encourage you to challenge the world around you, and look at social interaction and purpose in a different way than you did before.

An awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society, both today and in the past (Mills, 1959). Key aspect is ability to view one’s own society as an outsider would.

Takeaways from This Topic (What you should better understand when we’re done)
1. The Sociological Imagination – how to apply that perspective anything in the world around you (suicide, relationships and divorce, etc.)
2. Levels of Analysis in sociology ( Macro vs. Micro perspectives, and their respective strengths/weaknesses)
3. Manifest and Latent Functions of social phenomena
4. Theoretical Schools of Sociology – Functionalism,
Symbolic Interactionism, Conflict Theory, Feminist
Theory

A society is a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations.

Do you believe that…
…in a general sense, you can fall in love/marry whoever you choose -
That you have the greatest amount of choice in your selection of a partner?
A sociologist would say not as much as you think…the rules of endogamy will tell you to marry within your cultural group, the rules of homogamy will direct you towards similar personal traits to your own, the status of your family will direct you towards people of a certain socioeconomic status, your religious affiliation will push you towards others of that same religion, and so on…

Meet Thomas…he’s white, heterosexual, upper-class(from a successful two parent, conservative Republican home) a very religious Protestant, college educated, born in 1950, and highly ambitious and career driven…
Now, describe to me the type of woman who
Thomas is most likely NOT going to marry and have children with one day…

Analyzed data from dating website in which participants were asked to choose racial/ethnic preferences.

• The sociological imagination allows us to go beyond personal experiences and observations to understand broader public issues.
Discussion:
-Analyze how divorce reflects BOTH personal and societal issues…
-What have you heard about divorce rates?

I want you, in your notebook to list 5 reasons/scenarios that a person might commit suicide - you may say anything (or describe any situation you like) -
Speak freely
Do the majority of the reasons/scenarios have a theme that you can identify? What is that theme?
Now consider a different question - why is the suicide rate, per capita, higher in California versus
Ohio?
Do the majority of the reasons/scenarios have a different theme that you can identify? What is that theme?

Matthew K. Nock, director of the
Laboratory for Clinical and
Developmental Research at
Harvard University, is one of the most original and influential suicide researchers in the world (Resource
- “The Suicide Detective, New York
Times, 6/26/2013)
4 types of suicide:
1. Egotistic – feel isolated, alone
2. Altruistic – high solidarity – killing for betterment of group (Kamikaze pilots, suicide bombers, cult members/leaders)
3. Fatalistic – low social control, people feel future is bleak and nothing will make it better (terminally ill people, prison inmates, depressed people)
4. Anomic – People who cannot deal with social chaos (9/11, Stock market crash of 1929, etc) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/magazine/ the-suicide-detective.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Levels of Analysis - Micro vs. Macro Perspectives
•
•
Macro-level sociology looks at large-scale social processes, such as social stability and change and allows observation of large-scale patterns and trends, but runs the risk of seeing these trends as abstract entities that exist outside of the individuals who enact them on the ground.
Micro-level sociology looks at small-scale interactions between individuals, such as conversation or group dynamics.
It allows for this on-the-ground analysis, but can fail to consider the larger forces that influence individual behavior.
• Micro- and macro-level studies each have their own benefits and drawbacks.
Source: Boundless. “Levels of Analysis: Micro and Macro.” Boundless Sociology .
Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015.

Issues Better Understood by Macro vs. Micro
Perspectives:
• Feminism/”Rape
Culture” (Herman,
1984)
• Structural
Racism/White
Privilege

Manifest Functions:
Open, stated, conscious functions of institutions.
Think of education…what are the manifest functions of going to school?
Latent Functions: unconscious, sometimes unintended functions that reflect hidden purposes of an institution.
Think of education…what are the latent functions of going to school?

Some Major Sociological Theories and
Theorists
Why? – Not just to fill slides in the PowerPoint!
I want you to have a solid foundation of the history and ideas that form the foundation of all the major issues we discuss (e.g., we can’t discuss “White Privilege” without understand Marx’s or Mill’s ideas of class consciousness or The Power Elite!)

Functionalism (Macro) Conflict Theory (Macro)
Think of society as a living organism in which each part contributes to its survival what function does each part of society serve to the overall stability of society?
Extension of Marxism - assumes social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power, resources, access, and political representation
Interactionists (Micro)
Focus on everyday forms of social interaction to explain society as a whole.
focus on material things, actions,
Relationships, and symbols. Sometimes
Referred to as symbolic interactionists.

React to the following video –
YouTube “I Forgot
My Phone”

Discussion - how would a functionalist explain the prohibition of consuming beef in Hindubased cultures?
Resource - “The Cultural
Ecology of India’s Sacred
Cattle” (Harris,1966)

Embraced in the 1970’s with advent of second-
Wave feminism. Views inequality in gender
As central to all behavior and organization. View
Women’s subjugation as inherent to capitalist societies –
Seeks to understand how women fit into a social world
That has traditionally been controlled by men .