Syllabus

Sociology 116-01 History of Sociological Thought — Mills College Fall 2009

Professor Dan Ryan

TR 11:00 a.m. 12:15 p.m. GSB 125

Contact Information

Office: 105 Vera Long | Office Phone: (510) 430-3242 | Fax Number: (510) 430-2304 | Email Address: ude.sllim|nayrnad#ude.sllim|nayrnad
Ryan Website: http://djjr.net | Course Website: http://SOCIAL-THEORY.INFO or http://mills-soc116.wikidot.com
Office Hours ([http://www.appointmentquest.com/provider/2080160332]) by appointment.

NOTE: The instructor reserves the right to make changes in the syllabus. Students are responsible for learning of any changes in the syllabus, whether or not they are present in class the day the changes are announced.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is about SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY. We distinguish this from activism, social commentary, policy recommendations, empirical research, ideology, and polemics, although all of these can, at times, be found under the heading "theory." We will also be self-consciously focused on the sociological mainstream or canon, not as an endorsement but because in the limited attention space available it makes sense to focus on building a foundation rather than trying to give everything its due. Additionally, there are several courses at Mills in which theorists we could, but won't talk about, are covered.1

This course is a broad survey of sociological theory. Although you will not be an expert in any one thinker’s ideas, you will be exposed to a variety of theories and the debates occurring between thinkers. The work for the course WILL include an opportunity to focus more on a set of related theories and thinkers.

Strictly speaking, this course is about sociological thought not "social theory." The latter is the broader category including all manner of writings from the philosophical and epistemological to the political and polemical; it may overlap in places with sociological theory, but it neither subsumes nor is subsumed by it. The course is also not, strictly speaking, intellectual history, though there will be some overlap there too.

The course is roughly divided into four sections:

  1. Foundations: Pre-sociology and the Four Revolutions (American/French/Industrial/1848)
  2. Classical Theory
  3. The Twentieth Century
  4. What's new and next?

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Our goals include enhancing your

  1. Ability to effectively read theory texts and make sense of them, parsing difficult rhetoric to extract concepts, claims, and arguments;
  2. Grasp of the genealogy of sociological thinking — both the family relations and the family feuds;
  3. "Ownership" of concepts that constitute the core toolkit of the discipline;
  4. Familiarity with the work of certain key thinkers;
  5. Desire that theory you read makes sense, is useful, and can be connected to research;
  6. Standards of logic, coherence, and empirical support for arguments and claims;
  7. Appreciation of "old" ideas and how much of the recent is not new and what we mean by "on the shoulders of giants";
  8. Recognition that there is much to read;
  9. Sense of what is on that list and where to start.

To earn a passing grade in this course you must, at its conclusion, demonstrate that you can

  1. trace the general trajectory of social theory from its 16th century "origins" in the ideas of Thomas Hobbes to the present
  2. describe general genealogy of sociological theory from Comte to the present
  3. characterize main ideas and legacy of the "big three" classical theorists: Marx, Weber, and Durkheim
  4. explicate an original piece of theory
  5. apply two or more theoretical perspectives to a contemporary social phenomenon
  6. write a coherent essay about social theory

Along the way you will be asked to write practice explications of passages read, and you will be tested on your comprehension of the ideas in the work of many different thinkers. Exams and written assignments will be used as practice.

ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES

  1. In-class examinations will be used to assess comprehension of material covered in the reading assignments and class discussion.
  2. Essays will be used to assess each student’s ability to make a clear, coherent,argument using complex language and appropriate grammar and style. Additionally, the assignment will test the student’s ability to make analytical connections between theorists.
  3. The homework assignments will assess the student’s effort to keep up with the reading and comprehend main points of articles and lectures. These assignments will also assess writing clarity and style.

For additional information on course goals and assessment, click here

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

  1. Reading "Nonrational Foundations of Rationality"
  2. Sample Theory Sampler Exercise
  3. Theory Samplers
  4. First Annotation
  5. Secondary Sources
  6. Theory Samplers
  7. Gateway to Class Member Pages

Check back — subsequent assignments will be linked to from here.

STATEMENT ON ACCESSIBILITY

To request academic accommodations due to a disability, students should contact Services for Students with Disabilities in the Cowell Building. If you have a letter indicating you have a disability which requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to me so that I will be able to provide the accommodations that you need in this class.

GRADING POLICIES

Your grade for this course will be based on 1) your ability to understand and analyze the various topics and perspectives presented in the readings and during class, and 2) to communicate in writing effectively and with sophistication. Failure to complete all course assignments ON TIME may result in a failing grade. In general, no late papers or make-up work will be permitted. If there is an emergency, an exception to the late policy may be made. In this case, late assignments may be accepted with a grade deduction per day they are late (extreme emergencies excepted).

GRADING SCALE

Subject to modification and fine-tuning, the grade for this course will be based on the following items in approximately these proportions

  1. Initial Class Exercise (first day) 5%
  2. Sampler milestone submissions (~8) 25%
  3. Sampler draft and practice presentation 10%
  4. Tweets 10%
  5. Exam 1 10%
  6. Exam 2 15%
  7. Sampler essay and presentation 15%
  8. Final Exercise 10%

Standards applied to these items will be the usual ones. Please note that A means EXCELLENT, not "OK."

  • A Excellent
  • B Good
  • C Satisfactory
  • D Less than satisfactory
  • F Unacceptable

CLASS ATTENDANCE AND YOUR GRADE

You are required to attend all scheduled classes and will be expected to initial the attendance sheet passed around by the instructor. Two unexplained absences during the semester (including illness, travel, work, etc.) will be overlooked. However, after 2 absences, your total grade for the course may be reduced by 1/3 grade (e.g., 3 additional absences would change an A into a B) per missed class, regardless of the reason for the absence (emergencies excepted). Do not ask the instructor to adjudicate the reasonableness of non-emergencies as excuses.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this course. Academic dishonesty includes all types of cheating and plagiarism, whether the result of dishonorable intentions or sloppy scholarship. “In an institution of higher learning, plagiarism is a serious breach of academic trust. For purposes of the Mills Honor Code, plagiarism is defined as intentionally or knowingly using someone else’s ideas, words, and/or thoughts without giving proper credit to the source. All work for which another source is not cited is assumed to be that of the writer. Material taken from another source must be cited by footnotes or by other means, as determined by the assigning faculty member” (Mills Honor Code, Mills College Student Handbook).

References must appear in the text of ANYTHING you submit for the instructor or your classmates to read when ideas, facts, or language come from a source other than your thinking. You must cite sources both to give credit where it is due and to establish provenance of the material to vouch for its validity.

You are responsible for learning how to reference and cite webpages, Wikipedia, online videos, television documentaries, journal articles, newspaper articles and books. Ignorance of how to properly cite something does NOT relieve you of the responsibility to cite sources.

See Also
Academic Integrity Resources

REQUIRED READINGS

TWO books are required for this course. All books are available at the Mills College bookstore.

  1. Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classic Readings, edited by Charles Lemert.
  2. Sociological Insight: An Introduction to Non-Obvious Sociology, Randall Collins.
  3. Marx for Beginners, Rius.
  4. Additional required readings are available online.

See books for links to additional online sources for buying these books.

Course Calendar (subject to change with advance notice)

NOTE: See course-part-two for revised syllabus schedule

WHEN WHAT TEXTS
8.26 Map 1: The Course in a Nutshell
8.31 Map 2: What makes a theory good? I
9.2 Map 3: The Problem of Order and the "Pre-Sociologists

*

9.7 How to do a "theory sampler" The Social Self
9.9 Auguste Comte as "Father of Sociology" Getting Started
9.10 Due Friday 5 p.m. Sampler Choice
9.14 Marx: Background Marx Overview
  • Rius, Marx for Beginners Biographical Background pp.1-35
  • Rius, Marx for Beginners Philosophical Background pp. 36-66
  • Rius, Marx for Beginners Idealism, Materialism, Dialectics pp.67-77
9.16 Marx: Alienation and Revolution Earlier Marx
9.18 DUE Friday midnight Sampler Annotation #1
9.21 Marx: Capital Later Marx
  • Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. 1848. "The Manifesto of Class Struggle" (39-43)
  • Marx, K. 1867. “Labour-Power and Capital," from Capital, Vol. I. (62-67)
  • Marx, K. 1867. "Capital and the Fetishism of Commodities," from Capital, Vol. I. (60-62)

Optional

  • Marx, K. 1867. "Capital and the Value of Commodities," from Capital, Vol. I. (51-60)
  • Engels, F. 1884. "The Patriarchal Family," from The Origin of Family, Private Property, and the State. (67-69)
9.23 EXAM. DJR not here. Identifications and Explications
9.25 DUE Friday midnight Sampler Annotation #2
9.28 From Marx to Weber
9.30 Weber: Organizations and Politics
10.1 DUE Friday midnight Sampler Annotation #3
10.5 Weber: Power
10.7 Durkheim: Solidarity Durkheim: Introduction and Overview
10.8 DUE Friday midnight Remaining Sampler Annotations should be complete. Turn in outline for presentation.
10.12 DJR NOT HERE Dry runs for sampler presentations
10.14 Durkheim: Facts
10.15 DUE Friday midnight Background bibliography for Samplers
10.19 Durkheim: God
10.21 Exam Weber & Durkheim No Reading
10.22 DUE Friday midnight Exercise
10.26 Other Turn of the Century Theorists
  • Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. 1898. "Women and Economics" (174-178)
  • Simmel, Georg. 1908. "The Stranger" (185-188)
10.28 Other Turn of the Century Theorists
  • Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.). 1903. "Double-Consciousness and the Veil" (167-172)
  • Mannheim, Karl. 1936, 1929. "The Sociology of Knowledge and Ideology" (217-221)
10.29 DUE Friday midnight Exercise
11.2 A New Fundamental Antimony: Liberalism and Conservatism
  • Keynes, John Maynard. 1920. "The Psychology of Modern Society" (203-205)
  • Keynes, John Maynard. 1925. "The New Liberalism" (205-206)
  • Hayek, Friederich. 19xx. Selections TBA
11.4 Midcentury Consensus
  • Merton, Robert K. 1938. "Social Structure and Anomie" (229-242)
  • Parsons, Talcott. 1937. "The Unit Act of Action Systems" (213-215)
  • Parsons, Talcott. 1961-71. "Action Systems and Social Systems" (301-303)
  • Parsons, Talcott. 1943. "Sex Roles in the American Kinship System" (304-307)
  • Functionalism TBA
11.5 DUE Friday midnight Exercise
11.9 Midcentury Critique: Society as Social Problem
  • Horkheimer, Max and Theodor Adorno. 1944. "The Culture Industry as Deception" (325-329)
  • Mills, C. Wright. 1959. "The Sociological Imagination" (355-358)
  • Niebuhr, Reinhold. 1932. "Moral Man and Immoral Society" (247-249)
  • Césaire, Aimé. 1955. "Between Colonizer and Colonized" (348-350)
11.11 Midcentury Critique: Race and Gender
  • Myrdal, Gunnar. 1944. "The Negro Problem as a Moral Issue" (249-251)
  • Fanon, Frantz. 1961. "Decolonizing, National Culture, and the Negro Intellectual" (364-369)
  • Beauvoir, Simone de. 1949. "Woman as Other" (345-347)
  • Friedan, Betty. 1963. "The Problem That Has No Name" (361-364)
11.12 DUE Friday midnight Exercise
11.16 Roots of Contemporary Theory : POMO
  • Ferdinand de Saussure, "Arbitrary Social Values and the Linguistic Sign," L152-160
  • Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1958. "The Structural Study of Myth" ((313-317)
  • Barthes,Roland. 1964. "Semiological Prospects" (318-320)
  • Lacan, Jacques. 1949. "The Mirror Stage" (343-344)
11.18 Roots of Contemporary Theory: Structure and Rationality
  • (Tentative)
  • Milgram, Small World Experiment
  • Olson, Mancur. 19cc. Selection from The Logic of Collective Action. Harvard University Press, 1st ed. 1965, 2nd ed. 1971.
  • Coleman, James S. 1990. "The New Social Structure and the New Social Science" (506-510)
11.19 DUE Friday midnight Exercise
11.23 Must-Reads of the Last Quarter of the Century
11.30 Synthesizing an Explanatory Theory
  • Collins, "Why is Sociology Not a Science?"
12.2 Synthesizing an Explanatory Theory
  • Collins, "Love and Property" [SI 119-154]
12.3 DUE Friday midnight Exercise

Learning Goals and Assessment

Mission Goals
Goal Desc Criteria
Students will learn to think critically. (Practice) Most senior projects require the assessment of empirical evidence and the logical assembly of pieces of theory from different sources. Student projects will be evaluated on the degree to which they do this successfully.
Program Goals
Goal Desc Criteria
Sociology Understand what it means to be a human being in different kinds of societies and cultures. (Practice, Master) Each WILL be assessed on the basis of whether their work suggests an understanding of the human condition beyond their own experience.
Understand and use the basic qualitative and quantitative research methods sociologists and anthropologists depend on. (Practice, Master) Most senior project require actual execution of research using one or more techniques in the social science methodological tool kit. Students will be evaluated based on the degree to which their project execution demonstrates competence in the techniques they employ.
General Education Goals
Goal Desc Criteria
Written Communication Write clearly organized essays with the following characteristics: effective paragraphing, thesis development, transitions, use and interpretation of evidence, evidence of larger structure and organization (Practice) Final project to be evaluated on the basis of the aforementioned criteria.
Write essays that incorporate examples from other writers, demonstrate critical thinking and interpretation about the ideas of other writers, and use correct documentation for these examples (Practice) Final project to be evaluated on the basis of the aforementioned criteria.
Use draft and revision processes, demonstrate understanding of different stages of the writing process, and engage in editing and revision of peer essays (Practice) Over the course of the semester students produce multiple drafts in response to instructor and classmate criticism. Students to be evaluated on the degree to which they make use of this feedback to improve from draft to draft.
Produce essays and other forms of writing free from sentence level error and identify where to get further information about such errors (e.g., how to use a handbook) (Practice) Final project to be evaluated on the basis of the aforementioned criteria.
Be familiar with and able to use the tools and resources of an academic library in addition to Internet resources (Practice) This will be assessed indirectly only — has the student successfully located resources necessary for her project. No independent measurement of the attainment of this goal will be attempted.
Be competent in the use of the citation style appropriate to a discipline (Practice) Final project to be evaluated on the basis of the aforementioned criteria.
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