SOC 1013.004 Introduction to Sociology

Spring, 2011 Tues / Thurs 12:30-1:45

HSS 2.01.12

Instructor: Michael Miller Office Address: MS 4.03.74 Email: michael.miller@utsa.edu Office Hours: T / T, 9:30-11:00

Text: Thompson & Hickey, Society in Focus. Allyn & Bacon (7th). Also available: digital edition.

The Course: Description. SOC 1013 is an introduction to the study of the social nature of human life within the context of various types of human collectivities, including relationships, groups, formal organizations, communities, and societies. Course attention will therefore be devoted to understanding the structure and dynamics of human behavior by reference to social factors and explanations. In addition to covering a core set of concepts and principles related to theory, methods, culture, and social structure, we will survey various sociology subfields, including social stratification, race and ethnic relations, work and occupations, demography, marriage and family, and religion. Multimedia Web-Based Approach. This section of SOC 1013 is a ―hybrid‖ course in that it combines conventional in-class teaching with supplemental instruction derived through online resources. You will be required to devote out-of-class time to examining media programs and clips linked to the course via this syllabus. To learn about my approach to teaching with media, read the article "Integrating Online Multimedia Into Course and Classroom." (Note: Some of these materials will have strong language. If you think this may offend you, please see me as you may want to take a more sanitized section of SOC 1013 with another instructor.) Course Objective. The course provides an opportunity for you to learn to see the social world and human behavior more clearly and objectively through the major concepts, theories, and findings of the discipline. This objective will be sought through class lectures and discussions, and online assignments. Degree-Program Requirement. SOC 1013 satisfies 3 hours of the 18-hour Core Curriculum requirement for Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Course Management System: Blackboard is available by virtue of enrollment in this class. It is a vitally important resource which will allow you to access the course syllabus, assigned materials, and course grades. (Let me know immediately if you have any difficulties accessing this site.)

Student Contributions: The course requires your active involvement. At the minimum, you are expected to attend class, read text assignments, cover assigned Internet materials prior to class, and take examinations as specified. To facilitate your success, consider the following suggestions: 1. Do not be a ―spectator.‖ Your success in the class will be proportional to your classroom

engagement. This is your class—actively participate. Ask questions, discuss experiences, offer opinions... Get to know other students (exchange phone numbers / email addresses). Talk about the course, share lecture notes, hold study sessions before exams...

2. Read / watch / listen to assigned text and Internet materials before the due date. In reading the

text, make sure you also study the case-study boxes that appear throughout chapters. Tables, charts, and graphs should be examined, as well. It will be helpful to take notes as you watch videos and listen to audios.

3. Should you have any concern or problem that is affecting, or may affect, your academic status or

class involvement, please communicate with me about it. If posted meeting times are inconvenient, you may arrange a conference at another time. Note: all e-mail communication should be directed to me at michael.miller@utsa.edu

Evaluation Source: Three exams, including a non-cumulative final exam, will be administered over the semester. Each exam will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions, and will account collectively for 100 percent of your final grade. You will need to provide a Scantron grading sheet (882) for each exam. Note: I do not distribute exams from previous semesters to serve as study aids, nor release for personal use those exams that were taken earlier in the semester. Exam results are yours to keep following post-exam review. Should you miss an exam for a valid reason, you must submit a written request (paper copy) for a make-up exam, including third-party documentation for your absence, at the time of your return to class. All make-up exams will consist of essay-length questions and will be administered immediately after your completion of the final exam.

Extra-Credit Research Paper

You may be awarded up to 5 points added to your final average by developing, writing, and submitting a research paper about yourself. Specifically, you must address three key questions in this paper: 1. Who Am I? 2. How did I become that person? 3. Who will I become? The first two questions require that you develop a description of your own development through the employment of sociologically-relevant concepts. That is, you should examine who you are and how you came to be that person by describing your own socialization over time. Considering the life stages of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, discuss who you were (or are) in each, and the major agents of socialization in each. Explain how these agents influenced you. Include consideration of your self-concept over time; that is, how you defined yourself and how you think others defined you. Identify and discuss what you see as your purpose/purposes in life. Detail how your perception of self may have changed dependent upon who you were relating to and over time. Be sure to address social conditions and events in your life that have had special importance in making you who you are—in particular, your social location and background (e.g., social class, race/ethnicity, sex, place of residence, etc.). You are encouraged to interview others knowledgeable about you and your development—close relatives would be important sources about your early years, in particular. The third question (―Who will I become?‖) requires you to develop reasoned speculations about who you will become as you continue through your life course, in light of who you now

are. Visualize and describe what kind (or kinds) of person you will become. Define yourself in terms of social location (e.g., education, occupation, marriage and family status, etc), anticipate the kinds of issues you will face as you go through each stage of adult life, and propose how you will likely deal with them. In evaluating your paper, I will focus on the depth of treatment and insight that you reveal about yourself, and the extent to which you accurately apply relevant sociological concepts to your narrative. Your paper will be assigned a grade ranging from 5 to 0, dependent on the extent to which it meets these criteria. The paper must be submitted by class time on April 21.

The following resources should be helpful in developing your paper: 1. Chapter 4 ―Socialization‖ in Thompson & Hickey text. 2. ―The Self‖ video http://www.learner.org/resources/series138.html (Directions: Scroll down to Program 15 ―The Self,‖ and then click on the ―VoD‖ icon on right side of selection. You may then need to register at the site to gain free access to streamed videos. After retrieving film, enlarge viewing area by placing cursor on video image, right clicking, then > ―zoom‖ > ―full screen‖.)

3. ―Seasons of Life‖ videos http://www.learner.org/resources/series54.html a. Infancy and Early Childhood (Birth–Age 5) b. Childhood and Adolescence (Ages 6-20) c. Early Adulthood (Ages 20-40) d. Middle Adulthood (Ages 40-60) e. Late Adulthood (Ages 60+) (Directions: Scroll down to each program, and then click on the ―VoD‖ icon on right side of selection. You may then need to register at the site to gain free access to streamed videos. After retrieving film, enlarge viewing area by placing cursor on video image, right clicking, then > ―zoom‖ > ―full screen‖.)

Additional Considerations: 1. The paper must be typed, double-spaced, and employ standard fonts. Limit grammatical errors

and misspellings through careful editing before submission. Do not use a binder of any sort (place staple in upper left corner).

2. Plagiarism and collusion are prohibited (see Section 203 of The Student Code of Conduct for a definition and overview of each).

3. Remember to make an extra copy of your paper for your own files. 4. The paper must be submitted by April 21. It should be handed in to me in class upon request.

Late submissions will be discounted by 1 point per each day late, including weekends.

Grading Scale: Exams, research paper, and your final average should be interpreted on the following basis: A = > 89 B = 80 - 89 C = 70 - 79 D = 60 - 69 F = < 60

Additional Considerations:

1. Student Conduct: You are responsible for becoming familiar with all rules concerning student conduct, including those relevant to scholastic dishonesty (see The Student Code of Conduct).

2. Use of Technology In Class: Avoid cell-phone embarrassment: turn-off (or at least put on vibrate) before class starts. Under no circumstances can a cell phone be out of pocket/bag during an exam. The use of laptops is only permitted among students sitting in the first two rows of the auditorium.

3. Grade Reporting: All scantrons (except the final exam) will be returned to you in class (no one else may pick these up for you). Grades cannot be reported to you or anyone else by telephone,

fax, or e-mail. Grades will be made available to you on your Blackboard account; they can be discussed with me during office hours or by appointment.

4. Support Services: Support services, including registration assistance and equipment, are available to those with documented disabilities through the Office of Disability Services, MS 2.03.18. Call 458-4157 to make arrangements.

5. Drop Procedure: Should you decide to withdraw from the class, be sure to follow appropriate

administrative procedure. (Should you stop sitting for exams and fail to properly withdraw from the course, you will be assigned a grade of F.) According to University policy, the last day for students with to drop a single class and receive a ―W‖ is April 25.

Course Schedule

Week 1 Jan 11 Topic: Course Orientation Jan 13 Topic: What Is Sociology? Text Assignment: T & H - 1

Week 2 Jan 18 Topic: What Is Sociology? (continued) Reading Assignment: What Is It About 20-Somethings? In the opinion of the writer, identify the main reasons why young adults, including most college students today, are taking so long to assume adulthood. Which parts of this argument are consistent with your observations and experiences? Which are not? Video Assignments:

Know Thine Enemy In what important ways does this brief video suggest a sociological approach to understanding human behavior? For Your Information Majoring in Sociology

Jan 20 Topic: Culture Text Assignment: T & H - 3 For Your Enjoyment: George Carlin: Modern Man

Week 3

Jan 25 Topic: Culture: Key Components Video Assignments:

The Uniqueness of Humans Identify those features that make human beings a very unique species in the animal kingdom, according to Sapolsky. Worlds Apart: Katonah NY Meets India How well does this American family adapt to living in rural India? In which ways is the new culture especially different from this family's culture? What transformations does it go through during its brief stay there? Note in particular the ways its members experience "culture shock." Consider yourself: How do you think you would fare in this society? For Your Information: Becoming Human (Part 1)

Becoming Human (Part 2) Becoming Human (Part 3) For Your Enjoyment: Hamburger Virgins The Distant Mirror

Jan 27 Topic: Subcultures, Countercultures, and Perspectives on Culture Video Assignment:

The Millennials Are Coming! To what extent do you believe that this description is accurate about others you know of this generation? If you are of this age group, how well does it describe you? Marijuana Inc., Inside America’s Pot Industry This industry penetrates far into the workings of conventional society, Assess the industry and those who are involved in it, therefore, in terms of the concepts ―subculture‖ and ―counterculture.‖ For Your Information:

Stop Snitchin' Faithful, and Fighting

Week 4

Feb 1 Topic: Sociological Knowledge & Research Text Assignment: T & H - 2 For Your Information:

Shocking Stats Ghost Map Tuskegee Experiment Stochasticity

Feb 3 Topic: Structure/Interaction: Status & Role Text Assignment: T & H - 5

Week 5 Feb 8 Topic: Structure/Interaction: Status & Role (continued) Video Assignments: Interrogator Interview

Zimbardo: Prison Experiment Why do decent people sometimes do bad things? Compare and contrast Zimbardo's experiment with the case of Abu Ghraib. Consider the extent to which we "become" our roles. How likely are we to identify with the roles we play, no matter how disagreeable they might personally seem to us at first glance? While watching these videos, consider the following questions: 1. How did those (soldiers and students) who served as guards generally come to behave? 2. For what purposes were prisoners subjected to abuses by guards? 3. Why did the guards engage in such behavior? 4. Do you think that you could have personally resisted "becoming" fully absorbed in either role? 5. What lessons about human behavior can we learn from these two video clips? Cab Driver to Donate Kidney In your opinion, what is the most remarkable thing about this cab driver (other than volunteering to donate a kidney to a customer)?

Feb 10 Topic: Socialization: Self and Society Text Assignment: T & H - 4

Week 6 Feb 15 Topic: Developmental Socialization Video Assignment:

Growing Up Online and digital_nation Growing Up Online and its follow-up, digital_nation, address many aspects of life in a plugged-in, digital society. Identify the major ways technology and the Internet have altered life over the past 20 years or so. To what extent are your observations and experiences consistent with those made in the two documentaries?

Feb 17 Topic: Resocialization Video Assignments: Lord's Children Who are ―child soldiers‖—i.e., where are they from, how do they come to be, what are they forced to do, what impact does becoming one have on them? How are they commonly treated by family members when they escape? Describe efforts to resocialize them. Generally, how effective are such efforts?

Week 7 Feb 22 First Exam

Feb 24 Exam Review

Week 8 Mar 1 Topic: Social Organization and Group Dynamics Text Assignment: T & H - 6

Mar 3

Topic: Social Organization and Group Dynamics (continued) Video Assignment:

Constructing Social Reality Scroll down to Program 20 – ―Constructing Social Reality‖ and then click on the ―VoD‖ icon on right side of selection. You may then need to register at the site to gain free access to streamed videos. After retrieving film, enlarge viewing area by placing cursor on video image, right clicking, then > ―zoom‖ > ―full screen‖.

What is social reality? How is it constructed? Do people have different ―realities‖? How is it possible that subjective realities may become actual realities? Also be able to describe the following: Elliott’s ―brown-eyed/blue-eyed‖ experiment, Rosenthal’s ―Pygmalion effect,‖ Aronson’s ―jigsaw classroom,‖ and Cialdini’s strategies of influence. Audio Assignment: Killing Is the New Fighting Why and in what ways has homicide become "the new fighting" among some in this in this city? Do these findings apply elsewhere in our nation, as well? For Your Information: Why I Hate Beauty Up and Then Down

Trapped in an Elevator Why homeless hero Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax Died on NYC Street

Week 9

Mar 8 Topic: Interpersonal Influence: Compliance Techniques Video Assignments:

Hassan Cult Interviews (view all 3 parts) Identify the manipulative procedures commonly used to recruit people into organizations and groups. (For additional information, see http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/articles/BITE.htm.) Before You Enlist Identify the compliance tactics recruiters employ to manuever young adults into volunteering for the U.S. military. What does the video allege that recruiters never mention before they get them to sign on the dotted line? For Your Information: Changing Minds Bookmark and then take time to go through this compilation of principles, techniques, and tips devoted to helping one more effectively interact with others. For example, learn to better detect lying by visiting http://www.changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/lying/detecting_lies.htm

Mar 10 Topic: Population and Urbanization Text Assignment: T & H - 19 Video Assignments: Basic Population Concepts/Issues Click on each topic in the "Animations" box, and then for each, click "launch movie."

This site provides flash video tutorials for several concepts and issues that are critical to demography. Review each tutorial to be sure you understand relevant concepts and issues. Where Have All the Children Gone? In what ways are the populations overviewed in the video undergoing significant change? What are the main reasons for such changes? What special problems, if any, have such changes created? How are these societies attempting to deal with them? What impact will these demographic patterns likely have for these societies in the future? For Your Information: The Disappearing Male Immigration Resources, NY Times

Week 10

Mar 15-17 Spring Break

Week 11 Mar 22 Topic: Social Stratification and Inequality Text Assignment: T & H – 8 For Your Information

The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan

Mar 24 Topic: Social Class in the U.S. Video Assignments: Poverty, Inc. The poor have long been exploited by illegal, as well as ethically suspect, business practices. What makes the current nature of exploitation so different? Identify the major reasons why the poor have become increasingly vulnerable? Nickel & Dimed

To what extent and in what ways do low-wage workers in America have trouble with day-to-day survival? Taxing the Poor How is it that the American poor pay a disproportionate amount of taxes relative to income? For Your Information:

NY Times: Class Matters Big Spenders

Week 12 Mar 29 Exam 2

Mar 31 Exam Review

Week 13 Apr 5 Topic: Race / Ethnicity Text Assignment: T & H - 10

Apr 7 Topic: Race / Ethnicity (continued) Video Assignments: A Class Apart Describe the nature of Mexican-American/Anglo-American relations in Texas during the period examined in the video. What important legal argument was advanced that eventually allowed activist groups to begin attacking the legality of discriminatory policies and practices against Mexican Americans? A Girl Like Me Short documentary produced by teen that addresses the problem of minority self-hatred. What forces are at work producing such biases?

Interactive Assignment:

Implicit Association Test Take the test. What did you find out about yourself? Are you "racially biased," according to test results? For Your Information:

Shopping While Black Satchel: Confronting Racism One Fastball at a Time Massacre at Murambi A Class Divided

Week 14 Apr 12 Topic: Marriage and Family Text Assignment: T & H - 13

Apr 14 Topic: Marriage and Family (continued) Video Assignment:

Child Brides: Stolen Lives Identify the major ways early marriage negatively affects the lives of such youth, particularly girls. The Varieties of Intimate Relationship Examine this information graphic to see several types of intimate human relationships and the varieties of each. For Your Information:

Loving and Cheating (free registration required) Science of Seduction: Love Under a Microscope Science of Seduction: Love Is In The Air Science of Seduction: Love: The Single Biggest Prize Friends With Benefits $30,000 Marriage Consultant Arranged Marriage Surrogacy Factory Banished: The Lost Boys of Polygamy

Week 15 Apr 19 Topic: Sex and Gender Text Assignment: T & H - 11 For Your Information: Gender Ads Sexual Identity Would You Help This Gay Couple? Women at Arms Portraying Cougars For Your Enjoyment:

Battle of the Sexes

Apr 21 Topic: Work and Economy Text Assignment: T & H - 17 For Your Information: The Corporation

Secret History of the Credit Card

The Undertaking

Crisis of Credit Inside the Economic Meltdown The Card Game

Week 16 Apr 25 Topic: Religion Text Assignment: T & H - 15 For Your Information:

The Ten Commandments Investigation of "The Family" Jesus Camp They Shall Take Up Serpents

Week 17

May 4 Final Exam (Wednesday, 10:30)