CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Fall 2002

Overview

This course examines the background assumptions, conceptual adequacy, logical consistency, and empirical testability of major theoretical perspectives in sociology.  We will gain an overview of these perspectives by reading a textbook on theory, encounter the theories more directly in short selections from the original works, and explore a variety of applications of these theories in essays by contemporary sociologists. 

In this course, we will focus mainly on contemporary theories and theorists, though we will also study many of the classical theorists in order to provide background on current theories.  Our concern throughout the course will be to apply specific theories to real-world issues.  In papers, discussions, and class presentations, we will grapple with the challenging theoretical problems that have emerged as sociologists have sought to articulate their theories and use them to explain the complexities of social structures and social interaction.

Objectives for Individual Learning

1. To gain familiarity with a broad range of sociological theories and with the work of a variety of currently active theorists.
2. To appreciate the importance of theory for making sense of the social world around us.
3. To develop your "tastes" in sociological theory, so that you not only prefer one theory to another, but can explain and defend the reasons for your preference.
4. To develop your standards of evaluation for theories, by selecting and using appropriate criteria to compare the conceptual adequacy, logical consistency, and empirical testability of at least two theories, both of which can be applied to the same sociological context.
5. To develop your theoretical creativity, by exploring applications of theories to everyday life, and by suggesting modifications and extensions of the theories studied.
6. To gain facility in writing understandable prose about abstract and challenging subjects.
7. To gain facility in presenting and discussing complex sociological ideas in class.  

Responsibilities to Classmates

1. To serve at least twice as a resource person helping others in the class to interpret and criticize the assigned reading selections.
2. Work with other students and the instructor, to plan and lead classroom presentations on at least two assigned readings, as well as making a presentation on your final essay.
3. To contribute to the environment for learning in the classroom by reading the assigned material when it is due, coming to class prepared for discussion, and striving to stay mentally focused in class.
4. To cooperate with classmates to make sure that books, articles, and other library resources are freely available to everyone

Course Design:

Inescapably, much of the reading in this course is hard — we will read some of the most difficult selections that sociology majors are asked to tackle.  To help you master this challenging material, the course design encourages active participation in class discussions, gives students substantial responsibility for leading class discussions, and demands a considerable amount of reflective writing about the texts.  By reading the selections carefully, discussing difficult concepts with classmates, explaining complex theoretical ideas in class presentations, and putting your reflections about theory on paper, you can come to know these powerful intellectual perspectives well enough to enhance your own understandings of social life.

Careful reading will be our first priority.  Approximately 100 to 200 pages of readings are assigned per week. The assignments bunch considerably, so please plan your reading accordingly.  A helpful technique in preparing for class discussions is to take notes on the readings, focusing on the author's central argument and noting anything that seems unclear.  Please bring to each class session one written question for discussion; we will frequently begin our class meetings by writing our questions on the board to generate topics for discussion.  Providing these discussion questions will contribute to your class participation grade.

Sociology 285 is conducted as a seminar: I will participate in discussion but will not lecture, except to offer mini-lectures on occasion to get us started.  Therefore, you must come to each class prepared to discuss the topics covered in the assigned readings.  Since the success of this course depends on active participation, class participation figures heavily in your grade.

To encourage your active involvement in class discussions, each of you will act as a resource person for at least two of the required readings.  The selections from which you may choose are indicated by "R" on the syllabus.  As a resource person, your role is to study this article with particular care and be ready to help others understand it.  You may want to produce outlines, diagrams, definitions of key terms, or anything else that clarifies the reading. 

To help the class cope with some of the most challenging articles, you will team up at least twice with other students to make a class presentation on one of the required readings.  Articles suitable for presentations are indicated by "P" on the syllabus.  This role will involve offering introductory comments along with a written synopsis of the article and of your reactions to it (to be made available to the class) and then helping to lead discussion.  Your overall course participation, which includes contributing to class discussions, acting as a resource person, and making these team presentations, will count for 30 percent of your grade.

Expressing your reactions in writing, like reading carefully and participating actively in class discussions, can greatly facilitate your understanding of difficult material.  You will write four short (3-5 page) reading memos (described on the last page of this syllabus).  In each of these short papers, you will analyze some interesting or problematic aspect of a theorist’s work.  You will have some discretion about the due dates for these memos, but everyone will need to complete three memos before Break, and the assignments together will count for 40 percent of your grade.

I will permit you — in fact, I strongly encourage you — to rewrite your reading memos, but before attempting to do so, you must schedule with a meeting with me to discuss the memo in question and how to rewrite it.  You will benefit most from a rewrite done soon after the first try, so the deadline for doing any rewrite will be two weeks after the original submission.

A coursework and class participation portfolio will be due in late April.  Your portfolio will collect the drafts (including all revisions) of your reading memos, together with materials documenting your class presentations (including your daily discussion questions) and resource duties.  The portfolio will also require a self-evaluation of the progress you have made toward reaching the course goals for individual learning (see above).  A preliminary portfolio will be due just before spring break. 

Your final written assignment will be a longer paper that compares two theoretical perspectives in detail.  During the last weeks of the semester, each of you will act as presenter of your own final paper and as critic of someone else's final paper.  In this longer paper (from fifteen to twenty pages), you will present information from your reading of original and secondary sources to argue for the superiority of one of the two perspectives.  A proposal for this paper is due on October 31.  A first draft of the paper will be due in the last two weeks of classes, as will a class presentation and discussion of it.  A mandatory rewrite of this final paper will be due about ten days after the draft.  Your instructor will provide written comments on the draft version and will grade only the final version.  This longer paper and presentation will count for 30 percent of your grade.

Summary of Assignments and Grading

• Class participation (includes writing discussion questions, acting as a resource person for articles, making joint presentations on articles, and participating actively in class discussions) — 30%
• Four reading memos and revisions (with 3 completed before Break)  — 40 %
• Final paper and presentation — 30%

Required Texts:

Kivisto, Peter, ed. 2001. Illuminating Social Life: Classical and Contemporary Theory Revisited. Second edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge. [LIFE]

Kivisto, Peter, ed. 2000. Social Theory:  Roots and Branches. Los Angeles: Roxbury. [ROOTS]

Lengermann, Patricia Madoo, and Jill Niebrugge-Brantley. 1998. The Women Founders: Sociology and Social Theory 1830-1930. Boston: McGraw Hill.  [FOUNDERS]

Wallace, Ruth A., and Alison Wolf. 1999. Contemporary Sociological Theory: Expanding the Classical Tradition. Fifth edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.  [TRADITION]

Reserve Readings in JSTOR

Course Schedule: