Note:
Read this carefully and review it often!
This syllabus contains detailed descriptions of all
tests,
papers/projects, due dates, expectations, etc.
SOCIOLOGY 310
SOCIAL CLASS AND INEQUALITY
Fall 1998
Professor Office Phone
Dr.
Susan V. Mead Roberts
14 365-4611
Office Hours: Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri
8:00-9:00a.m. 1:30-3:30 p.m. 1:30-3:30 p.m. 8:00-9:00a.m. 1:30-3:30p.m.
Course
Description:
This
course is designed to expose students to the major sociological perspectives
concerning social stratification, social class, and structural inequality. In other words, we will explore why some
folks are systematically denied access to social rewards (money, prestige,
power) and why others seem to hold on an excess of those social rewards. First, you will learn about the classical
theories in this field and then explore how those theories mesh with your own
ideas. Next, you will examine the
different components of inequality, stratification and class, such as
occupational prestige, social mobility, status and income attainment, lifestyle
and attitudinal differences among classes.
Then we will examine a couple of specific areas of stratification
related to other sorts of inequality, namely race/ethnic and gender stratification. The final third of the semester, we will
take what we have learned about class, inequality, and stratification and apply
it to global examples of a wide variety.
We will end the semester by reconnecting to theory by looking at what
theorists (including ourselves!) say about the future of stratification.
This course approaches learning in
an independent study style, with weekly, rather lengthy, meetings to discuss
large blocks of reading and our own thoughts on the issues. Students will be responsible for knowing and
understanding both the large scale issues at hand and pertinent details from
individual articles/chapters that serve as illustrations specific points. Preparedness and discussion are essential to
the success of this course, as are questioning minds and creative, critical thinking.
Required
Texts:
Grusky,
David B. 1994. Social Stratification: Class,
Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective.
Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Curtis,
James, and Lorne Tepperman. Haves and Have Nots: An International Reader
on Social Inequality.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Course
Requirements:
Because
diversity in abilities and skills is important and desirable, there will be a
variety of ways for you to earn the total of 500 points offered in this course.
JOURNAL AND NEWS NOTEBOOK (100 PTS)
The readings for this course are
intended to be thought-provoking and challenging; however, some of it may prove
to be a bit boring, especially if we don’t find ways to apply it to “real life”
as we understand it. Therefore, you are
to keep an ongoing journal of your thoughts and reactions to our readings and
our discussion. You should be sure to
make entries throughout the week, but especially before you come to class (to
help you prepare your reflection papers and to stimulate your participation
discussion) and soon after class (to help you put things in perspective with
others’ shared ideas and to help with synthesis).
Another component of these journals
will be the inclusion of one current news article—from the week preceding each
class—which relates to some aspect of social inequality, class or
stratification. The articles do not
have to be tied to that week’s readings, only to stratification in general. In your journal, you need to explain how you
believe the article relates to this course and why. Please be as specific as possible in showing the connections of
the articles to the course (understandably, earlier entries explaining the
connection of your articles to the class will be less “informed” than those
later in the semester—that is fine—just show some progress over the semester in
your sophistication of understanding of the issues!!). The source of your news items can be print,
audio or visual media—just be sure to document the source thoroughly.
I will briefly look over your journals
at each class meeting and will periodically take them up to evaluate them. Thus, the best format for these journals is
probably a loose leaf binder of some sort, with a pocket folder in which you
can put the pages you need to turn in at any one time.
TEN SUMMARY AND REFLECTION PAPERS (20 PTS EACH=200 TOTAL
PTS)
For each class session, we will be
covering about 70-110 pages of reading—not too horrible for one week . We will all be responsible for being
familiar with all the material; however, each of you will be responsible for
being the “facilitator” on a particular portion of the weeks readings.
For each section of the reading for
which you are responsible as “facilitator,” you will turn in a two page summary
and reflection piece (as described below) during the class period in which that
reading was due. Your paper will be accepted only on that day. Each
summary/refection assignment is worth 20 points. A general description of the
assignment follows. I will provide more details as needed; be sure to ask if
you have questions at any point. Your summaries and reflections should be
absolutely free of careless errors, well organized, grammatically correct, and
obviously well-edited; the points you receive on each part will reflect these
characteristics as well. Your summaries and reflections should be absolutely
free of careless errors, well organized, grammatically correct, and obviously well-edited.
Summary: Your first task is to summarize the reading
material you are facilitating; that is, after you read the article, prepare a
paragraph that would describe the crux of the article to someone who has never
read it. Although it may be appropriate
to use a few specific details from the article to illustrate your main points,
you are to use your own words to say what the author has said in his or her own
words. This is not the place to give
opinion, feelings, personal examples--it is wholly based on what was said in
the article. This summary should be one
page, double-spaced, typed; the summary will be worth 10 points.
Reflection: Here
is your chance to tell us your reactions to the article--obviously, you do not
need to summarize, but you can refer to particular points in the article. Feel free to write about how well you think
the author's views reflect reality as you know it. If you give opinions as to the accuracy of the author's
reflections, try to substantiate them with some evidence of which you are aware
or from your experience. You can
include your thoughts about parts of the article you liked or didn't, including
why or why not. There is no true
formula to this part of the assignment--the main requirement is that your
comments are well-thought out and extremely well written. Your reflection should be one page,
double-spaced, typed; the reflection will be worth 10 points.
THREE SEMESTER EXERCISES (25 POINTS EACH=75 TOTAL PTS)
At three points during the semester,
you will have the opportunity to synthesize the material learned in the previous
weeks in a special project/exercise.
Although this could be done in a more traditional format, that is not
necessary—as a matter of fact, not even preferable!! If you meet with me and we can agree upon a more creative format
(visually artistic presentation, musical presentation, cinematic presentation,
theatrical presentation) that would be great!!
We’ll explore these options as the semester unfolds.
The first exercise, due during week 5,
will involve a synthesis of elements of theory that you think make the most sense;
in other words, you will construct your own theory after having read the theories
of others.
The second exercise, due during week 8,
will be a reflection on your own (and your family’s) life and position in our stratified
society in relation to some of the issues we have discussed such as occupation,
prestige, mobility, status, income, lifestyle and attitudes.
In the third exercise, due during week
11, you will address how you believe that racial, ethnic and economic stratification
(in terms of what you have learned up to this point) affects people worldwide—uniquely
and commonly. This is to come from your
thoughts, imagination and knowledge gained from the first two thirds of the
course. It is not intended to come from
the Curtis and Tepperman text; rather, this exercise will serve as a point of
departure for our study of global inequality.
The format of each exercise is to be
approved by the professor; each exercise is worth 25 points.
FINAL PAPER (100 PTS)
Your final paper is intended to be a synthesis
of what you have learned over the semester.
It consists of three parts which are to be integrated into a
well-organized whole. The three parts
are as follows:
A.
In the first section you will outline the basic patterns of inequality
which you have discerned to be the most essential to understanding stratification. For this section, you are supposed to review
the literature we have read about examples of inequality, synthesize the critical
points (as you see them) and answer the question “what is stratification?” I would hope to see you make three to five
major points with elaboration that would comprise about 5 to 7 pages.
B. In the second section, you will refine the points you made in your
theoretical exercise (in which you synthesized the theory you read into your
own theory) and answer the question “why does stratification occur?” This section will include your own
thoughts, but these thoughts must obviously be based on an excellent analysis
of the thoughts of the theorists we have read (citing them, of course). I would expect that this portion of the
paper should be about 3 to 5 pages long (or whatever it takes!!)
C.
In the third section, you will apply what you have learned to one of the
“real world” news examples you have gathered in your weekly journal efforts. You will choose one of the articles you
included in your journal, and given your stance on the most important elements
of stratification (section A) and why they occur (section B), explain what you
believe would be the best response or solution to this real world stratification
situation. You probably should do some research
on the background of the issue to make it very clear to the reader (as if
he/she has never heard of the problem); thus, you will collect some additional
sources of information for this section of the paper. Your primary goal is to determine a realistic, doable approach to
address the inequality represented by the news article. If someone else has suggested an approach,
you may evaluate that one based on what you have learned and what you think will
work. If you are creating the approach
yourself, imagine how others might evaluate its effectiveness. This obviously will take some thought and
creativity. As always, I am ready and willing
to help. It is hard to say how long
this section should be, but about 5 pages sounds right.
Thus, your
final paper will be about 15 double spaced typed pages (give or take a
few). As always, quality of content is
way more important than quantity but extreme brevity threatens completeness of content! Be sure to start as early as possible on each
section. The first two sections come
completely from your readings and so will take study, note-taking, synthesis
and organization time. Your final section
may take some outside research time as well, so don’t wait until too late. I will be happy to read and comment upon
your drafts along the way.
FINAL SYNTHESIS
DISCUSSION (25 PTS)
Finally, you will share your thoughts and ideas addressed in your paper
during exam week (at an agreed upon time). For this discussion session you
should prepare a TWO PAGE, SINGLE SPACED TYPED OUTLINE with enough elaboration
in each section of your outline to inform the other students (and me!) as to
the patterns of stratification you found most important, the theoretical
approach you took, and the “real world” issue and suggestions you made to
address it. Throughout your outline,
note the main sources of information (name of the author—such as K. Marx, P. Sorokin,
P. Blau and O. Duncan should be enough since we will be familiar with them by
then). Make enough copies to hand out
to each student and the professor and then come ready to discuss (NOT READ!!) your outline.
Calculation
of Final Grades:
A.
Journal/News Notebook 100
pts
B.
Summaries/Reflections 200
pts
C.
Semester Exercises 75 pts
D. Final Paper 100
pts
E.
Final Synthesis Discussion 25 pts
----------
500
pts
A =450-500 B =400-449 C
=350-399 D =300-349 F =under 300
IMPORTANT: Read "Be Here and Be Prepared"
below to see how absences and being ill-prepared could affect your final
grade. Also, there is NO opportunity
for extra credit so be sure to focus all your attention and ability on each
assignment so that you can do your absolute best!!
What I Expect
of You
BE HERE AND BE PREPARED: You must attend all classes because missing
lectures, discussions, and other students' presentations will make life at test
time nearly impossible--someone else's notes can't cut it. I will take attendance--so you'd better be
here!! The official College attendance
policy is that you may miss no more than 25% of class meetings. In this case, that translates to: if you miss more than 3 class meetings you
will fail the class. Period. Your attendance will be obvious in two
ways: one, this will be a very small
seminar oriented class and so your absence will affect us terribly; two, your
assignment for the day (discussion and written work) will be absent along with
your body. Thus, missing class is not a
good idea. If you are not here and have
a college approval for your absence, then you can make up the work but I am
still required by the college to count that as an absence. If you are not here and do not have college
approval for your absence, I don’t have to make any special arrangements; if
you want the privilege of making up some missed work in this case, be sure to
contact me before you miss class and I will consider the circumstances.
I will accept absolutely NO excuses for
missing an assignment deadline. It is
your duty to let me know if you are having difficulty AHEAD of time; then I can
help you structure your time to meet the deadline. Because of the nature of the assignments, I will not read or
grade anything that is not turned in during the class period on the day that it
is due. You MUST make and keep a paper
copy of all assignments before turning them in to me; I have provided you with
a folder for copies of your assignments.
In the event that you or I misplace the original, this will eliminate any
questions or problems.
You must do all reading assignments BY the day they are due. Plan to come to class each day with several
questions or comments prepared in regards to things you don't understand or
something you find especially interesting.
If you don't ask, I may not address the particular points you need or
want. And even worse, If I get the "dead fish" look when I ask
questions or when we're trying to discuss the topics, I may throw in an
unannounced quiz. If you find yourself
feeling a bit overwhelmed by the reading, let me know; I can show you some
strategies that might help you.
TO STAY AFLOAT AND SAIL: Please come to me AS SOON AS you feel you
are having difficulty with or are confused about any aspect of this class. Provided you have done what you can do on
your own, I am ALWAYS willing to help. There is NO opportunity for extra
credit, so you must do your very best on the tests and assignments. If you
anticipate any problems in any area (especially writing, since there will be a lot
of that), let me know NOW and perhaps we can troubleshoot well before things
are. Please be very conscientious about
your work--for instance, proofread your written presentations to catch the
typo's and misspelled words, and so that your grammar is correct!! Come to me
or go to the writing center with any questions! There are definitely no easy A's in my classes but I'm here to
help each of you reach whatever goals you set for yourself in this class. I cannot guess when you are slipping below
your standards for performance or below what you need for this term; thus when
you feel things are beginning to slip, speak to me then. DO NOT WAIT until right before an assignment
is due or until the end of the term--I cannot help you overnight and can surely
do nothing after the damage is done.
ACADEMIC HONOR: My undergraduate experience, one in which
any academic honor code violation resulted in extremely serious consequences
(e.g. expulsion), has shaped my strong feelings in this area. I know that each of you can do your own work
and thus I absolutely cannot tolerate any form of cheating. Equal opportunity is extremely important to
me! Although I am one of the most
trusting souls I know, I feel its best to ward off any temptations. I certainly encourage you to discuss your
readings and other resources with each other, but written and oral work
presented in its final form must be obviously yours and yours alone--any
uncanny similarities will disturb me greatly and I will certainly inquire about
them. Remember, I am available to help you in any way possible if you are
having trouble or don't understand my expectations.
What You Can
Expect of Me:
OPENNESS AND ACCESSIBILITY: I view every class as a team effort,
especially in ones like this which are seminar oriented. Thus, I believe it is
important to keep two way communication open.
I hope you will be able to follow my lead and come up with personal
examples to illustrate the material we are learning--if you can't make this
class relevant to your life, why take it?
I may have studied these things for awhile longer than you, and can
relate lots of different intellectual perspectives, but in the end I am really
only one person with one set of thoughts--we need everyone's to build the
diversity that creates a true learning atmosphere! Never hesitate to voice an opinion or to raise a question--it
will make the class much more interesting if we have different viewpoints
voiced openly! It's much better to get
your ideas out, even if you're not sure they'll be understood. Yet I do believe that it is crucial that we
always try to be respectful and non-aggressive towards one another, and guard
against defensiveness no matter how much we may disagree. We may not always be successful at this,
but we must try. At any point, whether in private or in class, I welcome your
constructive and creative suggestions about this class. I would much rather face problems than hear
grumbling behind my back. The best part
of teaching is the opportunity to work with students in and out of class. You
can come speak to me during office hours, before or after class, or set up an
appointment. I want to be accessible to
you to discuss whatever serious concerns or outlandish thoughts you might have!
FLEXIBILITY: I have put a lot of thought into our proposed topics and the
schedule; however, for a variety of reasons we may find it necessary to be
flexible in response to unexpected occurrences throughout our time
together. I will consult you and give
you absolutely as much notice as possible if we need to change anything. However, since even teams have leaders, I
reserve the right to make final determinations of what will work best for the
situation. If you have any questions
about schedule as we go along, don't hesitate to ask.
REVIEW OF CRITICAL MATERIAL: The plan is for our class sessions to be
discussion oriented--you must read the material, you should always be ready
with questions and comments, we all will facilitate the discovery of the
answers. During all of this, I will try
to make sure that most of the key points of your readings are covered. However, you are responsible for being
familiar with all assigned material whether or not we cover it in class--if
there are points you do not understand, it is up to you to let me know
ENTHUSIASM: OK, I admit it, I was a cheerleader for four years--and there are
very few things I am more enthusiastic about than teaching. I am really looking forward to working with
each of you, guiding you through the semester, getting to know your thoughts
and sharing mine with you. But just as I did when I was co-captain, I take my
leadership role here very seriously;
and in return, I expect everyone to do his or her part to put forth the
best possible effort. I welcome the
challenge, as I hope you do. I plan to
learn as much from you as you do from me.
If we work really hard at it, I have a feeling there will rarely be a
dull moment!
TENTATIVE
SCHEDULE FOR SOC 310: SOCIAL CLASS AND
INEQUALITY
Week One Introduction to the
course
Grusky
Part I
Week Two Functions/Dysfunctions
of Stratification
Grusky
Part II
Summary/Reflection #1 Due
Week Three Marx and Post Marxists
Grusky
pp. 65-112
Summary/Reflection #2 Due
Week Four Weber/Elites
Grusky
pp. 113-189
Summary/Reflection #3 Due
Week Five Prestige/Occupations
Grusky pp. 190-244
Theory
Exercise Due
Week Six Mobility
Grusky
pp. 245-316
Summary/Reflection #4 Due
Week Seven Status/Income
Attainment
Grusky
pp. 317-396
Summary/Reflection #5 Due
Week Eight Class
Lifestyles/Attitudes
Grusky
Part V
Self-Reflection Exercise Due
Week Nine Race/Ethnic
Stratification
Grusky
pp. 469-567
Summary/Reflection #6 Due
Week Ten Gender Stratification
Grusky
pp. 568-658
Summary/Reflection #7 Due
Week Eleven Have and Have Not Intro
CT pp. ix-24
Global
Exercise Due
Week Twelve Intro to Economic Inequality
CT Part I
Summary/Reflection #8 Due
Week Thirteen Intro to Power Inequality
CT Part II
Summary/Reflection
#9 Due
Week
Fourteen Intro to Status
Inequality
CT
Part III
Summary/Reflection
#10 Due
Week
Fifteen Industrial/Modern
Stratification
Grusky
Part VII
Week Sixteen Final
Paper Due………Final Exam Synthesis