L A K E H E A D    U N I V E R S I T Y
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Introduction to Sociology
Sociology 1100 YC

Brian McMillan                                                                                 Fall/Winter 2005 
UC0038                                                                           Thursday 6:30 - 9:30pm
rbmbs@tbaytel.net                                                                                        SN1015
Office Hours: Thursday 1:00 - 2:00pm                                                                                 

                                                                                                                        Course Description

Introductory Sociology offers the student a cross-sectional view of the study of sociology. Sociology is the systematic study of contemporary society. It seeks to describe and explain patterns of human behaviour, the structure of social organization, the dynamics of social change, and the nature of people’s perceptions of their social environment. The fundamental premise upon which the study of sociology proceeds is that human behaviour is related to the character of the social context within which the behaviour unfolds. An awareness of this relationship between human behaviour and broad historical, cultural and social contextual factors is often referred to as “the sociological imagination”.

The course of study includes instruction in the application of sociology’s unique perspective, its major theoretical paradigms and its basic research methodologies. The course undertakes an examination of important social processes including socialization, social interaction, social stratification, urbanization, globalization, population development, social change and others. The student is introduced to the social structural character of Canadian society with references to culture and the ideological structure, inequality and the social class structure, as well as an examination of various issues relating to the family, economics, politics, medicine, education, criminal justice, race & ethnicity, gender and others. 

Textbooks

Required:  Henslin, J. M., et al. SOCIOLOGY: A DOWN-TO-EARTH APPROACH, 3rd Edition. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2004.

Optional:  Glenday, D., et al. STUDY GUIDE. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Ed, 2005.

Grading Scheme

Fall Midterm…………………..…… 17%
Fall Term Assignment……….....… 13%
Christmas Examination……..……. 20%
Winter Midterm…………..……...... 17%
Winter Term Assignment………….13%
Final Examination…………...……. 20%

Examinations

There are 4 examinations scheduled throughout the course of study. The examinations may be comprised of multiple choice, short answer and short essay questions. Examinations are based on classroom lectures, activities and the required readings. The Fall and Winter midterms are scheduled for regular class times and locations (see Course Schedule below). The locations, dates and times of the Christmas and Final examinations will be announced at a future time. Please refer to the Grading Scheme for the weight of each examination.

Assignments

There are 2 formal assignments to be prepared and submitted during the course of study. Each assignment is worth 13% of the final grade. Each assignment will entail library research and the preparation of a 2000 word report using either APA or MLA. Assignment topics and other particulars will be announced at a later date. Please see the Course Schedule below for assignment deadlines. A 5% per day late penalty applies to ALL late submissions… NO exceptions!

FALL COURSE SCHEDULE
September 8 - November 30
     
     Thursday Sept. 8
          Lecture: “The Sociological Imagination”
          In-class exercise: “Private Troubles vs. Public Issues”
          Lecture: “Social Location: Is It Hazardous to Your Health?”

     Thursday Sept. 15
          Required reading: The Sociological Perspective pp.3-22 
          Lecture: “Why Sociology?”
          In-class exercise: “Are You a Marxist, Durkheimian or Weberian?”
          Lecture: “Sociological Theory: It’s Simply a Matter of How You Look At It”
          In-class exercise: “Social Problems in Theoretical Perspective ”

     Thursday Sept.22
          Required reading: Culture pp.47-63  
          Lecture: “Seeing the Strange in the Familiar”
          Video: “Culture Jam: Hijacking Commercial Culture”
          Lecture: “Individualism Made Visible Through Popular Culture”
          In-class exercise: “The Woeful Tale of Fred the Spelunker”

     Thursday Sept. 29
          Required reading: Culture pp.63-67  
          Lecture: “Technology: The Frankenstein-Jurassic Park Dilemma”
          Required reading: Socialization pp.71-78  
          Lecture: “Mead, Cooley and the ‘Plastic’ Self”
          In-class exercise: “20 Statements Test”

     Thursday Oct. 6   
          Required reading: Socialization pp.78-92  
          Lecture: “Pink or Blue? The Colour of Social Experience”
          In-class exercise: “Gender Images in Magazines: Evidence of Postmodernism?”
          Lecture: “Social Learning Theory Throughout the Life Course”
          Video: “Anybody’s Son Will Do”

     Thursday Oct. 13   
          Midterm Examination: 80 minutes in duration; regular class time & location
          Please note: failure to write a regularly scheduled examination will invoke the application
                             of Lakehead University’s formal regulations. Refer to Calendar for specifics.
          Second Half of Class...    
          Required reading: Social Structure & Social Interaction pp.95-105  
          Lecture: “Social Structure as Constraint... or Freedom?”
          In-class exercise: “Plotting Your Location in the Social Structure” 
     
     Thursday Oct. 20   
          Required reading: Social Structure & Social Interaction pp.112-22  
          Lecture: “What’s Going on Here? The Social Construction of Reality”
          Video: “Truth Merchants”
          Required reading: Family: Initiation into Society pp.303-12  
          Lecture: “Family in Theoretical Perspective”

     Thursday Oct. 27   
          Required reading: Family: Initiation into Society pp.313-27  
          Lecture: “Mate Selection: What’s Love Got To Do With It”
          In-class exercise: “Is There a Mr. or Mrs. Right?”
          Lecture: “Is the Family an Endangered Species?”
          Video: “Women and Men Unglued”

     Thursday Nov. 3   
          Required reading: Social Deviance and Social Control pp.381-93  
          Lecture: “Deviants: Born or Bred?”
          In-class exercise: “Is Deviance Normal?”
          Lecture: “Deviant Definitions and the Role of Social Power: Illicit Drugs”
          Video: “Stopping Traffik”

     Thursday Nov. 10   
          Required reading: Social Deviance and Social Control pp.393-98  
          Lecture: “Crime in Canada”
          Required reading: Social Inequality: Global & National Perspectives pp.127-42
          Lecture: “The Allocation of Things of Consequence”
          Video: “Social Classes”

     Thursday Nov. 17
          Assignment #1 Deadline: 9:30pm
          Required reading: Social Inequality: Global & National Perspectives pp.142-64   
          Lecture: “The Development of Underdevelopment”
          Video: “The Cola Conquest”
          Lecture: “Poverty: Do We Blame The Poor?”

     Thursday Nov. 24
          Required reading: Education pp. 331-47  
          Lecture: “Credentialism and the Problem of Selection”
          Lecture: “Education as Social Control”
 
Christmas Examination: time & location T.B.A

WINTER COURSE SCHEDULE
January 3 - April 3
     
     Thursday Jan. 5
          Required reading: Inequalities of Gender pp.168-81 
          Lecture: “Gender: a little bit of this... a little bit of that.”
          Lecture: “Gender Inequality in Theoretical Perspective”
          Video: “Gods of our Fathers”

     Thursday Jan. 12
          Required reading: Inequalities of Gender pp.181-89 
          Lecture: “Dimensions of Gender Inequality”     
          Required reading: Inequalities of Race & Ethnicity pp.193-200  
          Lecture: “Race as a Social Construct”
          In-class exercise: “Race as a Social Construct”

     Thursday Jan. 19
          Required reading: Inequalities of Race & Ethnicity pp.200-08  
          Lecture: “Majority vs. Minority: Patterns of Interaction”
          Video: “Pride and Prejudice: Human Rights & Multiculturalism in BC.”
          Required reading: Inequalities of Age pp.211-16  
          Lecture: “The Social Construction of Aging”
    
     Thursday Jan. 26
          Required reading: Inequalities of Age pp.216-32  
          Lecture: “Aging in Theoretical Perspective”
          Lecture: “Problems of the Elderly”
          Video: “The Silver Age”

     Thursday Feb. 2
          Required reading: Bureaucracy & Formal Organizations pp.235-48  
          Lecture: “Bureaucracy: The ‘Iron Law’”
          Lecture: “Bureaucracy: Bane or Boon?”
          In-class activity: “Has Your Life Been ‘McDonaldized’?” (see Henslin p.241)

     Thursday Feb. 9
          Required reading: Bureaucracy & Formal Organizations pp.248-55  
          Lecture: “Humanizing Formal Organizations”
          Required reading: The Economy: Money & Work pp.259-63
          Lecture: “Post-industrialism and You”
          Video: ”For Man Must Work”  

     Thursday Feb. 16
          Midterm Examination: 80 minutes in duration; regular class time & location
          Second Half of Class...        
          Required reading: The Economy: Money & Work pp.263-71
          Lecture: “Capitalism vs. Socialism: Pro’s & Con’s”
            In-class activity: “Debate: Directions for the 21st Century: Laissez-faire Capitalism
                                   or Democratic Socialism? You Choose”
           
      Mid-year Reading Week
           Monday - Friday Feb. 20 - 24

     Thursday March 2
          Required reading: The Economy: Money & Work pp.271-80  
          Lecture: “Work in Canadian Society”
          Required reading: Politics: Power & Authority pp.283-94  
          Lecture: “The Silk Glove and the Iron Fist”
          Video: “This is What Democracy Looks Like”

     Thursday March 9
          Required reading: Politics: Power & Authority pp.294-99  
          Lecture: “Who’s Pulling the Big Levers of Control?”
          Required reading: Medicine: Health & Illness in Canada pp.363-68
          Lecture: “Health and Disease in Theoretical Perspective”
          Video: “Drug Deals: The Brave New World of Prescription Drugs”  

     Thursday March 16
          Assignment #2 Deadline: 9:30pm
          Required reading: Medicine: Health & Illness in Canada pp.369-77
          Lecture: “Social Epidemiology: Who Gets Sick?”
          In-class activity: “Who Should Live and Who Should Die?” (see Henslin p.376)
          Lecture: “Allopathy’s Rise to Dominance”

     Thursday March 23
          Required reading: Population, Urbanization and the Environment pp.403-18  
          Lecture: “Population (Over)Development”
          Lecture: “Urbanization”
          Video: “Reinventing the World: Cities (Sao Paolo)”

     Thursday March 30
          Required reading: Henslin pp.418-23  
          Lecture: “The Risk Society”
          Video: “Fury for the Sound: The Women of Clayoquot”

Final Examination: time & location T.B.A