Course Topics

SOCY 122/6.0 is designed to introduce students to the sociological perspective and the way sociologists approach and study the social world. It also introduces students to a number of substantive areas of study undertaken by sociologists. In the first part of the course, students will be introduced to what most sociologists refer to as the classical tradition the foundation upon which all later approaches to sociological analysis developed. Students will explore C. Wright Mills's notion of the sociological imagination and then consider their own collective biography as members of the so-called Millennial Generation and how it intersects with the contemporary university system. The course then turns to three of the most important, macro-sociological frameworks that shaped the classical tradition the work of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Weber's work leads into a discussion of modernism and modernity leading into an examination of the extent to which the contemporary world is one of high modernity or a postmodern world. The first part ends with an examination of culture, popular culture and the work of Bob Dylan. In the second part of the course, students will focus upon a number of substantive areas of sociological analysis the sociology of work, social inequality, deviant behaviour, war and genocide, and two particular social movements (the Student Movement and the Women's Movement).

 

Course Objectives

The course objectives for each week are noted in the list of readings. The overall objectives for this course concern course content, skill development and critical thinking skills.

Course Content - students will be able to:

• Identify, define and recall key information and vocabulary related to a sociological understanding of the world in which humankind lives;
• Identify and recall key information regarding C. Wright Mills's conceptions of the sociological imagination and intellectual craftsmanship;
• Identify, recall and discuss key information related to different theoretical perspectives developed by Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber;
• Identify, recall and discuss key information related to the concept of culture, the debate over mass culture versus high culture and use Bob Dylan's work as a reference for the debate over culture;
• Identify and discuss some of the key issues in the study of work from a sociological perspective;
• Identify and discuss some of the key issues in the study of social inequality;
• Identify and discuss some of the key issues in the study of deviant behavior;
• Identify and discuss some of the key issues in the study of war and genocide;
• Identify and discuss some of the key issues in the study of the student movement of the 1960s and the women's movement.

Skill Development - students will be able to:

• Generate written arguments supported with quality academic materials from appropriate sources;
• Demonstrate academic integrity (see the section on academic integrity below) and understand what constitutes a deviation from academic integrity including, but not limited to, what is involved with plagiarism;
• Increase reading comprehension through the use of original sources;
• Enhance study and presentation skills through lecture study questions.

Critical thinking - students will be able to:

• Engage in critical thinking about social issues;
• Analyze and evaluate social phenomena from within a sociological frame of reference as opposed to relying on the natural attitude, their everyday stocks of knowledge, or a psychological frame of reference;
• Develop an awareness of the limits to and the contextual basis of knowledge.

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More information:

• Computer Requirements and Internet Access
• Moodle, Our Online Learning Environment 
• Academic Integrity
• Evaluation
• Suggested Time Commitment
• Required Material