Sociology 321, Section 1
Families and Society
Fall 2008
10:00-10:50pm MWF
413 M LNG
Instructor: Monika Ulrich, M.A.
Office: Social Sciences 436B
Office Hours: Wednesday 12:00-2:50pm and by appointment
Email:
Phone: (520) 621-5765
Course Objectives and Goals
Decisions we make about our family life are some of the most personal decisions we make. Who we find attractive, who we fall in love with or have sex with, whether and when to have children, whether to end a relationship—these are all intensely personal choices that seem to reflect our personality more than they reflect the society we live in. Yet, our choices are guided, sometimes intentionally, by the social norms and structures of the society we live in and our place in that society. In this course, we aim to uncover the ways that society directs our personal choices about our family life and invisibly shapes our family experiences.
The family is a core institution of all known societies. A clear understanding of the role of the family in society involves understanding the historical evolution of the family along with sociological processes. Students are more likely to have misconceptions about the social reality of the family than almost any other institution. In this course, we will work to identify and correct those misconceptions to gain an accurate perspective on the history of the family, diversity in the family, love in the family, challenges in the family, and changes in the family. This course should challenge you. If it doesn’t challenge your beliefs, you probably do not understand it well enough.
Course Materials
Scott Coltrane and Randall Collins. 2000. Sociology of Marriage & the Family: Gender, Love, and Property, 5th Edition. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth Publishers.
All in-class powerpoint presentations will be put on the course website, available through D2L. The instructor’s lecture notes are not available for student use.
Course Requirements
You will have the very unusual opportunity in this course to design your own course requirements, allowing you to choose how to best demonstrate to me what you have learned. Your job is to demonstrate to me that you have learned the material: you have read it, understand it, remember it, and you are able to apply it to novel situations. You may select almost any possible way to do this that you choose: writing, tests, quizzes, papers, teaching, presenting, research projects, creative projects, etc. You must demonstrate both breadth and depth of knowledge.
I will give you a week to decide HOW you will demonstrate to me that you have learned the material. In one week, you will submit to me your “Course Requirements” proposal for approval. See the document “Course Requirements Proposal” for further information. Your approved proposal document is binding, and cannot be changed in the middle of the semester.
Regular attendance is expected in this class. If you miss class, please speak with a classmate to get caught up on what you missed. I do not offer personal review sessions during office hours to cover material that you missed because you did not attend class. I strongly urge you to exchange contact information with a fellow student early in the class.
Policy on Late Work
To be fair to all students, I will not consider personal illness, hardship, financial interests, or personal emergency in the grading process, although these situations may justify extra time for an assignment. By university policy, I cannot change a final course grade after the end of the term unless I made a mathematical error in calculating it.
Tolerance
While all respectful comments are tolerated, comments that intentionally degrade any race, class, gender, sexual orientation, or family form are not acceptable. Violations will result in dismissal from the class and/or University sanctions. Maturity is expected as we read, view, or discuss material related to sexuality.
Readings
Unit 1: Comparative and Historical Perspectives
Week 1 August 25-27
Chapter 1: Sociological Theory: Explaining Theory in a Stratified Society
No Class August 29 or September 1: Labor Day
Week 2 September 3-5
Chapter 2: The Social Ingredients of Families: Gender, Love, and Property
September 3: Course Requirements Proposal Due
Week 3 September 8-12
Chapter 3: History of the Family I: From Kinship Politics to Patriarchal Households
Week 4 September 15-19
Chapter 4: History of the Family II: The Love Revolution and the Rise of Feminism
Unit 2: Diversity in Modern Families
Week 5 September 22-26
Chapter 5: Family Trends: The Twentieth Century and Beyond
Week 6 September 29-October 3
Chapter 6: Families and Work: The Economy, Social Class, and Inequality
Week 7 October 6-10
Chapter 7: Race and Ethnicity: Understanding Structural and Cultural
Differences
Exam Time Slot: Friday, October 10 (See Course Requirements)
Unit 3: Love, Marriage, and Childbearing
Week 8 October 13-17
Chapter 8: Romantic Markets: Love, Cohabitation, and Marriage
Week 9 October 20-24
Chapter 9: Erotic Ties: Marital and Nonmarital Sex
Week 10 October 27-31
Chapter 10: Contraception and Reproduction: Making Babies in a Technological Age
Unit 4: Family Realities
Week 11 November 3-7
Chapter 11: Domestic Life: Housework, Power, and Marital Happiness
Week 12 November 10-14
Chapter 12: Raising Children: Motherhood, Fatherhood, and Socialization
Week 13 November 17-21
Chapter 13: Family Violence: Spouse Abuse, Child Abuse, and Elder Abuse
Unit 5: Family Change
Week 14 November 24-26
Chapter 14: Uncoupling-Recoupling: Divorce, Remarriage, and
Stepfamilies
No Class November 28: Thanksgiving Break
Week 15 December 1-5
Chapter 15: Life Course Transitions: From Adolescence to the Aging Family
Week 16: December 8-10
Chapter 16: The Future: Social Policy and Family Well-Being
Portfolio Due: December 10, in class
Must include ALL course assignments, exams, quizzes, papers, etc.
Final Exam Time Slot: Friday, December 12 from 11am-1pm
(See Course Requirements)
Course Requirements Proposal
Please include:
A) your assignments and how many points each assignment is worth
B) how those assignments will cover material from every week in the course (breadth) and allow you to show deep understanding of some concepts (depth)
C) your deadlines
D) ways that people could cheat using your methods
E) how you will provide a way for me to know that you are not cheating
F) A table, on a separate page, with your course assignments and points. I will use this table to keep track of your grade.
Things to keep in mind as you are creating your course requirements:
1) You will turn in a portfolio at the end of the semester that includes all course materials from the semester that you have submitted, including papers, tests, quizzes grades on oral exams, etc. I will look through your individual portfolio to make sure that you have met the course requirements. I will adjust your grade at that time to reflect the sum total of the work you have done throughout the semester.
2) Your assignments must demonstrate that you have read the material, learned the material, understand the material, and can apply the material in novel situations. You must find a way to show that you can do ALL of those things, on EVERY chapter. You will want to make sure that your course requirements provide breadth (you are somehow evaluated on every chapter in the book) and depth (you are able to show deep understanding of some of the concepts).
3) Course assessments must demonstrate that you have learned the material, not provide you opportunities to learn the material better. For example, if I want to lower my cholesterol, I will eat more vegetables. Eating vegetables is an activity that helps me reach my goal. To see if I have lowered my cholesterol, I will get a cholesterol test at the doctor. The cholesterol test is an activity that lets me know if I have reached my goal. The following table helps clarify those differences:
Examples of activities that help you learn the material / Examples of assessment methods that demonstrate whether or not you have learned the materialAttending class / Exams (multiple choice, essay, oral)
Class participation / Quizzes
Journal writing / Writing papers
Leading group discussions / Oral presentations
Group activities / Teaching or Tutoring someone else
Interviewing people / Creating exam questions
Service activities / Creating a short documentary
Reading outside materials / Creating an educational website
Asking good questions in class
Taking good notes on the reading
Attending presentations outside of class
In this course, your course requirements must be based on Assessment Methods. I will provide a range of activities in class to help you learn the material, but those activities will not determine your grade.
There are four major ways you can demonstrate your knowledge of the material: writing, talking or teaching, test-taking, or certain creative activities.
4) Use your strengths
Often in college, we spend a lot of time doing what we are worst at—we are terrible at tests, so we spend all of our time in a class trying to prepare for the test. Meanwhile, we are excellent speakers, but we never get to speak. In this class, I urge you to construct assignments that let you use the skills you are best at—that let you show off your strengths and use those strengths to demonstrate your knowledge of the material.
5) Proper amount of difficulty
Don’t be too hard or too easy on yourself. If you are too easy on yourself, I will not approve your proposal.
6) Your goals
Why are you taking this class? How does it fit into your long-term goals? For example, if your goal is to be a family therapist, then you may want to focus on trying to improve your speaking skills. If your goal is academic research, then you may want to focus on trying to improve your writing.
7) I need to see it to evaluate it
If you want to demonstrate that you have learned the material by teaching it to your roommates, I can’t see that. Instead, plan on teaching during class sessions, which I can see.
8) Objective criteria of evaluation
I need to know whether or not you have met the requirements, so those requirements must be clear.
9) YOU are responsible for keeping yourself on track, contacting me to set up appointments, and meeting your deadlines. I will not send reminders to you.
10) Mix and match
You may need or want to mix and match assessment methods in order to demonstrate competence in every chapter and keep from getting bored.
You may mix and match from any of the following possible activities, or any others that you may think of that allow you to demonstrate that you have learned the material.
Tests: Written exams will be given on October 10 and December 12; Oral Exams must be done in the instructor’s office by appointment. The instructor will write the exams.
Tests: Multiple Choice
2 exams
Tests: Essay
2 exams
Tests: Oral
2 exams
Quizzes: Quizzes will be given every Friday in Class; Oral Quizzes must be done in the instructor’s office at a time that we schedule. The instructor will write the quizzes.
Quizzes: Multiple Choice
Weekly exams
Quizzes: Essay
Weekly exams
Quizzes: Oral
Weekly exams (If you choose this option, please let me know a few possible times that you can do the quizzes—plan on 20 minutes every week, and plan on the same time every week).
Writing: You will select paper topics yourself. Select a paper topic that allows you to demonstrate that you have read the material, understood it, remember it, and are able to apply it to a novel situation. Papers must be written in a formal, academic style. All papers must be given to the instructor in hard copy. (See “Types of Papers”)
Short Writing
Weekly 1 page papers
Medium Writing
Three 3-5 page papers
Long Writing
One 10-15 page paper
Write Exam Questions
Write ten multiple choice exam questions each week
Write three essay exam questions each week
Talking/Teaching/Presenting: Teaching means being responsible for teaching a class or a part of a class. Debating means that I will assign you to work in a small group and prepare a formal debate
Teaching
Teach one to four classes (or half classes) (I will select the dates and topics in consultation with you)
Debate
Do one to four in-class debates (I will select the dates and topics in consultation with you)
Other: I am open to any other activity that demonstrates your mastery of the material.
Sample Course Proposal
(for a student who is a good speaker)
A) Assignments and how many points each assignment is worth
Teach two classes (20 points each X 2=40 points)
Do two in-class debates (10 points each X 2=20 points)
Take two oral exams (20 points each X 2 =40 points)
(total points=100 points)
B) Breadth and depth of course material
The two oral exams will cover the entire course (the first exam will cover the first half and the second exam will cover the second half)
The teaching and debates will allow me to deeply cover four topics.
C) Deadlines
I will teach the two classes and do the two debates on dates that you assign.
I will take the oral exams on October 10 and December 12. I will contact you to set up an appointment.
D) Ways that people could cheat
Someone can cheat on teaching by using pre-existing teaching materials and claiming that they are their ideas.
Someone can cheat on debating by not doing their share of the work and allowing someone else to do it for them.
Someone can cheat taking oral exams by finding out what questions are asked by talking to another student.
E) How to prevent cheating
I will prove that I am not cheating on teaching by providing you my lecture notes electronically so you can scan them through turnitin (an online anti-cheating website).
I will prove that I am not cheating on debating by giving you a copy of the notes I used to prepare.
I will prove that I am not cheating on oral exams by agreeing that you will ask every student different questions.
Monika Ulrich
S01392855
ASSIGNMENT / POINTS POSSIBLE / GRADE / POINTS EARNEDTeach Class 1 / 20
Teach Class 2 / 20
In-Class Debate 1 / 10
In-Class Debate 2 / 10
Oral Test 1 / 20
Oral Test 2 / 20
TOTAL / 100
Types of Papers