Sociology 123: Social Stratification

Sociology 123: Social Stratification

Dr. Linda Nilson

circa 1980

Topics and Assignments:

Weeks I & II: What Social Stratification Is—Across Species, Through History, and According to Consensus (Functionalism) and Conflict Theories.

Turner and Starnes (T&S): Chapter 1

Lopreato and Lewis readings (L&L): Introduction, pp. 1-6: “Basic Statements of Theory,” 7-16; and the following selections:

1. Conflict Theory

Marx and Engels, 17-29

Marx, 31-37

Weber, 45-54

Dahrendorf, 55-58

1. Consensus Theory (Functionalism)

Durkheim, 72-74

Davis and Moore, 64-71

“On the Functional Theory of Stratification,” 87-89

Critique by Tumin, 95-102

Davis’ Reply, 103-107

1. An Attempt at Synthesis

Lenski, 75-85

Recommended in L&L: Simpson, 108-114; Wrong, 115-124

Week III: Inequalities in Wealth and Income

T&S: Chapters 2, 3 (Pay close attention to all the tables.)

“The Incredible Rocky”

Domhoff, 1967, if you haven’t already read it or don’t remember it.

Concentrate on generalizations, not on people’s names so it doesn’t take you long.

The introduction and chapters 1, 2, and 7 are most important.

Week IV:Inequalities in Power

L&L: Kaysen, 343-350

Mills, 361-376

Hacker, 370-376

Domhoff, 1979: entire book (Don’t memorize his examples.)

Review in Sections

Week V: Midterm in Class

Week VI: Inequalities in Prestige; Measurements of Socioeconomic Status

Parkin:Chapter 1

On Reserve:Robert Hodge, Paul Siegel, and Peter Rossi, “Occupational Prestige in the U.S.: 1925-1963,” in C. Heller, Structured Social Inequality, pp.192-204 or in R. Bendix and S.M.Lipset, Class, Status and Power, 2nd edition, pp. 322-334.

Week VII: Inequality of Opportunity for Wealth, Income, Power, and Prestige: Social Mobility and Status Attainment

L&L: Hazelrigg, 469-493 (Try to follow the reasoning and get the generalizations).

Blau and Duncan, 503, 508

Parkin:Chapter 2

Weeks VIII & IX: New Modern Stratification Persists: The Political System (Wealthfare, Welfare,

and Pluralistic” Representative Democracy)

Parkin: Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6

T&S: Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Week X:How Modern Stratification Persists: People’s Beliefs and Subjective Responses to Stratification

L&L:Leggett, 193-201

Davies, 275-287

Form and Huber, 399-409

Geschwender, 438-446

Lopreato, 540-546

Review in Sections

Final Examination:Friday, December 17, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Dodd 170

(No, you can’t take it earlier.)

Partial Syllabus for Free Will and Determinism

Dr. Linda B. Nilson

To what extent do free will, fate, and predetermining factors mold individual lives and the course of social change? Several disciplines have taken on the challenge of this classic question of human existence--notably sociology, philosophy, and psychology. They have offered a wide range of answers, many of which this seminar will explore in depth. We will also consider the modern genetic and biochemical perspectives.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

More than anything else, this freshman seminar is a course in sound, critical thinking about philosophical and evaluative issues that have no clear right and wrong answers. I have chosen free will vs. determinism as the central life issue to examine in this course because I remember its being crucial to me when I was your age. Hopefully, you will carry over the thinking skills you learn in this course in considering other central life issues.

In specific terms, by the end of this course, you will have developeda well reasoned, personal position on the role of free will and determinism in your own and others' lives. You will be able to express, support, and defend your position orally and in writing while acknowledging its weaknesses and realizing that it can never be validated as "the right answer" and that it may change over time. Hopefully, you will also begin to feel comfortable with the uncertainty and tentativeness of knowledge and with making decisions in spite of it.

In addition, you will learn the role that hidden assumptions play in leading people to various arguments and conclusions. You will be able use this knowledge to identify and examine people's unexpressed premises and "givens" and to evaluate their arguments and conclusions more critically for the rest of your life.

To help you attain these major course goals, you will also acquire these supporting abilities: to sift out the various positions on free will and determinism in the assigned literature; to express these positions accurately, both orally and in writing; to draw sound comparisons and contrasts among them; to identify and explain their strengths and weaknesses; and to distinguish among the stronger and the weaker positions.

Still another course goal, this one process-oriented, is to develop in you the listening, cognitive, and social skills for engaging in open, intellectual discussion and working cooperatively in small groups. Collaborative work is the wave of today and of the future in both the private and the public sectors. You must learn to make your fair contribution and to listen to the good ideas of others, whatever you plan to do with your life.

REQUIRED READINGS

Peter L. Berger, Invitation to Sociology, Anchor-Doubleday, 1963.

Wayne W. Dyer, Your Erroneous Zones, HarperPerennial, 1991, 1976.

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, HarperPerennial, 1992, 1932.

C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination, Oxford University, 1959.

James Redfield, The Celestine Prophecy, Warner, 1993.

Ruis (Richard Appignanesi), Marx for Beginners, Pantheon, 1976.

B.F. Skinner, Walden Two, Macmillan, 1948, 1976.

Clifford Williams, Free Will and Determinism: A Dialogue, Hackett, 1980.

ClassPak: chapters from Richard Taylor's Metaphysicsand short articles on the effects of genetics and biochemistry on human behavior.

COURSE ORGANIZATION AND SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS

We will begin by examining the definitions of free will, indeterminism, compatibilism, fatalism, and determinism in modern philosophy, as well as the arguments for and against each position. You will find discover that the philosophical case for determinism relies heavily on the evidence from the physical and natural sciences (not the social sciences). Therefore, while we are in the middle of our philosophical readings, we will examine some of the most recent research findings on the effects of genetics, biochemistry, and sociobiology on human behavior.

Then we will proceed more or less chronologically through the major social scientific and psychological perspectives on free will and determinism:

* the historical, social, and economic philosophy of the late 19th century;

* the sociopolitical thought of the 1930s (Huxley);

* the behaviorist psychology of the mid-20th century (Skinner);

* major mainstream sociological theory of the latter 20th century: symbolic interactionism (Berger) and

conflict theory/political sociology (Mills);

* clinical psychology's self-help therapy of the 1970s and 1980s (Dyer); and

* the New Age psycho-spiritual perspective of the late 20th century (Redfield).

All of these approaches have retained their scholarly and/or public popularity until today.

Remember that, as a rule, you are to have read at least two thirds of the assigned book and prepared answers to the accompanying Study and Discussion Guide questions by the first class session we discuss the book.

WEEK 11/11Course Overview and Introduction

Index Cards; Icebreaker Activities; First Free-Write Journal Entry

WEEK 21/16Modern Philosophical Perspectives on Free Will and Determinism

Taylor in the ClassPak: pp. 35-53 (chapter 5)

1/18Williams: pp. vii-30

WEEK 31/23The Modern Genetic, Biochemical, and Sociobiological Evidence for Determinism

ClassPak readings focusing on temperament and intelligence:

"The Case of Dr. Strangedrug"

"Counting Your Blessings"

"Mind: Born to Believe"

"The Realistic View of Biology and Behavior" (Kagan)

"IQ Testing Thrown a Curve"

"Class, IQ, and Heredity"

"Mainstream Science on Intelligence"

1/25Genetics, biochemistry, and sociobiology continued

ClassPak readings focusing on deviant, dominant, and mating behavior

"Defective Gene Linked to Obesity"

"Study Suggests X Chromosome Is Linked to Homosexuality"

"Fingerprint Research Suggests Sex Orientation Set before Birth"

"The Influence of Testosterone on Deviance in Adulthood”

"Biology and Behavior"

"An Anthropologist's Risk"

WEEK 41/30Williams: pp. 30-58. Also review Abstract, pp. 59-67.

2/1Fatalism -- Taylor in the Classpak: pp. 54-67 (chapter 6); Journals Evaluations (in class)

WEEK 52/6Draft of Paper #1 Due; Revision Groups

2/8Paper #1 Due; Student Paper Symposium

WEEK 62/13Historical Material Determinism of the Late 19th Century

Ruis (on Marx): pp. 7-35 and especially pp. 64-142; definitions pp. 145-53

Recommended: pp. 36-63

2/15Ruis (on Marx) continued

WEEK 72/20The Specter of Programmed SociopoliticalDeterminism in the 1930s

Huxley: pp. vii-xviii and 1-202 (Foreword and chapters I-XIII)

2/22Huxley: pp. 203-267 (chapters XIV-XVIII)

WEEK 82/27The Utopian Possibilities of Programmed Determinism: Behaviorist Psychology of the

Mid 20th Century

Skinner: pp. v-vxi and pp. 1-207

2/29Skinner: pp. 208-301

SPRING BREAK WEEK - 3/2-3/10 Have a delightful week, but don't forget to write your first draft of Paper #2!

WEEK 93/12Draft of Paper #2 Due; Revision Groups; Journal Evaluations (in class)

3/14Paper #2 Due; Student Paper Symposium

WEEK 103/19Latter 20th Century Sociology: Symbolic Interactionist School

Berger: chapters 1, 2, and 4

3/21Berger: chapters 5 and 6

WEEK 113/26Latter 20th Century Sociology: Conflict Theory (Political Sociology)

Mills:chapter 1, introduction and sections 1, 2, and 6

chapter 2, introduction and sections 1, 2, 3, and 4

chapter 5, section 3

chapter 7, section 2

chapter 8, section 5

3/28Mills:chapter 9, all

chapter 10, introduction and sections 1, 2, 3, and 4

WEEK 124/2Clinical Psychology's Self-Help Therapy of the 1970s and 1980s

Dyer: pp. 1-163 (Introduction and chapters I-VII)

4/4Dyer: pp. 164-234 (chapters VIII-XII)

WEEK 134/9The New Age Psycho-Spiritual Perspective of the Late 20th Century

Redfield: pp. 1-122 (first five chapters)

4/11Redfield: pp. 123-246 (last four chapters)

WEEK 144/16Draft of Paper #3 Due; Revision Groups; Journal Evaluations(in class)

4/18Paper #3 Due; Student Paper Symposium

Peer Performance Evaluation forms distributed; complete and turn in 4/23.

WEEK 154/23Student Paper Symposium Continued

Peer Performance Evaluations Due

Summary Discussion of Free Will vs. Determinism and the Course

Course/Instructor Evaluation Forms

The above schedule, policies, procedures, and assignments in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances or by mutual agreement.

Information on Commercial Software for Graphic Syllabi and Outcomes Maps

Product / Price / Company Information
Name / Telephone
Web Site
ConceptDraw MINDMAP / $99 / Computer Systems Odessa, LCC / 1-877-441-1150

Curio 6 Professional
(Mac only) / $69 / Zengobi, Inc / ,

EDGE Diagrammer / $49.95 - $99 / Pacestar Software / 1-480-893-3046

iMindMap / $99-$395 / ThinkBuzan, Inc. / 1-800-961-4582

Inspiration 9 / $69 / Inspiration Software / 1-800-877-4292

MindGenius / $235 / Gael Ltd. / +44 (0) 355-247766

MindManager / $129 for Mac, $349 for Windows / Mindjet / 1-877-646-3538

MindMapper 2009 Professional / $249 / SimTech Systems, Inc. / 1-972-436-0863 or
1-877-883-6505

Novamind / $49-$249 / NMS Global Pty Ltd. or NovaMind Software / 1-800-583-8123

Prezi / Free version with limited features; full from $59 / Prezi, Inc. / ;
VisiMap Professional 4.2 / ₤69, $112 / CoCo Systems Ltd. / +44 7971-321586 or
1-800-884-0489 (orders)
Visual Mind 11 Basic, Business / $109, $249 / Mind Technologies AS / +47 3285 5455

Free Computer Software for Graphic Syllabi and Outcomes Maps

MindRaider:

CMapTools:

FreeMind:

BrainBox:

GnuConcept (collaborative mind mappingtool):

Belvedere Knowledge Mapping:

BuddySpace Jabber Client:

map2owl:

Java Object Base:

Conzilla:

Visualiser:

Super CSV:

Diagram Drawer:

University of Minnesota Digital Media Center:

FreeMind:

Wisdomap:

XMind:

The Brain:

Mind Mapping Software Review:

Gliffy (basic online version):

Creately (public version):

Tufts University Visual Understanding Environment:

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