University of Texas at Arlington. Sociology of Poverty. SOCI 4365.001. Summer 2016. 11 Week. Syllabus.
! Look for this icon throughout the syllabus and course for tips on how to: do well on assignments, avoid falling off the course cliff, and staying on track!
Consider this syllabus is your first assigned readingfor this course. Welcome!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page Topic Details
3 / Who’s Your Instructor? / Instructor Hanson-Evans, that’s who! A bit about me.3 / Time and Place of Class Meetings / Where we do what we do in cyber space
3 / Time Zone for this Course / We’re on CDT and how to coordinate!
3 / Technical Requirements, FAQ’s & Support / Where to go if you need help with Blackboard(our LMS) /
3-4 / What Will We Use to Communicate? / My email, virtual office hours, your student lounge (named after this SNL skit) “Coffee Talk”, & our course Twitter! /
4 / Course Description / What the @#$%* is the sociology of poverty, anyway?
4 / Why Sociology of Poverty? / Our course goals in four words: Where Academia and Action Collide (okay, that was five words, but it’s catchy, isn’t it?)
4-5 / What You’ll Take With You When You Complete This Course / Student Learning Outcomes: (or how your life will be profoundly changed by having taken my course!)
5 / Take This Short Survey! / The rumors aren’t true - online classes are NOT easier –
so what should you expect?HINT: check it out if you’d like to earn bonus points!
5 / How Will We Communicate?
(A.K.A. Netiquette) / Rules of etiquette… but for the net. Get it?! /
6 / Required Textbook / Is there a book? Yep, there’s a book! Do you have to have it? Only if you want to pass this course! /
6 / Supplemental (*Required*) Readings & Materials / You guessed it, there’s more to read than just the text! /
6 / UTA Writing Lab (OWL) / Where to go if you need help with your writing! /
6 / Student Support Services / When you need ANY sort of help; personal, academic, or otherwise, i.e.; homelessness, food insecurity, financial issues, domestic or relationship issues, and more. /
6 / Student Centered Learning / In this course, it really IS all about you!
7-9 / Descriptions of Major Assignments and Exams / The options you have in this course to earn your grade (wait.. did she say ‘options’?!).
9 / Weekly Topics in This Course / What we’re learning about and when!
9-10 / Study Expectations / The time this course will require (well, if you want to do well in it, that is!) and a HUGE HINT to help you save time, tears, and stress!
10-11 / Recommended Weekly Course Schedule / My recommended to-do list to stay on track (and keep your weekends free) in this course! /
11 / Weekly Course Schedule / The absolute deadlines for course requirements
11-12 / Make-Up and Late Work Policy / Yes… BUT!
12 / Grades & Stuff / How to calculate your grade at any point in the course
12 / Office Number & Phone Number / Well this is awkward…
12 / Attendance Policy / Yep & what counts for attendance
13 / Drop Policy & Date / HINT: even if you never participated, you still have to drop the course. Otherwise, you get an F.
13 / ADA & Title IX / Information on student accommodations & athletics
13-14 / Academic Integrity & Honor Code / What will happen if that happens… /
14 / Final Review Week / You enrolled in a summer course… so, every week will feel like “Dead Week”! Yeeeaaahhhh… /
14 / Grade Grievances / You don’t like the grade you earned (or I made a terrible mistake), what can you do about it?
14 / Student Feedback Surveys / This is how you grade me!
14-15 / Sociology Clubs, Honor Societies & Professional Organizations / Yep… we’re kind of a big deal, just ask us! From campus to regional, national, and international organizations… sociology is all around you!
15 / University Activities / Uh, sociology is waaay cool Instructor Hanson-Evans (eye roll), but what else is there to do around here?
15-17 / Unspoken Rules that You Should Know! / From textbooks to intellectual property - the secret stuff no one tells you about university & there’s a LOT! /
18-21 / And…we’re off! / Course Readings & Schedule with Weekly Calendar
Instructor: Instructor M. Faye Hanson-Evans, M.A. & here’s the official blurb about me, if you’re curious:
Where We Do What We Do (Time and Place of Class Meetings): This course is conducted entirely online and runs from Monday, June 6 2016 at 9:00 AM until Tuesday, August 16 2016 at 11:59 PM.
Time Zones for Deadlines in this Course: The schedule for this summer 2016 course and its deadlines are coordinated with Central Daylight Time. If you live in another time zone, you’ll want to coordinate your schedule with ours here:
Technical Requirements, FAQ’s, and Support: This course is conducted entirely on-line and utilizes Blackboard 9.1 as its LMS (Learning Management System) and can be found here: This course also uses a course website and a course Twitter account (more on these below).
If you are not familiar to Blackboard, please check out this support site to run a systems check for your computer and answer your FAQ’s on getting started:
Blackboard 9.1 offers students and faculty 24/7 Support. You can access this support by logging in to our course and clicking on the link “24/7 Blackboard Support” (located at the top, toward the center of your screen, in grey boldfont) or by calling 1-855-308-5542.
Should you encounter any technical difficulties with Blackboard, Blackboard support should be your first contact, as they are the technical experts.
NOTE: Service issues with your computer or your Internet Service Provider do not constitute a satisfactoryexplanation for failure to complete assignments on time, as these are basic course requirements and your responsibility to maintain.
Communication with Me in this Course:
Email Address: . This is the best (and official) means of communication with me. I answer emails Monday through Friday 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM, and you can usually expect a reply to your email within 48 hours during the business week. The only exception to this would be weekends, holidays, if I am traveling, ill, OR if you don’t do the following;
When you email me you MUSTinclude the course abbreviation, number, section,and a few words about your queryin the subject line (i.e. SOCI 4365.001. Week 2 Blog. Question). Be sure to include your first and last name in your signature.If you do not, you may not get a response from me. These steps will help me to quickly identify and help you!
Because I have a sense of humor, if you email me a question when the answer is already in the syllabus, in Blackboard, on our course
website, or our course Twitter, you will receive one of these as a response. This keeps you in my good graces, saves my time, and
makes me happy!
Office Hours: I keep “Virtual Office Hours” every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 – 11:00 AM Central Daylight Time (CDT) using Blackboard Instant Messaging (IM). Blackboard IM is a ‘real time” chat application much like (what you may already be familiar with) Facebook or Twitter or Yahoo!. You can find and download Blackboard IM by opening Tools (on the left navigation pane within our course in Blackboard), opening the Blackboard IM icon and following the instructions.
Communication with Each Other in This Course:
Course Website: addition to important announcements and our course calendar, you should use our course website and the Student Lounge (named “Coffee Talk”) to ask each other questions about the course and materials, Blackboard, Twitter, expectations, etc. If you have a question about something, your fellow students should be your first point of contact.
Should you encounter any technical difficulties with our course website, the OIT helpdesk should be your first contact, as they are the technical experts. They can be reached at 817-272-2208 or
Course Twitter: @UTASociPovertyIn addition to important announcements, random points of humor from me,as a resource to find your blog articles, and to connect with and ask questions of your classmates, you should follow our course Twitter account.
Twitter is free to sign up and use. Go to to get started and check out if you have questions on how to use it!
Course Description (What We’re Going to Learn About): This course is an introduction to the literature and research within the sociology of poverty. It will examine; poverty as a social problem and sociological phenomenon; the consequences of poverty for those who live in it; modern individualistic theories of poverty; classic and modern sociological theories of poverty; the economic, political, cultural, and social systems of poverty; structural obstacles in the persistence of poverty; anti-poverty policies, social movements surrounding poverty, and the role of the discipline in the amelioration of poverty within the U.S.
Course Goals (Why We’re Going to Learn It):As sociology majors, you’re already aware that sociology as a discipline is misunderstood. This course will prepare you to utilize your academic sociological training out there in the “real” world after you graduate. By understanding how academic sociology of poverty and public sociology of poverty not only co-exist, but do in fact, inform one another, you’ll find yourself well prepared (and encouraged by what you’re exposed to in this course) to use your sociological training in any chosen career (whether it has to do specifically with poverty or not).
Student Learning Outcomes (How You’reGoing to Affected by What You’ve Learned): By the end of this course you will be able to excel and perform in the following three areas: knowledge, skills, and values with regard to the sociology of poverty.
Knowledge:
Knowledge:identifyanddescribecompeting individualistic and sociological theories of poverty; major findings within the sociology of poverty, and the scholars who contributed them.
Comprehension:explainand distinguish between competing individualistic and structural explanations for poverty; four systems of poverty, economic, political, cultural, and social; empathize with those who are living in poverty.
Skills:
Application:demonstratehow sociological research methods areemployedto describe, understand, and predict the phenomenon of poverty.
Analysis:discover and practice using your knowledge of the sociology of poverty to analyze and interpret current events, modern ideologies and arguments surrounding poverty; and anti-poverty proposals/programs.
Values:
Synthesis: integrateyour knowledge of the sociology of poverty toidentify a needed area of research (a gap in the literature), anddesigna propose research that addresses that gap.
Evaluation: assessandcritiquethe contributions (and limitations) of the role of sociology in proposing and implementing effective anti-poverty policies/programs to addresspoverty in the U.S.
Before We Get Down to Business: Are you Prepared to Learn On-Line? Many students have heard the myth that on-line courses are somehow “easier” than on-campus courses. However, to do well in and get the most out of online courses, additional skills and discipline above and beyond those for “traditional” courses are needed. If you’d like to earn bonus points in this course, you can take a brief survey and write up your results and action plan. You can find this in the folder‘Week 1: Welcome and Getting Started’ in Blackboard! Bonus points will only be awarded to those that complete it by the deadline.
Next up, an official blurb (official blurb = required by the university) from UT Arlington about our on-line etiquette (a.k.a. Netiquette):
Netiquette (Online Course Etiquette): Whether you’ve taken an online course before or are enrolled in your first one, you’ll soon discover that an online course has a unique culture and etiquette. Unlike popular social media, such as Facebook or Twitter that you may already be using in your daily life, online course etiquette more closely resembles that of a traditional, on-campus course. Here are some guidelines you can follow to help you be successful in your online course.
Interacting with People, not a Computer: In an online course, you may find fewer opportunities for face-to-face interaction between you, your instructor, and your classmates. Since most of your interaction will be text-only, you won’t be able to pick up on “cues” such as body language, facial and vocal inflection, or the discussion’s changing pace. This has the potential for people to misunderstand one another’s writing.
Give your writing a respectful “tone,” whether you are agreeing or disagreeing with another person’s posting. When you read e-mail or online discussions, make sure you understand the other person’s message. A confrontational reply to a message you’ve misunderstood can drag a conversation down for everyone. If you don’t understand, ask the writer for clarification with language you’d use in the classroom. Think about how you’d react if someone wrote you the way you’re writing your message. If you think a posting is inappropriate, you should ask your instructor to look into it.
Read Before You Write: Spoken conversations are a continuous process of talking and listening. When you walk up to friends in a conversation, you listen awhile to pick up what’s being talked about before you join in. It’s good etiquette online, too. Even if it’s a conversation you contributed to previously, new posts by others may have introduced new questions and taken the discussion in new directions.
Read Before You Submit: In general, discussion posts and e-mail should be as concise as possible while still making your message clear. Write a draft and before you click the submit button, read your message aloud, to yourself or to someone else. This can help you find awkward phrasing, correct misspelling, or maybe see a clearer way to compose your message.
Avoid language that is angry, sarcastic, or offensive. Use emoticons to convey your intention and give your writing context. Remember that your readers won’t have those cues mentioned above and could misunderstand you. If you feel particularly strongly about a point, it may be best to write your message first as a draft and then review it before posting in order to remove any strong or ambiguous language.
Words are Forever: Once you submit your message, whether in e-mail or as a post to a blog or discussion group, it will be stored on servers “out there” for others to read. You won’t be able to easily take back your words. Even if you intended it to be private, your message may, in fact, be public. A search engine might find it. It can be forwarded to people you never wanted to read it, or copied and posted in a context you didn’t intend. You have no control over the way others might use it once it is public.
You do, however, have control over what you do – or don’t do – with other people’s messages. If someone writes you a private e-mail, respect that privacy.
Required Text and Ancillary Materials: Poverty and Power, 2ndEdition. Edward Royce. 2015. ISBN: 9781442238077. Here’s what it looks like;
Other Supplemental (*Required*)Materials: Each week there will be supplemental materials (mostly readings, with a few videos/podcasts and/or exercises). These are assigned in addition to the text chapter assigned andrequired for you to complete your weekly requirements. Unless otherwise noted, supplemental materials are found in that week’s folder in Blackboard.
UTA’s Online Writing Lab: Need help with the written assignments in this class or others? UTA’s Writing Center offers on-line and face-to-face appointments for you! Their hours are 9 am to 8 pm Mondays-Thursdays, 9 am to 3 pm Fridays and Noon to 5 pm Saturdays and Sundays. Walk InQuick Hits sessions are available during open hours Mon-Thurs.
Register and make appointments online at Classroom Visits, Workshops, and advanced services for graduate students and faculty are also available. Please see detailed information.
Student Support Services:UT Arlington provides a variety of resources and programs designed to help students develop academic skills, deal with personal situations, and better understand concepts and information related to their courses. Resources include tutoring, major-based learning centers, developmental education, advising and mentoring, personal counseling, and federally funded programs. Whether you’re dealing with homelessness, food insecurity, financial issues, emotional or mental troubles, relationship or domestic violence, or anything else, UT Arlington can help. For individualized referrals, students may visit the reception desk at University College (Ransom Hall), call the Maverick Resource Hotline at 817-272-6107, send a message to , or view the information at:
Student Centered Learning & the Design of This Course: This course is a student centered learning course. You’re thinking ‘Uh huh… so what does that mean Instructor Hanson-Evans?!’ It means that in this course YOU are the center of your learning experience, rather than me or even the material. It means that in this course, YOU decide how and what (and how much) you will learn. In other words: you have options to choose from and decisions to make about how you will earn your grade. While I will provide the overall structure for the evaluation and assessment, you get to decide which ones you will complete, how to accomplish them, and even how well you did on some of them!
Think of it as a road trip! I brought the map and munchies, and you choose the route! “How will this work?” you ask. Well, let me show you! Here are the Descriptions of Major Assignments and Exams: