SYA 4010: Sociological Theory Florida State University Fall 2017 T/TH, 2 3:15pm, HCB 214

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1 SYA 4010: Sociological Theory Florida State University Fall 2017 T/TH, 2 3:15pm, HCB 214 Professor Miranda R. Waggoner Office Hours: Thursday, 11:30am 1:30pm, Bellamy 621 Office Telephone: mwaggoner@fsu.edu Overview This course offers an overview of key ideas in sociological theory, focusing on the classics as well as on more contemporary approaches. We will address schools of thought both foundational and emergent, from primarily American and European contributions. The course begins with the big three classical theorists in sociology (Marx, Durkheim, Weber) before moving beyond the canon to discuss other founders of the discipline, additional core concepts, and present concerns. Throughout the course, we will tackle fundamental themes, enduring questions, and ongoing debates about the organization of social life. Theory is often grand and abstract, but it can provide a foundation for understanding our everyday life and the empirical word around us. After this course, you should be able to assess and discuss the extent to which certain theoretical perspectives offer insightful interpretations of society. Required Books All readings listed on the syllabus will be available via the course Canvas site. Requirements Participation In order to actively participate in class discussions, you should complete all readings before the start of each class and bring your notes to class, with discussion points in mind. To receive an A participation grade, a student will be attentive in class, partake in small-group work during class when applicable, and consistently show respect to other students when discussing the course material. For every one of these aspects not met, the participation grade may be reduced by one letter grade. If repeated absences are noticed, your participation grade will be negatively impacted. Participation is worth 10% of your final grade. Exams There will be two in-class exams. Dates are noted on the syllabus. Details about the exams will be provided in class. Each exam will be worth 20% of your final grade. Short Paper There will be a short paper (3 5 pages) due Thursday, November 16. Details will be provided in class. This paper will be worth 20% of your final grade. 1

2 Take-Home Final Paper The final assignment in this course is a take-home paper (approx. 5 pages in length). You will have at least one week to answer one or two essay prompts. Details will be provided in class. This paper will be worth 30% of your final grade. Assessment Your final grade in this course will be based on the following: Participation: 10% Exam I: 20% Exam II: 20% Short Paper: 20% Take-Home Final Paper: 30% Grading will adhere to a standard scale, and plus/minus grading will be used for final grades. FSU does not allow a final grade of A+. The specific ranges are as follows: =A 90-92=A =B =B 80-82=B =C =C 70-72=C =D =D 60-62=D- 0-59=F Laptop Policy Laptops are allowed for note-taking purposes only. Use of technology in the classroom (phone/laptop, etc.) for anything other than note-taking will negatively affect your participation grade. Recording or taking pictures during class is prohibited. Correspondence Note The best way to contact me is via . I will respond within a reasonable time frame, but please do not expect an immediate response. Please note that I typically do not respond to s after work hours or on the weekends/holidays. Please use the address provided at the top of the syllabus when sending me a message. Office hours are also listed at the top of the syllabus. If these hours conflict with other obligations in your schedule, you are welcome to me to set up an appointment. University Policies University Attendance Policy Excused absences include documented illness, deaths in the family and other documented crises, call to active military duty or jury duty, religious holy days, and official University activities. These absences will be accommodated in a way that does not arbitrarily penalize students who have a valid excuse. Consideration will also be given to students whose dependent children or close family members experience serious illness. 2

3 Academic Honor Policy In the academic setting it is critical that the work you present is original and that you cite outside sources rigorously and appropriately. Please see me if you have a question about plagiarism. The Florida State University Academic Honor Policy outlines the University s expectations for the integrity of students academic work, the procedures for resolving alleged violations of those expectations, and the rights and responsibilities of students and faculty members throughout the process. Students are responsible for reading the Academic Honor Policy and for living up to their pledge to be honest and truthful and... [to] strive for personal and institutional integrity at Florida State University. (Florida State University Academic Honor Policy, found at Policy.) Disabilities Policy Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center as well as bring me a letter indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class. This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request. For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact: Student Disability Resource Center 874 Traditions Way 108 Student Services Building Florida State University Tallahassee, FL (850) (voice) (850) (TDD) sdrc@admin.fsu.edu Syllabus Change Policy Except for changes that substantially affect implementation of the evaluation of your performance in this course, this syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advance notice. 3

4 COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS THE CANON Tuesday, August 29: Introduction to Class Syllabus Thursday, August 31: Background and Overview Tuesday, September 5: Community and Society Ferdinand Tönnies. Selection (pp , 64 71, ) in Community and Society (Gemeinschaft und Gessellschaft), translated and edited by Charles P. Loomis. The Michigan State University Press. Thursday, September 7: Emile Durkheim Richard W. Hadden Emile Durkheim (pp ) in Sociological Theory: An Introduction to the Classical Tradition. Broadview Press. Emile Durkheim. The Rules of Sociological Method [1895] and The Division of Labor in Society [1893] (pp ) in Classical Social Theory (3 rd Edition), edited by Craig Calhoun, Joseph Gerteis, James Moody, Steven Pfaff, and Indermohan Virk. Wiley-Blackwell. Tuesday, September 12: Emile Durkheim (continued) Emile Durkheim Suicide: A Study in Sociology. Selections. Thursday, September 14: Emile Durkheim (continued) and Karl Marx Tuesday, September 19: Karl Marx Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Manifesto of the Communist Party (only pp ) in The Marx-Engels Reader (Second Edition) Edited by Robert C. Tucker. W.W. Norton & Company. Thursday, September 21: Karl Marx (continued) Karl Marx. Capital, Volume One (only pp ) in The Marx-Engels Reader (Second Edition) Edited by Robert C. Tucker. W.W. Norton & Company. Tuesday, September 26: Max Weber Stephen Kalberg Pp in The Social Thought of Max Weber. SAGE. Max Weber. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Oxford University Press. Selections. 4

5 Thursday, September 28: Max Weber (continued) Max Weber. Selections from Politics as a Vocation (pp and ) and Bureaucracy (pp and ) in From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, edited by H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. Oxford University Press. Zygmunt Bauman. Modernity and the Holocaust (pp ) in Social Theory Re-Wired: New Connections to Classical and Contemporary Perspectives (Second Edition), edited by Wesley Longhofer and Daniel Winchester. Routledge. Tuesday, October 3: Max Weber (continued) and Review Session Thursday, October 5 Exam I MOVING BEYOND THE CANON Tuesday, October 10: Women Founders Patricia Madoo Lengermann and Gillian Niebrugge. Selection from Early Women Sociologists and Classical Sociological Theory: (pp ) in Classical Sociological Theory (Seventh Edition), edited by George Ritzer and Jeffrey Stepnisky. SAGE. Thursday, October 12: W.E.B. Du Bois W.E.B. Du Bois (pp ) in Sociological Theory in the Classical Era, edited by Laura Desfor Edles and Scott Appelrouth. Pine Forge Press (2010). W.E.B. Du Bois. Selection from The Souls of Black Folk (pp. 9 16) in The Souls of Black Folk, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Terri Hume Oliver. W.W. Norton & Company. SELF AND SOCIETY Tuesday, October 17: George Herbert Mead George Herbert Mead (pp ) in Sociological Theory in the Classical Era, edited by Laura Desfor Edles and Scott Appelrouth. Pine Forge Press (2010). George Herbert Mead. Selections (pp , , ) in Mind, Self, & Society. The University of Chicago Press (1934). Thursday, October 19: Georg Simmel Georg Simmel. The Stranger, Fashion, and The Metropolis and Mental Life (pp , ) in Georg Simmel on Individuality and Social Forms, edited by Donald N. Levine. The University of Chicago Press. 5

6 Tuesday, October 24: Anthony Giddens Anthony Giddens: Structuration Theory and High Modernity (pp ) in Contemporary Sociological Theory: Expanding the Classical Tradition (Fifth Edition), edited by Ruth A. Wallace and Alison Wolf. Prentice Hall. Thursday, October 26: Anthony Giddens (continued) Anthony Giddens Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford University Press. Selections. Tuesday, October 31: Review Session Thursday, November 2: Exam II CRITICAL THEORY, STRUCTURE, AND POWER Tuesday, November 7: The Frankfurt School David Held Selection (pp ) in Introduction to Critical Theory: Horkheimer to Habermas. University of California Press. Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno The Culture Industry: Enlightenment and Mass Deception (pp ) in The Dialectic of Enlightenment. Stanford University Press. Thursday, November 9: The Frankfurt School (continued) Herbert Marcuse Selection (pp. 1 18) in One Dimensional Man. Beacon Press (1991). Jürgen Habermas Technical Progress and the Social Life-World (pp ) in Toward a Rational Society. Beacon Press. Tuesday, November 14: Pierre Bourdieu Pierre Bourdieu The Aristocracy of Culture (esp. pp. 1 42) in Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Thursday, November 16: Pierre Bourdieu (continued) NOTE: your short paper is due by the beginning of class (hard copy) Tuesday, November 21: No Class (Happy Thanksgiving!) No class and no readings this week Tuesday, November 28: Michel Foucault Michel Foucault Docile Bodies and Panopticism (pp , ) in Discipline and Punish. Vintage Books (1995). 6

7 Thursday, November 30: Michel Foucault (continued) December 5: Future Directions December 7: Final Paper Workshop ***Your Take-Home Final Paper is due Friday, December 8, by 5pm*** Turn in on Canvas 7