SOC
468&468S: SPRING 2010
(Ticket #s: 11694 and
12126&12127) JR 315 MW 12:30 - 1:45 PM; SH 225 M/W 2 - 3:40 PM
INSTRUCTOR: STAVROS N. KARAGEORGIS
OFFICE: SN
107; OFFICE HOURS: MW 3 – 4:30 PM and by appt.
PHONE: (818)
677-3591 (leave message)
Instructor
E-mail:
(Available online: http://www.csun.edu/~snk1966/468SYLS0.htm
)
CONTEMPORARY SOC(IOLOGIC)
The
substantive goals of this demanding course (Lecture and Seminar) are to:
Course
Requirements:
1. Class
attendance and constructive class
participation.
2. Careful study
of the assigned readings.
3. Timely
completion of written assignments.
Required
Texts:
Scott
Appelrouth and Laura Desfor Eddles, Sociological
Theory in the Contemporary Era: Text
and Readings, Pine Forge
Press: 2007 (hereafter: S.T.C.E.) available at the Matador College Bookstore AND
ON 2 HOUR RESERVE AT THE OVIATT LIBRARY.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Feb
6 : Last day
to add/drop classes
Feb
24 : Exam 1
Mar 29 : Exam 2
Mar 31 : Cesar
Chavez (No Class)
Apr 5-10 : SPRING RECESS
May
12 : Exam 3 DUE
EVALUATION:
1. Grading will follow the scheme:
Class
Attendance and Participation : up to 250 points;
Exam 1 : up to 250 points;
Exam 2 : up to 250 points;
Exam 3 : up to 250 points;
_______________________________________________
Total : up to 1000 points.
2. I will assign final letter grades according to
the following scheme:
925 to 1000 = A
895 to
924 = A-
875 to
894 = B+
825 to
874 = B
795 to
824 = B-
775 to
794 = C+
725 to
774 = C
695 to
724 = C-
675 to
694 = D+
625 to
674 = D
595 to
624 = D-
000 to 594 = F.
GENERAL
REMARKS:
Come to class prepared (orally or in writing) to
reconstruct and debate the arguments and claims of the authors in the assigned
readings, constructively to comment on those of your colleagues and the
Instructor, and to have yours likewise addressed and analyzed.
All exams may have in-class (short-essay,
identification-of-author, etc.) and/or take-home (long-essay) components.
NOTE: I will NOT tolerate academic dishonesty (cheating,
plagiarizing, etc). The minimum
penalty for confirmed academic dishonesty shall be a grade of F (and ZERO points) for the
assignment in question. Egregious or repeated offenses may result in a grade of
F for the class and/or
University disciplinary action referral.
COURSE OUTLINE (subject to
revision)
Jan
20 – Jan 27
The Structure and Purposes of Social/Sociological Theory.
Study:
1. S.T.C.E.,
2.
ONLINE: 2.1 A. Harrington: Introduction.
What is Social Theory? (Left-click
on this and all subsequent online readings to access them)
2.2
Kenneth
D. Allan: Imagining Society
Feb
01 - Feb 24
Structural-Functional and System Theories.
Study:
1. S.T.C.E.,
2. ONLINE: TP.1: Talcott
Parsons: An Outline of the Social System
TP.2: Talcott
Parsons, The American Family: Its Relations to Personality and to the Social
Structure
TP.3: Talcott
Parsons: Action Systems and Social Systems
TP.4: T.
Parsons & N.J. Smelser: Economy and Society
RKM.1: Robert
K Merton - On Sociological Theories of the Middle Range
RKM.2:
Robert K. Merton: Social Structure and Anomie (Original 1938 ASA Version)
RKM.3: Robert K. Merton:
The Role-Set: Problems in Sociological Theory
T&M:
Turner
and Maryanski: Is 'Neofunctionalism" Really Functional?
Exam 1: Feb 24 (FOR the question/topic
menu CLICK HERE )
Mar
01 – Mar 03
IIIA:
‘Conflict’ Theories.
Study:
ONLINE:
IIIA2. David
Lockwood: Some Remarks on The Social System.
IIIA3. Lewis
A. Coser: Social Conflict and the Theory of Social Change.
IIIA4. Ralph
Dahrendorf: Toward a Theory of Social Conflict.
IIIA5. Randall
Collins: What Does Conflict Theory Predict about America's Future? .
Mar
08 – Mar 29
IIIB:
“Western Marxist”, “Structural Marxist” and “Critical” Theories.
Study:
1. S.T.C.E.,
ONLINE:
IIIB1. Georg
Lukács - History and Class Consciousness: Reification and the Consciousness of
the Proletariat ; Class
Consciousness
IIIB2. Antonio
Gramsci - Prison Notebooks: Intellectuals ; Problems
of Marxism
IIIB3. Louis
Althusser: Ideology and Ideological State
Apparatuses (Notes towards an Investigation)
IIIB4. Herbert
Marcuse. One-Dimensional Man, 4: The
Closing of the Universe of Discourse;
9: The Catastrophe of Liberation ; 10:
Conclusion
IIIB5. Perry Anderson: The Antinomies
of Antonio Gramsci
IIIB6. M.
Burawoy & E.O. Wright: Sociological Marxism
EXAM 2: MAR 29à CLICK HERE for PREPARATION FOR
EXAM 2 ; CLICK HERE for
Practice EXAM 2 (Version 1) ; CLICK HERE
for Practice EXAM 2 (Version 2) ; CLICK HERE for Practice EXAM 2
(Version 3) ; CLICK HERE for Practice EXAM 2
(Version 4)
***** APR 5 –
10 SPRING RECESS *******
Apr
12 – Apr 21
IV: Interactionist, Dramaturgical, Phenomenological and
Ethnomethodological Theories
Study:
1. S.T.C.E.,
ONLINE:
IV1. Thomas
P. Wilson: Conceptions of Interaction and Forms of Sociological Explanation;
IV2. Sheldon
Stryker: The Vitalization of Symbolic Interactionism;
IV3. Erving
Goffman: The Interaction Order;
IV4. Harold
Garfinkel: Ethnomethodology's Program;
IV5. Berger
& Luckmann: Maintenance and Transformation of Subjective Reality;
IV6. Hilbert:
Anomie and the Moral Regulation of Reality.
Apr
26 - May 05
Feminist, Synthetic and “Post-“(structuralist, modern,
modernist, colonial, etc.) Theorizing
Study:
1. S.T.C.E.,
2. S.T.C.E.,
ONLINE: Michel
Foucault: The Subject and Power , Omnes
et Singulatim - Toward a Criticism of Political Reason
3. S.T.C.E.,
Pierre
Bourdieu: 446-485;
Jurgen
Habermas: 485-522;
Anthony
Giddens: 523-559;
4. S.T.C.E.,
EXAM 3: MAY 12 CLICK HERE for EXAM 3
Question/Topic Menu