SOC301: Theory and Society
Fall Semester 2001-Professor Schneider
Assigned
Texts Course
Website Contact
Information Course
Schedule Biographical
Note
Course Description: This
course introduces you to sociological theory and theorizing. It treats
theorizing as a skill, common across the social sciences, that can be developed
by analyzing appropriate models. In this course the models are drawn primarily
from the sociological classics (Marx, Weber and Durkheim). Theories provide us
with explanations of how the social world works, explanations we test for
validity through the skills taught in methods and statistics classes. Thus
courses in theory, methods, and statistics constitute the core of most social
science majors.
Course Objectives: Students
who complete this course should be able to (a) analyze how a sociological theory
is constructed and (b) describe the specific theories of Marx, Weber, Durkheim
and Mead in detail.
Course Requirements: two
exams, each covering half of the course; two very short papers and one medium
length paper; and weekly quizzes on the readings.
Attendance policy: you are
allowed two unexcused absences. Beyond this, every unexcused absence will result
in a one-fourth grade deduction. (In other words, a person with six unexcused
absences will be docked a full grade, while four absences will cost you a
half-grade.) You may be excused for: serious illness, family emergency,
off-campus athletic or academic activities, court dates, job interviews, etc.
Absences must be approved beforehand: call me at 453-7627. I'll take attendance
at the end of each class.
Grading: your quizzes count 10%, your
short papers together count 10%, your medium paper counts 30%, and each of the
exams 25%. Your average on the exams must be passing for you to pass the
course--you cannot be "saved" by a good mark on your paper. If you score a "D"
on the first exam and an "F" on the second, you'll flunk the course regardless
of your grade on the paper.
Assigned texts: Stanley
Milgram, Obedience to Authority; Mark Schneider, The Theory Primer (available at
710 Bookstore). Additional readings will be available online. The reading load
for the course is light, but you are expected to become thoroughly familiar with
the lectures/readings and to devote significant time to your papers.
Course Website:
Contact Information:
Office Hours: Monday 10:00-11:00 and 1:00-2:00
Wednesday 10:00-11:00 and 4:30-5:30
Friday 12:30-2:00
Phone: 453-7627
Email: masch@siu.edu
Website: http://www.siu.edu/~socio/Mark_A_Schneider.htm
Course Schedule: Remember that the reading is to be done before the relevant
class. Otherwise you won't be able to pass the quiz.
Aug. 20M: In-class exercise in theorizing
Aug 22W: Theories and their Structure
Read: Primer 1.1-1.3
First short paper assigned.
Aug. 27M: Evaluating Theories
Descriptive Narratives, Causal Narratives, and Causal Models
Paradigms
Read: Primer 1.4-1.6
First short paper due.
Second short paper assigned.
Aug. 29W: A Practicum in Theorizing
The Principle of Mechanisms in Theories
Read: Obedience, pp. 1-72
Sept. 3M: Labor Day
Sept. 5W: A Theory of Obedience
The Logic of Experiment
Read: Obedience, pp. 73-164
Second short paper due.
Sept. 10M: A Theory of Obedience Continued.
Read: Obedience, pp. 165-212
Sept. 12W: Marx's Problem: Capitalism Conceptualized.
Read: Primer 2.1
Marx, Preface and Estranged Labor from Economic And Philosophic Mss.
Sept. 17M: A Theory of Capitalism
Read: Primer 2.2
Marx, Bourgeois and Proletarian from The Communist Manifesto
Medium paper assigned
Sept. 19W: The Theory Evaluated
Read: Primer 2.4
Sept. 24M: The Paradigm of Historical Materialism
Contemporary Conflict Theory
Read: Primer 2.4-2.5.1
Marx, 1859 Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political
Economy
Sept. 26W: Cultural Materialism.
Read: Primer 2.5.2-2.6
Harris, "The Cultural Ecology of India's Sacred Cattle"
(Current Anthropology, Vol. 33, No. 1 February 1966)
Exam questions announced
Oct. 1M: Review for Exam
Oct. 3W: First-half Exam
Oct. 8M: Weber's Approach to Capitalism
Read: Primer 3.2.1-3.2.4
Oct. 10W: Weber's Mechanisms
Read: Primer 3.2.5-3.2.8
Weber, Spirit of Capitalism
Oct 15M: Historical Idealism & Verstehen
Analytical Typologies and Domination
Read: Primer 3.2.9-3.3
Report on paper topic due. Include abstract of theory & bibliography and
submit through WebCT.
Oct. 17W: A Typology of Authority
Read: Primer 3.4
Oct. 22M: Professional Authority and the Professions
Read: Primer 3.5
Oct. 24W: Bureaucracy and Bureaucratic Authority
Read: Primer 3.6
Weber, Characteristics of Bureaucracy
Oct. 29M: Fall Recess
Oct. 31W: Fall Recess
Nov. 5M: Stratification: Class, Status and Party
Read: Primer 3.7
Nov. 7W: Durkheim's Functionalism
On the Normalcy of Crime
Read: Primer 4.1
Durkheim, What is a Social Fact
Nov. 12M: Durkheim on Social Solidarity
Read: Primer 4.2
Durkheim, Organic and Mechanical Solidarity
Papers due on WebCT & in hardcopy
Nov. 14W: Durkheim's Theory of Suicide
Read: Primer 4.3
Nov. 19M: Evaluating Durkheim's Theory
Read: Primer 4.4
Chris Girard, Age, Gender and Suicide: A cross-national analysis
American Sociological Review 58:4 August 1993
Nov 21W: Durkheim on the Origins of Religion
Read: Primer 4.5
Nov. 26M: Mead and Symbolic Interaction
Read: Primer 5.1
Mead, Mind as the product of social interaction
Nov. 28W: Goffman's Dramaturgic Analysis
Read: E. Goffman, Embarrassment and Social Organization
American Journal of Sociology 62:3 November 1956
Dec. 5M: Review
Dec. 7W: Second-half Exam.
A brief note about the
professor: I was born in New York City and moved to Florida when I was
10. My father worked in television news and my mother at a newspaper. I liked to
read a lot and play sports. In high school I was on the soccer team and edited
the school's literary magazine. I went to the University of Chicago and majored
in English, and then to Yale for a Ph.D. in sociology. I taught at several
places--most recently at the University of Michigan--before I came here four
years ago.
My research looks at the historical development of science from a
sociological perspective, and I've published a book about this called Culture
and Enchantment. When we read about Weber's notion of disenchantment, I'll tell
you a bit more about the book. I also develop sociological theories myself, and
have discussed the origins of religion in a way that is different from but
complements Durkheim's theory, about which you'll read in class. I'm also
working on a paper about charismatic authority, which Weber was the first to
discuss. Thus the ideas of the classical theorists are very much alive in my own
work, and this makes me all the more interested in presenting them to you.
My hobbies are eating well and dancing. My wife, Joan Friedenberg, and I
enjoy Latin dances most and we're currently teaching ourselves to salsa. She's a
professor here in the Linguistics department. We have a nice house on a lake and
three cats. I have an office in the basement, where I work and listen to music
(mostly jazz and classical) as loud as I want. We both enjoy the ease of living
in Carbondale.