Office Hours: M 8:00-11; T 1:30-4:30
W 8-11, 1:30-4:30

This course stresses the ability of modern theories to stimulate and guide research. The field of theory includes at least four distinct enterprises: (1) the history and interpretation of theory; (2) the articulation and promotion of major “orientating frameworks” or paradigms (e.g. conflict theory, feminism, symbolic interaction); (3) the elaboration of specific theories--at three levels (grand, mid-range, and narrow range); and (4) metatheory (the discussion of general “philosophical” issues of concern to theorists).

While I am mildly interested in all these enterprises, I get really involved only when the rubber hits the road, so to speak. This is in mid and narrow-range theories that connect directly with research traditions. I thus believe it is most beneficial to students to concentrate on narrow range theories and their relation to the frameworks behind them. Considering orienting frameworks in terms of the research they stimulate will help exercise the faculties that you will use in selecting a topic for your master’s thesis or dissertation. It will also help you prepare for the Theory Comp, which it is an additional aim of the course to do.

The text for this course is Ruth Wallace and Alison Wolf, Contemporary Sociological Theory 5th Edition (Prentice Hall). Numerous additional readings will be available on the course WebCT facility (see below). They are stored in PDF format and may be downloaded onto your personal computer. I will add some readings as the course progresses.

Design of the course this year is handicapped by the prospect of a strike on Feb 3rd. Should a strike take place, I will not hold class in any form. Whether and how missed classes are to be made up will be determined by the settlement agreement, should one be reached. Should I be replaced by another instructor during the strike, and should the strike be settled during the semester, work completed under my replacement will only count toward your final grade if this is provided for in the settlement.

I’ve designed the course expecting only five students. Should more take the course, adjustments in assignments may have to be made. Each student is responsible for two papers and a classroom presentation of the first paper.

First paper/presentation: Each of you will report to the class on an article/chapter that connects theory and research in an illuminating way. I expect you to prepare your report as a written-out lecture, which you’ll turn in to me after you’ve given it. Your aim is to inform your fellow students as succinctly and clearly as you can about the core theoretical content of the article/chapter you’re reporting on. You should time your presentation at twenty-five minutes. This is an exercise that tests your ability to communicate complex content in a form that is orally/visually absorbable. I want to observe you teaching theory. This will require you to ruthlessly suppress details and highlight the essential aspects of the material you are presenting.

Second paper: The second paper will be a practice comp. All students will be assigned the same article to critique. The paper should be about 15 pages in length. To prepare for this, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with The Comp Site on WebCT (see below).

The schedule for presentations may be affected by class size and by the strike, should it materialize.

Your grade for the course will be based on both your presentation and on the written work you produce. Competent and clear work will be rewarded with the standard “B.” The rare higher grade is reserved for work that is not just competent and clear, but insightful and intellectually stimulating. A lower grade will alert you to significant shortfalls in comprehension. I’ll expect the written work to conform to norms of Standard Formal English, and to be referenced in a standard format, such as ASA.

Class Schedule–SOC502 (Spring 2003)

Jan. 13: Introductory remarks

Jan. 20 No Class (MLK Day)
Schneider, “Preface” and “Theories and Theorizing” from The Theory Primer
Wallace & Wolf, Chapters 1 & 2

Jan. 27 Functional Analysis I
T. Parsons, “Principal Types of Social Structure” from The Social System, pp. 180-200
R. Merton, excerpts from Social Theory and Social Structure
K. Davis and W. Moore, “Some Principles of Stratification,” ASR 10:242-249
A. Stinchcombe, “Some Empirical Consequences of the Davis-Moore Theory of Stratification,” ASR 28:805-808

Feb. 3 Functional Analysis II
A. Stinchcombe, “Bureaucratic and Craft Administration of Production,” Administrative Science Quarterly 2:137-158
M. Harris, “The Cultural Ecology of India’s Sacred Cattle,” Current Anthropology 7:1 (1966) pp. 51-59
H. Gans, “The Positive Functions of Poverty” AJS 78:275-289

Feb. 10 Conflict Theory I
Wallace & Wolf, Chapter 3, pp. 67-117
Bourdieu, “Social Space and Symbolic Space”

P. DiMaggio and J. Mohr, “Cultural Capital, Educational Attainment, and Marital Selection,” AJS 90:1231-1261.
Erik O. Wright, selections from Class Matters

Feb. 17 Conflict Theory II
Wallace & Wolf Chapter 3, pp. 118-153
R. Dahrendorf, selection from Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society
R. Collins, selection from Conflict Sociology

Feb. 24 Evolution, Dynamic Systems Analysis, and the Appeal of Teleology
Wallace & Wolf, Chapter 4
C. Tilly, selection from Coercion, Capital, and European States
P. DiMaggio & W. Powell, “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields,” ASR 49 (1983)

Mar. 3 Symbolic Interaction
Wallace & Wolf, Chapter 5
E. Goffman, “Notes on Deference and Demeanor,” American Anthropologist (1956) pp. 473-502
Additional readings to be assigned

Mar. 10 (Spring Break)

Mar. 17. Presentations

Mar. 24 Presentations
(Target article for mock comp assigned)

Mar. 31 Phenomenology
Wallace & Wolf, Chapter 6
Additional readings to be assigned

Apr. 7 Rational Choice
Wallace & Wolf, Chapter 7
Additional readings to be assigned

Apr. 14 Biosocial Theories
Wallace & Wolf, Chapter 8
M. Schneider, “Sacredness, Status, and Bodily Violation,” Body & Society 2:4 (Winter 1996)
M. Schneider and L. Hendrix, “Olfactory Sexual Inhibition and the Westermarck Effect,”Human Nature 11:1 (Feb. 2000)
(Mock comp due)

Apr. 21 Pure Sociology/Structuralism

D. Black, “Dreams of Pure Sociology,” Sociological Theory 18:343-367
T. Bernard, “Donald Black’s Influence in Criminology,” Contemporary Sociology 31:650-652
R. Collins, “Black’s Contributions to a General Theory of Conflict,” Contemporary Sociology 31:655-658
J. Turner, “Why Are Elegant Theories Under-Utilized by Sociologists?” Contemporary Sociology 31:664-668

Apr. 28 The Disciplinary Character of Sociology
M. Schneider, “The Logic of Enchantment” from Culture and Enchantment
S. Fuchs & J. Turner, “What Makes a Science ‘Mature’?: Patterns of Organizational Control in Scientific Production,” Sociological Theory 4:143-150

Access to websites: Your ID and password for both The Comp Site and the SOC502 site will be your first initial and last name, without spaces, in lower case, e.g. mschneider.

There are two steps to accessing the sites. First you have to establish an account with the WebCT facility. This account is independent of the sites. You establish your own ID and password for WebCT. Once you have your WebCT account, you can then sign up for the sites using the ID and password I give you. After you’ve signed up the first time, you will be able to access the sites easily from your personal WebCT homepage...as long as you remember how to access it with the ID and password you’ve created for yourself. Thus there are two separate steps, but you only sign up for the sites once. Thenceforward, you will only need the WebCT ID and password you create for yourself, and not the ID and password I’ve given you. Got that? (In what follows, I’ll use the Comp site as the example. Once you’ve signed up for it, it will be obvious how to do so for the SOC502 site.)

Here are the steps for establishing a WebCT account (step 1) and logging in to The Comp Site (step 2):

1. Go to http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu:8900
2. Click on Create myWebCT.
3. Follow the simple steps to create your username and password.
3a. Make a note of the username and password you’ve chosen! You’ll always need it to re-enter WebCT.

Now, to log in to The Comp Site:

4. Click Continue at the bottom of the page.
5. Click Add course.
6. Under the left hand column: Categories , click Liberal Arts. Courses will be listed to the right. Go to the second page of courses by clicking on “next page.”.
7. Click on The Comp Site on the right hand course listing.
8. Enter the username and password I’ve given you. This is the only time you will use this User Name and Password. For all future access you will use the myWebCT ID and Password that you created in step 3. Click Continue.
9. Click on Return to myWebCT.

10. You should now see The Comp Site on the upper left hand side of your myWebCT page. You can click there to enter the course facility.
11. Store this page as a bookmark.
Steps for logging on myWebCT in the future:
1. Go to http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu:8900. (Store this as a Bookmark on your browser.)
2. Click on Log on to myWebCT.
3. Type in your myWebCT Username (not your Comp Site UN).
4. Type in your myWebCT Password (not your Compt Site Password).
5. On your left-hand side, you will see The Comp Site. Click on it to enter.

Do the same for SOC502. There you’ll find the readings for the course in PDF format. You can read these while logged onto the site, but that diminishes the size of the screen, so it’s probably best to download the readings and store them on your computer. This takes some time...perhaps about 10 minutes per reading by a modem connection. Once you’ve stored them, you can easily read them with Adobe Acrobat. You can also print them out, should you wish to.