[Revised 8-24-09]
Soc 270-H-00–
The Sociological Imagination
Fall Semester, 2009
9:30-10:45 am Tuesday and Thursday
Instructor: Fr. Joe Zimmerman, O.F.M.
Home phone: 217-223-9920 ext 208 (preferred)
Cell phone: 217-316-3781 (not preferred; I don’t check it enough)
I live in Holy Cross Friary,
A-field). The Friary has two buildings. I live in the south building, which is
numbered “720.” I do not have an office on campus, but I do have a mailbox,
# 189.
Hours: by appointment.
Call
me at home or send me an e-mail: friarzimm@gmail.com My campus email
will also work:
If you leave a message for me at my home, please tell me
when I can call you back if that is necessary.
Texts: I do not plan to
use a textbook. I will use my own glossary of terms, and will recommend
sources. Much of the course information should be available online (e.g. in
Wikipedia). If you want a book that you can hold in your hands, almost any
introductory sociology textbook published in the last ten to fifteen years will
do just fine. Buy one at a garage sale.
Course Purpose:
Every
human interaction should be characterized by four things: 1) passion; 2) respect;
3) vulnerability; 4) faithfulness. That applies to the interaction of student
and teacher, of student with fellow student, and of student, teacher, and ideas.
John Joe Lakers, O.F.M. is the source of this formulation, in his 1996 book, Christian Ethics: An Ethics of Intimacy.
Franciscan
education should have four characteristics:
1)
it is “critical” – it mistrusts accepted wisdom;
2)
it is “empirical” – it searches for evidence;
3)
it is “humble” – it is self-critical, open to correction;
4)
it is “edifying” – it has the goal of making people fully alive. The root
meaning of the word “edify” is “to build up.”
St. Irenaeus
said
“The glory of God is the human person fully alive.”
Philotheus Boehner, O.F.M. first formulated these
four characteristics in a
1942
article, but I made up the labels.
Sociology
gives us a unique way of looking at human behavior, the “sociological
imagination.” I will organize the course around the series of topics usually
dealt with in an introductory sociology textbook. We will apply sociology to
each topic.
Course Goals:
Quincy University stands as a Catholic, independent,
liberal arts institution of higher learning in the Franciscan tradition.
Inspired by the spirit of Francis and Clare of
Even though this
course is not part of the Q.U. General Education Program, some of the goals of
that program (p. 8 in the 2008-2010 catalog) seem appropriate for the course.
Specifically (the numbers correspond to the list in the catalog):
2. Students demonstrate that the learned skills
of each QU student
include critical thinking
and problem solving .
3: Students demonstrate that their learned
skills include effective written
and
oral communication.
6: Students demonstrate familiarity with
cross-cultural studies that make
students
aware of a global culture marked by racial, ethnic, gender and
regional
differences.
7: Students demonstrate an awareness and
appreciation of the Western
religious
traditions, especially including Roman Catholic and Franciscan.
11. Students develop the ability to weigh
evidence without bias, tolerate
ambiguity,
and use ethical principles in their academic and personal lives.
Beyond
these general education goals, a course in sociology should require that the
student demonstrate awareness of the major sociological theories and research
methods as they apply to real-world issues.
Determination of Course Grade
I will require you to submit two written assignments each
week. I will assign half of the class to prepare the first type of assignment
for the Tuesday class (“Group A”), and the other half to prepare it for the
Thursday class (“Group B”). You should submit all assignments electronically.
The first of the two written assignments will be a 400 word
essay with the following topic: “Here is a [book, movie, video, other
medium] that I think the class should
experience if you want to get a better appreciation of [the
topic for the class], and why I think the
source is a good one.” The essay should begin with an APA style citation of the
source. You will send copies of this essay to me and to the other nine members
of the class. Each student (and myself) should have these essays at least 24
hours before the start of the class for which the work is due. I call these
essays “shared essays.” For these shared essays, the source you describe
can be an online source. However, I encourage you to look beyond the web for
some of your sources.
The second type of essay, also 400 words, will discuss how
an assigned sociological topic relates to your experience—to something or
someone that is important to you. This essay will be read only by me,
and can be based on the assigned topic for either of the two classes for that
week. I should have a copy of your essay by Saturday night of the week during
which we discussed the topic. I call this essay a “personal essay.”
I am committed to six class days of absence because of
membership on the provincial council of my Franciscan province. The province
may require me to miss classes in addition to these six. Occasionally illness
may make us cancel a class. I will assign out-of-class work to compensate for
the missed in-class time.
Tests and Exams
There will
be no tests or exams.
Extra Credit
If you
submit extra reflections and reading sources, I will add the grades for these
to your course sum but continue to divide that course sum by the original
number of assigned days (e.g. 30).
Grading Scale for
Homework:
Assessing the quality of work is always somewhat
subjective. I will grade as follows:
This work stands out as exceptional. (in some context) (“A-1”)
You can do better.
(This is almost always true.) (“A-2”)
This work is disappointing. (to me at least) (“B”) A late assignment is disappointing
at best.
This work is unacceptable. (again, to me) (“C,” “D,” “F”)
For the purposes of your course grade, I will consider the
first two grades, A-1 and A-2, as the equivalent of “A.”
I will distribute a grade report every month or so. You may
ask me for such a report at any time. Please call my attention to any mistakes
I make in recording your grade.
Attendance and
Participation
Class
participation is essential in this course. I will allow up to four absences for
personal reasons, and I will not penalize students for absences connected with
their obligations outside class (e.g. dramatic, musical or athletic
participation). After that, each absence will affect your participation grade.
Participation
itself is hard to judge reliably in individual classes. However, over the
course of several weeks I will be able to evaluate your participation as
acceptable (A), disappointing (B), or unacceptable (C,D,F).
Weighting of Course Requirements:
|
Date |
Activity |
Course Goals aimed at by this activity |
Assessment |
Course Grade Weight |
|
Each class |
Written
assignments |
2, 3, 6, 7, 11 |
Instructor
collects and grades the assignments |
80% |
|
Each class |
Oral interaction |
2, 3, 6, 7, 11 |
Instructor
observes in class (This is very important, but because it is hard to
evaluate, I assign it a value of only 20% of your course grade.) |
20% |
|
1st & last
class |
Pre and post |
assessment of
learning progress |
Differences
between pre & post assessments |
None |
Schedule of Course Topics and Student Assignments
Standard Sociological Topics
for an Intro Course
1.
Science 11.
the family
2.
the history of sociology 12.
education
3.
sociological theories 13. religion
4.
research methods 14.
health and illness
5.
culture 15.
politics
6.
socialization 16.
economics
7.
deviance 17.
population and the environment
8.
class and inequality 18.
social change
9.
gender issues 19.
collective behavior
10.
race issues 20.
war, revolution
Social Issues which
will provide discussion material for the course
climate
change and global warming
immigration
health
care reform
gun
control
capital
punishment
the
future of marriage and family, including gay marriage
the
“clash of civilizations” (Islam vs. “the West”)
ethics
in research (e.g. re stem cells)
These
are topics which I want to use. If a majority of the class wants to add an
additional topic, we will incorporate that topic into the mix.
Following is a list of scheduled
class meetings and assignment dates. I will follow the list of “standard
sociological topics” (see above) in determining the content of each meeting and
discussion.
1. (Aug 25) Personal introductions, goals
(of the course and of education in
general),
assessment
test
2. (Aug 27) Topic: “science.” No assignment will be due this day.
Because I will have to miss the September
1 class, I will expect the first shared essay of all ten students (Groups A and
B) to be in my possession by Saturday evening, August 29.
3. (Sep 1) – I will not be able to meet the
class this day because of a medical procedure.
4. (Sep 3) Topic: sociology. All ten students (Groups A and B) will provide me
with their second shared essay. First personal essays are due September 5: How
“science” or “sociology” relate to me personally.
5. (Sep 8) Topic:
Sociological paradigms –shared essays due for Group A
6. (Sep 10) Topic: Sociological research methods – shared essays Group B;
personal
essays
due September 12
I will have to be out of town for a
7. (Sep 22) _________________________________From this point on, you will write
into the syllabus the topic of each
class; we will follow the order of topics given
above in the syllabus; Group A shared essays due
8. (Sep 24)
________________________________ Group B shared due; personal essays
due
September 26
9. (Sep 29)
________________________________Group A shared due
10. (Oct 1) ________________________________
Group B due; personal essays due
October
3
October 6 will take me out of town again.
Assignment TBA
11. (Oct 8)
________________________________Groups A & B shared essays due
12. (Oct 13)
_______________________________ Personal essays due from the entire
class
Four-day weekend (October 15-18)
13. (Oct 20)
_______________________________Group A shared essays due
14. (Oct 22)
_______________________________ Group B due; personal essays due
October
24
15. (Oct 27) _______________________________Group
A due
16. (Oct 29)
_______________________________ Group B due; personal essays due
October
31
17. (Nov 3)
_______________________________Group A due
18. (Nov 5)
_______________________________ Group B due; personal essays due
November
7
Out of town again the entire week of
November 9 through 13. The assignment will involve designing
a
survey; details will be provided.
19. (Nov 17)
______________________________Group A due
20. (Nov 19)
______________________________ Group B due; personal essays due
November
21
21. (Nov 24)
______________________________Group A shared due
Thanksgiving break
I will be out of town on December 1 – Assignment
TBA
22. (Dec 3)
________________________________Group B shared due; personal
essays
due Dec 5
23. (Dec 8)
_________________________________ Group A shared due
24. (Dec 10) course wrap-up; post-test – Group B
shared due; final personal
essay
due Dec. 12.