| Contemporary
Social Issues (Socy 102)
REQUIRED
TEXT:
Henslin,
James M.
1994 Social Problems. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
CLASS
FORMAT AND ATTENDANCE:
Class
time will be spent in a combination of lecture, discussion and small
group tasks. The lectures will contain much of the exam content.
However, for us to engage in mutually informative discussions, you
must read the material assigned. YOU CAN NOT MAKE A DECENT GRADE
IN THIS CLASS WITHOUT READING THE TEXT! Attendance and participation
in class discussion will be noted and will influence your grade.
Ten percent of your grade will reflect class attendance and performance
on group tasks.
ASSIGNMENTS
AND EXAMINATIONS:
Exams:
There will be three in class exams and a final examination.
The exams will cover information from lecture, text, articles and
films. The final exam will be cumulative IF the class average on
the first exam is below 70. The tentative dates for the exams and
the chapters covered are listed below.
EXAMINATIONS
DATE
CHAPTERS
% GRADE
Exam
1 Feb.
3
1, 2, 3
20%
Exam
2
Feb. 27
4, 5, 6
20%
Exam
3
March 31
7, 8, 9
20%
Final
April 28 (12:00) 11, 12, 14
20%
Make-up
Exams - NO make-up exams will be given. If you know you will be
absent for a scheduled exam contact me in advance. Unexcused
absence from an exam will result in a zero. If you are absent from
an exam without an excuse you will receive a grade of zero for the
examination. If you miss an exam with an acceptable excuse, you
will take a cumulative final that will count for the final exam
and the missed grade.
Written
assignments: There are four short papers required in this course.
The course is divided into four parts:1) Social problems; 2) Crime
and deviance; 3) Social Inequality; 4) Social Change. In each part
of the course we cover three chapters. You choose one of the issues
dealt with in each section. Write an essay which includes:
1.
Why is this issue a social problem?
2. What is the scope of the problem? (That is, when did it emerge
as a problem; for whom is it a problem; what are its potential consequences?)
3. What is the popular or lay explanation of this issue?
4. What is the sociological interpretation of the issue?
5. How do you personally interpret this issue?
Essays
should be typed, double spaced, stapled, and proof read. Below are
the issues, the chapters from which you must choose an issue, the
dates due and the percent of your grade.
ESSAYS
DATE
CHAPTER
% GRADE
Social problems
Feb. 1
1, 2, 3
5%
Crime
Feb. 24
4, 5, 6
5%
Inequality
March 29
7, 8, 9
5%
Social Change
April 26
11, 12, 14
5%
Late
Papers: Each class period you are late turning in your paper will
result in one letter grade subtracted from your score.
Ground
Rules for Class Discussion
In
this class we will discuss both abstract theoretical ideas and concrete
practical information about different social groups and behaviors.
I hope you will find these materials challenging both intellectually
and personally. Because this class touches many controversial social
issues, however, you may occasionally feel threatened by disturbing
ideas. To deal with these feelings, I propose the following ground
rules which I would like you all to assume while in this class.
1.
We will acknowledge that prejudice and discrimination based on social
class, race, sex, sexual orientation and physical differences exist.
2.
We will acknowledge that all of us have learned misinformation about
our own group and about members of other groups, whether we belong
to a minority group or not.
3.
We will agree not to blame ourselves or others for the misinformation
we have learned in the past, but accept responsibility for not repeating
misinformation once we have learned otherwise.
4.
We will assume that people, both those in this class and those we
study, do the best they can.
5.
Never demean, devalue or in any other way "put down" people for
their experiences, backgrounds or beliefs. This does not mean we
can't disagree, only that we must do so respectfully.
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