SYLLABUS
POWER AND PRIVILEGE
Sociology 360
DESCRIPTION
AND OBJECTIVES: This is a course about how political and economic
inequality affect social stratification in the United States. Despite
our nation's strong ideological commitment to equal opportunity,
economic and political resources in the United States have remained
and are increasingly unequally distributed among its citizenry.
In this course we will discuss explanations and consequences for
the unequal distribution of power and privilege in this country.
Upon successful completion of this course students should be able
to:
1)
describe different systems of stratification;
2) describe the U.S. class structure;
3) understand the theoretical foundations of stratification research;
4) understand the relationship between democracy and capitalism.
REQUIRED
TEXT:
Dye,
Thomas
1995 Who's Running America? The Clinton Years. Prentice Hall.
Kerbo,
Harold
1996 Social Stratification and Inequality.(3rd edition) McGraw
Hill.
Rubin,
Beth
1996 Shifts in the Social Contract. Pine Forge Press.
Course
Reader: a reader compiled for this course is available at the SAS-E
print shop on Wentworth Street.
CLASS
FORMAT: Class time will be spent in a combination of lecture,
discussion and small group exercises. The lectures will contain
much of the exam content. However, for us to engage in a mutually
informative discussions, you must read the material assigned. You
are responsible for all assigned reading regardless of whether it
is explicitly mentioned in lecture. Attendance and participation
in class discussion will be noted and will influence your grade.
I have designed several in class exercises which will be completed
and returned during class. If you miss class on those days, you
will receive a grade of zero for the assignments.
GRADING
AND EXAMS: There will be two major in class examinations and
a final examination. These exams will cover information from lectures,
text, articles and guest speakers. A ten point grade scale will
be used (100-90=A; 89-80=B; 79-70=C; 69-60=D; 59-0=F).
Make
up exams will all be given on the last day of classes regardless
of which exam you miss. If you know you will be absent for a scheduled
exam, contact me in advance. Unexcused absence from an exam may
result in a zero.
TERM
PAPER: There will be a research paper due at the end of the
semester. It may be about any aspect of power and privilege that
interests you. The paper is to be 15 to 20 pages in length. It must
be typed (double spaced). It should include multiple references
from scholarly sources. This project has four stages. First you
must select a topic. You will be required to write a paragraph with
the topic and research question you will investigate. Second, you
must write a research proposal. The proposal will include: 1) the
specific research question you will answer; 2) a brief explanation
about why this question is sociologically important and an argument
which addresses your explanation for this particular inequity; 3)
a review of pertinent literature. The proposal will account for
5% of your course grade. The third stage of this project is a rough
draft of your paper. I will read and make extensive comments about
this draft. It will be returned to you for revisions. The rough
draft accounts for 10% of your course grade. Finally, you will turn
in the polished final version of your paper. This final draft will
account for 20 percent of your grade. If you receive a higher grade
on the final version of your paper than on the preceding three stages,
I will raise proposal and rough draft grades to that grade. But,
if you do not turn in the topic statement, proposal and rough draft
you will receive a grade of zero for those assignments. Even though
there is no grade for the topic statement you must turn one in to
be eligible to have any grades raised. Zeros can not be raised
regardless of the quality of the final version. Late assignments
will be penalized a third of a letter grade for each day past the
due date. Late penalties will not be removed even if a higher
grade is achieved on the final draft.
READING
SCHEDULE
Date
Topic
Reading
I.
INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY
January
9 Economic and Political Values Rubin, B. Shifts in the Social
Contract Smith, K.B. "I Made it Because of Me"
January
20 Income Inequality Tilly, C. "Understanding Income Inequality"
Hout
& Lucas "Narrowing the Income Gap"
Kerbo
Chapter 1: Perspectives and Concepts
January
27 Wealth Inequality Kerbo Chapter 2: Dimensions of Inequality
February
3 U.S. Class Structure Kerbo Chapter 6: Social Stratification In
the U.S.
February
12 EXAM 1
II.
THEORIES OF STRATIFICATION
February
14 Theoretical Foundations: Kerbo Chapter 4: Early Statements
Marx,
Weber and Durkheim
February
24 Contemporary use of Weber Ferguson, K. "What Does Feminism have
to do with Bureaucracy"
February
28 Modern Theories Kerbo Chapter 5:Modern Theories
Dye,
T. Who's Running America Ch. 1
March
17 Theories of Gender and Race Reed, E. "Women: Caste, Class, or
Oppressed Sex?"
Willie,
C. The Willie/Wilson Debate
Dye,
T. Chapter 7
March
21 EXAM 2
III.
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND THE CLASS SYSTEM
March
24 The Upper Class Kerbo Chapter 7: The Upper Class
Dye,
T. Who's Running America Ch.2 & 3
March
28 The Corporate Class Kerbo Chapter 8: The Corporate Class
Dye
Chapter 4 - 6
April
2 The Middle and Working Class Kerbo Chapter 9: The Middle and Working
Class
April
9 Poverty Kerbo Chapter 10: The Poor
Breakey,
W. and Fischer, P. "Homelessness"
Newman,
K. "What Scholars Can Tell Politicians About the Poor"
April
16 Democracy as Class Struggle Rubin, B. "Transition to the Future"
Dye,
T. Chapter 9-10 in Who's Running America
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