Soc 7: Self and Society

Professor Alex Vitale

Fall 2001

Tuesday and Thursday: 10:50-12:05

Office: 3101 James, 951-5935

Office Hours: Tu 5-7, W 4-5, Th 1:30-3:00

Room 5301 James

avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to help students understand the significance that society plays in the development of the self. The course examines the development of human identity and character. We will look at socialization throughout the life course and examine how individuals change and adapt. We will focus on how the categories of race, class, and gender influence this process.

Books

Massey, Garth, ed. 2000. Readings for Sociology. New York: W.W. Norton.

Anderson, Elijah. 1990. StreetWise: Race, Class, and Change in an Urban Community. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

The Massey book is currently available at the B.C. bookstore, though there may be a shortage of copies for a week. The Anderson book will arrive in a couple of weeks. Both of these books are also available online at www.bn.com.

Requirements

Class attendance, preparation, and participation are worth 20% of the grade. This means coming to class prepared to talk about the main ideas in each of the readings and how they relate to current events. There will be a midterm worth 20% of the grade, two short essays worth 30% and a final worth 30%. The short essays will be assigned with at least one week’s notice.

Course Schedule

8/30 Introduction, Video: Roger and Me

9/4 1. Berger: What are Sociologists and Why are They Doing This? 2. Mills: From The

Sociological Imagination.

9/6 3. Durkheim: What is a Social Fact? 4. Silko: The Boarder Patrol State.

9/11 5. Boswell: Sexual Categories. 12. Goffman: On Face-Work.

9/13 6. Gans: The Positive Functions of the Undeserving Poor.

9/20 19. Marx and Engels: The Communist Manifesto. 26. Sklar: Imagine a Country.

9/25 20. Mantsios: Media Magic. 43. MacLeod: School and the Reproduction of Class.

10/2 23. Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed. 24. Eitzen: Upward Mobility Through Sport?

10/4 21. Massey and Denton: From American Apartheid. 8. Brandt: Racism and Research: The

Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

10/11 11. Walton: My Secret Life as a Black Man. 22. Wilson: The Meaning and Significance of

Race. First Essay Due

10/16 28. Ruth: Women’s Personal Lives. 29 Sidel: Mixed Messages.

10/18 15. Liebow: Men and Jobs. 30. Messner: Masculinities and Athletic Careers

10/23 Midterm Exam

10/25 38. Gupta: Love, Arranged Marriage, and the Indian Social Structure. 41. Hochschild:

The Emotional Geography of Work and Family

10/30 18. Chambliss: The Saints and the Roughnecks.

11/1 14. Hostetler: From Amish Society. 27. Rogers-Dillon: The Dynamics of Welfare Stigma.

11/6 Anderson: Intro and start Chapter 1

11/8 Anderson: Chapter 1

11/13 Anderson: Chapter 2

11/15 Anderson: Chapter 3

11/20 Anderson: Chapter 4

11/27 Joint lecture with Soc. 5: Room 320, Whitehead Hall. Second Essay Due

11/29 Anderson: Chapter 6

12/4 Anderson: Chapter 7

12/6 Anderson: Chapter 8

12/11 Review session