SOCI 250: Social Theory

Introduction

On December 20, 2005, the Transport Workers Union in New York City went on strike. Hundreds of thousands of people were affected. The mayor, Michael Bloomberg, announced that millions of dollars in holiday revenue would be lost. Without public transportation, the city could not function as normal. A social breakdown was occurring. How did it come to this?

As individuals, you observe the world around you and develop theories to account for why things happen the way they do. For each occasion, you have ideas about how people will act and react. For example, perhaps you have seen workers standing outside a building, talking—and from your simple observations of their uniform, place of work, time of day, and physical gestures, you can come up with an idea of what they are talking about and how they are feeling.

In a way, we are all social theorists. What sociology has to offer us is a variety of methods to examine the world around us and try our best to come up with an honest answer that makes sense to us and others. Without theory, individual observations appear isolated and unconnected. With theory, our social world comes into focus and becomes understandable. Theory allows us to interpret our observations, see connections, and anticipate outcomes.

top of page

Course Objectives

In this course, we will cover six paradigms of social theory. We will begin with core classical theorists and make our way closer to the present. Once this course is over, you will be able to:

1. identify core social theorists and summarize their work
2. apply these social theories to current events in our everyday lives
3. categorize social theories in order to compare and contrast them
4. prepare persuasive and organized written arguments that demonstrate your ability to provide evidence in support of a thesis.

top of page

Required Textbooks

The following two textbooks are required for this course. You can purchase them from Friday Center Books & Gifts in person, online, or by faxing or mailing in the book order form.

• Charles Lemert, editor, Social Theory, 3rd edition (2004)
• George Ritzer, Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots, 2nd edition (2006)
  

Additional readings will be available free online as electronic reserves (e-reserves) through the UNC Libraries Web site.

top of page

What To Expect

Readings

All of the readings in this course are either original texts (Lemert and e-reserves) or summaries (Ritzer). They vary in length from the very brief (three pages) to a book chapter (twenty-five pages). Be aware that even the shortest readings are very dense and may require diligent underlining, note taking, and re-reading in order to be prepared to discuss them in the discussion forum. You can expect one to three hours of reading each lesson.

Lesson Notes

I will provide "Lesson Notes" to supplement your readings each week. The notes will provide a general overview of how all these readings tie together and fit into the course as a whole. For each set of notes, I will: (1) identify and briefly explain the key concepts and ideas not explicitly defined in the readings and (2) compare and contrast these theorists with others covered in the course. The lesson notes are intended to supplement, not replace, the readings. The Ritzer book does a great job summarizing the works of many of the theorists but does not cover all of the theorists we will be reading. I will try to pick up where Ritzer leaves off.

Paper Assignments

A paper assignment will be due on the last day of each theme section (such as Functionalism, Class Analysis, Power Paradigm, and so on). These assignments will be the main component of your grade. Each assignment will consist of a 500-word “mini-paper” (roughly two pages with one-inch margins and twelve-point, Times New Roman font). There are seven assignments, valued at 6 points each, totaling 42 percent of your final grade. These assignments allow you to actively engage with the readings. They also give me an opportunity to provide you with individualized feedback on your progress. See Paper Assignment Guidelines and Rubric for a specific explanation of what is expected and how the assignments will be graded.

Midterm and Final Exams

The midterm and final exams will test your ability to identify and summarize theories. You may also be asked to analyze the components of each theory in order to compare them to other theories and apply them to new social events. All material covered in the readings, lesson notes, and online discussion is open to be tested. Each exam will contribute 15 percent to your final grade.

You will access a link to each exam by clicking the "Access Your Exams" button on the Blackboard site. A link to the exam will appear on the date listed in the Course Schedule. The exam will be available during a twenty-four-hour period, and you can take the exam at any time during that period. However, you must submit your exam within two hours of the time you first access it and before the deadline specified in the course schedule. Both the midterm and final exams are open book, but students are not allowed to collaborate with one another. See Course Mechanics for instructions on accessing Blackboard.

Discussion Forum Participation

The discussion forum is on our Blackboard site. Participation in the discussion forum will be 28 percent of your final grade. The discussion forum has two elements: (1) a question-and-answer forum and (2) a topic forum. The participation grade will be determined not only through the number of times you post, but also through the quality of your remarks (citing authors, staying on topic, not being repetitive, interacting with other students, using encouraging and mindful language, and so on). You are required to contribute a minimum of one original post and two substantive responses to your classmates for each lesson.

top of page

Grading

Grading Scale:

94-100: A
90-93: A-
87-89: B+
84-86: B
80-83: B-
77-79: C+
74-76: C
70-73: C-
65-69: D

top of page

Honor Code

Your work on written assignments and exams must be your own, and any help you receive must be cited. We will provide opportunities for you to receive feedback on your ideas, but your final product must be your own work. You are bound by the UNC-Chapel Hill Honor Code:
"It shall be the responsibility of every student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or University students or academic personnel acting in an official capacity."

top of page

Course Mechanics

Blackboard

Some of your class components (such as discussion forums, announcements, grades, and final exam) are accessed through a software package called Blackboard, and you will need to log in to Blackboard using a unique identifier known as your UNC Onyen (Only name you'll ever need) and Onyen password.

There is a link to the Blackboard site in the gray navigation bar at the top of every page in this course. Click on that link, and then use your Onyen to log in to Blackboard. Click on the SOCI 250 link, and you will see navigation buttons on the left side of the screen labeled Announcements, Discussion Forum, and so on.

If you experience problems accessing Blackboard, this is what you should do:

• If you do not already have a UNC Onyen, go to the Onyen Web site and follow the instructions for creating an Onyen.
• If you have an Onyen but have forgotten it (or the password), go to the Onyen Web site.
• If you have your Onyen but can't log in to Blackboard, contact the Friday Center.
• If you can log in to Blackboard but can't find this course listed, contact the Friday Center.
• If you can't locate an exam or discussion forum in Blackboard, contact the Instructional Designer.
• If you have other technical problems while using Blackboard, contact Blackboard Help (use the Help button in Blackboard, or call 919-962-HELP).

Library Services and Resources

Students enrolled in Carolina Courses Online have access to the UNC Library System. Visit Distance Education Library Services to access a wide array of online services and resources including e-reserves, online databases, online journals, online books, and live help with research and library access.

Most online resources require you to log in with your Onyen and password. If you have any trouble finding the resource that you need or logging in to a resource, you can contact the library through the contact information at Distance Education Library Services. You can chat live about your problem or send an e-mail to request assistance.

Using E-mail

You will receive e-mail messages regarding the course at your UNC e-mail address. Off-campus users can access their UNC e-mail account using Webmail. You can have your UNC e-mail forwarded to a different e-mail address by clicking "Forward e-mail" at the Onyen Web site.

If you use a filter on your e-mail account, you are responsible for ensuring that it does not prevent you from receiving messages from me, the course listserv, or Friday Center staff. Hotmail users should be aware that Hotmail will block messages sent from within Blackboard because Blackboard uses "blind carbon copy" to protect privacy. We recommend that you use your UNC Onyen e-mail account rather than Hotmail for this course.

It is extremely important for you to save copies of any work you send via e-mail. If I don't receive your work, you must have a duplicate copy, indicating the date sent, to prove that you submitted the assignment on time. It is your responsibility to maintain copies of your sent e-mails, as there is no way to guarantee that any e-mail message will be delivered.

Please check your e-mail software to see how it manages sent and saved messages. Some software automatically deletes messages one month after they have been sent; others only save messages if they are filed in folders; others save messages received but not those sent. You may need to send yourself a copy of your e-mailed assignment at the same time you send it to me, or you may need to print a copy of the e-mail message and any attachments to keep in your paper files. No matter how your system works, make sure you know how to save a copy of all work that you submit to me and that you save the copy for several months beyond the end of the course.

Other Questions

If you have questions regarding

• the content of the course and your progress, contact your instructor. There is a link to your instructor's e-mail address at the top of every lesson page. Please include SOCI 250 CCO and your name in the subject line of your e-mail.
  
  
• problems with this Web site, including bad links, contact the Instructional Designer at the Friday Center.
  
  
• enrollment, Onyen, credits, withdrawal, and so on, contact the Credit Programs staff at the Friday Center for Continuing Education (phone 919-962-1134 or 800-862-5669).

top of page

Course Schedule

Our weeks generally run Wednesday-Tuesday.

top of page

Lesson 1