SOC31 Syllabus Go over 45 min Break What Is Sociology Sociology is the study of groups and group interactions societies and social interactions small and large Sociologists study all aspects and levels of society ID: 782464
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Slide1
Prof. BilliesFall 2019
Intro to Sociology
SOC31
Slide2Syllabus
Go over
–
45 min
Break
Slide3What Is Sociology?
Sociology
is the study of groups and group interactions, societies and social
interactions, small and large. Sociologists
study all aspects and levels of society.
Sociologists
working from the
micro-level
study small groups and individual interactions, while those using
macro-level
analysis look at trends among and between large groups and societies.
Slide4Society Shapes Individual Choices
Sociologists
are interested in
how individual experiences
are shaped by interactions with social groups and society as a whole
.
To a sociologist,
the individual and society are inseparable
. It is impossible to study one without the other.
Personal
decisions an individual makes do not exist in
vacuum.
Cultural patterns and social forces put pressure on people to select one choice over another.
,
Slide5Name Game
Pairs:
Teach your partner to pronounce your name
Tell a story about your name
Big group:
Introduce your partner
P
ronounce the person’s name correctly
Slide6Name Game Debrief
Family
Culture
Birth Certificate
Medical personnel
Courts
Religion
Teachers
Government personnel
CUNY personnel
Employers
Slide7“Black Sounding” names and their Surprising history
https://
www.youtube.com
/
watch?v
=
gjiGBpdmk_I
Slide8José vs. Joe: Who Gets a job
https://
www.youtube.com
/
watch?v
=PR7SG2C7IVU
Slide9Sociological Imagination Is...
“...An
awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person’s choices and perceptions. It’s a way of seeing our own and other people’s behavior in relationship to history and social
structure.”
(C. Wright Mills, 1959., p.6 Intro to
Soc
2e)
Slide10Sociology is an Academic Discipline
Sociology
–
Uses scientific methods to understand society
“Sociological knowledge” has been created over time by people studying society in certain settings. Sociology’s power grew in Europe and the US to build its influence. Not everyone who was - or who could have been - a sociologist is part of that record.
The most talked about sociologists are European white men. Less acknowledged and represented are overlapping groups of women and gender nonconforming people, people of color, disabled people.
Slide11Social Laws vs. Social Meanings
Positivism:
Auguste
Compte
(1780)
“Sociology is the objective
s
earch for laws governing society.”
Top
–
down, strict approach
Sociologists are the experts with scientific methods who can make generalized findings. Is often based on unexamined assumptions.
Anti-positivism:
Max Weber (1922)
“Sociology is the subjective search for the meaning of social action”
Goal is to understand social causes and affects.
Top
–
down, flexible approach
Sociologists
are the experts
who use and create scientific
methods
to make specific findings.
Sometimes includes non-sociologist perspectives.
Slide12DuBois
Positivist:
Applied the scientific method he learned in Germany to understanding African American life in the US.
Anti-positivist:
By studying African Americans in society, he challenged sociology’s racist assumptions of who was considered human and part of society.
Slide133 Major Theories
Structural-Functionalism.
M
acro-level
S
ociety exists to meet individuals’ needs.
Society is like the human body; its parts work together to keep life functioning, ideally in dynamic equilibrium.
Conflict Theory. Macro-level
Society is a competition between groups over limited social, material, and political resources.
Some theorists say resolving conflict can be healthy for a society.
Symbolic Interactionism. Micro-level
Focuses on patterns of communication among individuals that reflect society.
Individuals also shape society.
Constructivism: reality is what humans mentally construct it to be. Meanings are made in patterns over time.
Slide14Sociology of Food
Food touches all levels of
society-from
the hungry individual to the global food supply
. Sociologists study how small and large groups cook, eat, farm, and purchase food.
Structural
-functional
theories research:
the
role of the agriculture industry within the nation’s economy
food production
from farming
to flashy packaging
and mass
consumerism
Conflict
theories research
:
power differences in how government regulates food, including consumers’ right
to information
versus
corporations’ drive for profit
agricultural worker rights versus exploitation by the industry
how
nutrition varies between different social classes.
Symbolic
interactionist
theories research
:
the
role
food
plays in the social interaction of a family
dinner
the
interactions
among group
members
such
as vegetarians (people who don’t eat meat) or
locavores
(people who
eat
locally produced food).
Slide15Chp 4 Teach social constructionism
Slide16Chp 5 teach agents of socialization & lifespan
Slide17Teach social research