Sociology 303 - Sociological Theory
Fall 2003
Dr. Scott Schaffer

Course Meetings: 303.00 - TTh 1pm to 215pm, McComsey 206; 303.01 - TTh 230pm to 345pm, McComsey 205

Office: Susquehanna House 105   Phone: 717/872.3567         Fax: 717/872.3942
Office Hours: MTWTh 1130am to 12345pm or by appointment

Course web site: http://www.millersville.edu/~schaffer/courses/f2002/soc303

Email: scott.schaffer@millersville.edu

Course Description:

This course is designed to provide you with an in-depth study of theories of society and social life since 1800. Social theory may appear to be the most abstract part of your studies in sociology; however, social theory plays a number of roles in our everyday life: theory has helped in the development of our political system, our society, and our culture; theory helps us to understand some of the strange things people do in social settings; and theory attempts to show us how some of the wrongs done to others in the social world can be rectified. Sociological theory is also the foundation of the entire field of sociology; the best way to understand what goes on in sociology as a whole (and your other classes in particular) is through understanding social theory. But more importantly, social theory is a way of seeing the world – and this is the primary skill you will develop throughout the semester.

The thematic discussion for this semester will revolve around money – its importance to American society, which we rely on it to manage our social interactions, and how money serves as a symbol for everything we do in the US. We think we know what money is and what money does; however, the fact of money and our heavy reliance on it belies much more than it tells us about how the world operates.

There are a number of tasks you will be asked to engage in this semester. First, the obvious – you must read all of the assigned readings before coming to class. Many of the readings are difficult, and the lectures are intended to illuminate the issues discussed in them. You should not – and this is your second task – presume that the ideas put forth in lecture are “the answers to the questions.” One of the toughest parts of studying social theory is the realization that there are no “right” or “wrong” answers, only better or worse ones, and it is your job to come up with those answers and to defend them. Third, you will be asked to engage the readings in a variety of ways – papers, written discussion questions, oral discussions in your groups, and in class. Finally, you are expected to open yourself up to the materials in this course. They are, as are most university courses, intended to bend your mind, and your task this semester is not to regurgitate what I tell you about these theorists, but to figure out what you believe and what you can do with what these theorists have to offer you.

This course will be challenging – much of your effort will be devoted to trying to see how these texts and our discussions relate to your lives, and that’s really the point of the course. Your continual preparation during the semester, though, will be crucial to your success. Do not rely on the lectures to substitute for the readings (and vice versa) – they can’t. Ultimately, what you have to say about these texts will be up to you, making this your journey to a better understanding of the world in which you exist.

Course Texts:

The following four texts are required for this course, and will be used in the order listed. These texts are available at the campus bookstore, or online at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.

Nigel Warburton, Freedom: An Introduction With Readings
Karl Marx (R. Tucker, ed.), The Marx-Engels Reader
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 2001 edition
Emile Durkheim, On Morality and Society
Georg Simmel, The Philosophy of Money

Optional but Highly Recommended Text: Anthony Giddens, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory (also available at the campus bookstore)

Course Assignments: There are four types of assignments for this course. Successful and timely completion of all are critical to your success in the course.

Papers: There are four papers required for this course – one after each of the three main texts, and a fourth due in the final exam session. The first three build on one another in terms of both topic and approach, and will move from exegesis/explanation of one text, to a comparison of two texts, to a synthesis of three main texts. The final paper will ask you to develop your own theoretical version of an “ideal society” utilizing the four main texts and other authors we’ll read this semester. Pay careful attention to the “How to Write a Schaffer Paper” handout – it contains everything you need to know about writing for me.

Discussion Questions: In the second class session, you will join a three-person discussion group, that will serve as both a site for discussing the weekly questions that are intended to guide you through the readings and as a moral support group for your journey through theory. The questions will be handed out in advance of each week’s reading. These questions will serve as the basis for the in-class discussion we will have each Thursday. As you’ll notice in the reading schedule, Tuesdays are dedicated to lecturing about the readings assigned for the week, while Thursdays will be devoted to discussing your responses to the discussion questions. You should meet with your group prior to that session, having prepared responses (with page citations, etc.) to those questions, and you should come to the Thursday sessions prepared to talk about the readings.

Pop Quizzes: There will be four (4) pop quizzes given during the semester (on average, one per major text we read, though don’t count on this). These quizzes are designed to ensure that you are keeping up with the readings and are retaining the information and ideas presented therein. As they are pop quizzes, you should expect one at any time, especially after a class session in which there was not good discussion or students were not prepared. In no event will there be a makeup quiz given; if you are going to be absent on a particular day, please let me know in advance that you will not be there. Excuses given after the fact will not be accepted.

Class Participation: Your participation in this course is vital to your success. On some days, participation will simply be your attendance; on others, such as Thursdays, your participation in discussion will be the entirety of your participation. In any case, this is not a class where slacking is healthy – the success of each and every class session rests in part on your contribution. Should I find that the class is not adequately prepared for discussion or participating, I will, shall we say, not be pleased. Do your best to avoid that situation.

Grade Breakdown: Grades for this course will be letter grades with +/- modifiers, save for the discussion questions and journals, which are pass/fail (A or F). You cannot pass the course without submitting all paper assignments and the journals.

First Paper:                               10%
Second Paper:                           15%
Third Paper:                             20%
Final Paper:                              30%
Pop Quizzes:                            10%
Class Participation/Discussion   15%

Attendance, Timeliness, Presentation, and Academic Dishonesty Policies:

Attendance: The materials here are difficult, and class sessions are designed to help you gain a greater facility in reading social-theoretical texts. Hence, this course can only be fully and successfully completed if you attend every class session having read the materials in advance. My general policy regarding attendance is this: If you’re there, great – I’m happy to see you; if you’re not, that was your call to make. It is in your best interest to attend every session prepared to discuss the materials at hand; lecture notes do not necessarily good thoughts make…

Timeliness: As you know, the tempo of the semester system does not allow one to fall behind, and everything in this course builds to the final research paper. As such, you are requested and required to submit all assignments on the time and date announced. Except in the case of a severe, catastrophic, and well-documented misfortune that befalls you (such as your departure from this mortal coil), no late papers will be accepted; in the event of a catastrophe, you must contact me by phone or e-mail as early as possible. Papers must be submitted to the instructor in person at the time and date due, to the Sociology Department office prior to the deadline, or by e-mail to me before the deadline.

Presentation: The research papers you will undertake in this course represent a significant portion of your time this quarter and are intended to get you to think about the nature of the society in which you find yourselves. The expectation is that you will pursue these assignments with vigor and a clear intent to do well in the development of your analytic and critical thinking skills. As such, you are required to proofread and spell- and grammar-check all work submitted during this course. There is no excuse for submitting shoddy work in a time when any decent word processing program can polish your work. Any paper submitted with copious errors will automatically lose two full letter grades (with no appeal), and may be returned for editing. If a second paper is submitted without being proofread, that paper – and any future unproofed paper – will automatically receive a zero (0).

Academic Dishonesty: Absolutely NO form of academic dishonesty (defined as the use of prohibited materials during an examination, any kind of communication with another person other than the professor or an exam proctor during an examination, the representation of another’s work as your own whether that work was purchased or freely offered) will be tolerated in this course. As it is contrary to both the mission of the university and to MU policies, any act of academic dishonesty will be met with an immediate failure on the assignment at minimum, and failure in the course and referral to Student Affairs for judicial board proceedings at most. Just don’t even think about it – it robs us all of the learning experience.

Lecture and Reading Schedule: Please note that you are expected to have completed the readings listed for each class session on the day they are listed. I reserve the right to give a pop quiz in class at any time, and pop quizzes will be on the readings listed as below.

Week 1: Introduction to the Course

T Aug 26: Introduction to the Course: Mechanics, Themes and Issues
Th Aug 28: Introduction to the Course: Argumentation, Reasoning, and Theses – read Warburton, pp. 219-227

Weeks 2-5: Marx, Money and Freedom

T Sep 2: Conceptions of freedom – read Berlin (in Warburton), pp. 127-136; also read pp. 1-24 and complete the exercises for class discussion
Th Sep 4: Marx, pp. 7-15, 26-53; recommended: Giddens, pp. 1-17

T Sep 9: Marx, pp. 133-145, 203-219
Th Sep 11: Marx, pp. 146-200

T Sep 16: First paper handed out and discussed; Marx, pp. 439-468
Th Sep 18: Marx, pp. 469-500

T Sep 23: Marx, pp. 520-542, 556-576
Th Sep 25: Closure discussion and paper prep session – no reading

Weeks 6-8: Weber and the Irrationality of Capitalism

T Sep 30: First paper due at start of class; Weber, pp. xxviii-38; recommended: Giddens, pp. 119-132
Th Oct 2: Weber pp. 39-79

T Oct 7: Second paper handed out and discussed; Weber, pp. 80-101; recommended: Giddens, pp. 169-184
Th Oct 9: Weber pp. 102-125

T Oct 14: Fall recess – no class.
Th Oct 16: Closure discussion and paper prep session – no reading

Weeks 9-12: Durkheim, Capitalism and Changing Forms of Solidarity

T Oct 21: Second paper due at start of class; Durkheim, pp. ix-lv, 3-22; recommended: Giddens, pp. 63-81
Th Oct 23: Durkheim, pp. 25-62

T Oct 28: Durkheim, pp. 63-95; recommended: Giddens, pp. 82-104
Th Oct 30: Third paper handed out and discussed; Durkheim, pp. 96-148

T Nov 4: Durkheim, pp. 149-186; recommended: Giddens, pp. 105-118
Th Nov 6: Durkheim, pp. 187-224

T Nov 11: Closure discussion and paper prep session – no reading

Weeks 12-15: Simmel and the Operation of Money

Th Nov 13: Third paper due at start of class; Final paper handed out and discussed; Simmel, pp. xv-xlii, 53-78

T Nov 18: Simmel, pp. 101-167
Th Nov 20: Simmel, pp. 168-227, 258-282

T Nov 25: Simmel, pp. 283-354
Th Nov 27: Thanksgiving recess – no class.

T Dec 2: Simmel, pp. 355-428
Th Dec 4: Simmel, pp. 429-445, 470-512

T Dec 9, 302pm: Final paper due to my office in Susquehanna House

Discussion Question Assignment

The discussion questions are an integral part of this course. They serve a number of purposes:

• First, to provide you with a basis for understanding not just what each author says, but also why they see what they say, how they develop their argument, and how their ideas can be extended and translated into understanding other contexts;
• Second, to give you an opportunity to gain regular feedback on your burgeoning understanding of these materials over the course of the semester, both from me and from others in the class;
• Third, to participate in a fruitful exchange of ideas with your peers on a regular basis, so you end up getting a variety of perspectives on the issues being dealt with in the course;
• And finally, to build a support group that can help you with clarifying questions you might have, a group of proofreaders to ensure your work is the best and most polished it can be, and hopefully, some new friends.

In the second class session, we’ll set up discussion groups of three people (four is acceptable). Your task during that session is to exchange phone numbers and email addresses and to figure out a time where you can meet to discuss the questions on a weekly basis. It doesn’t matter to me if this meeting is on campus, off-campus, or by email or telephone (hence the three people – three-way calling). You need to be sure to find a time that is generally acceptable to all of you. The purpose of these questions is to prepare you for the class discussion on Thursdays - dedicate yourself to preparing these questions and everything will be just fine.

You should note that the questions are “cumulative,” so that the last question in each set builds on all the questions that come before it. Hence, skipping questions or splitting the questions into blocks that one person prepares does not help you in the long run – paper questions are more like the last question in each set than any of the others.

Every Thursday, we will devote a good portion of the class period to discussing your responses to the discussion questions. It is incumbent on you to ensure that you are prepared for that discussion by having already met with your discussion group, discussed the questions, and prepared notes for your in-class discussion of these materials. Your class participation grade will be based primarily on what happens in these discussions, and as the semester goes on, I will increasingly rely on you to manage and spark these discussions. At any time, should I find that discussion is not happening in the way that it should be, I will be most displeased. You do not want to see that.

Disputes within groups: If a dispute occurs within a group, the group members should take care of it collectively. If it cannot be resolved internally, it is expected that you will come to me to resolve the situation, though I prefer not to get involved in this way. We’re all adults – we can manage our own affairs.

Paper Evaluation Guidelines

More information on these guidelines and examples of what I expect is available in the “How to Write a Schaffer Paper” handout, which will be given out with the first paper assignment. These, though, are the overall guidelines in order of importance.

1. Strength and clarity of response to the paper topic’s main question. Each paper assignment will ask you to respond directly to an argumentative question, and you should ensure that your paper contains a direct and clear response to this question.

2. Strength and cohesiveness of the argument. The papers you will write in this class are argument-based – it isn’t enough to deliver a simple one-sentence statement that answers the question. Instead, you need to take the time to show me how it is you came to that response – the thought process you went through, the references you drew from in order to figure out your position, and how you put everything together. In algebra, it was called “showing your steps”; here, it’s just good argumentation.

3. Accuracy in presentation and understanding of materials. While most of this course is devoted to the development of your own perspective on these thinkers and the world, there are some minimum “correct” and “incorrect” understandings of what the authors said. You need to be sure that you accurately represent what each author says, that you accurately and adequately cite any reference to the original text(s), and that you explain any unorthodox presentation of the authors’ works.

4. Presentation – spelling, grammar, tone, and the actual submitted paper. As it’s become ridiculously easy to ensure that your work is cleanly presented, you must ensure that your paper is spell- and grammar-checked prior to submitting it for evaluation. You should also endeavor to ensure that it’s proofread, either by you, a discussion group member, or someone else – and this proofreading should be both for the technical matters and for clarity of argument. Otherwize, you’re paper will appeer bad, even iff its the most briliant thing ever writen.

Deductions: The following are automatic deductions without appeal:

• Not reaching minimum page count: 1/3 letter grade per page the paper is short;
• Not utilizing minimum number of texts: 1/3 letter grade per text the paper is short;
• Not proofreading the paper: up to one full letter grade the first time, with revisions possible at my discretion; the second time, your paper will receive a zero (0);
• Not citing all references to original texts: 1/3 letter grade;
• Copious use of direct quotes to stand in for your own work: 1/3 letter grade;
• Not including a bibliography when required by the assignment: one full letter grade.

Also, note that I grade on a letter grade with +/- additions, so there should be no dallying around with the math.

In general, grades on papers indicate the following (and note that failing to meet these criteria will generally result in a failing grade):

• “A” – directly answers the assigned question; well-argued in a logical order, making clear how the evidence presented is utilized
• “B” – evades answering the assigned question; fairly well-argued, but reasoning process or analysis of the evidence weak
• “C” – no attempt to answer assigned question; paper reads more like a book report than an analysis; evidence presumed to make argument on its face.

Course Objectives:

By the end of this semester, you will be able to do the following (among other things):

• Understand some of the key theoretical texts in sociology and how they underpin every bit of sociological work we do;
• Analyze these key texts with regard to the key theme of freedom and liberty;
• Develop clear, well-thought, and increasingly sophisticated responses to questions posed;
• Display facility in and fluency with some of the key sociological and theoretical concepts and utilize them in the development of oral and written arguments;
• And deploy key social-theoretical concepts and ideas in the development of ideas regarding a future “just society.”

A final note: I won’t lie to you – this course is difficult. Chances are that you’ve not yet been exposed to original social-theoretical texts and aren’t used to having to read and critically evaluate these kinds of works and come up with your own understanding of the materials. At times, you will be frustrated, feel like you just don’t “get it,” hate my guts, or otherwise be dissatisfied or discontented with the course.

I most likely won’t help with this feeling. My job is to provide you with the tools to meet and exceed the course objectives listed above and your own expectations of what you’re capable of. In order to do that, I have to push on you, challenge your ideas, compel you to justify your claims and ideas, call you on whatever BS you might feel like throwing forth, and so on. I will do all of this, and probably more when needed, so that by the end of the semester, you are capable of comprehending, utilizing, and creating sociological theories.

As I see it, I’m here to give you the spoon; I’m not here to feed you with it. If you’re looking for a course that’s going to tell you “what you need to know,” this isn’t it (and if you’re a sociology major, that might be a problem). I will tell you what you need to do and how it is that you can do it. Beyond that, it is your responsibility to pursue the tasks I set before you – and I am quite serious about that. You need to meet me halfway in this course; otherwise, I can’t guarantee you’ll pass the course.

If at any point, you feel that you’re not getting it or are having any problems with materials, assignments, etc., come see me immediately. Fifteen minutes in my office hours can clarify everything for you – but you have to be the one to take responsibility for your success. Good luck.