Sociology 329 – Topics: Utopian
Thought, Dystopian Societies
Spring 2004
Dr Scott Schaffer
Course Meetings: Mon/Weds 11am to 1215pm, Byerly 231
Office Hours: MTWTh 1230pm to 2pm, Susquehanna
House 105
Phone: 717/872.3567
Fax: 717/872.3942
Email: scott.schaffer@millersville.edu
Course web site: http://www.millersville.edu/~schaffer/courses/s2004/soc329
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Caveat: You should note that this course is not designed to be a lecture course. My teaching philosophy, described in fuller detail below, is one that asks you to meet me halfway – to come to class having read the material thoroughly (not just turning the pages, but having thought about the materials), developed ideas and questions about the readings, and being ready to discuss these materials at more than a surface level. If you do that, I will provide you with everything you will need to succeed in the course. But if you are looking for a course that is just lecture-based, this is not the course for you. |
Course Description:
No one seems to talk much about utopia anymore. This course is dedicated to finding out why.
Through most of what we think of as “recorded history,” human beings have thought about some ideal state of affairs – a “utopia,” as Sir Thomas More put it. Whether used as the basis for resistant social movements, acquiescence to the status quo social order, or as a tool for the advancement of a particular group, the notion of a better way of organizing social affairs has motivated countless people to attempt to improve the world around them. And in the early 21st century, it appears that this notion no longer holds – that people no longer think about how things could be better, but only about how to survive the state of the world today.
The focus of this course is on the uses and abuses of the notion of utopia and the relations between this and the state of affairs today. Whether we think of utopia as a particular place in the far-off future, a direction in which human history is heading, or as the delusions of grandeur of the malcontents, utopia is a notion that manifests itself in a wide variety of ways – from designs for “planned communities” to plans for “final solutions,” from intentions to remake social orders to reasons for withdrawing from the world around us.
The first half of this course will explore the history of utopian social thought since the ancient Greeks. In particular, we will examine three key competing notions of “utopia” – as a place in the world, whether now or in the future; as a direction for human history; and as a preternatural state of existence. We will also examine the ways in which these theories of utopia have impacted on – and in some cases, corrupted – groups of people dedicated to constructing utopian communities.
The second half of the course will examine the ways in which utopia has “gone bad.” We will first look at the relationship between dystopian (or anti-utopian) ideas of the social order and the ways that utopias have been used to legitimate and justify crimes against humanity. We will then examine the philosophies behind competing notions of the place of utopia today; in particular, we will look at the idea that after the end of Soviet communism, we have reached “the end of history.”
Finally, the conceptual and analytic tools you will develop in this course will be put to the test – you will be asked to pursue research oriented to reclaiming and reinvigorating the utopian spirit in our society. After all, if there is no hope for improving the world, why bother with it at all?
Required Texts:
All of the texts below are required, and can be purchased from the campus bookstore, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any other reputable bookseller. They will be used in the order listed. You should also own or purchase a writer’s guide for sociology (The Sociology Student Writer’s Manual is a good one) or have access to the ASA Style Guide for Sociology.
Claeys and Sargent (eds.), The Utopia
Reader (abbreviated UR throughout the syllabus)
Pitzer (ed.), America’s
Communal Utopias (abbreviated ACU)
Weitz, A Century of Genocide:
Utopias of Race and Nation (abbreviated CG)
Fukuyama, The End of History
and the Last Man (abbreviated EH)
Jacoby, The End of Utopia: Politics
and Culture in an Age of Apathy (abbreviated EU)
Course Requirements:
There will be five types of assignments for this course. You must complete all assignments in a timely manner in order to pass this course.
BlackBoard Discussion: Starting in the second week of the course, you will participate in online discussions with your classmates through the Blackboard system. This system will enable you to post discussion questions and responses to others’ questions and responses at any time. You are required each week to post one discussion question and two responses to others’ questions or responses to posted questions. You are also strongly encouraged to respond to the responses your question gets – after all, it is discussion. Your discussion questions must be posted prior to the Weds class session in each week; your responses to others’ questions must be posted during the rest of the week. The questions that are posted will be used as the basis for discussion in Weds class sessions. Each question you post will receive either an “A” or “F”: if it produced a discussion germane to the course issues, it receives an A; if it didn’t… Likewise, each response you make to another’s question or response should be germane and utilize course readings (with citations, if possible); if it is, it will receive an A…
Examinations: There will be two examinations in this course – a midterm exam in week seven, and a final exam that will take place during the final exam session. These exams will be essay-based, and review questions will be provided to you two weeks in advance.
Research Project and Presentation. This project will ask you to pursue independent research on a particular type of stratification and instance of that stratification. The project, which will be distributed in week six, will involve significant amounts of work on your part. You will also be asked to give a short presentation on your research during the scheduled final examination session.
Pop Quizzes. There are three pop quizzes planned during the semester. These are designed to ensure that you are prepared for class, keeping up with the reading, and thinking about the materials. Often, they will appear after a class session in which there is not a lot of discussion or questioning; coming to class prepared can stave off these quizzes, perhaps even indefinitely.
Course Participation: As always, your participation in this course is crucial to your success here. I take “participation” as anything that indicates your desire to succeed in the course. On some days, that may be simply showing up to class, taking notes, and asking questions; on other days, that might involve leading discussion on the readings assigned for that day. It can also involve posing questions in class, during office hours, or via email – in other words, all of the things you’re supposed to be doing anyway. My teaching philosophy is such that the success and enjoyment of this course is incumbent on you doing your “job” – coming to class having read the assigned materials, thinking about the readings, and preparing germane and interesting things to say during discussions and questions you have on the materials. If you are unwilling to do that, you may want to find another course to take.
Grade Breakdown:
Please note that I do not grade on a point basis; all course grades will be given as letter grades with +/- modifiers, and will be converted into GPA equivalents and weighted in order to figure out your grade in the course.
| Midterm Examination | 10% |
| Final Examination | 15% |
| Research Project | 35% |
| Research Presentation | 5% |
| BlackBoard Discussion | 10% |
| Pop Quizzes | 5% |
| Course Participation | 20% |
Course Policies:
Attendance and Preparation: Your attendance in each class session is mandatory – you cannot expect to do well in this course, or any other university course, without being in class. While there are no “points” given for attendance, your grade will be significantly better if you are in class, having read and thought about the material assigned for that day, and are ready to discuss that material. If you are unable to attend on a particular day, please let me know via email before the class begins, especially when something is due. No makeup exams or pop quizzes will be given in any case, and no late work will be accepted unless I am informed in advance and evidence can be provided.
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.
Grading: I do my best to ensure that my evaluation of your work is as impartial as possible and reflects the quality of what you submit at the due date and time. If you have issues with my evaluation of your work, you may submit a one-page statement of how it is you think I misunderstood what you presented in your work (and only what appears in the work submitted) no sooner than 24 hours after I return the work to you. We will then meet to discuss the issue. Please note that I reserve the right to elevate your grade, maintain the grade applied, or to lower the grade depending on that re-evaluation.
Other Issues: My teaching philosophy is such that I see you as being primarily responsible for your success in the course. I do not teach in a “spoon-feeding” manner; my job is to provide you with the tools to enable your own education, and I will do that to the best of my abilities during the semester. Should you not wish to take a course that requires that you commit yourself to doing your best by your own motivation, it may be best for you to find another course. I also work to respond to issues that come up in class, either during the semester or on a daily basis. To that end, I reserve the right to change, adapt, or amend this syllabus, the reading schedule, and other policy issues at any time in order to make possible the improvement of the course; however, I will only do so with the consent of and input from the class as a whole. Finally, any issues that you feel are impacting on your ability to do well in the course, whether they are issues inside or outside the classroom, should be brought to me as soon as possible. I take what goes on in this course very seriously and personally; I hope you will as well.
Labor Dispute: In the event of a work stoppage resulting from the APSCUF/State System of Higher Education contract negotiations, you must continue preparing the materials as assigned in this syllabus, as we would all be unaware of how the semester calendar would change. However, if there is a work stoppage, no work submitted to anyone other than Dr Scott Schaffer will receive credit for this course. Any outstanding assignments should be held until the completion of the work stoppage, and no student will receive academic penalty in this course for electing to respect faculty picket lines.
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. While my lectures will touch on issues raised in the readings, you should not presume that they are a substitute for actually doing the readings or vice versa. Please ensure you have read and thought about the readings prior to each class session, and come prepared with something to say about them. You should, at the very least, be ready to discuss these five things: