Term | Winter 2025 |
Location | Duff Medical Building room THTR 1 |
Time | Wed and Fri 1:05pm to 2:25pm |
Instructor | Peter McMahan (he/him; chat; email) |
Office hours | Mondays 11:00–12:00 (Leacock 727 or online by appointment) |
Teaching Assistants |
Khadija Warsame (she/her; chat; email) Taisto Witt (he/him; chat; email) |
Syllabus | https://soci210.netlify.app/ |
Sociological Perspectives provides a broad-based introduction to the discipline of sociology. In comparison to most academic fields, sociology encompases a distinctively diverse range of substantive topics. Materials covered in this class will therefore, by necessity, not provide a comprehensive view of the discipline as a whole. Rather, the course has three specific aims: (1) to introduce students to many of the substantive subjects commonly studied by sociologists, (2) to familiarize students with different theoretical perspectives common in sociology, and (3) to help students critically read and synthesize academic texts. There are no pre-requisites for taking SOCI 210.
In addition to in-class lectures and activities, coursework will include academic and textbook readings, composition of synthesis essays on those readings, peer assessment of essays, and two exams. Where possible, in-class lectures will be recorded. Aside from a computer or tablet to access course content, there are no required materials for this course—all readings and tools are available free of charge for McGill students.
Communication to students will take place primarily on MyCourses and Teams, and it is important that students check both of these sources regularly. Important announcements about the course will be posted on both platforms and, in exceptional and urgent cases, will be sent via email.
Most student questions should be posted in the “Q and A” channel on Teams. Moreover, students are encouraged to reply to questions in this channel. This is beneficial for two reasons. First, it allows answers to be available to all students, decreasing repetition and creating a more egalitarian class. Second, questions are answered more quickly in this context because they can be provided by other students, TAs, or the instructor.
For questions that are either sensitive or relate only to your situation (e.g. grade inquiries, accommodations, etc.), students may contact the instructor or TAs directly. Teams messages are preferred over email; you can use the following link to contact the instructor and both TAs: Open a chat with the instructor and TAs.
Students in the course will be expected to (1) closely read the assigned texts, (2) participate in class lectures and activities, (3) complete three synthesis essays, (4) assess their peers’ essays, and (5) take the midterm and final exams.
The assigned readings are the core of the course material, and students are expected to carefully and critically read each required text before class. Required readings are indicated with an asterisk (*) and supplementary readings are labeled “optional” in the schedule below. To facilitate students’ engagement with the reading and to help prevent students from falling behind, we will use the online tool Perusall for all required readings. Perusall is a reading platform in which students annotate texts collaboratively alongside one another. All readings will be freely available, either through Perusall or a link provided on the syllabus.
To access Perusall, you must register using the instructions that will be posted on MyCourses and Teams. If you are having any trouble accessing the readings through Perusall contact the instructor right away.
Readings will be marked as either complete (1 point) or incomplete (0 points). Student responses must demonstrate a thoughtful and thorough reading of the entire assignment to receive credit. (Note: Perusall may indicate in some places that the maximum score for a reading is 3 points, but this is not the case. The maximum score on any reading is 1 point.) At the end of the semester, the four lowest reading grades will be dropped from the assessment.
There are two types of required readings indicated on the syllabus: scholarly, and textbook. Scholarly readings are journal articles, book chapters, and other texts published as part of active (though often not current) sociological research. These readings will be the focus of class discussions and the synthesis essays. Textbook readings are intended to provide baseline context and definitions to support the more substantive discussions in the class. Most textbook readings will be from OpenStax Introduction to Sociology 3e (Conerly, Holmes, and Tamang 2021), though other sources will be used as well. Perusall annotations for the scholarly readings are expected to be more in-depth and engaged than those for the textbook readings.
Reading assessments will contribute 10% to the final grade for the course.
Most class periods will consist of a mix of lectures, class-wide discussions, and individual and small-group activities. Students are expected to actively participate in class. Although attendance and participation are not part of the course grade, the content covered in class will be necessary to do well in the course.
Lecture slides (PDF and HTML format, linked from the schedule below) will be available before each class. Recordings will be published on Teams.
Each student is responsible for writing three synthesis essays over the course of the semester. These essays will provide a detailed juxtaposition of two of the assigned scholarly readings, with topics (reading pairs) assigned to students randomly at least two weeks before the first essay is due. Essays must be between 800 and 1,000 words and include:
Essay grades are composed of three parts: scores from TAs (40%), scores from peers (40%), and completion of peer assessment tasks (20%)
TA assessments will be based on the four criteria listed above using the following rubric:
Essay demonstrates a nuanced understanding of the reading and links ideas from the text to themes, theories, and other topics from class.
Essay demonstrates a basic understanding of the reading but may miss certain key implications or connections.
Essay demonstrates a superficial understanding of or engagement with the reading or contains numerous fundamental misunderstandings of the concepts.
Essay is cursory, or not submitted at all.
Each student will assess the submissions of two of their classmate’s submissions using the FeedbackFruits tool incorporated into MyCourses. Assessment will require careful reading of the essays and the completion of ratings and brief comments in a rubric (made available before the first essay is due).
Peer assessments play important pedagogical role for both the author of the essay and their peers who provide feedback. Because of this, the completion of peer assessment tasks will contribute to students’ grade. Participation in peer assessment will be based principally on completion of the rubric; students who engage seriously with the assessment and complete all of the items will generally be given full credit. Evidence of limited engagement (e.g. not reading the essays carefully or lack of thoughtful assessment) will result in a lower grade.
Synthesis essays and peer feedback will contribute 54% to the final grade for the course.
The course will have two exams: an in-class midterm exam (February 21) and a final exam (date to be determined by the exams office). Both exams will consist of a mix of multiple-choice and short-answer questions.
Both exams are closed-book. However students will be allowed to use a reference sheet provided by the instructor. Reference sheets will be composed collaboratively by groups of students ahead of each exam, to be approved and printed by the instructor.
The midterm exam is designed to take around 60 minutes to complete, but students will have the full 80 minutes of class time to work on their exam. Similarly, the final exam is designed to take around 90 minutes to complete, but students will have a full 3 hours to work. The extra time in each case is included as a proactive accessibility measure, but students should feel free to contact the instructor with accommodation needs in any case.
The exams will contribute 11% (midterm) and 25% (final) to the final grade for the course.
The evaluation components for this course (described above), and the dates they are set for, are non-negotiable (see the policy on late submissions below).
Item | Due | Grade contrib. |
---|---|---|
Reading | See schedule for dates | 10% |
Synthesis essay 1 | February 12 | 18% |
Peer assessment 1 | February 19 | |
Synthesis essay 2 | March 19 | 18% |
Peer assessment 2 | March 26 | |
Synthesis essay 3 | April 9 | 18% |
Peer assessment 3 | April 16 | |
Midterm exam | February 21 | 11% |
Final exam | TBA | 25% |
Total | 100% |
We will use a number of online tools to facilitate an engaging and student-focused learning environment:
The online syllabus (this document) is an important resource for the course. It will be updated throughout the semester with direct links to relevant content and any changes to the schedule or assignments. You can access it through any browser at https://soci210.netlify.app.
MyCourses will be used for class announcements, to keep track of grades, and for the synthesis essays and their peer evaluations.
We will use the FeedbackFruits tool incorporated into MyCourses to manage the peer evaluation process for the synthesis essays. Students will turn in their essays using FeedbackFruits and use the tool to evaluate others’ submissions.
To help students engage with the course readings and to prevent students from falling behind, we will use the online tool Perusall for all readings. Perusall is a reading platform in which students annotate texts collaboratively alongside one another. More information on how Perusall works and how it is integrated into the course is available here. Information for accessing Perusall will be posted in Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Teams will be used for a number of aspects of the class. Teams will host the “Q and A” channel and the lecture recordings. Teams will also provide the framework for the creation of collaborative exam reference sheets. Direct messages to the instructor and TAs should also utilize Teams.
McGill students already have access to Teams—you can sign in with your McGill email and password. You can access Teams through a web browser or using the Teams app on your computer or mobile device. You an use this direct link to access the course home. Students who register after the first day will be added to the course on Teams within 48 hours of their addition to the course roster. If you are registered for the course but do not have access to the course using the link above, please contact the instructor.
Students who need accommodation or who are having trouble accessing any aspect of the course may contact me directly. I will make every effort to accommodate individual situations, including religious, medical, or other personal circumstances.
Students with disabilities or otherwise in need of formal accommodation are encouraged to contact the Office for Student Accessibility & Achievement (formerly Office for Students with Disabilities: https://www.mcgill.ca/access-achieve/, phone 514-398-6009).
Les étudiants qui ont besoin d’un accommodation ou qui ont des difficultés à accéder à un aspect du cours peuvent me contacter directement. Je ferai tout mon possible pour tenir compte des circonstances individuelles, y compris des circonstances religieuses, médicales ou autres.
Les étudiants handicapés ou ayant besoin d’un aménagement formel sont encouragés à contacter le Service étudiant d’accessibilité et d’aide à la réussite (https://www.mcgill.ca/access-achieve/fr, téléphone 514-398-6009).
McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see http://www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/ for more information).(approved by Senate on 29 January 2003)
L’université McGill attache une haute importance à l’honnêteté académique. Il incombe par conséquent à tous les étudiants de comprendre ce que l’on entend par tricherie, plagiat et autres infractions académiques, ainsi que les conséquences que peuvent avoir de telles actions, selon le Code de conduite de l’étudiant et des procédures disciplinaires (pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez consulter le site http://www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/).
In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Students’ Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be graded. (approved by Senate on 21 January 2009)
Conformément à la Charte des droits de l’étudiant de l’Université McGill, chaque étudiant a le droit de soumettre en français ou en anglais tout travail écrit devant être noté (sauf dans le cas des cours dont l’un des objets est la maîtrise d’une langue).
The use of generative artificial intelligence tools or apps for assignments in this course, including tools like ChatGPT, Apple Intelligence, Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot and other AI writing or coding assistants, is prohibited. While the use of grammar- and spell-checking software is permitted, products and services that rewrite, summarize, paraphrase, or otherwise substantially change input text, including Grammarly’s “rewrite” and “paraphrase” features and Apple’s “writing tools”, are prohibited.
Assignments that are submitted late (without prior approval for an extension) will be assessed with the following penalties: 1. 15 percentage points deducted from submissions up to 24 hours late 2. 10 percentage points for each additional 24 hours (or portion thereof) late
In addition to the above penalties, late work with a peer assessment component will be assessed solely by the instructor and teaching assistants. In these cases, students who submit late may also be unable to provide assessments to peers, which may further affect their grade.
Instructors and teaching assistants take the marking of assignments very seriously, and we work diligently to be fair, consistent, and accurate. Nonetheless, mistakes and oversights occasionally happen. If you believe that to be the case, you must adhere to the following rules:
Unless otherwise noted, this website and all co-hosted resources (e.g., linked pages, slides) are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
All other instructor-generated course materials (e.g., handouts, notes, summaries, exam questions, and lecture recordings) are protected by law and may not be copied or distributed in any form or in any medium without explicit permission of the instructor. Note that copyright infringements can be subject to follow-up by the University under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.
Introduction and foundations
Administrative, syllabus review, motivation
Making sense of the social world
Theoretical anchors
Modern Society
Race, ethnicity, disability, and gender
Race, ethnicity, and nationality
Multiculturalism and immigration
Social construction of disability
Gender and Socialization
Gender and intersectionality
Class and inequality
Cultivating difference: class and culture
Inequality and stratification in Canada
Global inequality and mobility
Populations and states
Population: theories of demographic dynamics
Midterm exam (in-class) 📝💯
Demography and family
States and authority
No class (reading break) 📖
No class (reading break) 📖
Democracy and political participation
Social change
Social change and collective behavior
Stigma, social control, and deviance
Social movements
Groups and institutions
Studying relations
Networks and collective mobilization
The structure of organizations and groups
Institutional analysis
Technology and the Internet
Technology and media in social life
Identity and interaction online