Term | Fall 2020 |
Location | Online |
Time | Tue and Thu 4:05pm–5:25pm |
Instructor |
Peter McMahan (peter.mcmahan@mcgill.ca; (514)398-6839) |
Office hours |
Mondays 1:00pm–2:30pm CampusWire and Zoom |
Teaching Assistants |
Narjes Hashemi (narjes.hashemi@mcgill.ca) Winnie Yang (chih-lan.yang@mcgill.ca) Vahid Rashidi (vahid.rashidi2@mcgill.ca) |
Syllabus | https://soci210.netlify.com/ |
This course provides an introduction to sociological analysis. Sociology is a remarkably diverse field of study, and materials covered will by necessity of time not provide a comprehensive view of the discipline as a whole. Rather, the coursework has three specific aims: (1) to introduce students to many of the substantive subjects commonly studied by sociologists, (2) to familiarize students with different perspectives of sociological theory, and (3) to help students read and think critically about social issues.
We will use a number of online tools to facilitate an engaging and student-focused remote-learning environment:
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. Students should access Perusall through MyCourses, by navigating to Content > Perusall (readings) > Perusall, and then clicking the “Open Link” button. This will take you to the Perusall site and automatically register you as a member of the course. If you are having any trouble accessing the readings through Perusall contact the instructor right away.
Course communication (with the instructor, TAs, and general discussion) should be done through Campuswire, an online discussion and messaging tool tailored to an educational environment. Campuswire will allow students to receive answers to their questions quickly and to help one another with their coursework. An invitation will be sent to students’ McGill email address before the course begins that will allow you to sign up for the class. If your are having trouble accessing Campuswire, email the instructor as soon as possible.
For the class periods and office hours, a Zoom room will be made available for lectures and small-group discussions. Although camera and microphone access can help with conversations, neither is expected of students. Scheduled Zoom meetings can be accessed through the ‘Zoom’ tab in MyCourses.
While most of the content of the course will be provided through the syllabus or the tools listed above, MyCourses will be used for small-group registration, turning in group work, and disseminating and collecting the final exam.
Because this course emphasizes small-group discussions, students should prioritize finding a good way to communicate with their group members early on. The best option will depend on a number of factors (time zones, computer and internet access, (dis)ability, personal preference, etc.), and will vary from group to group. Some options and suggestions to facilitate group conversation are listed on a separate webpage (link)
Class periods will be hosted on Zoom, and will consist of presentations by the instructor, small-group discussions among groups of 4–5 students, and class discussions with all participants. Starting September 17, class periods will be devoted to facilitating small-group discussions around assigned worksheets. The instructor and some TAs will be available on Zoom for support and to answer questions during all scheduled hours of the course.
To participate in class, students should log on to the course page on MyCourses, click the “Zoom” tab at the top of the page, and click on the appropriate session.
Students will be expected to (1) closely read the assigned texts and view the recorded lectures, (2) participate in weekly group discussions and worksheets, (3) evaluate their group members participation, and (4) complete a final take-home examination. Each of these expectations is detailed below.
The assigned readings are the core of the course material, and students are expected to carefully and critically read each required text before class. 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. More information on how Perusall works and how it is integrated into the course is available here. All readings will be freely available, either through Perusall or a link provided on the syllabus.
To access Perusall through MyCourses, navigate to Content > Perusall (readings) > Perusall, and then click the “Open Link” button. This will take you to the Perusall site and automatically register you as a member of the course. If you are having any trouble accessing the readings through Perusall contact the instructor right away.
Readings will be graded 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. At the end of the semester, the four lowest reading grades will be dropped from the assessment. Reading assessments will contribute 10% to the final grade for the course.
All lectures and slide presentations will be pre-recorded and made available on Microsoft Stream. Lectures will be about 10-15 minutes each, with multiple lectures for each class period. Although viewing lectures is not part of the course grade, the content of the lectures will be necessary to do well in the course.
Slides (PDF format ) and recordings (streamed online ) will be available at least 48 hours before each class.
Starting on September 17, scheduled class time will be devoted to small-group discussions and collaborative composition of discussion responses. By the third week of class, students will be responsible for forming groups of 4 or 5 using MyCourses. Each class period, groups will work together to discuss the readings and draft responses to a provided worksheet of discussion questions. These worksheets will be due at 8pm the day after class. It is strongly recommended that students meet during the scheduled class time to discuss the reading, as the instructor and teaching assistants will be available to answer questions and clariify concepts.
Each week, one of the two discussion responses of each group will be chosen at random to be evaluated. The responses will be evaluated out of 10 possible points according to the following rubric:
Responses demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the reading and link ideas from the text to themes, theories, and other topics from class.
Responses demonstrate a basic understanding of the reading but may miss important implications or connections.
Responses demonstrate a superficial understanding of or engagement with the reading or contain numerous fundamental misunderstandings of the concepts.
Responses are cursory, or not submitted at all.
Marks for worksheet responses will be given to all members of the group. At the end of the semester, groups will perform peer evaluation that will adjust each participant’s discussion grade up or down by as much as 15%.
Group discussions will contribute 50% to the final grade for the course.
Completing peer evaluation of group members will contribute 5% to the final grade for the course.
At the end of the semester, students will be required to complete a take-home exam, due at the time scheduled by the exams office. The exam will be distributed 72 hours before it is due.
You should use formal academic citations in your exam. See the course page on references and citatioin styles for more info.
The final exam will contribute 35% 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.
Readings | 10% of final grade |
Group discussions | 50% of final grade |
Completing group peer evaluations | 5% of final grade |
Final exam | 35% of final grade |
Students in need of accommodation (due to disability or other barrier) are encouraged to contact me with their concerns—I will make every effort to accommodate individual circumstances. Students with disabilities in need of formal accommodation may contact the Office for Students with Disabilities (http://www.mcgill.ca/osd/, phone 514-398-6009) to arrange alternate assessment plans.
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).
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:
Introduction and foundations
Administrative, syllabus review, motivation
Making sense of the social world
Discussion of race an policing (optional) #ScholarStrike
Best (2012), chapter 1
Ball (2016), Violence in Blue
Social methodology and theoretical anchors
Little (2016), chapter 2
Little (2016), section 4.2
Erikson (2017), Coming to Terms with Social Life
Ellis (2018), Marxism! (video)
Modern Society
Little (2016), section 4.1
Barker and Lowman (n.d.)
Erikson (2017), Worlds Beyond
Curtis (2020), Anishinaabe block roads to stop moose trophy hunting in wildlife reserve
Movie of the week:
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog 1972)
Race, ethnicity, disability, and gender
Race, ethnicity, and nationality
Little (2016), sections 11.1–11.3
Bolnick et al. (2007), The Science and Business of Genetic Ancestry Testing
TallBear (2013), Genomic articulations of indigeneity
Panofsky and Donovan (2017), Genetic Ancestry Testing among White Nationalists
Movie of the week:
Hollywood Shuffle (Townsend 1987)
Multiculturalism and immigration
Little (2016), sections 11.4–11.5
Mahtani (2002), Interrogating the hyphen-nation
Leroux (2010)
Social construction of disability
Wendell (1996), Chapter 2: The social construction of disability
Gender and Socialization
Little (2016), Sections 5.1 and 5.2
Westbrook and Schilt (2014), Doing gender, determining gender
Ferber (n.d.), Judith Butler on the culture wars, JK Rowling and living in “anti-intellectual times”
Movie of the week:
But I’m a Cheerleader (Babbit 2000)
Gender and intersectionality
Little (2016), Sections 5.3 and 5.4
Gilchrist (2010), ‘Newsworthy’ Victims?
Class and inequality
Cultivating difference: class and culture
Little (2016), chapter 22
Lamont (1992), prologue and chap. 1
Movie of the week:
They Live (Carpenter 1988)
Inequality and stratification in Canada
Little (2016), section 9.2
Erikson (2017), Creating Divisions
Global inequality and mobility
Beck (2010), Remapping Social Inequalities in an Age of Climate Change
Piketty (2017), Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Introduction
Pemberton (2019) Capital in the Twenty-First Century (documentary film based on Piketty’s 2017 book)
Movie of the week:
Bacurau (Dornelles and Filho 2019)
Populations and states
Population: theories of demographic dynamics
Little (2016), chapter 20
Demography and family
Little (2016), sections 14.1 and 14.2
Thornton (2001), The developmental paradigm, reading history sideways, and family change
Movie of the week:
Addams Family Values (Sonnenfeld 1993)
States and authority
Little (2016), chapter 17
Democracy and political participation
Haney (1996), Homeboys, Babies, Men in Suits
Movie of the week:
The Road Warrior (a.k.a. Mad Max 2) (Miller 1981)
Social change
Social change and collective behavior
Little (2016), chapter 21
Wilson and Sonenstein (2020): In Defense of Looting (Episode of Beyond Prisons podcast, featuring an interview with Vicky Osterweil (2020))
Social movements
Mische (2003), Cross-talk in Movements
Groups and institutions
Studying relations
Crossley (2013), Interactions, Juxtapositions, and Tastes
Networks and collective mobilization
Gould (1991)
Movie of the week:
Clue (Lynn 1985)
The structure of organizations and groups
Little (2016), chapter 6
Institutional analysis
DiMaggio and Powell (1983), The Iron Cage Revisited
Star and Griesemer (1989), Institutional Ecology, ‘Translations’ and Boundary Objects
Technology and the Internet
Technology and media in social life
Little (2016), chapter 8
Identity and interaction online
Tolentino (2019), The I in the Internet
Marwick and boyd (2011)
Review
Babbit, Jamie, dir. 2000. But I’m a Cheerleader. Comedy, Drama, Romance. Cheerleader LLC, Hate Kills Man (HKM), Ignite Entertainment.
Ball, Patrick. 2016. “Violence in Blue.” Granta Magazine (blog). March 4, 2016. https://granta.com/violence-in-blue/.
Barker, Adam, and Emma Battell Lowman. n.d. “Settler Colonialism – GLOBAL SOCIAL THEORY.” Accessed August 22, 2018. https://globalsocialtheory.org/concepts/settler-colonialism/.
Beck, Ulrich. 2010. “Remapping Social Inequalities in an Age of Climate Change: For a Cosmopolitan Renewal of Sociology*.” Global Networks 10 (2): 165–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0374.2010.00281.x.
Best, Joel. 2012. Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists. Berkerley, UNITED STATES: University of California Press. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/mcgill/detail.action?docID=1021173.
Bolnick, Deborah A., Duana Fullwiley, Troy Duster, Richard S. Cooper, Joan H. Fujimura, Jonathan Kahn, Jay S. Kaufman, et al. 2007. “The Science and Business of Genetic Ancestry Testing.” Science 318 (5849): 399–400. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150098.
Carpenter, John, dir. 1988. They Live. Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller. Alive Films, Larry Franco Productions.
Chelsea Vowel. 2016. “Beyond Territorial Acknowledgments.” Âpihtawikosisân (blog). September 23, 2016. https://apihtawikosisan.com/2016/09/beyond-territorial-acknowledgments/.
Cross, Katherine. 2018. “‘Socially Constructed’ Does Not Mean ‘Fake.’ A Thread.” Tweet. @Quinnae_Moon (blog). July 27, 2018. https://twitter.com/Quinnae_Moon/status/1023049707113902080.
Crossley, Nick. 2013. “Interactions, Juxtapositions, and Tastes: Conceptualizing ‘Relations’ in Relational Sociology.” In Conceptualizing Relational Sociology: Ontological and Theoretical Issues, edited by Christopher John Powell, 123–43. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Curtis, Christopher. 2020. “Anishinaabe Block Roads to Stop Moose Trophy Hunting in Wildlife Reserve.” Ricochet, September 16, 2020. https://ricochet.media/en/3285.
DiMaggio, Paul J., and Walter W. Powell. 1983. “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields.” American Sociological Review 48 (2): 147–60. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101.
Dornelles, Juliano, and Kleber Mendonça Filho, dirs. 2019. Bacurau. Adventure, Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Western. Ancine, Arte France Cinéma, CNC Aide aux cinémas du monde - Institut Français.
Ellis, Lindsay, dir. 2018. Marxism! | the Whole Plate Episode 9. https://youtu.be/pFMiuAtbMO0.
Erikson, Kai. 2017. The Sociologist’s Eye: Reflections on Social Life. Yale University Press.
Ferber, Alona. n.d. “Judith Butler on the Culture Wars, JK Rowling and Living in ‘Anti-Intellectual Times’.” New Statesman. Accessed September 23, 2020. https://www.newstatesman.com/international/2020/09/judith-butler-culture-wars-jk-rowling-and-living-anti-intellectual-times.
Gilchrist, Kristen. 2010. “‘Newsworthy’ Victims?” Feminist Media Studies 10 (4): 373–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2010.514110.
Godin, Mélissa. 2020. “Indigenous Groups Are Taking on Governments over Coronavirus Failures.” Time, May 29, 2020, sec. World. https://time.com/5808257/indigenous-communities-coronavirus-impact/.
Gorney, Cynthia, dir. n.d. “Curb Cuts.” 99% Invisible. Accessed September 23, 2019. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/curb-cuts/.
Gould, Roger V. 1991. “Multiple Networks and Mobilization in the Paris Commune, 1871.” American Sociological Review 56 (6): 716–29. https://doi.org/10.2307/2096251.
Haney, Lynne. 1996. “Homeboys, Babies, Men in Suits: The State and the Reproduction of Male Dominance.” American Sociological Review 61 (5): 759–78. https://doi.org/10.2307/2096452.
Herzog, Werner, dir. 1972. Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Action, Adventure, Biography, Drama, History. Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Hessischer Rundfunk (HR).
Jeltsen, Melissa. 2020. “The Inside Story of How Arkansas Exploited COVID to Stop Abortions.” HuffPost Canada, June 22, 2020, sec. Women. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arkansas-coronavirus-abortion_n_5eeba27ac5b6413b964e4caa.
Lamont, Michèle. 1992. Money, Morals, and Manners: The Culture of the French and the American Upper-Middle Class. University of Chicago Press.
Leroux, Darryl. 2010. “Québec Nationalism and the Production of Difference: The Bouchard-Taylor Commission, the Hérouxville Code of Conduct, and Québec’s Immigrant Integration Policy.” Quebec Studies 49 (April): 107–26. https://doi.org/10.3828/qs.49.1.107.
Little, William. 2016. Introduction to Sociology: 2nd Canadian Edition. BC Campus. https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology2ndedition/.
Lynn, Jonathan, dir. 1985. Clue. Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Thriller. Paramount Pictures, The Guber-Peters Company, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
Mahtani, Minelle. 2002. “Interrogating the Hyphen-Nation: Canadian Multicultural Policy and ‘Mixed Race’ Identities.” Social Identities 8 (1): 67–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630220132026.
Marwick, Alice E., and danah boyd. 2011. “I Tweet Honestly, I Tweet Passionately: Twitter Users, Context Collapse, and the Imagined Audience.” New Media & Society 13 (1): 114–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810365313.
McIntosh, Jonathan. 2017. “Wall-E as Sociological Storytelling.” The Pop Culture Detective Agency. November 1, 2017. http://popculturedetective.agency/2017/wall-e-as-sociological-storytelling.
Miller, George, dir. 1981. Mad Max 2. Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller. Kennedy Miller Productions.
Mische, Ann. 2003. “Cross-Talk in Movements: Reconceiving the Culture-Network Link.” In Social Movements and Networks: Relational Approaches to Collective Action, edited by Mario Diani and Doug McAdam, 258–80. http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~oliver/PROTESTS/NetworkPapers/Mischecrosstalk4.PDF.
Osterweil, Vicky. 2020. In Defense of Looting. https://www.boldtypebooks.com/titles/vicky-osterweil/in-defense-of-looting/9781645036678/.
Panofsky, Aaron, and Joan Donovan. 2017. “Genetic Ancestry Testing Among White Nationalists,” August. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/7f9bc.
Pemberton, Justin, dir. 2019. Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Documentary. General Film Corporation, Upside Production.
Piketty, Thomas. 2017. Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Harvard University Press.
Sonnenfeld, Barry, dir. 1993. Addams Family Values. Comedy, Fantasy. Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions.
Star, Susan Leigh, and James R. Griesemer. 1989. “Institutional Ecology, `Translations’ and Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907-39.” Social Studies of Science 19 (3): 387–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/030631289019003001.
TallBear, Kim. 2013. “Genomic Articulations of Indigeneity.” Social Studies of Science 43 (4): 509–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312713483893.
Thornton, Arland. 2001. “The Developmental Paradigm, Reading History Sideways, and Family Change.” Demography 38 (4): 449–65. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2001.0039.
Tolentino, Jia. 2019. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion. Random House.
Townsend, Robert, dir. 1987. Hollywood Shuffle. Comedy. Conquering Unicorn.
Villarosa, Linda, and L. Kasimu Harris. 2020. “‘A Terrible Price’: The Deadly Racial Disparities of Covid-19 in America.” The New York Times, April 29, 2020, sec. Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/magazine/racial-disparities-covid-19.html.
Wendell, Susan. 1996. The Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical Reflections on Disability. Routledge.
Westbrook, Laurel, and Kristen Schilt. 2014. “Doing Gender, Determining Gender: Transgender People, Gender Panics, and the Maintenance of the Sex/Gender/Sexuality System.” Gender & Society 28 (1): 32–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243213503203.
Wilson, Kim, and Brian Sonenstein, dirs. 2020. “In Defense of Looting Feat. Vicky Osterweil.” Beyond Prisons. https://www.beyond-prisons.com/home/in-defense-of-looting-feat-vicky-osterweil.
Young, Stella. 2014. “I’m Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much.” June 9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K9Gg164Bsw&feature=youtu.be.