schedule

Course Schedule

Social Problems (SOC 202)

Fall 2014

Frank Ha, PhD

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Syllabus, Part 2. Course schedule

Click here for Syllabus, Part 1. Course information

This is the tentative course schedule. Modifications to this schedule will be announced.

Required chapters in Think Social Problems are indicated by blue font.

Exam dates are indicated by red font.

No class days are indicated by green font.

Here is a link to the semester calendar

Week 1

• Introductions and overview of the course
• Chapter 1: The Study of Social Problems (PowerPoint (alternate link) – What Is a social problem?)

Week 2

• Theoretical Perspectives (PowerPoint)
  • "Sociological Marxism" (Michael Burawoy and Erik Olin Wright) (2002) (recommended) (link)
• Research Methods (PowerPoint)
  • Steps to doing sociological research
    • Research paper guidelines
    • Research paper grading rubric
    • Research paper sample

Week 3

• Holiday (Monday, 9/1)
• Chapter 2: Inequality: Poverty and Wealth (PowerPoint, Part 1) (PowerPoint, Part 2)
  • Unions, Norms, and the Rise in American Wage Inequality (recommended) (link)
  • Being Poor, Black, and American (recommended) (link) (PowerPoint -- recommended)
  • Tax Myths (link) (recommended) (for PowerPoints, see Inequality slides)
• Chapter 17: Globalization and Inequality (PowerPoint)

· Globalization and the Race to the Bottom (recommended) (link)

Week 4

• Midterm 1
• Video -- TBD

Week 5

• Chapter 15: Social Problems of Marriage and Family (PowerPoint, Part 1; PowerPoint, Part 2; PowerPoint, Part 3)
  • Words of Love and Isolation (http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/VOLUME04/Words_love_isolation.shtml) (recommended)
  • Crazy About You: Reflections on the Meanings of Contemporary Teen Pop Music (http://www.sociology.org/content/vol006.002/vannini_myers.html) (recommended)
  • Misogyny in Rap Music (http://www.gwu.edu/~soc/docs/Kubrin/Misogyny_Rap.pdf) (recommended)
  • Themes of Lust and Love in Popular Music Lyrics From 1971 to 2011 (http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/4/3/2158244014547179) (recommended)
  • A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF POPULAR THEMES AND SEXUALITY IN RAP AND
    • REGGAE MUSIC
  • (http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Thesis/Summer2010/A_White_051810.pdf) (recommended)
  • Sex Without Strings, Relationships Without Rings: Today’s Young Singles Talk about Mating and Dating (http://www.stateofourunions.org/pdfs/SOOU2000.pdf) (recommended)
  • Who Wants To Marry A Soul Mate?: New Survey Findings on Young Adults’ Attitudes about Love and Marriage by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe (2001) (http://www.stateofourunions.org/pdfs/SOOU2001.pdf) (recommended)
  • Young Adult Attitudes About Relationships and Marriage: Times May Have Changed, But Expectations Remain High. By Mindy E. Scott, Ph.D., Erin Schelar, B.A., Jennifer Manlove, Ph.D., and Carol Cui, B.S. July 2009. (http://www.childtrends.org/?publications=young-adult-attitudes-about-relationships-and-marriage-times-may-have-changed-but-expectations-remain-high) (recommended)
  • Marriage & Family: What Does the Scandinavian Experience Tell Us? Comparison of family trends & child wellbeing in the US and Sweden. (p. 6-14 recommended) (http://www.stateofourunions.org/pdfs/SOOU2005.pdf)
  • Who Needs Marriage? A Changing Institution. By Belinda Luscombe. Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2032116,00.html) (recommended)
  • When Marriage Disappears: The New Middle America (http://stateofourunions.org/2010/SOOU2010.pdf) (recommended)
  • Divorce Rate: It's Not as High as You Think (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/health/19divo.html?_r=0) (recommended)
• Chapter 12: Sex and Social Problems Related to Sexuality (Powerpoint – sexual orientation) (Powerpoint -- prostitution and pornography--use as study guide) (Powerpoint -- sexuality and abortion--use as study guide)
  • Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (pp. 2-8 -- recommended) (link)
  • The extent of sexual orientation discrimination in Topeka, Kansas (recommended) (link)
  • Voting to Ban Same Sex Marriage: Interests, Values, and Communities, Rory McVeigh and Maria-Elena Diaz (December 2009) (recommended) (link)

Week 6

• Chapter 9: Problems in Education (PowerPoint)
  • Cultural Capital (recommended) (link)
  • Internet article: “The 30 Million Word Gap" by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley (recommended) (link)

Week 7

• Midterm 2
• Video – TBD

Week 8

• Chapter 3: Race and Immigration (PowerPoint -- Race and Ethnicity) (PowerPoint -- Immigration)
  • Bobo, Lawrence D. and Camille Z. Charles. 2009. "Race in the American Mind: From the Moynihan Report to the Obama Candidacy." Annals, AAPSS 621: 243-259. (recommended) (link) (PowerPoint)
• Chapter 4: Gender (PowerPoint)
  • The Double-Bind Dilemma for Women in Leadership: Damned if You Do, Doomed if You Don’t (pp. 1-25 -- recommended) (link) (PowerPoint)
  • Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide. Linda Babcock & Sara Laschever (pp. 1-10 -- recommended) (link) (PowerPoint)
  • Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty? Shelley J. Correll, Stephen Benard, and In Paik (http://www.fieldexperiments.com/uploads/correll_et_al_2007.pdf) (recommended) (PowerPoint)

Week 9

· No class Monday (10/13) and Tuesday (10/14), Instructor flex days

• Chapter 13: Crime (PowerPoint)

Week 10

• Midterm 3
• Video -- TBD

Week 11

• Chapter 14: Criminal Justice (PowerPoint)
• Chapter 11: Drug and Alcohol Abuse (PowerPoint)
  • Steven Levitt: The freakonomics of McDonalds vs. drugs (http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_levitt_analyzes_crack_economics.html) (recommended)

Week 12

· Chapter 10: Physical and Mental Health Care (PowerPoint -- Health) (PowerPoint -- Mental health)

· Videos Exposing Weight Bias (http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/what_we_do.aspx?id=254) (recommended)

Week 13

· Holiday, Tuesday, 11/11

· Midterm 4

· Video -- TBD

Week 14

• Chapter 6: Media and Technology (Powerpoint -- technology) (Powerpoint -- media)

Week 15

• Chapter 8: Politics (PowerPoint)
  • The Third Way Revisited. Anthony Giddens (recommended) (link)
• Holiday, Thursday, 11/27

Week 16

• Chapter 5: Aging: Social Problems of Growing Old (PowerPoint)

Week 17

• Student presentations
• Wrap up

Week 18

· Final exam