Soc 1B: Introduction to Social Problems – Spring 2010
Meeting time: Tu/Th 11:20 AM – 12:40 PM
Location: SS 205
Instructor: Dr. Robin Kreider
Email: rkreider@gavilan.edu
Phone: 848 - 4862
Website: http://hhh.gavilan.edu/rkreider/
Office Hours: M/W 11am - 12:30 & Tu 1-2 pm or by appointment
"I try to be objective. I do not claim to be detached." C. Wright Mills
Course Description: This course is designed to provide an overview of how sociologists understand, identify, and address social problems. The social problems examined in this course are only a selection of the many topics that could be covered and it serves as an introduction to the variety of problems that are addressed by sociologists. We will examine such issues as economic globalization, immigration, poverty, inequalities in educational and employment opportunities, race and gender inequality, and the decline in social connections. We will critically examine these social issues, their presence in our lives, and the extent to which they can be defined as social problems. Through interactive methods in the classroom, video, service-learning projects in the community, and the reading of highly engaging texts, we will explore the root causes of these social problems. We will also search for potential solutions.
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course, however this course is a transfer-level course and I have the same expectations of students in this class that I would have of students at a CSU or UC. There is a respectable amount of reading and writing in this course as well as a high level of critical and analytical thinking and writing expected. This course will not require you to ‘memorize’ things, but to engage with the material, analysis it, and critically reflect on yourself, society, and others.
To view the complete syllabus, click here.
Course Schedule
DATE |
TOPIC |
READINGS DUE |
ASSIGNMENT DUE |
Week One |
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2/4 |
Introductions: Looking at social problems |
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Week Two |
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2/9 |
Sociological Imagination: Personal Troubles & Social Issues |
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2/11 |
Defining Social Problems
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Glassner, Barry The Culture of Fear: Why American are Afraid of the Wrong Things, Introduction (CR) |
Copies of SL Application & SL Best Practices |
Week Three |
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2/16 |
Are we moral? |
Annual Editions Reading #2 Denial of Virtue
Annual Editions Reading #6 Dubious Value of Value Neutrality
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2/18 |
Creating Social Change: Social Justice Vs Charity |
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Week Four |
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2/23 |
Creating Social Change: Social Justice Vs Charity |
Singer, Peter What should a billionaire give and what should you
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2/25 |
Creating Social Change: Individuals or Communities? |
Annual Editions Reading # 8 Worth Every Penny
Stoecker, Randy Community Organizing and Social Change (CR) |
Copies of Signed Service Learning Plan & Gavilan Agreement Form |
Week Five |
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3/2 |
American Culture: What do we really value? |
The New Politics of Consumption, Juliet Schor
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3/4 |
Does Money Make Us Happy? |
Annual Editions Reading #32 Reversal of Fortune
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Week Six |
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3/9 |
Alienation: Are we disconnected? |
Ritzer, George The McDonaldization of Society (CR)
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3/11 |
The Decline of Social Capital?
Film: Becoming American |
Annual Editions Reading #3 The Atrophy of Social Life
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Week Seven |
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3/16 |
The New Poor: Poverty at Work |
Annual Editions Reading #4 The Myth of the “Culture of Poverty”
Shipler, David Working Poor Introduction |
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3/18 |
What happened to the American Dream? |
Annual Editions Reading #20 Goodbye Horatio Alger
Shipler, David Working Poor Chp 1 |
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Week Eight |
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3/23 |
Growing Economy and Growing Poverty |
Shipler, David Working Poor Chp 2
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Midterm |
3/25 |
Film: Not Just a Paycheck |
Annual Editions Reading #33 The Future of Outsourcing
Shipler, David Working Poor Chp 3 |
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Week Nine |
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3/30 |
The Intersection of Poverty and Race |
Shipler, David Working Poor Chp 4 |
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4/1 |
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Annual Editions Reading # 39 Putting a Stop to Slave Labor
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4/5-4/9 Spring Break
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Week Ten |
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4/13 |
Work no one wants to do… |
Shipler, David Working Poor Chp 5 |
Summary of SL Interview #1 |
4/15 |
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Annual Editions Reading #11 The Prison Boom and the Decline of American Citizenship
Annual Editions Reading #22 Work in Progress |
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Week Eleven |
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4/20 |
Family: creating poverty or secret economy? |
Shipler, David Working Poor Chp 6
Annual Editions Reading #13 Can Marriage be saved? |
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4/22 |
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Shipler, David Working Poor Chp 7
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Week Twelve |
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4/27 |
Health, Inequality and Poverty |
Shipler, David Working Poor Chp 8
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4/29 |
Film: Unnatural Causes |
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Week Thirteen |
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5/4 |
Are our communities healthy? |
Sapolsky, Robert Why Zebras Don’t get Ulcers Chp 17 (CR)
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Summary of SL Interview #2 |
5/6 |
Film: When the Bough Breaks |
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Week Fourteen |
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5/11 |
Education and Social Mobility |
Shipler, David Working Poor Chp 9
Annual Editions Reading #34 Can the Center Hold |
Student Activity and Time Log & Student Performance Evaluation (submitted by agency) |
5/13 |
Making Work Work |
Shipler, David Working Poor Chp 10 & 11
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Week Fifteen |
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5/18 |
Creating Social Change in Our Community |
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Student Presentations Final Papers |
5/20 |
Creating Social Change in Our Community |
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Student Presentations Final Papers
Journals Due |
Week Sixteen |
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5/25 |
Final Exam @ 10:30 AM |
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Final Exam |