Week 1 April 6, 2019: Wealth and Class

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Core Topics:

1. Dimensions of socioeconomic status

2. Class, stratification and mobility

3. Inequality: why do we care?

 

Required texts:

Lenski, Gerhard E. “Who Gets What and Why?” Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.

Mankiw, N. Gregory. "Defending the One Percent." Journal of Economic Perspectives 27, no. 3 (2013): 21-34.

 

Additional resources:

Barber, Bernard. Social Stratification. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1957.

Beller, Emily and Michael Hout. “Intergenerational Social Mobility: The United States in Comparative Perspective.” Future of Children 16, no. 2 (2006): 19-36.

 

Writing lecture:

1. Overall introduction to the final project (timeline, format, prompts, etc)

2. How to read an essay prompt

3. How to research / find reliable sources

4. Rules of citation

 

Chat hours:

1. Brainstorm ideas for the final project

 

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Week 2 April 13, 2019: What We Talk about When We Talk about Sex

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Core Topics:

1. Sex, gender, and sexuality: biological or social?

2. Representations and social implications of sex, gender, and sexuality.

3. The influence of perceived sex, gender and sexuality on our interactions with others.

 

Required texts:

Fausto-Sterling, Anne. “Should There Be Only Two Sexes?” Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. Basic Books, 2000.

West, Candace, and Don H. Zimmerman. "Doing Gender." Gender & Society 1, no. 2 (1987): 125-151.

 

Additional resources:

Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality: An Introduction. Vintage, 1990: 75-115.

 

Writing lecture:

1. Developing a thesis

2. Essay structure

3. Outlining

 

Chat hours:

1. Final project thesis and outline

 

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Week 3 April 20, 2019: A Look at the Religious Lives

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Core Topics:

1. Can the adoption of a belief without prior evidence be justified?

2. Why do religions persist, despite the advancement in science?

3. How do religions shape lives?

 

Required texts:

James, William. 1970. The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy; Human Immortality, Two Supposed Objections to the Doctrine. New York: Dover Publications.

Einstein, Albert. “Religion and Science” in The World as I See It, Philosophical Library, New York, 1949, pp. 24 - 28.

 

Additional resources:

Deloria, Vine. God Is Red. New York, NY: Dell, 1973.

* Harrell, Stevan. Ways of Being Ethnic in Southwest China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001.

 

Writing lecture:

1. Argumentation

 

Chat hours:

1. Develop body paragraphs of the final project

 

 

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Week 4 April 27, 2019 The Morality in Violence

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Core Topics:

1. What is violence?

2. Can violence be justified?

3. Can violence be virtuous?

 

Required texts:

The Einstein-Freud Correspondence (1931-1932): Why War.

Žižek, Slavoj. "Violence: Six Sideways Reflections." (2008).

 

Additional resources:

Gelles, R.J. and Straus, M.A. "Determinants of Violence in the Family: Toward a Theoretical Integration.” Burr, W.R., Hill, R., Nye, F.I. and R.I.L., Eds., Contemporary Theories about the Family, Free Press, New York, 550-581. 1979.

Chesler, Phyllis. "Worldwide Trends in Honor Killings." Middle East Forum. https://www.meforum.org/2646/worldwide-trends-in-honor-killings. 

Weizman, Eyal. The Least of All Possible Evils: A Short History of Humanitarian Violence. London: Verso. 2017.

 

Writing lecture:

1. Transitioning

2. Topic sentences and signposting

 

Chat hours:

1. Refine the relations between paragraphs

2. Polish the logic within each paragraph

 

 

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Week 5 May 4, 2019 Becoming Fashionable

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Core Topics:

1. Does fashion matter? If so, why?

2. Is fashion art?

3. Should fashion be a subject of serious scholarly research or discussion?

 

Required texts:

Simmel, Georg. "Fashion." American Journal of Sociology 62, no. 6 (1957): 541-558.

Global Garment Industry Factsheet. Lina Stotz & Gillian Kane. 

Geczy, Adam, and Vicki Karaminas, eds. Fashion and Art. Berg, 2013. pp 13-41.

 

Additional resources:

General Fact Sheet Garment Industry February 2015

 

Writing lecture:

1. Introduction

2. Conclusion

 

Chat hours:

1. Revisit the opening of the final project, revise it if necessary

2. Work on writing a strong concluding paragraph

 

 

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Week 6 May 11, 2019 Why Education

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Core Topics:

1. What is the aim of education?

2. What is the role of education in society?

3. How are schools fulfilling or failing that role?

 

Required texts:

Illich, Ivan. “Why We Must Disestablish Schools.” Deschooling Society. 1971.

Dewey, John. "Experience and Education.” The Educational Forum, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 241-252. Taylor & Francis Group, 1986.

 

Writing lecture:

Final project sharing and presentation