Sociology 2031, Section 010
Social Problems
“Most of us who have withdrawn [from social action]… find it easier to stay disgruntled spectators. Turning our attention toward easier tasks, we become what political theorist Hannah Arendt once called ‘inner immigrants,’ privately outraged at our society’s directions, but publicly silent.”
--Paul Loeb in Soul of a Citizen
“Those who know but do not act do evil”
—David Washington, age 16, in Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
--Margaret Mead, anthropologist (1901-1978)
Professor Sara Steen
Email address: steen@colorado.edu
Office information: Ketchum 205; 303-735-6658
Office hours: Wednesdays 12-2, or by appointment
Graduate Teaching Assistant Jackie Raska
Email address: Jaclyn.raska@colorado.edu
Office information: Ketchum 8
Office hours: Fridays 9-11 or by appointment
Course objectives
The goal of this course is to prepare you to be a more educated and more active citizen. Throughout the term, we will talk about the relationship between individuals and communities using a sociological perspective. We will use what we learn about social problems to begin to think about possible solutions and to identify specific actions we as individual citizens can take to work toward these solutions.
Course meetings
Regular class sessions are scheduled to meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00-11:50, with discussion sections scheduled on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (all following lecture). Much of the material you will be expected to know for the paper and exams will only be presented in class (both lecture and discussion sections), so you should plan to attend class regularly. Discussion sections are in many ways more important than the regular class sessions, as they give you an opportunity to engage in active conversations about the issues we cover in class and really work with the material.
Please plan to arrive on time, to listen attentively when others are speaking, and to refrain from holding side conversations, reading non-class materials, surfing the internet, and so forth. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated, and will negatively impact your participation grade. Leave cell phones and beepers at home or turn them off before class begins.
Course readings
The following books are available at the University Bookstore:
1995. Kozol, Jonathan. Amazing Grace. New York: Harper Perennial.
2001. Hallinan, Joseph. Going Up the River.
2001. Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (not) Getting by in America. New York: Metropolitan.
2003. Kingsolver, Barbara. Small Wonder. New York: Harper Collins.
If it would be a financial hardship for you to purchase the books, let us know, as we sometimes have a few extra copies of some of the books available to loan out. Please don’t take advantage of this unless you really need to.
Additional readings online: There will also be a number of short readings during the semester (marked in the syllabus as “WebCT”). These readings are available on the course webpage, which is located on WebCT (accessible through the University of Colorado homepage).
Course requirements
Readings: Assigned readings must be completed by class time on the day listed in the syllabus.
Reading questions: We will hand out reading questions for each section of the course. These questions are designed so that you will know what we want you to be getting from the readings. Reading questions will be due at the end of each section (dates listed below). Your responses will be graded for accuracy, completeness, and evidence of reflective thinking. Each set of reading questions will be worth 5% of your course grade.
Values in action paper: To be an effective citizen, you need to be able to connect your own values to social actions. This paper will require you to identify your most important values, to choose a social problem discussed in class of concern to you, and to identify actions you could take to alleviate the problem that would be consistent with your values. Your paper should be between three and five pages long, and will be due just before the end of the semester. This paper will count for 15% of your course grade.
Midterm exam: After the first and second units of the course, we will have a midterm exam. The exam will consist of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions and will be given during the scheduled class period. The midterm will count for 15% of your course grade.
Final exam: The course will conclude with a final exam covering the material in the third, fourth, and fifth units of the class. The exam will consist of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions and will be given during the scheduled final exam time for the class. The final will count for 30% of your course grade.
Late policy: We understand that students often have good reasons for turning in late work. Our late policy is therefore as follows: If you need extra time to complete an assignment, you must inform Professor Steen via email no later than 5:00 p.m. the day before the paper is due. If you follow these instructions, we are generally willing to give up to two additional days. This late policy applies to reading questions and the values in action paper; it does not apply to exams. You may take advantage of this policy only once during the course of the semester.
This late policy is our way of recognizing that life sometimes gets in the way of schoolwork. We know this, and you know this, which means that we (all of us) can find ways to provide you with “margins”—leeway to allow for life to happen. Note that this is primarily your responsibility—you should be sure to provide yourself with margins to allow for things that might get in the way of turning your paper in on time. For example, we all know that printers sometimes don’t work 15 minutes before class. By creating yourself a margin, you will recognize this and will not put yourself in the position of printing your paper 15 minutes before class. Do not come to class with your paper on a disk and an explanation about a broken printer—we will not accept your paper if you do this. If you arrive in class late to turn in your paper, your paper grade will drop by one letter grade. We will not accept late work from students who do not follow these instructions.
Please note that we also do not accept work sent via email, nor do we accept work left under our office doors. We will not acknowledge work submitted in either of these ways.
Participation: You will receive a grade for your participation in class. Given the goals of the course, you must be present and actively participating in the class to be successful. There are two components to your participation grade. Your participation grade will be determined as follows: On seven unannounced occasions throughout the semester, we will take attendance during lecture in the form of an in-class assignment of some sort. This will constitute 10% of your total grade (each day counted will constitute 2% of your grade). You can have two absences without negatively affecting your grade. The remaining 5% of your participation grade will come from active participation in discussion sections. You are expected both to regularly attend discussion sections and to actively contribute to the classroom discussions.
If you contact us via email, please put “2031” in the subject line so that we can identify student emails and respond to them in a timely manner.
Please do not email us questions about your grade. University policy prohibits the discussion of student grades via email. This policy is intended to protect you; your grade is a private matter, and email is a public forum. If you wish to discuss your grade, please make an appointment.
Special accommodations
Religious holidays: Should a participation day fall on a religious holiday, you will not be penalized for missing class. The University of Colorado at Boulder has legal and moral obligations to accommodate all students who must be absent from classes or miss scheduled exams in order to observe religious holidays. If you will be absent from class for a religious observance, please notify Professor Steen of any scheduling conflicts in writing by September 7th.
Grading
Your grade for this course will be based on satisfactory completion of the required tasks; you decide for yourself how hard you want to work. The grade you earn does not depend on how well you do relative to others in the class. Your grade will be based on the following components:
Reading questions 25% of Total
Discussion section/lecture participation 15% of Total
Values in action paper 15% of Total
Midterm exam 15% of Total
Final exam 30% of Total
Academic honesty and plagiarism: The development of the Internet has provided students with historically unparalleled opportunities for conducting research swiftly and comprehensively. The availability of these materials does not, however, release the student from appropriately citing sources where appropriate; or applying standard rules associated with avoiding plagiarism. Specifically, the instructor will be expecting to review papers written by students drawing ideas and information from various sources (cited appropriately), and presented generally in the student's words after careful analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. An assembly of huge blocks of other individuals' existing material, even when cited, does not constitute an appropriate representation of this expectation.
Uncited, plagiarized material shall be treated as academically dishonest, and the paper will be assigned an 'F' as a result. If the student is confused as to what constitutes plagiarism, he/she should review the CU Honor Code on this topic, or see the instructor. Another great resource is a guide published by Dartmouth College entitled “Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement,” which is available online at <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources>.
Please note that your work will be evaluated through TurnItIn.com, a plagiarism screening service. This service retains a copy of the submitted work for future comparisons. We will provide information in class about how to submit your work to TurnItIn.
SCHEDULE OF DAILY TOPICS,
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Date |
Topic |
Assigned Reading |
Assignments |
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UNIT ONE: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS |
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January 18 |
Course introduction |
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January 23 |
What is a social problem? |
Course syllabus |
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January 25 |
Introduction to sociology and social problems |
WebCT (Mooney, Knox, and Schacht) |
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January 30 |
Social inequalities: Class |
WebCT (Newman, ch. 11) |
Special accommodations letters due |
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February 1 |
Social inequalities: Race |
WebCT (Newman, ch. 12) |
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UNIT TWO: SOCIAL INEQUALITIES IN EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE |
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February 6 |
Inequalities in education |
Kozol, pp. 3-24 |
Reading questions due: Unit 1 |
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February 8 |
Movie—“I am a promise” |
Kozol, pp. 27-91 |
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February 13 |
Policy positions on inequalities in education |
Kozol, pp. 95-138 |
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February 15 |
Government responsibility |
Kozol, pp. 141-182 |
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February 20 |
Inequalities in health care |
Kozol, pp. 185-256 |
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February 22 |
Policy positions on inequalities in health care |
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Reading questions due: Unit 2 |
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February 27 |
Review |
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March 1 |
MIDTERM EXAM |
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Midterm exam |
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UNIT THREE: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT |
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March 6 |
Myths of crime and punishment |
Hallinan, pp. xi-38
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March 8 |
Imprisonment |
Hallinan, pp. 38-81 |
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March 13 |
Privatization and supermax prisons |
Hallinan, pp. 82-113
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March 15 |
Movie—“Quiet Rage” |
Hallinan, pp. 114-142 |
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March 20 |
Inequalities in punishment |
Hallinan, pp. 143-185 |
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March 22 |
Myths of crime and punishment, revisited |
Hallinan, pp. 186-218 |
Reading questions due: Unit 3 |
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March 27-31 Spring Break |
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UNIT FOUR: UNEMPLOYMENT, UNDEREMPLOYMENT, AND WELFARE |
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April 3 |
Welfare reform |
Ehrenreich, pp. 1-50 |
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April 5 |
Characteristics of welfare recipients and low-wage workers |
Ehrenreich, pp. 51-120 |
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April 10 |
Movie: “Take It From Me” |
Ehrenreich, pp. 121-193 |
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April 12 |
Policy positions on unemployment and welfare |
WebCT: “After Welfare” |
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April 17 |
After welfare |
Ehrenreich, pp. 194-221 |
Reading questions due: Unit 4 |
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UNIT FIVE: CONSUMPTION AND SUSTAINABILITY |
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April 19 |
Movie: “Affluenza” |
Kingsolver, xiii-40 |
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April 24 |
Maintaining hope |
Kingsolver, 41-87 |
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April 26 |
Conservation |
Kingsolver, 88-130 |
Values in action paper due |
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May 1 |
Culture of consumption |
Kingsolver, 180-221 |
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May 5 |
What does it mean to be a citizen? Informed action |
Kingsolver, 131-143 and 228-264 |
Reading questions due: Unit 5 |
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May 8 |
Monday, 10:30am – 1:00pm |
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FINAL EXAM |