SOC 100C: Contemporary Society
TuTr 2-3:50, Asbury Hall 301
 FALL 2006
Professor Thomas Hall
 Office: 106 Asbury, x4519, email: thall@depauw.edu
 OFFICE HOURS:  TuTr 1-1:50; W 11-12; & by appt
SYLLABUS
Last Updated 8-23-06

See the welcome page, my GOALS in Contemporary Society, section C are to:

To do so this course will range over societies from all historical periods and all global regions. The pursuit of these goals will take us through many areas that until recently have not commonly been thought to be part of sociology, but history, anthropology, economics, and/or political science. However, they are the core of sociology from which all other topics in the field emerge.

Textbooks (available at Fine Print bookstore):
Achebe, Chinua. 1959. Things Fall Apart. New York:  Anchor [plus many other editions].
Margolin, Malcolm. 1978. The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area. Berkeley: Heyday Books.
Sanderson, Stephen K. and Arthur S. Alderson. 2005. World Societies: The Evolutional of Human Social Life. Boston: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon.
Toer, Pramoedya.  1979 [1991]. Child of All Nations, trans. Max Lane. New York: Penguin.

Other materials will be placed on reserve at Roy O. West Library. See Reserve List.

The main text is Sanderson and Alderson it covers the world for the last 12,000 years or so. The first chapter explains this more fully. The other readings are supplements to text material. Margolin's Ohlone Way describes life among California Indians BEFORE the arrival of Europeans. It gives you some sense of the earliest forms of human societies. Achebe's Things Fall Apart is a novel that portrays life in Africa. It describes what happened when Europeans entered that part of the world. Achebe gives you a more personal look at some of the abstract topics we will be studying. Toer's Child of All Nations is the second of four novels (the Buru quartet) on colonialism in Indonesia. This book presents a detailed portrait of the complex relations engendered by colonialism through the eyes of the people experiencing them.

All three of these readings, and the reactions papers I will ask you to write on them, are an exercise of what noted sociologist C. Wright Mills, called "the sociological imagination."  This allows you to be a sociologist, trying to figure out how a society works from a basic description. It will also help you understand how social scientists have learned about different types of societies. We will move back and forth between the text and the supplementary material.

READINGS:
Many college students ask, "What do I really need to read?" My answer is: "All of it!" Some of you might get by with skipping over some of it, getting notes or summaries from other students and even do quite well on exams. This, really is a form of cheating, although the major person cheated is yourself. Often what you learn in reading a chapter, or even an entire book, can be summarized briefly--IF you understood what you read. However, a summary is not a substitute for the full reading which gives you a deeper understanding. Since my goal is to enhance your understanding of how societies work and change, my tests emphasize this.

LECTURES, DISCUSSIONS, & NOTES:
Students frequently mention "the notes." The term, "the notes," already indicates a fundamental MISunderstanding of the what lectures, discussions, and note-taking are about. "The notes" do not exist independent of a note-taker -- you. You generate them. If, for instance, you have read the material carefully and understand it relatively completely, note-taking will be easy. You will need to listen only for additional insights and details. If, however, you "blew off" the reading, your pen may approach "meltdown" in trying to get everything down on paper. There are many different successful note taking styles.One of your tasks in your first year in college is to discover which style, or styles, work for you. It is important to know that what helps "Jim" get an A, might help "Tom" get a C-!  The point is that different students have very different ways of taking notes.That is why if you miss class it is a good idea to look at notes taken by more than one person.

My lectures are not intended to be exquisitely ordered to facilitate taking neatly outlined notes. They are designed to clarify, elaborate, critique, correct, contradict, and otherwise comment on various readings. For jazz fans, they are "riffs" on the readings. They are intended to help you understand the topics discussed in the readings. Thus, how much you have read and how much you already know shapes how "new" the lecture material is. Frequently, if you have done no reading what I have to say seems "boring," because you do not understand the discussion. IF you want it to be more lively read in advance, and bring in some questions from the readings. As the term progresses, and as you learn more sociology, I want to move from lectures to discussions about what the readings mean. 

You should feel free to ask questions at any time. It is an old cliche, but there are no stupid questions, it is only stupid not to ask them. The following are among many types of "fair game" for questions:

You can also visit me at office hours, or send me email asking a question. Sometimes I reply, "ask that in the next class, please."  I am not trying to duck your question. Rather, I am recognizing that it is an important question that should be discussed with the entire class!

CLASSROOM COURTESY:
When class starts, other conversations stop. To talk during class annoys other students, and often annoys me!
Don't wear hats in class.
Turn off you cell phone, pager, etc.
If you need to leave early for something, take a seat near the door so you won't need to crawl over a bunch of folks and annoy them on your way out.
Very important, listen and respond respectfully to the statements and opinions of others.
Be warned, I am often exceedingly critical of all sorts of officials. In a democratic society criticism of elected officials is a duty and a right, not a privilege. Plus, had you had classes with me long ago you would find I've been critical EVERY president since I began teaching in the early 70s. I make criticisms to show you some of the implications of topics we are discussing for current issues. You DO NOT need to agree with me, but you should try to understand the connections between the topic at hand and the critique.

During tests I will ask you to leave your books at the front of the room. Over the years I have had a couple of instances where one or more students have accused another student of cheating by looking at notes. If your books etc. are at the front of  room, no on can accuse you. So this protects you.

Communications with professor Hall: I urge all of you to use email. That is the best way to communicate with me. Do not phone to tell me you are going to be absent. Similarly, do not "mention" it to me just before or after class. Write it down! (or send email).  

WHY? Although you have only 4 profs a semester, I have nearly 90 students. Furthermore, if I get interrupted (as often happens) before I get to my office the message does not get recorded. Protect yourself, write it down.  

WHY use email? If something is written (email=written for me), I have a record, AND you have a record. Email is especially good, because even if I am not in my office, often I can still answer questions. Suppose you are working on a paper or have a question at 2 am. If you call me at 2am, to quote George Bush [senior], "you're in deep doodoo!"  However, if you leave email I can send you an answer when I deal with email at 6am, and you can read it when you get up!

Send comments or questions to thall@depauw.edu
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