Sociological Theory Course Homepage

Course Goals: This course introduces you to the major nineteenth and twentieth century thinkers who shaped the development of sociological and anthropological theory. In exploring sociology's and anthropology's theoretical heritage, the course seeks also to foster an appreciation of what theory is and how necessary and useful it is for studying and understanding the social world. A major assumption of the course is that sociological and anthropological theory has an eminently practical function for understanding ourselves and the world we live in.

Course Prerequisite: All students should have completed Introduction to Sociology and should have completed or be taking concurrently Methods and Techniques of Social Research (920.301). Any student not having met this prerequisite must be prepared to put in the extra time and effort required to learn the MicroCase program and the basics of quantitative sociological analysis.

The only texts students need purchase are the two listed below. They will be supplemented by additional readings available electronically.

Randall Collins and Michael Makowsky, The Discovery of Society (McGraw-Hill, 7th edition, 2005). An excellent overview of the historical evolution of sociological theory.

Philip Carl Salzman, Understanding Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theory (Waveland, 2001). A short overview of theoretical traditions in the anthropological study of culture.

Sakai in this Course: The course management system, Sakai, will be used for selected purposes in this course. By virtue of being enrolled in this course, you will automatically have access to the Sakai part of the course website by clicking on the link on the left-hand toolbar and logging in, using your net id. We will use Sakai for its bulletin board feature, for access to copyrighted materials, and for its online grade book.

A Note on the Readings

You are likely to find it necessary to approach the readings in this course somewhat differently than in other sociology courses. These are readings to study and analyze, not simply skim over. Don't be discouraged if you find some readings difficult at first. A second reading will help (and is often necessary). In addition, we will spend a substantial amount of class time analyzing the readings in detail--that is, engaging in textual analysis. It's important therefore to bring whatever text we're working on to class, as well as any questions you may have accumulated. Gradually, like students in this course before you, you will find yourself entering the world of the great sociological theorists, and things will begin to fall into place. I have faith that as this happens, the field of sociology will acquire a new sense of unity, relevance, and even excitement for you.
To help you with some of the readings, I will post online a with information about the context of the readings and suggestions about what to look for. Please use these. Don't hesitate to bring questions of your own to class or to me during office hours. The key thing is to do the readings before the class for which they are assigned. The Rutgers course catalog states that students are expected to spend a minimum of two hours of out-of-class coursework for each hour of in-class work. To do well in this course, you will have to meet this minimum standard. Please plan accordingly.

Course Requirements: Regular attendance and participation by all students is expected, including the required participation in the WebCT bulletin board. The other requirements of the course are:

A Marx and MicroCase exercise, designed to show how empirical data can be used to test hypotheses drawn from Marxist theory, due Monday, Sept. 22nd (10%)
An in-class, multiple-choice exam on Friday, October 6th (20%)
A Durkheim and MicroCase Short Paper , due Monday, October 20th (20%)
A combination essay/multiple-choice exam, with the essay topic assigned ahead of time and brought to the in-class exam on Monday, Nov. 10th (25%)
An in-class, multiple-choice final exam on Monday, December 18th at 9:00 a.m. (20%)
Class attendance and participation in class and in the Sakai Online Class Discussion forums. Substantive postings on the latter constitute a form of class participation and possible extra credit up to five additional points (5-10%)

Reading Guides will be made available for selected readings and Study Guides will be distributed before the three in-class exams to help you focus on the relevant material. PowerPoint Presentations will generally be posted the night before class on the Daily Schedule and Announcements webpage. Students are reminded that these PowerPoints are intended to be supplements to the lecture and discussion, not summaries of either.

Office Hours, Email Communication, and Departmental Policies and Resources

Office and Office Hours	Room 211, 405-7 Cooper Street: MW 11:15-12:00, and 1:30-3:00. Feel free to drop by at other times to see if I am in or to email me to set up an appointment. Office phone: 856-225-6013.
Email Address	wood@camden.rutgers.edu (generally the best way to get in touch)
My Home Page	http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/~wood/
Department Homepage	http://sociology.camden.rutgers.edu/ (includes a link to our department's Web-Enhanced Curriculum homepage, with policies and guidelines about such issues as plagiarism and citation and resources for MicroCase and other subjects. Please familiarize yourself with it. It is your responsibility in particular to understand the department's and university's policy and sanctions regarding plagiarism.)
MicroCase Help	Students should be familar with the basics of data analysis and MicroCase by having completed--or taking concurrently--Methods and Techniques of SociaI Research (920:201). If MicroCase is new to you, you will be expected to take the extra time necessary to master what is needed for this course. A good review of some of what you need to know may be found at the Online Resarch Tutorials webpage, especially the tutorial entitled "Online Tutorial for Social Stratification and Soc. Theory MicroCase Exercises " Your fellow students may be a useful source of assistance; I will in addition be available to meet with students in the sociology lab. But in the end, it is critical that the work you hand in be your own.