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Soc 100
  Introduction to Sociology  Winter 2007


Instructor: Dr. Gonzalo Santos

email   santos_class@csub.edu

Classroom: DDH-G102 Class Time: MWF 11:00 am - 12:25 pm

Office
: DDH-AA205
Office Hours: Tu. & Th., 12:30 - 2:30 pm

Phone
: 654-2191

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Textbook: Jeanne H. Ballantine and Keith A. Roberts,  2007. Our Social World. Introduction to Sociology. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press. ISBN: 1-4129-3706-X
 
Course content: This course is designed to introduce the field of Sociology to lower division college students. Students learn why and how the systematic study of our contemporary, highly complex social world is important (in fact, urgently needed), possible, and rewarding. General areas of interest are culture and society; socialization; organizations; group interactions; deviance and social control; inequality and social stratification; class, race, and gender; social change. Specific social institutions include the family, education, work, religion, medicine, population and urbanization. All these areas and topics will be approached at three levels: global/national (mega), institutional/ethnic (meso), and community/family/individual (micro).

Classroom activities: The class meets on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays for hour-and-a-half sessions. Attendance is mandatory. We will cover in ten weeks all fifteen chapters from the textbook. Usually Dr. Santos will first lecture, then have class discussions/exercises, limited given the very large size of the class. Occasionally there may be a video shown. Dr. Santos will try to place his Power Point presentations on his web site.

Chapter tests: The course does not have a midterm exam nor a final exam. Instead, students shall take a multiple-choice test for every chapter in the textbook, 15 in all. Each chapter test - with the exception of chapters 1 & 15 - is due on the Sunday, before midnight, of the week in which a given chapter is assigned. The deadline for chapter 1 test is on midnight Sunday, January 13, and the deadline for  chapter 15 is midnight Thursday, March 13 -- see schedule below.

Students that score too low on a test may re-take the test a second time, as long as it is taken before that chapter's deadline. In that case, the final score will be the average of the two scores.

The tests shall be taken through
WebCT, the campus computer testing service, accessible in the internet (see detailed instructions below). Students are free to test at anytime during the week in which a chapter is assigned, from Monday to Sunday midnight. The tests are one hour long and consist of 20 randomly chosen, multiple-choice questions.

Instructions on Taking Chapter Tests at CSUB's WebCT:

To gain access: go to the CSUB WebCT site: click and bookmark the following URL address:

   http://webct.csub.edu/

If you are doing it from an off campus computer, make sure your browser is properly configured (click around WebCT support links and read how you can ensure your browser is properly configured).

You will need to know your WebCT ID and password All CSUB enrolled students have a "Runner" email account. Your WebCT ID is the same as your Runner Mail Logon ID -- that is, whatever prefix goes before the "@runner.csub.edu" domain.  For example, the WebCT ID for John Smith (jsmith4@runner.csub.edu) would be jsmith4. Your initial WebCT password is the last five digits of your CSUB ID Number. Once logged on to WebCT, you will be asked to change it immediately (if you have used WebCT before you'll need to enter your old password). Choose an easy to remember, easy to type new password. We also suggest that you set up your login hint immediately - and write all these codes somewhere where you will not loose them, nor expose them to theft by others.

If you need help: If you don't know your CSUB RunnerMail Logon ID or if you've changed your password and have forgotten it, contact the Student Technology Help Desk in the library at (661) 654-2315 or the Student Help Desk at (661) 654-6677, or simply go to the Library, Lower Level Room 1, during office hours. 

Be prepared!  The maximum duration for each chapter test is 60 minutesAfter each chapter deadline passes, access to each chapter test will be closed and no late testing will be possible. So make sure you have prepared well, chosen a day, time & place well, and have ample time and tranquility (with no distractions) to begin testing; take time to read carefully each question before you answer it - do not rush! (a common mistake). You may take the test with the open book, but exclusively on your own, please. Never plan to take a test in two or more sittings; plan always to take each test in a single session (the computer usually freezes incomplete tests).

Save your answers every time. If you change your mind on a specific answer, don't forget to save it again! And don't forget to send your quiz/test to grade when you are done (lots of students forget this last step and their scores are not computed!).

Security precaution: If you are using a public computer always quit both the WebCT site and the browser (Netscape or Explorer) after you are done with testing  -- otherwise, someone may access your own WebCT account and "try out" some tests! This is because your access codes stay active until you quit the browser. And remember, never share your testing access codes with anyone! A student of Dr. Santos was already suspended from the University for having stolen somebody else's tests.

Cheating Warning: Students are hereby formally forewarned that anybody caught cheating on the tests will automatically fail the course. WebCT has a monitoring capability that automatically "flags" for instructors a variety of potential cheating cases and situations  -- including comparing student answers, times of testing, etc..

Group research project: Sometime in early February, students will form groups of five to ten.  Each group will collectively design & organize, and individually research & write a research volume on a sociological topic of their choice. Each volume will consist of individual papers organized according to some intellectual division of labor (that is, each student focusing on a subtopic of the overall group research topic). Students are required to consult with Dr. Santos no later than Feb. 15, through office hours visits by group representatives, to seek approval of their group's overall topic and their individual paper sub-topics. The completed research group volumes will be due in class on the last day of classes, Monday, March 10.

Each group research volume should be bound in a three ring binder, include a title page and a table of content page listing each paper by title and author. Each individual paper should be between 4 and 5 pages long (1-inch margins, font 12), excluding the bibliography or any data appendices. For a precise guide on the paper's format and citation style, go to the following web page:

http://www.csubak.edu/~gsantos/guide-paper.html
Each individual paper should pose a central argument, or thesis, or hypothesis, and include the following sections: an introduction identifying their subtopic; an analytical section presenting the main data, and the theoretical arguments that explains it; this section should not only be descriptive (presenting good data), but it should include theoretical and critical analysis to explain the things described; finally, a summary with your main conclusions; after that, a bibliography and any appendices. The bibliography ought to reflect a significant search on the World Wide Web, as well as consulted books and scholarly journals in the library. Appendices should include charts, graphs, and figures covering the pertinent topics - the more well selected, informational, and relevant, the better. There is no need for a group bibliography - each paper's own will suffice. Also, each paper need not be paginated with the others.

Grading: The chapter test count for 80 points. The research papers are worth 20 points (15 points for the paper, 5 points for the group's effort).  The final letter grade will be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100 points, as follows:

94-100 = A 87-89 = B+ 77-79 = C+ 65-69 = D
90-93 = A- 84-86 = B 74-76 = C < 65 = F

80-83 = B- 70-73 = C-

Office Hours & Communications with Dr. Santos: All students are encouraged to visit the Dr. Santos during his office hours (posted above), especially to discuss their group research topics and their individual research papers, as well as any question they may have from the class lectures, discussions, the textbook, or the tests. Email for Dr. Santos is strongly discouraged for any other purpose than very short, too-the-point communications (e.g., will be absent, thank you's, etc.). Expect a one-line response! Talking is a lot more efficient and fun that typing! 

Schedule of Reading Assignments

Monday
Wednesday
Friday

Jan. 2

INTRODUCTION TO CLASS
Jan. 4

OUR SOCIAL WORLD
 
1. Sociology: A Unique Way to View the World
 
 TEST DUE BEFORE MIDNIGHT JAN. 13       
Jan. 7

OUR SOCIAL WORLD
 
1. Sociology: A Unique Way to View the World (Click)

TEST DUE BEFORE MIDNIGHT JAN. 13
Jan. 9

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

2. Examining the Social World: How Do We Know? (Click)
Jan. 11

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

2. Examining the Social World: How Do We Know?
Jan. 14

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

3. Society and Culture: Hardware and Software of the Social World
Jan. 16

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

3. Society and Culture: Hardware and Software of the Social World
Jan. 18

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

3. Society and Culture: Hardware and Software of the Social World (Click)
Jan. 21

HOLIDAY - NO CLASS
Jan. 23

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

4. Socialization: Becoming Human and Humane (Click)
Jan. 25

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

4. Socialization: Becoming Human and Humane
Jan. 28

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

5. Interaction, Groups, and Organizations: Connections that Work
Jan. 30

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

5. Interaction, Groups, and Organizations: Connections that Work (Click)
Feb. 1

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

6. Deviance and Social Control: Sickos, Perverts, Freaks, and People Like Us (Click)
Feb. 4

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

7. Stratification: Rich and Famous or Rags and Famine?
Feb. 6

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

7. Stratification: Rich and Famous or Rags and Famine?
Feb. 8

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

7. Stratification: Rich and Famous or Rags and Famine? (Click)
Feb. 11

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

8. Race and Ethnic Group Stratification: Beyond "We" and "They"
Feb. 13

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

8. Race and Ethnic Group Stratification: Beyond "We" and "They"
Feb. 15

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

8. Race and Ethnic Group Stratification: Beyond "We" and "They" (Click)
Feb. 18

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

9. Gender Stratification: (S)he...Who Goes First?
Feb. 20

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

9. Gender Stratification: (S)he...Who Goes First? (Click)
Feb. 22

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

10. Family: Partner-Taking, People-Making, and Contract-Breaking
Feb. 25

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

11. Education: What are We Learning?
Feb. 27

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

11. Education: What are We Learning? (Click)
Feb. 29   

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

12. Religion: Meaning Matters (Click)
Mar. 3

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

13. Medicine: An Anatomy of Health and Illness (Click)
Mar. 5

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

14. Population and Urbanization: Living on Spaceship Earth (Click)
Mar. 7

OUR SOCIAL WORLD

14. Population and Urbanization: Living on Spaceship Earth
Mar. 10 

RESEARCH PROJECTS DUE IN CLASS TODAY


TESTS FOR CHAPTERS 13 & 14 ARE DUE BEFORE MIDNIGHT MARCH 13
REMEMBER:

1. Each chapter tests (except for chapters 1, 13, & 14) must be taken before Sunday midnight of the week the chapter is assigned. Each chapter test may be taken twice, in which case the grade will be the average of the two scores.

2. All group research projects are due in class on the last day of classes, Monday, March 10.

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