Instructor:
Dr. Gonzalo Santos |
Teaching
Assistant: Ms. Karina Leonzo |
santos_class@csub.edu |
kleonzo@runner.csub.edu |
Office: DDH-AA205 Office Hours: Tu. & Th., 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm |
Classroom: Science 180 |
Tel:
664-2191 |
Class
Time: Mon. & Wed. 3:30 - 5:35 pm |
Textbook:
Course Content:
This course is designed to introduce the field of Sociology to the
general student population at the lower division level. Students will
learn why and how the study of the social dynamics of contemporary,
complex societies is important and rewarding. General topics include
how the dynamics of social structures and social change relate to
history, the individual, economics, politics, and culture; the nature
and causes of social change, the theoretical perspectives and methods
used to study modern societies. Specific topics include
exploring various social problems, how social identity works, the role
of
ideologies, global and national social stratification, the social
aspects
of work, education, the family, and religion, and the dynamics of world
governance
and integration (globalization).
Course Structure:
Class Sessions: The class meets on Mondays &
Wednesdays for two-hour sessions. Dr. Santos will lecture on the topics
covered
in the Eitzen & Baca-Zinn textbook - usually two chapters per week.
Attendance
is mandatory (absences/tardiness/leaving early will be seriously
penalized). Students must come to class fully prepared to discuss the
assigned reading for the day, especially on Wednesdays. To that end,
each student must bring every Wednesday a written (typed) page per
chapter covered,
answering in his/her own words all the study
questions found at the
end of each chapter assigned that week -- include your name, date, and
the chapter in
question. The students will form discussion
groups (of seven students) and share and discuss their
responses; afterwards, there will be a class discussion and the
students will turn in the written responses to the Teaching
Assistant. The more thoughtful,
accurate, and critical the responses, the better!
Research project:
The same discussion groups will also function as research groups. Each group
will design, organize, research, and write a research volume on a topic
related to the class, consisting of individual papers organized along
an intellectual division of labor (i.e., each student focusing on a
subtopic of the overall group topic). Each research group must consult
with Dr. Santos during his posted office hours, and get approval of
their overall group topic and each paper subtopic. The completed
research group volumes will be due on Thursday, June 10, at Dr. Santos
office, no later than 4:30 pm.
Each volume should be bound and should include a title page and a table of content page listing each paper by title and author. 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.htmlEach individual paper should be between 4 and 5 pages long, excluding the bibliography and any appendices for charts, etc. Each individual paper should pose a central argument, thesis, or hypothesis, and include the following sections: (a) a brief introduction posing the thesis/hypothesis; (b) an analytical section presenting the main facts and analysis; this section should not only be descriptive, but it should include your critical analysis to explain the things described as well as explore other plausible alternative explanations found in the literature; finally (c), a brief summary with your main conclusions; after that, (d) a bibliography and any appendices of charts and tables. The bibliography ought to reflect a successful search on the World Wide Web (yielding at least three good sites), as well as consulted books and scholarly journals in the library (citing at least three). No journalist sources, please. Appendices should include charts, graphs, maps, and figures of data - the more well-selected, enlightening, and relevant, the better. There is no need for a group bibliography - each paper's own biblio. will suffice. Also, each paper need not be paginated with the others, but each paper should have its own numbered pages.
Instructions for taking chapter tests in WebCT
To access and
take a chapter test: go to the CSUB WebCT site: click and bookmark the
following URL address:
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 Social Security 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 Help Desk at 664-2307, or the Student Technology Help Desk in the library at (661) 665-6677 or go to Lower Level Room 1 during office hours.
Be prepared! The maximum duration for each chapter
test is 60 minutes. After
each weekly deadline, access to any given 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, then the whole test. 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!
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.
Grading
The chapter tests are collectively worth 54 % of the final
grade (3 points per chapter score). The research paper is worth
28 % (25 points for the individual paper, 3 points for the group
effort). The class written responses are collectively
worth 18 % (1 point per
response). Each absence or tardiness is a point off the
final
grade. 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- |
Dr. Santos' office hours will be 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Tu & Th..
Visits by appointment on Fridays are also possible, as well as brief
consultations by phone during office hours. Email for Dr. Santos is strongly
discouraged for any other purpose than basic or emergency
communications (e.g., will be absent, thank you's, etc.). Talking is a lot more efficient and
fun that typing!
Schedule of Reading Assignments
Other group members' names/phones/email addresses:
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My group's research topic is:
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The other individual research sub topics are:
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