Digital Learning Department

Course Details: Introduction to Sociology will be based upon Internet Research, Media Center readings, contemporary movies, and looking at current events using the "sociological imagination."

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to--1) Explain the uniqueness of Sociology within the social sciences; 2) distinguish the different ways that functionalists, interactionists, and conflict theorists view social issues; 3) discuss culture and the concept of socialization and the agents of socialization; 4) define and discuss deviance in its many forms including crime and mental illness, modes of adaptation to culture, plus the agents of social control whose job it is to control deviance; 5) identify social inequality within American culture and the major institutions of society, including issues of discrimination, racism, sexism, ageism; 6) contrast the
"blame the victim" vs "blame the system" approaches to solving social problems; 7) consider issues of change in the social institutions of the family, economy, education, and government; 8) become familiar with the methods of sociological research, including design, implementation, and analysis of a survey.
 

Unit I. Socialization, Deviance, and Social Control. (Weeks 1 - 3) In this unit students are introduced to the basic vocabulary, concepts, and theoretical perspectives of Sociology. They become familiar with the functionalist, interactionist, and conflict perspectives and the different ways that each view social trends and problems. The influence of society in inspiring patterns of human behavior, and creating standards for normal and consequences of violating expected behavior is discussed and then applied to analysis of criminal behavior and mental illness as examples of deviance. Next students critically examine the agents of social control, family, law, jails, and mental institutions. Possible movies selections: "The Breakfast Club", "One flew Over the Cookoo's Nest," and "Girl Interrupted."

Unit II. Social Inequality and Discrimination. (Weeks 4 - 7) In this unit students discuss and analyze differences in wealth, power, and prestige by gender, race, ethnicity, and ability/disability. Minority groups are examined. Students will grow to understand both the social roots of discrimination, and the perpetuation of disadvantage by group. The growing gap between the rich and the poor, and the implications of poverty will be examined. This unit is designed to help students develop empathy for the disadvantaged and understand the differences between "blaming the victim" and "blaming the system." During this unit students will choose and begin working on a research presentation about an issue of interest to them. Possible movie selections: "Boyz n' the Hood", "The Outsiders", "There are No Children Here," "Higher Learning."

Unit III. Social Institutions. (Weeks 9 - 11) Students will examine trends in the family, education, government, religion, medicine, and the media. Student presentations will be the emphasis with topics like: What does it mean to be homeless? Do women face a glass ceiling in the workplace? What are the implications of the rising divorce rate? What are the responsibilities of unwed fathers? How does America's health care system compare to other nations'? Is violence on television and in video games at the root of juvenile violence in America? These student-led presentation and discussions will provide practice in using the "sociological imagination", plus basic research and presentation skills in an online setting. During this unit students will begin designing a survey that each can administer in his/her community with the results compiled and analyzed in Unit IV.

Unit IV. The Craft of Sociology. (Weeks 12 - 14) In this unit students will learn about the four basic methods of sociological research: observation, survey, document analysis, and experimentation. The class will then develop, administer, analyze, and present the findings of a survey related to school and/or community issues. The concepts of survey reliability, validity, and correlation will be explained, along with basic statistics such as mean, mode, and median.