Sociologists like to watch people do things with and to one another, and then try to explain how and why they do them. We are the voyeurs of social life. This course invites students to become part of this sociological enterprise of observing and explaining the social world. It presumes no previous exposure to sociology as an academic discipline, though we all bring with us a life's worth of experiences of living in society and we will draw upon those experiences throughout the course.

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR SPRING 2009

Course Schedule

Sociology 151 Syllabus

Question Log

UPDATED OFFICE HOURS: 2:30-3:30PM ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS AND BY APPOINTMENT. INFORMAL OFFICE HOURS FROM 1:30-2:30PM ON TUESDAY IN THE PIT.

EXAM RELATED MATERIAL

Study Site for David Newman's Sociology textbook

Grading Rubric for Sample Questions

NEW: Grading Rubric for Exam #1

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

The Beginning Powerpoint

Hoop Dreams: outcomes predicted by class

Washington Post 10 Years Later Story on Gates and Agee (2004)

Sports Illustrated follow-up on Arthur Agee (2006)

Chapter 1 Power Point

Chapter 2a Power Point

Wake Forest University Organizational Chart

Chapter 2b Power Point

Theory Handout

Chapter 4 Power Point

Culture Primer

Culture Diagram

Chapter 5 Power Point, Part 1

Chapter 5 Power Point, Part 2

Chapter 6 Power Point

"Putting Your Best Cyberface Forward" (Impression Management and Facebook from the New York Times)

Quotes from Erving Goffman's The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959)

Chapter 7 Power Point

Institutional Differentiation and Transformation of the Household Overhead (jpeg)

Mothers in the Labor Force, 1955-2004 (external web site)

Statistics on Women's Employment (external web site)

The Marital Horse Race (MP3 file--warning, contains cursing that some may find offensive)

How to Be a Good Wife, 1955 (jpeg)

The following are various organizations, all of which value the family, albeit in very different ways (all are external websites): Alternative Family Matters, Eagle Forum, the Family Research Council, the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the National Organization for Women, Proud Parenting, the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family.  

Chapter 10 Stratification Power Point

New York Times "Class Matters" Web Site

New York Times Class Interactive Graph (for use with CPA #14)

Occupational Prestige Rankings (PDF)

Chapter 11 Race Power Point

Feagin article on housing discrimination

Chapter 12 Gender Power Point

Eating Disorders Table (JPG)

Is Thin In Among College Students? (PDF)