Class, Power and Status SOC 312

Fall  2005                                                                         

Prof. Stephen Adair

Office: 304 Maria Sanford    832-2979 or 2-2979  

Office Hours: 10-11 on Mon. Wed. and Fri. and 2-4 on Tues. 

 Central Connecticut State University quite literally straddles the gaping American divide between the rich and the poor, the urban and the suburban.  The university is sited in a working/middle class residential area in a small city that was devastated by the general decline in manufacturing that began 25 years ago.  It is within a few miles of one of the poorest cities in the country (Hartford has the second highest rate of childhood poverty for a city with over 100,000 in the U.S.  Hartford was, at one time, the richest city in the country), which is the capital and central city for the wealthiest yet the most unequal state in the country.  Students represent the range of background, aspiration and life chances found in the nearby communities. These differences in social class that surround us are obvious but invisible, present but ignored, salient but not discussed, influential but unrecognized.

 From a larger perspective, the distinctive qualities of the modern world can largely be traced to clashes between members of different classes who competed for control over society.  The making of the industrial revolution, the rise of capitalism, the Russian Revolution, the push for American independence, the development of Christianity, and the promises and problems of an undergraduate education at Central can only be fully understood in the context of competing class interests and forms of social power. 

 If one were to ask, “Why are things the way they are?” The best answer may be: “Because people with power have worked to make it this way.”   Perhaps, one should also add that “this is true, except when people without power have joined together successfully to prevent them from doing so.” In this sense, no concepts are more critical to understanding many social contexts and the arrangements within human societies.  Class, power and status refer to fundamental forces that have defined history and given shape to society. 

 This course will invite big questions -- questions that seek not only to come to terms with major historical events that span the last few centuries, but also to specify a perspective for understanding who we are as social beings.  This is a large objective.  But even more importantly, this course is an invitation to think critically.  As we shall come to see, forces of class, power and status are seldom transparent in our everyday life, even as they determine much of the texture of our life.  Critical thinking, I believe, is the only means to grasp the significance of the historical past, and to understand how you, and we, are situated in the historical present. 

 I have several objectives for this course.  At the end of this course, I hope and intend that you will:

• have knowledge of the history of sociological reasoning on class and status
• have a deeper sense of the complexities, tensions, and contradictions in American history and society.
• have a greater understanding of both the limits and the possibilities for social change in contemporary America.
• have a greater ability to use abstract concepts and theories to address and consider practical concerns.       

Worlds Apart by Cynthia Duncan, New London; Yale University Press, 2002

The Working Poor, by David K. Shipler.  New York: Vintage Books, 2005.

Who Rules America? Fifth Edition, by William Domhoff, New York: McGraw Hill, 2006.

World-Systems Analysis, Immanuel Wallerstein, Durham: Duke University Press, 2004.

A packet of readings will also be required.

 Students are expected to attend class, participate in class discussion, complete all of the assigned readings, and complete all written work on time.

 Your final grade will be determined as follows:

             1. Three quizzes (weighted equally)                                                       30%

            2. 4 essays, papers, projects, or presentations (weighted equally)          50%

3. Attendance and participation                                                 10%

            4. Two summaries of readings:                                                  10%

 1. Quizzes. Details on the quizzes will be provided in class. 

 2. Papers/projects.   For the papers/projects you will be focusing on a class condition or a class relationship that you will be developing over a series of short papers/projects.  Over the first few weeks, you will complete three short papers (1 to 2 pages), and bring in a collection of images and pictures.  At least one of these will serve as the basis for the three medium-length papers (approximately 5 pages) in which you will be developing themes and investigating the a class condition more deeply.    These subsequent assignments will provide many different ways you can develop the themes and ideas discussed in class by engaging in your own research.  Most of the projects will require a written paper, but other forms of expression may, at times, be more appropriate.     

 Papers or assignments that are submitted late will have a full grade deducted (an A will become a B).  All graded work (with the exception of class presentations) may be redone provided it was originally handed in on time.  If you rewrite a paper, please pass in the original with your rewrite.  All written work should be typed; hand-written work is not acceptable.  More details will be provided in class.

 3. Attendance and participation.  You are expected to be committed to your own education, as well as to contribute to a context that challenges and interests others in the class.  You will receive a grade between 0 and10 based on my evaluation of your contribution to the class environment.  In addition to attendance and participation in class discussions, I may consider active listening, regular completion of readings, timely completion of work, etc.

 4. Summary readings. Twice during the semester, you will be asked to initiate class discussion by identifying the central idea or thesis of an article or that we will be discussing that day.  You will not be expected to make a formal presentation, but merely get us started by introducing the key idea from the reading.  As part of your preparation for the discussion, you will be required to submit a one page outline, a set of organized notes, or a concept map of the required readings.  Details will be provided.

 Students who need course adaptations or accommodations because of documented disability, or who have emergency medical needs, or who need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated should see me as soon as possible. 

 The schedule on the following pages is somewhat tentative.  If there are to be any changes, we will talk about it in class.   I expect that you will have completed the assigned reading by the specified date.  Readings are listed by title.  Book titles are written in italics, articles are inside quotation marks.