Sociology

Bachelors of Science in Life and Health Sciences

SOC 300

BREYER STATE UNIVERSITY

Instructor: Frederick J. Hoffman, MS, BA, AA

SYLLABUS

COURSE OVERVIEW: Welcome to Sociology 300 a Bachelor Level course in the curriculum for the Degree, Bachelor of Science in Life & Health Sciences. I am pleased to instruct you in this course, which will be one of the social science prerequisite courses for your studies in the bachelor program. This course surveys different approaches to the study of social problems in American society. Topics covered include: deviance, inequality and conflict, and social change. For each topic, course materials treat what is known about the problem, recent trends, their causes and consequences, and individual and societal responses to them

Frankly, I hope this course will inspire you to do something to make this a better community, nation, and world.  As you will discover in your early readings there are many sociological perspectives, so I certainly am not going to tell you what values to have or what actions to take in support of those values.  In fact, a critical part of this learning process is to have you gain a clearer perspective on your values, and what you can and will do in support of them.  I'd like you to come away from this course in charge of your world instead of simply going along with it.

Mark Twain once said, "Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it."  He might have said the same thing about social problems.  To be sure, it is not exactly accurate to say we never do anything about war, crime, poverty, prejudice, pollution, and the like, but when all the death and taxes have settled, we usually end up feeling that we haven't accomplished anything. We haven't gotten anywhere.  Often it seems as though things have gotten worse. In all this, my chief intention is to bring social problems to you as a personal matter, something that affects your personal life and something you can do something about. 

All that said, I hope you will enjoy the course and benefit from what you will discover. I am here to help foster your learning experience, and it is my pleasure to help you navigate through this learning experience. Please call on me as you wish for direction and clarity.

TIME FRAME: This is a four-semester hour course. This course is allotted 10 weeks of time. You must complete all of the requirements for the course successfully by the end of the 10-week period. The first day of week one will begin the day you register for the course, or the day which you notify me that your textbooks have arrived and you are ready to begin your studies. Please be cognizant of the time frame. It is rare that extensions of time are permitted, unless you have reasonable justification. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be awarded four semester hours of credit.

TEXTBOOKS: There are two (2) required textbooks for this course.

Book 1: Classical Sociological Theory, Ritzer, George and Goodman, Douglas J., Mcgraw-Hill Publishing Company, ISBN# 0-07-282430-1

Book 2: Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Formations of Modern Social Thought. Ken Morrison. Thousand Oaks, California; Sage Publications: 1995: ISBN # 0-803-97563-5.

You can purchase this book at the university bookstore.

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EXAMINATIONS: There are two examinations for this course, a mid-term examination and a final examination. Each examination constitutes 40% of your final grade. The remaining 20% will be addressed in your written assignments. The mid-term covers the sociological perspectives addressed in the book " Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Formations of Modern Social Thought" By Ken Morrison. This examination must be taken by the end of the 5th week in the course.

The final examination covers the materials in the book, " Social Problems in a Diverse Society", 3 rd . Ed. By Diana Kendall. This examination must be taken by the end of the 10th week in the course.

Both exams are programmed and located in the classroom for this course. The exams are "open book" essay type. You will have one (1) day to complete your exam once you access it from the classroom. To access the exam you must send me an email address. I will then program your access in. You will receive an email back from me telling you that you are now authorized to go ahead and access the exam. To access, you will come into the classroom, click on testing, and click on the exam you are taking. You will need your user ID and PASS WORD to access the exam. The exam will appear on your screen. Once you access the exam you have 24 hours to submit your answers. The program provides me the exact date and time that you accessed the exam. The program also notifies me of the exact date and time that you submitted your answers. Thus, the program is timing you. When you are ready, go back into the classroom and click in your responses and then click submit. Shortly, you will receive the exam in your email box with your computed score. You will also know what questions, if any that you missed, and what the correct answer is. I also receive a copy of your exam and your score.

GRADING: The grading scale for this course is as follows:

90-100%    - A
80-89%      - B
70-79%      - C
Below 70% - Fail

COMMUNICATION: You are encouraged to communicate with me. I am available as a teacher, mentor, and coach to assist you in meeting your goals for this course. Primarily, communication is through email. However, I am also available for conversation by telephone if you would like to call. Our classroom for this course has a "chat" room. I am also very willing to meet with you one-on-one in the chat room at your request. From time to time depending on how many students are enrolled in this course at a particular time, we might have some scheduled group chats. You will receive more detailed information at the time such chat sessions are scheduled. Please keep in my email address handy so that you can contact me whenever necessary. If at anytime during this course you change your email address, please be sure to notify me immediately.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: There are two written assignments for this course. Each written assignment constitutes 10% of your final grade. The first written assignment is due at the end of the 3rd week. The second written assignment is due at the end of the 8th week.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: I, Frederick J. Hoffman, MS, BA, AA currently teach undergraduate courses at Breyer State University, as well as Mercer County Community College and Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey. I hold a Masters in Social Sciences, a Bachelor in Sociology and History, and an Associate in Liberal Arts. I am also currently pursuing a PhD in Counseling Psychology. In conjunction with my teaching responsibilities I currently hold a position as Vice President of Operations and throughout my career have held numerous senior-level positions in manufacturing and distribution operations where I specialize in facilitating constructive change initiatives. I am an avid Civil War history buff, possess a reasonable collection of period memorabilia, and enjoy touring area battlefields as well as reading about the history of local companies and regiments.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1). Understand the different sociological perspectives and how they evolved.
2). Understand and identify the leading sociologists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and their respective views.
3). Understand the basic components of the three major sociological perspectives and be able to relate their application to specific areas of study.
4). Understand why sociologists study social problems, and be able to differentiate between a subjective awareness and an objective reality.
5). Understand how societies have evolved economically and how each stage of economic evolution has contributed to different types of social problems.
6). Understand the nature, causes, and possible solutions to major social problems facing contemporary society.
7). Develop an awareness of the bias and stratifications that exists in cultures and contemporary society and how these situations lead to social problems.
8). Develop an awareness of how social problems affect the individual, the community, and society as a whole, and be able to develop a dialog on cause and effect, as well as potential long-term solutions.

ASSIGNMENTS: Please go to the assignment section of the classroom.

INFORMATION: If you have any questions regarding this program, you may address them to adm@breyerstate.com. An administrative faculty member will respond to all questions.