soiciology
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIETY: PROCESSES AND STRUCTURES SOCI1125
Week one , September 2021
Territorial Acknowledgement
We work, study, and live in a region south of the Fraser River which overlaps with the unceded traditional and ancestral lands of the Kwantlen, Musqueam, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen, Qayqayt and Kwikwetlem peoples
What are we going to do this week?
Today :
Some points about online class
The course objectives, and course outline and course moodle overview
Your questions
Getting to know each other ( if time permits)
Instructor
Sara Naderi (PhD Candidate in sociology)
Email: sara.naderi@kpu.ca
Office Hours: Wednesday 10.30 -11.30 am by appointment via Zoom
Note: when you send emails to me, please include your full name, your course name and section in your email.
Area of research :
Sociology of knowledge
Sociology of media and cyberspace
Sociology of gender and women studies
Postcolonial studies
Online classroom Etiquette
Each week session is Live streamed, via Zoom. You can see the “zoom link for class session and office hours” on the course moodle
Your class engagement( see the course outline) will be recorded and count as part of your final grade. So please try not to attend in all sessions of the class.
With your permission, I will record class sessions and post them on moodle for students who cannot attend particular sessions.
Please attend class with your full name KPU ID.
I advise all of you to turn your camera on . That will make the class lively and more efficient. However, turning on the camera is not mandatory.
How to ask question
If you have any questions or comments, raise your hand or write them down in chat. ( I would prefer raising hand)
I’ll do my best to reply to all questions, but those who raise hands and contribute in lived class discussion has the advantage of getting their answers sooner.
What is sociology?
C. Wright Mills
The Sociological Imagination
The ability to understand the dynamic relationship between individual lives and the larger society
Personal troubles result from individual challenges
Social issues are caused by larger social factors
The “trick” is in understanding how these personal troubles may indeed be due to larger social issues.
Becoming familiar with Sociology as a modern discipline, its history and the classic sociologists explored and featured early Modern society (Micro and Macro sociology agendas)( week 2-4) Becoming familiar With the modern ways of governing and disciplining individuals by social, political, economic, and biopolitical structures. ( week5-7) Becoming familiar with different faces of inequality in modern society and how modern social structures produce and reproduce them. ( week 8-12) goals
Course objectives
Break and Breaking time survey!
We will have Breaking time during each class. Please choose your preference for break.
1- Have15-20 Minutes in middle of the class
2-No break in middle of the class , but class will be finished 15/20 minutes earlier.
Course material
Ravelli, B. and Webber, M., 2019. Exploring sociology: A Canadian perspective. Fifth edition. Pearson Education Canada.
To buy e-textbook click on the textbook link in moodle.
Course evaluation
| Assignment | Weight | Due date |
| Participation | 10% | |
| Question and answer Forum | 15% (5 Q& 5A) | From Beginning of Week 2 until end of week 12 |
| weekly discussants | 10% | Students should sign up for this assignment by September 14th |
| Critical Essay | 10% | Any time from beginning of Week4 to the end of week 11 |
| Three Quizzes | 30% non- cumulative | October 8th, November 9th and week 13 in class |
| Final Exam | 25% | December 8th |
Weekly discussant
Each student will have the chance to be the weekly reader discussant. Students will select a spot in the week that they feel more convenient to raise one/two questions (one question is more recommended) for class discussion.
Students can accomplish this task either individually or in three/four members groups.
Each week, discussants are responsible for informing the instruction about their decision about either running the discussion session as a group or individually by 24 hours before the class session. They also need to submit their questions to their Discussant assignment 24 hours before the class session.
Note: Each student will be given 5-7 minutes to present.
Note: Students will be evaluated based on the analytical level of their questions and their success in enriching the class engagement and discussion.
Note: All students should register in one weekly discussants by September 14th midnight.
Critical essay
One short, 600 -900 words (Font 12) critical essay will make up10% of the total grade for this course. In this essay, you should apply at least three theories/concepts that you learnt to analyse one sociologically relevant issue or current event in your social life.
Students should submit this assignment online any time between the beginning of week 4 and the end of week11 of the semester.
I strongly advice students to use their sociological imagination to criticize the reading materials perspectives in their critical essays.
Quizzes
Quizzes
Three online multiple-choice quizzes will be held in assigned dates. You can see the instruction for quiz in the moodle.
Quiz I includes 20 questions from ch1-ch 2 and worth 6% of your final grade.( October 8th)
Quiz II includes 30 questions from ch7-ch 12- ch17-ch19 and worth 12% of your final grade( November 9th)
Quiz III includes 30 questions from ch 8- ch 9-ch 10-ch 19 and Worth 12% of your final grade( in final class)
Question and answer Forum
From beginning of week two until end of week12 students will have a chance to participate in the “Question and answer forum” in the course Moodle by following this instruction:
1. Post at least five sociologically relevant questions in the question-and-answer forum. The question needed to be analytical and will act as proof of your sociological imagination. It also should be rich enough to stimulate discussion. One example of a good question will be posted on the forum in advance.
2.Each student is also supposed to reflect on (or sociologically respond to) Five questions that their other classmates raised (minimum of 150 words for each reflection).
Now it is your turn!
Tell us a little bit about yourself….
Some hints:
Where are you from? what is your expectations from the course?
If you would like, share something about your hobbies and interest, and how your personal and social life in the covid and post covid time.