Soc 419 Final Paper Assignment

Sociology 419

Final Paper Assignment

4-6 pages.

Due December 9, 2014

Final Paper. On the last day of class (December 9) a final paper (at least 1350 words) is due. The topic of the paper is flexible. What is required is that you take the knowledge you have gained in the course, and apply it to real world experience. One option is to do some research on a current event or issue and discuss it in terms of the theories and research read and discussed in this class. Other options will be discussed in written writing assignment. If you have a unique idea for the final paper, please discuss it with me. I want to be flexible. The point is to apply what you have learned and write about it. More details about this final paper.

For the final paper, you will research and write about some current event or topic related to the sociology of culture. This can be just about anything. It can be about the latest developments within a particular genre of music, the elections that took place on November 4, what is going on in Ferguson, perceptions about global warming, the accusations against Bill Cosby, etc. Anything taking place in contemporary culture that you find interesting is a potential topic. Once you have chosen your topic, you need to think about the materials we have discussed in this course, and you need to pick at least three (3) readings that you think are helpful in understanding the cultural issue you have chosen to write about. For the paper, you will discuss the issue/topic you have chosen and analyze that topic with reference to the material from the course. 

So, for example, if you want to write about what’s going on in Ferguson, you could talk about Swidler and tool-kits (What are the beliefs and discourses people are drawing upon as they choose to act in relation to this event?), you could talk about Darnell Hunt and the reading on “raced ways of seeing” (think about how different understand this event differently), you could talk about Collins and interaction ritual theory (think about the emotional energy created in the riots), etc. This is just an example. There are several other readings from the course that could be directly applicable to that issue, and there are several other issues that would perfectly acceptable for the final paper. 

To get full credit on this assignment, you need to 1) meet the minimum length requirements, and follow the formatting instructions from the course syllabus, 2) intelligibly discuss some issue/topic/current event of your choice, and 3) reference at least three of the past readings from the course.

Sociology 419 Culture and Society: Course Schedule

Week 1: (August 25-29): Introduction & Syllabus

Week 2: (September 1-5): Framing the Study of Culture

Required Reading: 

(1) Swidler, Ann. 1986. “Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies” American Sociological Review 51: 273-286 

(2) Vaisey, Stephen. 2008. “Socrates, Skinner, and Aristotle: Three Ways of Thinking about Culture in Action” Sociological Forum 23(3): 603-613.

Suggested Reading:

(1) Swidler, Ann. 2008. “Comment on Stephen Vaisey’s “Socrates, Skinner, and Aristotle: Three Ways of Thinking about Culture in Action” Sociological Forum 23(3): 614-618

(2) Vaisey, Stephen. 2008. “Reply to Ann Swidler” Sociological Forum 23(3): 619-622

Week 3: (September 8-12): Classical Foundations

Required Reading:

(1) Marx and Engels. “The German Ideology” (two excerpts)

(2) Durkheim. “Elementary Forms of Religious Life” (short excerpt)

(3) Weber. “Social Psychology of the World Religions”

Week 4: (September 15-19): Religion as Culture

Reading:

(1) Geertz, Clifford. “Religion as a Cultural System”

(2) Smith, Christian. 1998. “Toward a ‘Subcultural Identity’ Theory of Religious Strength” in American Evangelicalism: Embattled and Thriving

Week 5: (September 22-26): Culture as Objects and Symbols

Required Reading:

(1) Shudson, Michael. 1989. “How Culture Works: Perspectives from Media Studies on the Efficacy of Symbols” Theory and Society. 18(2): 153-180. 

(2) Bernstein, Basil. 1964. “Elaborated and Restricted Codes: Their Social Origins and Some Consequences.” American Anthropologist 6: 55-69. 

Week 6: (September 29-October 3): Cultural Production

Required Reading:

(1) Becker, Howard. 1984. “Art Worlds and Collective Activity.” Ch.1 from Art Worlds. (read pages 1-39, all pages are available through the google books link on the course website)

(2) Peterson, Richard and N. Anand. 2004. “The Production of Culture Perspective” Annual Review of Sociology

Week 8: (October 13-17): Cultural Reception/Consumption

Reading:

(1) Lizardo, Omar and Sara Skiles. 2008. “Cultural Consumption in the Fine and Popular Arts Realms.” Sociology Compass. 2(2): 485-502

(2) Bryson, Bethany. 1996. “Anything but Heavy Metal: Symbolic Exclusion and Musical Dislikes” American Sociological Review

Week 9: (October 20-24): Popular Culture

Reading:

(1) Kidd, Dustin. 2007. “Harry Potter and the Functions of Popular Culture.” Journal of Popular Culture 40(1): 69-89

(2) van Zoonen, Liesbet. 2007. “Audience Reactions to Hollywood Politics.” Media, Culture, and Society. 29: 531-547

Week 10: (October 27-31): Race & Gender

Reading:

(1) Martin, Karin. 1998. “Becoming a Gendered Body”

(2) Hunt, Darnell. 1994. “Raced Ways of Seeing”

(3) Grazian, David. 2007. “The Girl Hunt: Urban Nightlife and the Performance of Masculinity as Collective Activity” Symbolic Interaction 30(2): 221-243)

Week 11: (November 3-7): Deviance

Reading:

(1) Becker, Howard. “Becoming a Marijuana User”

2) Armstrong, Elizabeth, Laura Hamilton, and Paula England. 2010. “Is Hooking Up Bad for Young Women?” Contexts. 9(3): 22-27.

Week 12: (November 10-14): Culture and Interaction

Reading:

(1) Collins, Randall. 2004. “The Program of Interaction Ritual Theory” ch.1 from Interaction Ritutal Chains (the chapter is pg. 3-46, but focus on pg. 3-25 & 32-40)

(2) Wellman, James, Katie Corcoran, and Kate Stockly-Meyerdirk. 2014. “’God is like a drug’: Explaining Interaction Ritual Chains in American Mega-Churches” Sociological Forum 29(3): 650-671

Week 13: (November 17-21): Pierre Bourdieu

Week 14: (November 24-26): Culture and Cognition

Reading:

(1) Lizardo, Omar and Michael Strand. 2010. “Skills, toolkits, contexts, and institutions: Clarifying the relationship between different approaches to cognition in cultural sociology.” Poetics 38: 204-227.

Lecture:(1) Video lecture on culture and cognition