APPLIED PROJECT 2

Course Syllabus

ISS 504 Advanced Integrative Theories of Social Science Course Syllabus

Spring 2021 Session C

January 11, 2021 – April 23, 2021

Peralta Hall 210

Tuesdays

6:00 PM – 8:45 PM 

Course Description

The course offers an integrative examination of major social science theories, such as rational choice theory, game-theory, environmentalism, institutionalism, functionalism, sociobiology, symbolic interaction, Marxism, Weberianism, democratic theory, and relational state formation. The emphasis is on bridging disciplinary boundaries and integrating theories and methods.

 

Course Overview

The course considers the major theories of each of the social sciences in turn and examines their historical and conceptual relations. The goal is to develop an integrative theory of social phenomena that incorporates the most significant aspects of the best extant theories of the social sciences.

 

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course the successful student will be able to:

· Describe the orthodox theories currently prevailing in the mainstream of the individual social sciences, as well as the central theoretical positions of various heterodox schools of social science.

· Discuss the historical development of these theoretical positions.

· Explain the significance of these theories for the solution of various social problems.

· Integrate various theories from multiple social science fields into a coherent theoretical whole.

· Apply integrative theories to the explanation of particular social phenomena and the solution of specific social problems.

· Think systematically about social phenomena.

· Further develop critical thinking skills.

· Draw analytical strategies from the multiple fields of social science.

· Further develop written and oral communication skills.

 

Required Materials:

· Great Economic Thinkers: An Introduction – From Adam Smith to Amartya Sen (2019), J. Conlin (Ed.)

[Full PDF version posted to the class Canvas page]

· Encyclopedia of political theory (2010), M. Bevir (Ed.)

[Full text available through ASU Library]

· Marx, Capital, and the Madness of Economic Reason (2017), David Harvey

· Suicide (1897), Emil Durkheim.

· Supplemental readings will be made available via the class Canvas page as required.

 

Class Rules and Guidelines:

Please adhere to the following rules in all of your interactions with the instructors and your fellow students. Failure to conform to these rules will result in a lower grade or, in extreme circumstances, your involuntary removal from the course and the assignment of a failing grade:

· It is your responsibility to know what your duties are in the course, so you should read the entire syllabus carefully and make sure that you understand what is expected of you this semester. Please contact the instructors if you have any questions about course requirements

· Be open to constructive feedback from your fellow class participants, including from the instructor.

· Provide constructive feedback to other class participants.

· Be respectful of other class participants, especially when they offer views that differ from your own.

· Do not use racist, sexist, homophobic, partisan/political, or any other prejudiced language that might unnecessarily exclude members of the class.

· Learning takes place best when a safe environment is established in the classroom. In accordance with SSM 104-02 of the Student Services Manual (Links to an external site.) , students enrolled in this course have a responsibility to foster an environment that nurtures personal uniqueness and encourages honest discussion. The success of the course rests on your ability to create a safe environment where everyone feels comfortable to explore ideas. We must be able to take risks and ask critical questions. Disagreement in the spirit of critical scholarly exchange is always welcome, but please remember to treat your fellow class participants with respect, whether you agree with them or not.

· Ideas, not people, are the proper objects of criticism. When criticizing an idea, be respectful of the person defending it, indicate your reasons for rejecting it and your reasons for accepting an alternative idea, but never attack the person.

· Your opinions are important in this course, but only to the extent that you can support them with factual evidence. Do not offer ill-informed or unsubstantiated opinions. Any opinion statements that you offer must be supported with evidence and arguments in defense of the statement.

· Agreement, not controversy, is the goal of our class discussions. We may not always be able to reach an agreement about the topic at hand, but we should always at least reach a modus vivendi, that is, an agreement to disagree. We should always respect each others’ opinions, even when we do not share them.

· No late work will be accepted under any circumstances.

By remaining in this course, you agree to follow these rules.

 

Sensitivity Course Content Warning:

It is never an instructor’s intention to give offense. However, certain aspects of the course content may be considered offensive by some students. The course material might include language or graphics related to war, death, violence, sexuality, infamous political figures, religion, poverty, culture, ethnicity, etc., which some students might consider distasteful, troubling, or difficult to view. Instructors will try to provide warnings if such material is to be introduced. If you are uncomfortable with some such aspect of the course, please contact the course instructors.

In general, we will discuss material in this course that has the potential to challenge our current worldviews. While it is essential that we respect each other’s perspectives, as indicated by the class rules above, it is no less essential that we approach the course material with open minds and a willingness to have our beliefs contested through counterargument.

 

Course Requirements:

Class participation: 25%

Final project: 75%

 

Class participation: You are expected to attend every class session, arrive prepared, and engage in the discussion about the relevant course material. If you do this for every class session, you will receive full credit for participation at the end of the semester. If you cannot attend a class session or, for whatever reason, cannot participate in the day’s discussion, please contact the instructor in advance. Unexcused absences, a lack of preparation for, and / or non-participation in the class discussion are all grounds for losing participation credit. Each such instance will incur a loss of 2.5% of your total grade such that, after one instance, the highest grade you can possibly receive in the course will be 97.5%, after two instances, 95%, after three instances, 92.5%, etc., etc.

 

Final project:

DUE 4/28/21

Suggested Page Length – 15-25 pgs, 12 point font, Times New Roman, 1 inch margins all around.

For this project you will analyze what you believe to be an original falsifiable thesis statement in the light of the social science theories and theorists covered this semester.  This thesis statement should be mid-range theory with scopes related to time, location, and case choice.  Detail how your variables are operationalized (i.e. measureable with data.)

You will then seek support for or analyze rejection of your thesis - along with its variables and causal mechanisms – using the social science theories and theorists discussed in the course across all 3 relevant disciplines – Economics, PoliSci, and Sociology.

Within Each Section Categorized by Discipline You Will:

1. Analyze and describe professional evidential support for your falsifiable thesis and each of its variables and related causal mechanisms based on the theories and theorists covered in class.

2. Analyze and describe professional evidential analytic analysis which either rejects or contradicts portions of your thesis, or the whole thesis, based on the theories and theorists covered in class.

3. Conclude each section with an analysis of whether it makes sense to move forward with this thesis – is it actually original? Is it measurable?  Does it seem potentially supported by the literature?  Is there data?  How did your analysis of the professional literature in the discipline at hand change your variables or causal mechanisms, if at all.

Finally conclude with a clear decision – will you choose to proceed to more advanced work with this (potentially modified) thesis, or would you rather reject the thesis for now.

PLEASE KEEP THESE DATES IN MIND AS YOU DEVELOP YOUR FINAL PROJECT:

· Monday, February 8, 2021: Submit your topic and thesis statement. These may still be tentative at this time. The point is to get you thinking about topics early in the semester, even if your topic changes later.

· Monday, March 1, 2021: Submit a detailed outline of your paper

· Monday, Monday March 29, 2021: First draft due

· Wednesday, April 28, 2021: Final draft Term paper due

 

The Writing Center at the Student Services Center: Your grade in this course is based largely on your ability to express an understanding of the course material in written English. Thus, if you are to pass this course, it is absolutely essential that you be able to write well and clearly. The Writing Center at the Student Success Center is a service available to all ASU students currently enrolled in classes. For any student who is starting, in the middle, or finishing up the writing process, the Writing Center has tutors who can assist you with all areas of writing. Tutors are trained to help with all sorts of writing assignments, including but not limited to essays, applications, resumes, personal writing projects, lab reports, and so on. All appointments are 30 minutes and are scheduled in advance. Walk-ins are also welcome. However, be aware that the Writing Center does not offer proofreading services.

Hours of Operation at the Polytechnic Campus:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
10am – 6pm	12pm – 6pm	10am – 6pm	12pm – 6pm	10am – 1pm

 

Grading Scale:

The grading scale for graduate courses is typically much different from what is used in undergraduate courses.

A+       Outstanding student; work publishable in current form

A         Excellent student; work probably publishable with minor revision

A-        Good student; work perhaps publishable with major revision

B+       Above average student; work not publishable without comprehensive revision

B         Average student; work not publishable, but indicates adequate grasp of material

B-        Below average student; work not publishable, indicates poor grasp of material     

C         Failing student; what work?

 

Class Schedule Spring 2020 (Tentative – Assignments and dates subject to change)

Class Session	Date	Topics	Assignments/Comments
One	Tuesday, January 12, 2021	Syllabus Review	Zoom link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/6281106275 (Links to an external site.)
Two	Tuesday, January 19, 2021	Classical Economics I	Zoom link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/6281106275 (Links to an external site.) · Great Economic Thinkers: Chapter on Adam Smith · Selections from Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations · Selections from Thomas Robert Malthus’s An Essay on the Principle of Population · Great Economic Thinkers: Chapter on David Ricardo
Three	Tuesday, January 26, 2021	Classical Economics II	Zoom link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/6281106275 (Links to an external site.) · Great Economic Thinkers: Chapter on John Stuart Mill · Selections from John Stuart Mill’s various writings on economics and social philosophy · Great Economic Thinkers: Chapter on Karl Marx · Selections from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel’s writings on economics and social philosophy
Four	Tuesday, February 2, 2021	The Marginal Revolution and the Cambridge Tradition	Zoom link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/6281106275 (Links to an external site.) · Selections from writings of Carl Menger, William Stanley Jevons, and Léon Walras · Great Economic Thinkers: Chapter on Alfred Marshall
Five	Tuesday, February 9, 2021	The Hayek-Keynes Debate; The IS-LM Model	Zoom link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/6281106275 (Links to an external site.) · Term paper topic and thesis statement due. Submit to all instructors via email. · Great Economic Thinkers: Chapter on F.A. Hayek · Great Economic Thinkers: Chapter on John Maynard Keynes · John R. Hicks’s “Mr. Keynes and the 'Classics': A Suggested Interpretation"
Six	Tuesday, February 16, 2021	Neo-Classical Economics: I: The Search for a Mathematical Proof of Equilibrium II: Monetarism, Rational Expectations, and Real Business Cycles III: Game Theory; Experimental and Behavioral Economics	Zoom link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/6281106275 (Links to an external site.) · Kenneth Arrow and Gerard Debreu’s “Existence of an Equilibrium for a Competitive · Great Economic Thinkers: Chapter on Milton Friedman · Thomas J. Sargent’s “Rational Expectations” · George W. Stadler’s “Real Business Cycles” · Great Economic Thinkers: Chapter on John Forbes Nash · Selections from R. Duncan Luce and Howard Raiffa’s Games and Decisions: Introduction and Critical Survey · Great Economic Thinkers: Chapter on Daniel Kahneman · Selections from Vernon Smith’s Rationality in Economics · Zeljka Buturovic and Slavisa Tasic’s “Kahneman’s Failed Revolution Against Economic Orthodoxy”
Seven	Tuesday, February 23, 2021	Governance	●   Term paper outline due ●   Political science readings are topics in Bevir (2012) ●   Governance; aristocracy; ancient democracy; American founding
Eight	Tuesday, March 2, 2021	Classic Liberalism	●   Liberalism; natural law; classical political economy
Nine	Tuesday, March 9, 2021	Conservatism	●    Civic republicanism; communitarianism; republicanism
Ten	Tuesday, March 16, 2021	Socialism	●    Socialism; critical theory; deliberative democracy; liberation theology
Eleven	Tuesday, March 23, 2021	Modern Liberalism; Libertarianism	●      Justice; market failure; behavioralism ●      Libertarianism; anarchism; autonomy; egalitarianism; public choice
Twelve	Tuesday, March 30, 2021	Classical Sociological Theory - Durkheim	FIRST DRAFT OF TERM PAPER DUE - MONDAY MARCH 29 ●      Selections from Durkheim, Emil. 1897. Suicide.
Thirteen	Tuesday, April 6, 2021	Classical Sociological Theory - Marx	●    The Communist Manifesto
Fourteen	Tuesday, April 13, 2021	Classical Sociological Theory - Weber	●    Selections from Weber, Gerth, and Mills. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology ·
Fifteen	Tuesday, April 20, 2021	New Institutionalism	●      Meyer, John W.; Rowan, Brian (September 1977). "Institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony". American Journal of Sociology. University of Chicago Press.
Term Paper Due	Wednesday, April 28th, 2021, 11:59 PM		●      Term paper due