John Girdwood — SOC 315

Family and Society [flier]

Summer Semester 2010 [click here for info] 5/17/2010 – 6/30/2010
Time/Credits: M W   6:00 PM – 9:00 PM // 3 credits
Sec 701-Location: West Bloomfield High School, 4925 Orchard Lake Rd, W Bloomfield, MI 48323. Rm 210.

Instructor: John Girdwood, MSA
Office: Home // Phone: 1-77-Girdwood (1-774-473-9663)
Email: girdwoo1@msu.edu // Office Hours: by appointment

*Syllabus patterned after: SOC 820 – Contemporary Sociological Research on the Family; Dr. Zhenmei Zhang*

Description:

• This undergraduate seminar will introduce students to some of the key debates and topics regarding family and society.
• Students will increase their ability to critically analyze work in this field.
• The instructor hopes to inspire students’ own family-related research.
• The course materials draw on a variety of perspectives including:
  • theoretical,
  • historical, and
  • methodological perspectives.
• Class periods are structured to examine topics such as union formation and dissolution, relationship quality, childbearing, parenthood, work and family issues, and inter-generational transfers.

Reading Material:

• Edin, Kathryn and Maria Kefalas. 2005. Promises I can keep: why poor women put motherhood before marriage. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Selected articles available on electronic journal sites like JSTOR and accessible through the MSU Library – http://er.lib.msu.edu/

Overview:

• This course is organized as a seminar.  The instructor may provide overviews and/or supplemental material during lectures.
• Together, we will conduct a discourse resulting from:
  • student preparations,
  • guided discussion, and
  • exchanges focused on the readings.
• Students:
  • will attend each class and read all of the assigned material thoroughly and critically and before the class meeting
  • will adhere to all MSU policies and will NOT plagiarize – refer to the student manual – http://www.vps.msu.edu/SpLife/default.pdf
• Reading critically means being able to describe the content of an assigned piece and also evaluating the logic of its arguments, the adequacy of its methods, its implications, and its relation to other course material.
• Students are strongly encouraged to contribute to the discussion both their insights and/or questions from the readings.

There are four major tasks to be accomplished:

• 15% – Preparation of the reading for class presentation and discussion
  • During weekly meetings, each student will be assigned major responsibility for portions of the readings that we will discuss as a class.
  • Every discussion leader should prepare a 20 minutes presentation for the assigned readings, accomplishing two things in their presentation:
    • an overview of the “big questions” and related theories in the reading;
    • key issues related to data, measurement, and methods.
  • For each segment, 20 minutes will be devoted to presentation and 10 minutes to Q&A/discussion.
  • The instructor will be available throughout the week to discuss via email reading strategies and preparing for these presentations.
  • Grades will be based on class participation (handout, presentation, and discussion).
  • After the presentation, the whole class will discuss additional questions of the readings.
  • During the discussion or near the end of it I will present supplementary material to add breadth and depth to coverage of the topic.
• 15% – Three short essays
  • The students need to submit 3 short essays of their critique of the reading (2-3 pages) during the whole semester.
  • These essays will be graded.
• 20% – Midterm exam
  • The exam is a take-home exam.
  • This midterm will consist of a set of 3-4 essay questions based on the course reading and lecture materials.
  • You will select two questions and write your responses that show your ability to understand and use the material.
• 50% – Research proposal and presentation
  • Research proposal should follow these general guidelines:
    • research problem is specified,
    • the literature review identifies key knowledge gaps,
    • hypotheses are stated,
    • the data are described, and
    • the analyses are outlined
  • Length: 8-10 double spaced pages
  • Format: APA style and format; check out -  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
  • We will work through the paper process together using the following deadlines:
    • Topic & data source, if relevant, due (2010, May 24)
    • Introduction and literature review due (2010, May 31)
    • Presentation of draft paper/proposal due (2010, June 28)
    • Final version of full paper/proposal due (2010, June 30)

Class Plan:

• Monday. (2010, May 17)
  • Topic: Childbearing
  • Read: (Edin & Kefalas, 2005) Chapter 1 – Before we had a baby…
  • Write: Journal entry 1 of 3 – “After we had a syllabus…”
  • Discuss: Course description, materials, overview, expectations, requirements
• Wednesday. (2010, May 19)
  • Topic: Childbearing
  • Read: (Edin & Kefalas, 2005) Chapter 2 – When I got pregnant…
  • Write: Essay 1 of 3 – “Describe the content of chapters 1 & 2″
  • Discuss: Students will present a portion of (Edin & Kefalas, 2005) chapters 1 & 2
• Monday. (2010, May 24)
  • Topic: The “American Dream”
  • Read: (Edin & Kefalas, 2005) Chapter 3 – How does the dream die?
  • Write: Research proposal – Topic & data source (if relevant)
  • Discuss: Students will present their intended topic for the research proposal & data source (if relevant) to the class
• Wednesday. (2010, May 26)
  • Topic: Union formation
  • Read: (Edin & Kefalas, 2005) Chapter 4 – What marriage means
  • Write: Essay 2 of 3 – “Describe the content of chapters 3 & 4″
  • Discuss: Students will present a portion of (Edin & Kefalas, 2005) chapters 3 & 4
• Monday. (2010, May 31)
  • Topic: Union formation
  • Read: (Edin & Kefalas, 2005) Chapter 5 – Labor of love
  • Write: Research proposal – Introduction and literature review (draft)
  • Discuss: How to develop and construct an amazing research proposal
• Wednesday. (2010, June 2)
  • Topic: Parenthood
  • Watch: Parenthood (1989)
  • Write: Research proposal – Introduction and literature review (revision)
  • Discuss: Compare and contrast – Parenthood (1989) and (Edin & Kefalas, 2005)
• Monday. (2010, June 7)
  • Topic: Parenthood
  • Read: (Edin & Kefalas, 2005) Chapter 6 – How motherhood changed my life
  • Write: [no writing assignment today]
  • Discuss: Instructor will hand back each student’s “Research proposal – Introduction and literature review”
• Wednesday. (2010, June 9)
  • Topic: Parenthood
  • Read: (Edin & Kefalas, 2005) Conclusion – Making sense of single motherhood
  • Write: Essay 3 of 3 – “Describe the content of chapters 5, 6,  & conclusion”
  • Discuss: Students will present a portion of (Edin & Kefalas, 2005) chapters 5 & 6
• Monday. (2010, June 14)
  • Read: [no reading assignment today]
  • Write: Midterm distributed to class
  • Discuss: How to perform successfully on the midterm
• Wednesday. (2010, June 16)
  • Read: [no reading assignment today]
  • Write: Midterm due
  • Discuss: How you performed successfully on the midterm and areas for improvement
• Monday. (2010, June 21)
  • Read: Hertz, R. (2006). Talking About “Doing” Family. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68(4), 796.
  • Write: Journal entry 2 of 3 – “What’s Rosanna Hertz arguing?”
  • Discuss: “What’s Rosanna Hertz saying in her critique?” and “Define the key terms of the Rosanna Hertz article”
• Wednesday. (2010, June 23)
  • Read: Sarkisian, N. (2005). The Career Mystique: Cracks in the American Dream. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(4), 1099.
  • Write: Journal entry 3 of 3 – “What’s Natalia Sarkisian arguing?”
  • Discuss: “What’s Natalia Sarkisian saying in her critique?” and “Define the key terms of the Natalia Sarkisian article”
• Monday. (2010, June 28)
  • Read: Today, we will be reading other students’ research proposal drafts
  • Write: Research – Presentation of draft paper/proposal
  • Discuss: How to polish a successful final research proposal
• Wednesday. (2010, June 30)
  • HAND IN: Research – Final version of full paper/proposal due
  • Discuss: Plans for the future