Jammie Price Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice The University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Class Time: Monday-Thursday, 10:15-12:20, SB210

Instructor: Jammie Price, PhD    

Office Hours: 9-10:15 am Monday-Thursday, after class, and by appointment    

E-mail: pricej@uncwil.edu      Phone: 910-962-3590            Fax: 910-962-7385

http://www.uncwil.edu/people/pricej/teaching/index.htm

Summary: This course will provide an overview of the study of social behavior and its causes and consequences.  We will begin by defining sociology and introducing you to the sociological perspective, theories and concepts.  Then we will review major social problems and major forms of deviance.  Then, we will take a step back to look at how sociologists collect and analyze data. Moving on, we will tackle diversity and inequality, including class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality.  From there we will turn to the social institutions of economics, politics, marriage, family, religion, education, and health care.  Finally, we will review the sociological perspective as it applies to the issues of population, the environment, and careers in sociology.  To cover these topics, we will draw on lectures, discussions, a textbook, movies, and the Internet.  At the end of this course you should see yourself and the world you live in with a more critical eye.  You will become more aware of who you are, how the society you live in shapes whom you are, and how your attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors help maintain or change that society.

Grades: Your grade will be based on your performance on four exams.  Each exam will be worth 25% of your final grade.  Exams will cover all class content including lectures, readings, movies, Internet work, and guest speakers.  Exam dates are listed on the course outline.  The exams will be four essays worth 25 points each.  Combined, the four exams are worth 100% of your final grade.  The exam will be given during the first half of class, followed by a review of the answers in the second half.  No formal, instructor lead review sessions will be provided.  Instead, review your class notes and reading notes.  Make-up exams will be given without explanation/excuse.  Each make-up exam will consist of two essay questions, worth 50 points each, and all will be given during the final exam period.  You must inform me on the last day of class that you need a make-up exam. Otherwise, I will not have a make-up exam ready for you to take.

Attendance: I will record attendance daily. At the end of the semester, I will substitute your lowest exam score with your attendance average .  For example, at the end of the semester, if you attended 90% of all classes, I will substitute your lowest exam score with a 90.   Additionally, I will add one day to everyone's attendance score; in effect, providing you with one "free" absence.

In-Class Participation: I expect you to read the assigned material before class and come to class prepared to ask questions about the readings and to participate in class discussions. 

I will use class participation at the end of the semester at my discretion to determine whether to curve a student’s grade.  Those students who are on the line between two final letter grades and who participated in class regularly will receive the higher grade. Those students who did not participate regularly will receive the lower grade. 

Extra Credit: Occasionally, there may be extra credit questions on the exams. 

Final Grades: I will compute a final grade by calculating the average of all of your exam scores. Final grades will be posted on Seaweb (https://tswww.mis.uncwil.edu/ahomepg.htm).

Texts and Resources:  Applied Sociology: Terms, Topics, Tools and Tasks. Stephen F. Steele and Jammie Price. Publication date: 2002.

In exchange for your feedback on this text, the publisher is making it available to you for free at: http://www5.ocis.uncwil.edu/private/pricej/book.htm 

Userid: pricej            Password: appliedsoc