Sociology (SOC*1100)

Code and section: SOC*1100*01

Term: Winter 2025

Instructor: Jasmin Hristov

Details

COURSE DESCRIPTION

At a time when humanity is at a crossroads, facing unprecedented social and environmental crises, understanding your relationship to the world and your role in social change is not only empowering but also necessary. In this course you will engage with sociology in ways that enable you to appreciate its humanizing potential.

The course begins with the question of what it means to think sociologically and provides students with a basic sociological vocabulary and method of analysis followed by an overview of major theoretical perspectives. Throughout the rest of the course, we look at a range of fields of sociological inquiry such as social inequality, globalization, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, culture, families, socialization, religion, education, and the mass media, among others. The course is designed to: 1) actively promote the development of a variety of skills essential to academic success including effective reading and note-taking, exam preparation, concept application, and critical thinking; 2) encourage students to analyze world issues, news, as well as their personal experiences and relationships through sociological lenses; 3) provide students with a sense of what they may expect in subsequent levels sociology courses across the various subject areas.

The course is humanist, transformative, and global in its approach. Its core objective is to equip you with knowledge and skills that will enable you, as a global citizen, to contribute to a more social and environmentally just future.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Conceptual Knowledge

1. Explain the origin and present-day features of capitalism as a system of unequal social relations.
2. Discuss the significance and consequences of macro-level historical processes such as colonialism, slavery, and racism for present-day social issues.
3. Identify and describe the major theoretical fields and areas of inquiry in the discipline of sociology.
4. Draw connections between macro-level social processes, such as globalization, and micro-level experiences, such as poor working conditions.
5. Discuss the function of institutions in regulating social action and their place in the relationship between human agency and social structure.
6. Explain how institutions, reflect and sometimes reproduce social inequalities.
7. Apply the relational/dialectical analytical approach taught in this course to explain different forms of social inequality in terms of their causes, manifestations, and consequences.

Procedural knowledge / Skills

8. Synthesize key ideas, concepts, and arguments (effective reading and communication).
9. Apply course concepts to explain present-day social issues.
10. Recognize and articulate thematic connections across different sources of knowledge, including academic readings, documentaries, alternative news media, photographs and/or personal experiences.
11. Demonstrate ability to identify areas for debate and discussion by posing critical questions (critical thinking).

COURSE FORMAT

This course will be delivered virtually and will consist of lectures, a few skill-building workshops, and documentaries viewing. Most of the sessions will be synchronous and recorded. All assignments, test, and final exam will be online. Students will be expected to watch the assigned documentaries on their own.

REQUIRED READINGS

• Brym, R. (2021). New Society 9^th Ed. Top Hat (digital customized version).
• Selection of academic articles, book chapters, news articles, videos, and documentaries available electronically through the Guelph McLaughlin Library Ares Course Reserve System.

EVALUATION

Syllabus