Harel Shapira

Description  

This course will introduce you to what it means to think about the world like a sociologist. Over the course of the semester, we will read a little bit about a lot of things: culture, race, the economy, crime, cities, to name just a few. In each case, our focus will be on understanding what a sociological analysis of the topic would entail. We will talk about how sociologists analyze big changes taking place in the world like large scale economic change, but also how they examine small everyday situations like going to a movie theatre. Along the way we will also talk about major theoretical approaches to the study of society developed by the “founding” fathers of sociology: Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. By the end of the course you should be able to think about the world in a sociological way, including being able to ask sociological questions and develop sociological schemes for acquiring answers

Description:

 

The primary purpose of this course is to prepare graduate students to take the Sociology Department’s comprehensive exam in “Political Sociology”. The class will begin with some political theory by turning to the contract theorists – Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseu – and then transition to some of the canonical texts in the field of political sociology. Theoretical and older texts will be paired with empirical and contemporary works. For example, when we read Focuault’s Discipline and Punish we will also read Alexander’s New Jim Crow; when we read Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” we will also read Burowoy’s Manufacturing Consent; Said’s Orientalism will be paired with Mahmood’s Politics of Piety. There will be a midterm and final exam, both of which will follow the format of the comprehensive exam: students will have four hours to answer two questions and take the exam in the computer lab.

 

This practice-intensive seminar is the second of a two-part sequence on ethnographic methods. Building on the first part of the sequence, Field and Observational Methods I: Readings in Ethnography (Fall semester), this semester will focus not on reading ethnography but on doing ethnography. Students will be required to choose a site in which to conduct fieldwork and spend at least 5 hours in the field each week and writing up field notes for every class meeting.  Students who did not take Field and Observational Methods I: Readings in Ethnography (Fall semester), require the instructor’s permission to take this course.

Description   This course will introduce you to what it means to think about the world like a sociologist. Over the course of the semester, we will read a little bit about a lot of things: culture, race, the economy, crime, cities, to name just a few. In each case, our focus will be on understanding what a sociological analysis of the topic would entail. We will talk about how sociologists analyze big changes taking place in the world like large scale economic change, but also how they examine small everyday situations like going to a movie theatre. Along the way we will also talk about major theoretical approaches to the study of society developed by the “founding” fathers of sociology: Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. By the end of the course you should be able to think about the world in a sociological way, including being able to ask sociological questions and develop sociological schemes for acquiring answers.

 

Description

This practice-intensive seminar is the second of a two-part sequence on ethnographic methods. Building on the first part of the sequence, Field and Observational Methods I: Readings in Ethnography (Fall semester), this semester will focus not on reading ethnography but on doing ethnography. Students will be required to choose a site in which to conduct fieldwork and spend at least 5 hours in the field each week and writing up field notes for every class meeting.  Students who did not take Field and Observational Methods I: Readings in Ethnography (Fall semester), require the instructor’s permission to take this course.

 

Description:

This course will introduce you to what it means to think about the world like a sociologist. Over the course of the semester, we will read a little bit about a lot of things: culture, race, the economy, crime, cities, to name just a few. In each case, our focus will be on understanding what a sociological analysis of the topic would entail. We will talk about how sociologists analyze big changes taking place in the world like large scale economic change, but also how they examine small everyday situations like going to a movie theatre. Along the way we will also talk about major theoretical approaches to the study of society developed by the “founding” fathers of sociology: Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. By the end of the course you should be able to think about the world in a sociological way, including being able to ask sociological questions and develop sociological schemes for acquiring answers.

Required texts: 

Erving Goffman, Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods

Grading and Requirements:

3 Short Papers

3 In Class Exams

Descripton:

This course will introduce you to what it means to think about the world like a sociologist. Over the course of the semester, we will read a little bit about a lot of things: culture, race, the economy, crime, cities, to name just a few. In each case, our focus will be on understanding what a sociological analysis of the topic would entail. We will talk about how sociologists analyze big changes taking place in the world like large scale economic change, but also how they examine small everyday situations like going to a movie theatre. Along the way we will also talk about major theoretical approaches to the study of society developed by the “founding” fathers of sociology: Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. By the end of the course you should be able to think about the world in a sociological way, including being able to ask sociological questions and develop sociological schemes for acquiring answers.

Course Format, Requirements, and Grading

Three in class exams: 20% (each)

Three short paper (3 double spaced pages): 10% (each)

Participation in sections: 10%

Readings:

Foucault, Michel. 1995 (2nd Edition) [1973] Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books.

Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor Books.

Khan, Shamus. 2012. Privilege The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

* All other readings will be available online on our course website*

 

 

 

Course Description

Through reading classical works in political philosophy as well as contemporary sociological essays, fiction, and watching films, this class will explore the nature and dynamics of political life. We will wrestle with some of the most fundamental questions of human existence, including: what is the relationship between individual rights and state authority? What does it mean to be a citizen? What is power and who has it? Is violence compatible with democracy? How, when, and why do revolutions take place?

Although we will mostly read texts from the 19th and 20th century, throughout the course we will turn to contemporary politics in Texas as a guide for our discussions and students will be asked to apply concepts from the readings to political issues playing out around us.

Course Format, Requirements, and Grading

The requirements of the course and related grading scheme are as follows:

Class Presentations and Participation: 30%

Research Paper: 30%

Mid Term Exam: 20%

Final Exam: 20%

Readings

Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (Harcourt, 1973 Edition)

Erikson, Wayward Puritans (Prentice Hall, 2004 Edition)

Fanon, Wretched of the Earth (Grove Press, 1963 Edition)

Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents (Norton, 2010 Edition)

Orwell, Animal Farm (Signet, 1996 Edition)

Rousseau, The Basic Political Writings (Hackett, 2nd revised Edition 2012)

* All other readings will be available online on our course website*

 

Description:

This course will introduce you to what it means to think about the world like a sociologist. Over the course of the semester, we will read a little bit about a lot of things: culture, race, the economy, crime, cities, to name just a few. In each case, our focus will be on understanding what a sociological analysis of the topic would entail. We will talk about how sociologists analyze big changes taking place in the world like large scale economic change, but also how they examine small everyday situations like going to a movie theatre. Along the way we will also talk about major theoretical approaches to the study of society developed by the “founding” fathers of sociology: Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. By the end of the course you should be able to think about the world in a sociological way, including being able to ask sociological questions and develop sociological schemes for acquiring answers.

Readings:

 Khan, Shamus. Privilege The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

 Manza, Jeff, Richard Arum, and Lynn Haney. 2013. The Sociology Project: Introducing the Sociological Imagination. New York: Pearson.

Venkatesh, Sudhir. Gang Leader for  Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets: New York: Penguin.

Grading:

3 in class exam (60%)

3 take home short papers (30%)

Participation in sections (10%)

Description:

This practice-intensive seminar is the second of a two-part sequence on ethnographic methods. Building on the first part of the sequence, Field and Observational Methods I: Readings in Ethnography (Fall 2013), this semester will focus not on reading ethnography but on doing ethnography. Our fieldsite will be the Rundberg neighborhood of North Austin, and students will be required to actively engage in ethnographic research in Rundberg, spending at least 5 hours in the field each week and writing up field notes for every class meeting. 

Although the specific topic of focus is open, students are required to concentrate on the Rundberg neighborhood. The choice of Rundberg is made for two reasons: (1) as a neighborhood in Austin with a vulnerable population it offers an opportunity for students to undertake research of critical policy implications; and (2) it will build on ongoing research and connections made by UT Sociologist David Kirk in Rundberg, which will facilitate access and offer students a rare chance to interact with public officials. 

Although there are no formal readings in the class, we will spend time reading about Austin through both academic sources and newspapers. Students who did not take Field and Observational Methods I: Readings in Ethnography (Fall 2013), require the instructor’s permission to take this course.

Description

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to what it means to think about the world like a sociologist. As a broad survey course, we will read a little bit about a lot of things: culture, race, the economy, crime, gender, to name a few. We will talk about how sociologists analyze big changes taking place in the world, but also how they examine small everyday situations.  Along with this we will read about some of the major theoretical approaches to study of society developed by the “founding fathers” of sociology: Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. By the end of the course you should be able to think about the world in a sociological way, including being able to ask sociological questions and develop sociological schemes for acquiring answers.

Required Texts

 Manza, J, R. Arum, and L. Haney. 2012. The Sociology Project. New York: Pearson.

 Coursepack/online readings.

Grading policy

The course will have an in-class midterm and in-class final exam, and you will complete 6 short (2pp., single-spaced, 12pt font) papers throughout the semester (details to be discussed in class). The exams will consist of multiple choice questions and short answer questions drawn from the readings and lectures. You are required to attend recitation sections every week that they meet. Grades will be based on mid-term (30%), papers (30%), final (30%), and section participation (10%).