Robert Crosnoe

Course Objectives
• To develop sociologically informed knowledge of life in modern society being transformed by globalization and inequality.
• To gain deeper understanding of the research process and its role in public knowledge and policy
• To learn how to craft a scientifically based argument and communicate it effectively.

Course Description
This course offers an introduction to the theories, methodologies, vocabulary, and themes of the discipline of sociology. During the semester, we will explore the linkages between individuals and the larger cultures, contexts, and groups in which they live their lives in order to better understand the structure and function of social interaction, human behavior, and the institutional frameworks of society. The over-arching purpose of the course is to instill in you the “sociological imagination”, which can then be used to decipher current social issues and patterns of everyday life.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Description 

The focus of this training seminar is professional socialization—how to get through graduate school and to construct a rewarding career path in population research.  We will spend the semester participating in activities and discussions aimed at providing concrete, practical advice and assistance for getting ahead.  Evaluation (credit/no credit) will be based on attendance and participation (note: attendance at the PRC brown bag series is required of all students).

Readings

None

Grading

100% of the grade is based on attendance and participation

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Description

This course offers an introduction to the theories, methodologies, vocabulary, and themes of the discipline of sociology.  During the semester, we will explore the linkage between individuals and the larger cultures, contexts, and groups in which they live their lives in order to better understand the structure and function of social interaction, human behavior, and the institutional framework of society.  The over-arching purpose of the course is to instill in you the “sociological imagination”, which can then be used to decipher current social issues and patterns of everyday life.  The format of this course is designed to offer students the benefits of both a large lecture class and a small discussion seminar.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, the class will be led by Dr. Crosnoe in a traditional lecture format.  For the third hour, the class will be broken up into smaller units for discussion sections on either Thursday or Friday.  This section, led by one of the teaching assistant, will offer a forum for students to discuss class materials from earlier in the week, explore some new and old topics in greater depth, and engage in exercises intended to provide real world applications of sociological concepts.

Required Texts

Giddens, Anthony, Mitchell Duneier, Richard Appelbaum, and Deborah Carr. 2011. Introduction to Sociology, Eighth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Reader:

Massey, Garth (Ed.). 2011. Readings for Sociology, Seventh Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Grading Policy

Each student is expected to attend all three weekly class meetings, including the Friday discussion section.  Students should complete all readings prior to the class period for which they are assigned and also be ready to contribute to class discussion.

There will be THREE examinations during the semester (75% of final grade).  The exams will draw from both readings and class lectures.  Make-up examinations will not be administered except in extreme circumstances and only if I am notified beforehand.  All make-up examinations are 100% essay.

Students must also complete THREE short papers during the semester (25% of total grade).  These two-page papers are intended to encourage you to think about current issues and events in a sociological way.  Topics will be assigned two weeks before the due date.  No late assignments will be accepted.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

The human life course is divided into meaningful stages, from infancy to the later years.  Childhood and adolescence are two such stages, and both are interesting for several reasons.  First, they differ from other stages in terms of dependence, responsibility, and expectations.  Second, they are training grounds for adult society, so that experiences in these early stages can structure subsequent pathways in positive and negative ways.  Third, they are both largely social constructions, meaning that the taken for granted rules, norms, and values associated with these two stages are created and shaped by larger social contexts and vary considerably across time and place.  In this course, we will explore these issues in depth by mixing scientific evidence with narrative accounts about child and adolescent life.  The semester will be broken down into 3 general areas.  We will begin by talking about the different meanings of childhood and adolescence, turn to discussing variation in the experiences of children and adolescents across the social structure (e.g., race, class, and gender), and end with an examination of how social contexts (e.g., family, school, peer group) influence youth development.

Texts/Readings:

The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls

      Joan Jacobs Brumberg, 1998, Vantage Books

There are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America

      Alex Kotlowitz, 1992, Alfred A. Knopf

Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life

      Annette Lareau, 2003, University of California Press

Assignments:

10%    Class participation

40%    Two short essays (3-4 pages).  These essays are thought pieces.  Assigned topics integrate class discussion and readings and call for students’ own perceptions and opinions.

20%    One oral presentation and write-up.  The topic, chosen and researched by the student, should deal with an area of youth development that requires more study or intervention.

5%      Attendance at University Lecture Series and University Gem

25%    Take-home final examination

About the Professor:

A Plan II alum (1994), Professor Robert Crosnoe received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Stanford University and held a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in demography (the study of populations) and developmental psychology (the study of how people develop from birth to death) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before returning to Austin as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology in 2001.  As a fellow at the Population Research Center, he conducts research on childhood, adolescence, and adulthood with an emphasis on education and the family.  Of particular interest is the phenomenon of resilience—how people succeed in life despite difficult circumstances.  Professor Crosnoe has two young children himself, a son and a daughter.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Course Description:

This course offers an introduction to the theories, methodologies, vocabulary, and themes of the discipline of sociology.  During the semester, we will explore the linkage between individuals and the larger cultures, contexts, and groups in which they live their lives in order to better understand the structure and function of social interaction, human behavior, and the institutional framework of society.  The over-arching purpose of the course is to instill in you the “sociological imagination”, which can then be used to decipher current social issues and patterns of everyday life.The format of this course is designed to offer students the benefits of both a large lecture class and a small discussion seminar.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, the class will be led by Dr. Crosnoe in a traditional lecture format.  For the third hour, the class will be broken up into smaller units for discussion sections on either Thursday or Friday.  This section, led by one of the teaching assistant, will offer a forum for students to discuss class materials from earlier in the week, explore some new and old topics in greater depth, and engage in exercises intended to provide real world applications of sociological concepts.

Course Readings:

Giddens, Anthony, Mitchell Duneier, Richard Applebaum, and Deborah Carr. 2009. Introduction to Sociology, Seventh Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Massey, Garth (Ed.). 2008. Readings for Sociology, Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Course Requirements:

Each student is expected to attend all three weekly class meetings, including the Friday discussion section.  Students should complete all readings prior to the class period for which they are assigned and also be ready to contribute to class discussion.There will be THREE examinations during the semester (75% of final grade).  The exams will draw from both readings and class lectures.  Make-up examinations will not be administered except in extreme circumstances and only if I am notified beforehand.  All make-up examinations are 100% essay.Students must also complete THREE short papers during the semester (25% of total grade).  These two-page papers are intended to encourage you to think about current issues and events in a sociological way.  Topics will be assigned two weeks before the due date.  No late assignments will be accepted.

The educational system encompasses both formal and informal processes.  The formal, such as instruction and learning, generally receive most of the attention in empirical research.  The informal (e.g., socialization, the organization of social relations), however, may be just as important to students’ short- and long-term trajectories.  In other words, the school is a social context in which young people develop as well as an educational institution in which they are taught and exposed to curricula.  The purpose of this graduate seminar is to study this less often explored side of schooling—the school as a social context—by delving into the informal processes of education.  After a brief introduction, this seminar will cover three main areas: 1) the school as a site of social relations, 2) social psychological influences on educational trajectories, and 2) the social psychological consequences of educational experiences.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Course Description
This course offers an introduction to the theories, methodologies, vocabulary, and themes of the discipline of sociology.  During the semester, we will explore the linkage between individuals and the larger cultures, contexts, and groups in which they live their lives in order to better understand the structure and function of social interaction, human behavior, and the institutional framework of society.  The over-arching purpose of the course is to instill in you the “sociological imagination”, which can then be used to decipher current social issues and patterns of everyday life.

The format of this course is designed to offer students the benefits of both a large lecture class and a small discussion seminar.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, the class will be led by Dr. Crosnoe in a traditional lecture format.  For the third hour, the class will be broken up into smaller units for discussion sections on either Thursday or Friday.  This section, led by one of the teaching assistant, will offer a forum for students to discuss class materials from earlier in the week, explore some new and old topics in greater depth, and engage in exercises intended to provide real world applications of sociological concepts.

Course Readings
Giddens, Anthony, Mitchell Duneier, Richard Applebaum, and Deborah Carr. 2009. Introduction to Sociology, Seventh Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Massey, Garth (Ed.). 2008. Readings for Sociology, Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Course Requirements
Each student is expected to attend all three weekly class meetings, including the Friday discussion section.  Students should complete all readings prior to the class period for which they are assigned and also be ready to contribute to class discussion.

There will be THREE examinations during the semester (75% of final grade).  The exams will draw from both readings and class lectures.  Make-up examinations will not be administered except in extreme circumstances and only if I am notified beforehand.  All make-up examinations are 100% essay.

Students must also complete THREE short papers during the semester (25% of total grade).  These two-page papers are intended to encourage you to think about current issues and events in a sociological way.  Topics will be assigned two weeks before the due date.  No late assignments will be accepted.

This course has a writing flag.

Description:

The human life course is divided into meaningful stages, from infancy to the later years. Childhood and adolescence are two such stages, and both are interesting for several reasons.  First, they differ from other stages in terms of dependence, responsibility, and expectations.  Second, they are training grounds for adult society, so that experiences in these early stages can structure subsequent pathways in positive and negative ways.  Third, they are both largely social constructions, meaning that the taken for granted rules, norms, and values associated with these two stages are created and shaped by larger social contexts and vary considerably across time and place.  In this course, we will explore these issues in depth by mixing scientific evidence with narrative accounts about child and adolescent life.  The semester will be broken down into 3 general areas.  We will begin by taking about the different meanings of childhood and adolescence , turn to discussing variation in the experiences of children and adolescents across the social structure (e.g., race, class, and gender), and end with an examination of how social contexts (e.g., family, school, peer group) influence youth development.

Readings:

The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls

Joan Jacobs Brumberg, 1998, Vantage Books

There are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America

Alex Kotlowitz, 1992, Alfred A. Knopf

A Tribe Apart: A Journey Into the Heart of American Adolescence

Patricia Hersch, 1993, Ballantine

One course reader (primary sources from sociologists, psychologists, and educational researchers studying childhood and adolescence)

Requirements:

45%            Three short essays (3-4 pages).  These essays are thought pieces, each dealing with a specific section of the class.  Assigned topics integrate class discussion and readings and call for students’ own perceptions and opinions.

25%            One final examination (essay, cumulative)

15%            One oral presentation.  The topic, chosen and researched by the student, should deal with an area of youth development that requires more study or intervention.

15%            Class participation

About the Professor:

A Plan II alum (1994), Professor Robert Crosnoe received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Stanford University and held a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in demography (the study of populations) and developmental psychology (the study of how people develop from birth to death) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before returning to Austin as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology in 2001.  As a fellow at the Population Research Center, he conducts research on childhood, adolescence, and adulthood with an emphasis on education and the family.  Of particular interest is the phenomenon of resilience—how people succeed in life despite difficult circumstances.  Beyond research, Professor Crosnoe loves baseball, dogs, Coca-Cola, and books.

See attached syllabus in pdf form.

University of Texas at Austin                                                                                          Sociology 389K (46705)

Department of Sociology                                                                                                                   Fall, 2009

                                                                                                                                             F: 10:00 - 12:00

                                                                                                                                                        BUR 214

Training Seminar in Demography

Professor:            Dr. Robert Crosnoe

Office:            Burdine Hall 576

Hours:            By Appointment

Phone:            232-6340

Email:             crosnoe@austin.utexas.edu

The focus of this training seminar is professional socialization—how to get through graduate school and to construct a rewarding career path in population research.  We will spend the semester participating in activities and discussions aimed at providing concrete, practical advice and assistance for getting ahead.  Evaluation (credit/no credit) will be based on attendance and participation (note: attendance at the PRC brown bag series is required of all students).

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

Interdisciplinary topics relating to Women's and Gender Studies.  Seats restricted to WGS MA and Portfolio students during early registration.  Check cross-listings for home departments and originating field of study.