Spokane Falls Community College

Introduction to Sociology
Soc 101 Instructor: Dr. Ping Ping
Office: 14-124
e-mail: ping9615@yahoo.com Office Phone: 533-3236

Section: EA Meeting time: 1:00-3: 30pm Tuesdays and Thursdays

Spring Quarter, 2007
Classroom: Building 14, Rm 122
Personal meeting after class: By appointments.

Description of the Course

What is sociology? What could this course offer you to make your life better? What
truly defines your “self”? Who are you? What is the social process to make “you” the
way you are today? How gender, class, race-ethnicity and culture have shaped the
way you perceive yourself and others? This course will open your eyes by providing
the theoretical perspectives and the concepts that you find them useful to analyze how
your surroundings affect you in a subtle yet determined way. It will help you to start
to think about or solve your wonders by stepping back to examine your own social
location in the society. By having a better understanding of your self, knowing the
restrictions, you will get a better sense of the direction that you can take to better your
own and others’ lives. In a nut shell, this course aims to give you a background
knowledge of the society in which you have lived and are living in your everyday life,
in every moment of your breath. So that you are well prepared to function as a
member of the society.

The emphasis of this course is to cultivate the analytical ability we call it “the
sociological imagination” originated and phrased by the sociologist C. Wright Mills.
In this course, students will be introduced the three basic theoretical perspectives of
sociology: conflict theories, functionalism and symbolic interactionism. This course
also purposes to engage students to take a closer look at a complex, ever changing
social world in which locations, pathways, and boundaries are not fixed.

Lectures will include four parts, i.e. the sociological perspective; social inequalities;
social groups; social institutions. Students will do a group project of field study of
homeless people, sociological news analysis, and term paper on how your “self” was
influenced by the society in which you grew up.
I hope you will find this course interesting, relevant to your life, and inspiring to you

1
as a member of the society.

At the end of this quarter, I expect students can achieve the following outcomes:
(1) To grasp the essence of “the Sociological Imagination”;
(2) Understand the importance of “Don’t take-things-for-granted”, know how to
analyze the wrongful or problematic assumption that people hold subconsciously;
(3) Get familiar with class, gender, race-ethnicity, the Self, social stratification, social
interaction, social structure as the core concepts for this course;
(4) To raise culture sensitivity and be aware of the impact of culture on forming a
person’s identity and attitude;
(5) Be able to identify which sociological perspective is suitable to analyze the social
issues that interesting you.
(6) Understand varied social research methods and the underlying reasoning for using
them for different topics and situations;
(7) Throughout this course, formulate a solid understanding of the concept of
“society” reflected by applying concepts and theories to draw a “map” of the
society and write a term paper about what impacts your grown up experiences.

Required Text:
James M. Henslin, 2006. Sixth Edition. Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth
Approach. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

2
 A Tentative Study Plan

Study Blocks Contents Tests Written Films & Group News

Assignments Analysis Discussion Analysis

Section 1: The Test1 What is your Maya Peter Started by

Introduction, Sociological Wk4 own Lin; Berger’s Wk 6
Wk 1-4 Imagination ethnocentrism? Social article (copy)
and Chap. Change
1, 2,
Section 2: Chap. 7, 8, Test Filed study True Group
Class, Race- 9, 10 2, group project: Colors; Presentation;
Ethnicity and Wk8 What accounts Race Poverty
Gender, Wk 5- for poverty? Matters, Debate
8 Matters
of Race
Section 3: Chap. 3, 4, Test Background The Background
Socialization 5, 6 3, Wk Assumption; Might Assumptions,
and Social 11 What is society Times: Front and
Interaction and your own Rosa Back Stages.
view of “good Park’s
motherhood”? Legacy

A Note on the Study Plan

Classes will consist mostly of interactive lectures and group discussions. The goal
here is to build on the knowledge that you gain from the readings. Here’s how I
expect the classes to work:
 You should plan to do the assigned readings before class meets. When you see a
reading on the syllabus, it means that we will be discussing it on that week.

Following this format and being prepared not only helps you in learning the material,
it also helps to make this class a more productive and enjoyable environment for
everyone. Also, assignments i.e. the specific ones assigned by the instructor, the
sociological news analysis and the term paper are designed to get you engaged in
applying concepts to the reality. Assignments will be evaluated based on your level of
engagement with course materials i.e. the ability to link the sociological concepts and

3
the reality.

Due to the pedagogical accent on student participation and learning, this tentative
study plan can be modified and adjusted as the term unfolds. It is the student’s
responsibility to keep updated with all changes to the course outline and syllabus as
announced in class and website. Therefore I strongly encourage you to attend class
regularly to keep your learning process more effective.

Assignments:

General Direction for the written assignment:

The instructor assigned the topic of the written assignment. Students have to type it
and submit the job on time. Unless I got a written notice explaining the excuse, there
is generally no make up for the written assignment.

General Directions for the sociological news analysis:

The “sociological news analysis” need to meet the following requirements:
 Demonstrate completion of assigned activity
 Summarize the news
 Interpret (analyze/explain) how the news embodies the concept, or how
relevant theoretical perspective(s) could be applied to analyze it
 Support your analysis through use of pertinent course material
(lecture/discussion/readings/other source of materials)
 Developed enough to fill one full page, typed in 10-12 pt font, single-spaced,
with 1” margins
 Do a presentation on your news analysis to the class in 2-3 minutes.

Term Paper assignment: It will be distributed to you in a separate handout around

the 6th week.

Group Project on Homeless people: It will be distributed to you in a separate

handout around the 5th week. My personal assessment in combination with group
peer evaluations will determine your grade in the group project.

Group Discussion and Presentation: The value of your participation in group

discussion and presentation depends on you having completed the reading
assignments before we convert into small groups to discuss the materials. In order to
get evaluated and receive credit, at the end of the class each group shall submit a brief

4
report outlining the relevant arguments to the discussion question (s) posed.

Assessment: The final grade will be computed on the following weights:

Group discussion and presentation 5%

Film analysis sheet submitted and discussion 5%
Written assignments submitted and quality 5%
Sociological news analysis 10%
Group project on homeless people 10%
Class attendance and participation 10%
Three tests (True-false and multiple choice questions, short questions) 30%
Take-home paper 25%

Grade Conversion
Percent competency scores for each of the above categories are totaled (weighted) to
determine an overall percent competency score. This score is applied to the 4.0 scale.

Percent Grade Percent Grade Percent Grade

95 4.0 83 2.9 72 1.8
94, 93 3.9 82 2.8 71 1.7
92 3.8 81 2.7 70 1.6
91 3.7 80 2.6 69 1.5
90 3.6 79 2.5 68 1.4
89 3.5 78 2.4 67 1.3
88 3.4 77 2.3 66 1.2
87 3.3 76 2.2 65 1.0
86 3.2 75 2.1 64 0.9
85 3.1 74 2.0 63, 62 0.8
84 3.0 73 1.9 61, 60 0.7

59 0.6
58 0.5

Course Policy:

5
1. Complete and submit your work on the due-date specified in-class. Any
exceptions to this must be approved by me before the day your work is due.

2. Course participation: Regular class attendance is expected of all students and

will significantly influence the final grade in the course. Students who do not
make a serious attempt to attend as regularly as possible will not receive a
positive grade regardless of the scores on tests and other assignments. The
instructor will randomly check the attendance once a week. If a student
has 4 times of absence without any advance or post notice, the whole
attendance and participation will be “0” and also results in the final grade
negatively. In addition, if tardiness appears to be a pattern without any
explanation, the instructor will take it as disrespectful to the whole class and
requires a solution. A full class participation also includes actively bringing in
relevant topics and issues to the class discussion.

If you must leave the classroom early, inform me earlier or turn in a written
note as I enter the classroom. Otherwise early leave will also be counted as
equivalent to tardiness to the class.

3. Complete the tests on time. No make-ups will be given unless it is an

absolute emergency. In other words, make-ups will be allowed only for the
compelling reason determined by me and only if I was notified prior to your
absence.

4, Academic integrity is expected of all students. If there is evidence that a

student is cheating or participating in other dishonest activities (e.g .plagiarism),
the student will receive a failing grade for this course.

5. Follow the standards for classroom behavior. There is no tolerance for

disruptive behaviors in the classroom. Students are also responsible for helping
set up a positive and enjoyable learning atmosphere. Following are some
examples of disruptive classroom behaviors:
- Personal conversations between classmates;
- On cell phones during class time or test time;
- On ear phones during class time or test time;
- Rude, disrespectful, contemptuous or offensive language, posturing or
gestures;
- Chattering;

6
 - Excessive or disruptive lateness;
- Unexcused exiting or premature preparing to exit class.
Again, all cell phones and ear phones have to be turned off. Every student is
expected to observe these standards.