Social
Stratification
Sociology 412
- University of North Carolina
Course
website: http://tedmouw.sites.oasis.unc.edu/soc112/soc112.html (login and password given in
class, it’s not your UNC Onyen)
Course grades:
On Canvas, canvas.unc.edu (login with your UNC Onyen)
|
Professor: Ted Mouw |
Teaching Assistant: Yue
Zhang |
|
263 Pauli Murray
(962-5602) |
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|
email: tedmouw@email.unc.edu |
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Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays by
appointment. |
Office Hours: TBA |
_________________________________________________________________________________
Contacts
You can reach me by email at tedmouw@email.unc.edu. For simple questions, this is the quickest
way to reach me. I will also be
available before and after class to answer questions. I welcome your questions and opinions. For more difficult questions, please come to
see me during office hours.
Teaching
Philosophy
I believe that the classroom experience can be both
fun and intellectually stimulating. I
will have high standards for your participation and performance in the
course. At the same time, the class will
be a friendly environment. For example, I will expect you to come to class
prepared to discuss, and I will call on you to participate in class. However, class participation will be conducted
with a mixture of seriousness, humor, and respect to ensure a diversity of
opinions and a supportive atmosphere for participation.
I have deliberately selected the reading for this
course to reflect this lack of consensus.
My guiding principle has been to avoid textbooks that spoon-feed
answers, but to give you a sample of the diversity of opinion. I believe that the function of the college
classroom is to confront opposing arguments rather than ignore them. The
challenge is for you to sort through these conflicting perspectives, and my
expectation is that the class will work cooperatively to decide what is
“right.” As much as possible, I will try
to moderate a discussion based on the reading rather than impose my own views
of what is right and wrong.
Requirements
Components of
your grade:
|
1) |
1 point per
class** |
28 points |
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2) Class
Discussion |
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65 points |
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4) In-class
essays (6) |
25 points
each, drop worst grade |
125 points
(25 x 5) |
|
5) Final |
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50 points |
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6) Final
paper |
50 points |
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|
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Note: Your grades will be posted on Sakai.
1) Class
Attendance & Reading notes:
My expectation is that you will come to class
everyday prepared to discuss the assigned reading. The reading in this class is not
optional. As much as possible, I will
try not to repeat things in lecture that were covered in the reading. The class discussion and lecture will begin
where the reading left off.
On the class schedule page on the web, you we see
links to reading questions for each class period. As you do the reading, take notes on these
questions. Note: If you see a question
preceded by a double asterisk (**), you do not need to take notes on it.
These are intended to be notes, so you do not need
to write in full sentences or complete paragraphs. All I want to see is evidence that you have
read and thought about the material. I
only expect you to turn approximately 1-page of notes.
Each day’s questions are worth 1 point. They are graded on a check-plus (1 points),
check (0.9 points), and check-minus (0.5 point) basis. If you don’t turn it in (0 points) or get a
check-minus, then that assignment will count as 2 points. (The extra point in
the denominator will show up in a separate section of the Blackboard
gradebook).
Reading notes will be submitted via Canvas, and they
will not be accepted once class starts.
Absence policy
on reading notes:
If you let me know in advance, you may turn your
reading notes in ahead of time if you have a scheduled absence for full credit.
If you are not able to attend class, you may email
the TA your reading notes as long as they arrive in his/her email box by the
time class ends. No late reading notes will be accepted after the end of each class. The only exceptions to this policy are
medical situations accompanied by a doctor’s note. If you turn in the reading notes and duck out
of class, you get partial credit (1 point).
1B) Class
attendance
Class attendance is mandatory. Because this is a discussion class, I expect
you to be present in class and prepared to contribute.
I will take attendance each class. If you miss more than 3 classes during the
semester, every additional absence will lower your class grade by 2 percentage
points.
Example: You
have a 91 average and miss 5 classes.
Your final grade is an 88, a B+.
For your first 3 absences, it doesn’t matter why you
were absent. (The first three absences
count as “unexcused absences” regardless of the reason).
Absences after #3 that are (1) related to UNC
athletics or (2) accompanied by a doctor’s note, may be made up (i.e., so your
final grade is not penalized) by adding 2-pages
on to your final paper per absence, and making the final paper a research
paper, with at least outside 10 references and a bibliography. Research papers will be graded as research
papers, not as essays (i.e., my expectation will be higher).
Unexcused absences after the 6th
unexcused absence may be made up by turning your final paper into a 10 page
research paper + 2 pages for each absence after #6, with at least 15 outside
references. Your grade will still be
penalized 6 percentage points for absences #4-#6 (2 per class).
Example: You have a 91 average but have missed 10
classes. Normally, your final grade
would be 14 points lower. Instead, you
may write an 18 page research paper, and be penalized 6 points for absences.
If you miss
more than 14 classes, you will automatically fail the class. The only exception would be a serious medical
illness that required an extended hospital stay. It is your responsibility to keep me informed
of your situation during extended absences or I will drop you from the class.
2) Class
Discussion
I
expect everyone to come to class prepared to discuss. Your class participation
is worth 65 points, or about 20% of your grade.
As
discussed above in “Teaching Philosophy” I want the classroom environment to be
supportive of discussion and not frightening.
Please come and talk to me during office hours if you are worried about
participating in class…we will find a solution.
Here
is a set of expectations that will be used to evaluate your overall discussion
grade at the end of the course:
|
Grade |
Criteria |
|
F/D |
Did not participate
and/or was disruptive. |
|
C |
Present, not
disruptive. Tries to
respond when called on but does not offer much. Demonstrates
very infrequent involvement in discussion. |
|
B- |
Demonstrates
adequate preparation: knows basic case or reading facts, but does not show
evidence of trying to interpret or analyze them. Offers
straightforward information (e.g., straight from the case or reading),
without elaboration or very infrequently. Does not
offer to contribute to discussion, but contributes to a moderate degree when
called on. Demonstrates
sporadic involvement (i.e. does not participate every discussion period) |
|
B/B+ |
Demonstrates
good preparation: knows case or reading facts well, has thought through
implications of them. Offers
interpretations and analysis of case material (more than just facts) to
class. Contributes
well to discussion in an ongoing way: responds to other students' points,
thinks through own points, questions others in a constructive way, offers and
supports suggestions that may be counter to the majority opinion. Demonstrates
consistent ongoing involvement. |
|
A |
Demonstrates
excellent preparation: has analyzed case exceptionally well, relating it to
readings and other material (e.g., readings, course material, discussions,
experiences, etc.). Offers
analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of case material, e.g., puts together
pieces of the discussion to develop new approaches that take the class
further. Contributes
in a very significant way to ongoing discussion: keeps analysis focused,
responds very thoughtfully to other students' comments, contributes to the
cooperative argument-building, suggests alternative ways of approaching
material and helps class analyze which approaches are appropriate, etc. Demonstrates
ongoing very active involvement. Does not
ramble, does not try to dominate class discussion. |
slightly modified, from Martha L. Maznevski,
Assistant Professor,
http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Spring_1996/TC_Spring_1996_Maznevski.htm
I
expect that the average discussion grade will be between a B and a B+.
Basic
rules for class discussion:
1)
Raise your hand before talking.
2)
If you have already spoken more than 1-2 times that day, I may not call on you
if there are other hands that are up.
3)
Do not ramble…try to keep your responses focused. I may cut you off after 15-20 seconds…please
do not be offended.
4)
Do not attempt to dominate class discussion.
Show respect for those you disagree with. At the same time, taking the opposite point
of view with a credible argument is encouraged.
5)
This applies to the whole class, not just class discussion: Do not surf the web
or study for other classes during class.
6)
No cellphone use during class.
3) In-class essays
Each of these will be a single 20-minute essay
question. The material covered will be
everything since the previous in-class essay.
Typically, these essay questions will be taken from the reading
questions or the discussion questions in class (see the class notes for a list
of questions).
Absence policy on in-class essays: If you miss an in-class essay please talk to
the TA to coordinate a time and place for a makeup. Makeup essays will be 15-minutes long and will
be on a different question from the one given in class. Makeup essays must be completed within a week
of the original in-class essay. It is
your responsibility to make sure you get it done. No credit will be given for essays after the
1-week deadline.
4) Final
Exams
The final exams will consist of short answer and
essay questions. A study guide will be
posted 1 week before each exam.
Note: see the
Registrar’s exam calendar for the exam time, http://regweb.oit.unc.edu/calendars/index.php
5)
Short Paper
A short paper of 5 pages is due the day on 11/18.
The paper should explore one of the subjects discussed in class, but the
specific topic is open. Ask me (or email
me) if you have any questions about the possible topics. If you turn a
draft of your paper in two weeks before the due date, I will read it and give
you comments on it.
Grades will be assigned as follows: 93-100%=A, 90-92%=A-,
87-89%=B+, 83-86%=B, 80-82%=B-, 77-79%=C+, 73-76%=C, 70-72%=C-,
67-69%=D+,
63-66%=D, 60-62%=D-, below 60=F
(fractions of a point will be rounded down)
Note: the official class schedule is on the class web
page. The class schedule and readings
may change, so don’t print all the reading notes at the beginning of the
semester.