Introduction to Sociology
Professor Larry Stern
Reading Assignments, Lecture Notes & Web Sites

Units 3A & 3B: Theoretical Perspectives and Images of Social Life

Macionis, Society: The Basics, chapter 1, pp. 13—19, chapter 4 (Social Interaction in Everyday Life)

Class Lecture Notes: Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology: Micro-Approaches

Class Lecture Notes: Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology: Macro-Approaches

Videos:

The Daily Show: The Thin Jew Line

Facebook Manners and You

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Class Discussions

1. How do Facebook pages illustrate Goffman's notion of "impression management"?

2. The structural-functional approach to the study of society stresses that (among other things) the major institutions in society – family, polity, economy, religion, education, science – operate independently and that each has specific functions they fulfill that keeps society operating smoothly. But since these institutions are part of the same system, they are also both interdependent and interpenetrating; whatever happens in one institution will affect all of the others. Problems arise, however, because important differences will be found in the goals each institution strives to attain as well as in the core beliefs, values, and interests each institution places emphasis upon. Think about this last point with reference to a current controversy posed by the intersection of two or more institutions (i.e., separation of church and state; teaching intelligent design in biology classes; using economic principles to assess educational outcomes; home schooling; textbook/curriculum debates.)

3. Symbolic interactionists stress the importance of language and show how the creation, definition, and sharing of sybmols (language is one type) are "socially constructed." This means, of course, that the meanings that are attached to symbols can change over time. The "swastika" - a symbol that today carries extremely negative overtones, has had an interesting social history. Read and think about the two brief accounts Symbolism: The Swastika Before World War II and Let the Swastika Bring You Luck in this New Year to illustrate this process. Next, either choose a word in the English language that has changed its meaning over the past decades - like the word "straight" - and think about how its changing definition is linked with cultural changes occuring in society at the time OR choose a word that is either unique to a particular sub-culture or is defined differently by different groups today, and think abut how social factors have shaped the social construction of the word's meaning.