Syllabus

 

General

This is a seminar and the main activity will be the discussion of the assigned readings and the issues raised by those readings. The members of the seminar will be asked to read the equivalent of three journal articles or book chapters each week. I am not concerned with covering a lot of material on a superficial level. I am more interested in examining in detail some of the seminal works in the sociology of culture. In particular, I am interested in understanding how researchers in this field go about identifying significant theoretical issues and conducting original empirical research on those issues.

One of the unique aspects of this seminar is that sociology itself represents a relatively autonomous field of cultural production. As such, it is the site of struggles over cultural authority. Consequently, one of the goals of this seminar is to empower students to become cultural producers in their own right. We will seek to learn the "rules of the game" required to succeed in sociology as field of cultural production.

Seminar Participation

Students will be expected to have read and thought about the readings assigned each week. I will randomly ask students to discuss certain aspects of these readings and will grade them each week on their understanding of these readings. Of course, students are encouraged to pose their own questions to the other members of the seminar. I do not expect that every student will be prepared to discuss all of the readings each week. Therefore, every student will be granted three "passes" during the semester. Students who does not want to be asked any questions about the assigned readings during the seminar that week must notify the instructor in advance that they wish to use one of their passes. If they use their pass, they will not be asked any questions or graded on their participation in the seminar that week. Absence from class, without prior permission from the instructor, will be counted as a pass.

Readings

I have assigned two books for this course. Although we will read several chapters from each book, they are intended primarily as reference resources. Most of the assigned readings will be journal articles that I will post on the internet in PDF format so that students can download copies to their own computers. The two assigned books are:

Pierre BOURDIEU, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Harvard, 1984.

Lyn SPILLMAN (ed.), Cultural Sociology. Blackwell, 2002.

Term Paper

In addition to participating in seminar discussions, each student will be required to write one term paper. This term paper will be due at the end of the semester. However, one week during the semester will be devoted to student presentations in which students will explain, in outline form, the topic of their paper to the members of the seminar. These will not be formal presentations but will, instead, be viewed as preliminary discussions of their "ideas in progress." Consequently, these presentations will not be graded.

The term paper, which is meant to correspond to the introduction, theory, and methods sections of an article manuscript, must be no more than fifteen pages in length. It can be shorter. It must include a separate reference section that lists all of the articles, chapters, and books cited in the paper. The purpose of this paper is to identify a problem that can be addressed using theories and concepts from the sociology of culture, to discuss why this is an important and significant problem for sociologists, and to suggest ways in which this problem might be studied empirically. This project is intended to teach students something of the craft of writing journal articles.

Grading

Seminar participation, based on questions and answers that reveal a thorough understanding of the assigned material each week, will account for two-thirds of the grade. Students will receive weekly grades on their participation in the seminar. These grades will be posted on the internet by the last four digits of the student identification number. The term paper will account for the remaining one-third of the grade. Students who have any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this seminar should do not hesitate to share them with me. Students should feel free to question the relevance of certain topics and suggest alternatives. I want this seminar to be an interesting and productive experience for everyone.

Office Hours

I encourage you to talk with me if you have any problems with the class. My normal office hours for this class are from 3:30 to 5:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays. However, I am often in my office after 3:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is best if you send me an e-mail, in advance, if you would like meet with me so we can arrange a mutually convenient time. My office is located in 250 Wilson. My e-mail address is allenm@wsu.edu. My telephone number is 335-2282.