Sociology 4035 Fall, 1994
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Professor: Martha E. Gimenez
Office: Hunter 206
EMAIL: GIMENEZ@SPOT.COLORADO.EDU
Telephone: 492-7080
OFFICE HOURS: T 10:00 - 12:00 and by appointment
VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS: Every day, any time. All students are encouraged to ask questions using email. Questions and answers will be posted so that everyone benefits.
Course Description:
The study of theories of social, race/ethnic, sex, and age stratification. Social inequality in the United States will be examined in a comparative context, giving emphasis to the analysis of resulting conflicts.
Course Requirements:
This is a lecture and discussion course. Students will be expected to attend classes regularly, read all assignments and come prepared to participate in class, small groups discussions, and structured debates. Class participation will be assessed by the quality of the comments made.
Comments that enhance the learning experience of the whole class will be rewarded.
Comments that lower the quality of the learning experience (e.g., complaints, requests for information which you can obtain through other channels, comments that show lack of preparation, etc.) will lower your grade.
Lectures will be brief and focused on theoretical analysis and integration, setting the background for students' participation. Lectures will be related to but WILL NOT necessarily cover every aspect of the assigned readings; they are designed to supplement, NOT to replicate the texts.
Grades will be based on your best three scores from four exams, including the (comprehensive) final. Each exam is worth 25 percent of the grade. The quality of your class participation can raise or lower your grade for the course. The exams will be part objective and part short-essay questions. The exams are scheduled for September 30, October 28, November 21, and December 12 (the final exam).
Written study questions will be distributed regularly and will be used to create the exam questions.
REQUIRED READINGS:
Robert A. Rothman, INEQUALITY AND STRATIFICATION. Class, Color, and Gender. Prentice-Hall (second edition), 1993.
James Curtis and Lorne Tepperman, HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS. An International Reader on Social Inequality. Prentice-Hall, 1994. (C and T in your scheduled readings).
SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL READINGS
Denny Braun, THE RICH GET RICHER. The Rise of Income Inequality in the United States and the World. Nelson-Hall Publishers, 1991.
Kevin Phillips, THE POLITICS OF RICH AND POOR. Wealth and the American Electorate in the Reagan Aftermath. Random House, 1990.
Paula Rothenberg, ed., RACE, CLASS & GENDER IN THE UNITED STATES. An Integrated Study. St Martin's Press, 1992.
SCHEDULED READINGS
Aug. 24-31 Rothman, Chs. 1 and 2.
C and T, Introduction: Why Social Inequality
Occurs, and Introduction to Economic Inequality
(pp. 25-38)
Sept. 2-9 Rothman, Chs. 2 and 3.
C and T, Introduction to Economic Inequality
(pp. 25-38) "How the Poor Survive in a Bangladesh
Village" and "The Black Underclass in America"
(C and T, pp. 39-49).
Sept. 12-28 Rothman, Ch. 7.
C and T, Section 2: Explanations of Economic
Inequality (pp. 76-112).
September 30 FIRST EXAM
Oct. 3-14 C and T, Section 3: Responses to Economic
Inequality (pp. 113-150).
Oct. 17-26 Rothman, Ch. 9
C and T, Introduction to Power Inequality (pp.
151-159), and Section 4: Patterns of Power
Relations (pp. 160-195)
October 28 SECOND EXAM
Oct.31-Nov.11 Rothman, Chs. 4
C and T, Section 5, Explanations of Power
Inequality (pp. 196-234)
Rothman, Chs. 4 and 5.
Nov. 14-18 Rothman, Ch. 6
"Development and the Elimination of Poverty"
"Winning Sweden's War Against Poverty"
(C and T, pp. 113-123).
November 21 THIRD EXAM
Nov. 28-Dec. 7 Rothman, Chs. 8 and 10
"Brown Racism and a World System of Racial
Stratification"
"Educational Failure and Positive Discrimination"
"Merit and Power"
"Models of Conflict and Ethnocentrism"
December 12 FINAL EXAM: 7:30 - 10:30 AM