Sociology 4035 Spring, 1997

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

Professor: Martha E. Gimenez
Office: Ketchum 205A
E-mail: Gimenez@csf.colorado.edu
Telephone: 492-7080

OFFICE HOURS: T 11:00 - 12:00, 2:00 - 3:00 and by appointment.

VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS: Every day, any time. All students are encouraged to ask questions using email.

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 the following:

1. A take home mid-term exam composed of short essay questions. Due March 4 (35 percent of the grade).
2. A take home final exam composed of essay questions. Due May 10 (40 percent of the grade).
3. A short paper (at most five double spaced pages) based on your analysis of some of the information provided in the S. Rose booklet and poster. Due April 15 (25 percent of the grade).

IMPORTANT: The quality of your class participation can raise or lower your grade for the course.

REQUIRED READINGS:

Daniel W. Rossides, SOCIAL STRATIFICATION. The Interplay of Class, Race, and Gender. Prentice-Hall (2nd. ed), 1997 (R).

Katherine S. Newman, DECLINING FORTUNES. The Withering of the American Dream. Basic Books, 1993 (N).

Stephen Rose, SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN AMERICA. The New Press.

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. andom House, 1990.

Paula Rothenberg, ed., RACE, CLASS & GENDER IN THE UNITED STATES. An Integrated Study. St Martin's Press, 1992.

SCHEDULED READINGS

Jan. 14 -21 An Introduction to Stratification Analysis

               Stratification Through History 
               Stratification Among Societies (R)

Jan. 22-30     Theories of Social Stratification (R)

Feb.  4-6      Theories of Social Stratification 
               Creative Advances in Stratification Analyses (R)

Feb. 11-18     Economic Classes I
               Economic Classes II (R)

Feb. 20-27     The Class Position of... African Americans (R)
               The Class Position of... Mexican, Puerto Rican,
               and Cuban Americans (R)

March 4        Gender Inequality.... (R)

March 6-13     The End of Entitlement
               Winners and Losers in the Eighties and the        
               Nineties
               The Making of the Boomers (N)

March 18-20 Class, Marriage, Family..... (R)

               The Problem of the Moral Mother (N)
               Class and Education (R)

SPRING BREAK

April 1-10     The Legitimation of Class Inequality (R)
               The Prestige Dimension.... (R)
               The Spoiled Generation
               Illegitimate Elites and the Parasitic....
               The Fractured Generation (N)

April 15-17 The Politics of Generational Division (N)

               Class and How Americans Associate...
               The Dimensions of Power.... (R)

April 22-24 The Dimensions of Power...

               Class, Legislation, and Government
               Class, Law and Deviance (R)

April 29       REVIEW
               The American Class System (R)

May 10 FINAL EXAM DUE