SOAN 453: Senior Seminar
Spring 2000 T 3:00-5:30, Alumni 432
Professor Thomas D. Hall
A. Lindsay O'Connor Professor of American Institutions
417 Alumni Hall, x7545, email:thall; web: people.colgate.edu/thall
Last Updated: 1-18-00
OFFICE HOURS: Tu 6-7; Th 3-5, & by
appointment
Syllabus
The "doing sociology" is circumscribed in many ways. Obviously you must be done this semester, (for deadlines see Course Schedule). This limits the resources with which you can work. The areas of sociology from which the thesis may come are quite broad: some sort of social problem. The one main restriction--which will be explained below--is that the problem must be analyzed in a global perspective. Finally, this is a seminar, which means that in addition to individual requirements (the thesis) there are COLLECTIVE requirements. A seminar is a regular meeting in which people interested in a topic come to discuss that topic in an informed, intellectual manner. This means coming prepared--having done the reading, and evan more important having done some thinking. To come in unprepared is to insult your classmates, the instructor, and the entire idea of senior seminar.
Seminar Policies & Attendance
I do not want to sound too harsh, but you must treat seminar as your most important class
in all four years. Every other class waits for it. Among other things, because this
classes uses and helps you to use all the other classes you have taken.
If everyone does comes prepared seminar will be quite a bit of fun, and
you will be able to "do" much of the work as part of class. A successful
seminar will help you cement together your entire major so it will stick with you and so
you can use this knowldge throughout your life. The usual expectations for students also
apply. See Professor Hall's Expectations for Students and himself.
Now, that should not be too bad. We will have "covered" most of the collective material in the first few weeks before midterms and papers are due in other classes. After that you will be working on your own project. You will schedule meetings with me as needed. Then, in April we will resume meeting ALL together to start hearing results, critiquing, advising, clarifying, and finish with final presentations.
Attendance
Given both this structure, and that we meet only once a week. Attendance at all seminars
is mandatory. This also means you must schedule other activities,
such as job interviews, social meetings, etc. around the seminar. There are NO
excused absences. Keep in mind that missing one seminar is the same as missing an entire week of another class. During the two weeks of presentations
we may run over 5:30 end of class [although I will try to avoid this] so plan on that now.
On more fun note, on the last night, May 9, we most likely will run over--depending on
what you plan for the celebration.
Social Problems in Global Perspective
You have already received a preliminary description of the seminar. In order for a seminar
to function as a seminar, it needs a topic. Remember, for me
"global" means both planetary AND historical. Why
this is so will become very clear in the first few weeks. In terms of many of the capstone
goals, what the topic is does not matter: as long as there is one, and it is sociological
or anthropological!
I picked Social Problems in a Global Perspective for a variety of reasons:
The basic idea is to take ANY social problem--you pick & define the problem and argue why it is a problem--and place it in global perspective. A key point is defining and arguing why the problem is a social problem. Basically, you will need to research how the problem you pick is shaped, influenced, caused, reflects, or changes international and global forces, events, or processes. Or, rarely, why this is NOT so. How you do this will depend on the problem you pick to study. The readings and our discussions of them during the first part of the seminar will help set up several global perspectives. We will examine such processes as globalization (how things are becoming similar all over the world, or a bigmac is bigmac is a bigmac--no matter where you are), glocalization (how global processes manifest themselves locally, often in different forms), how & if the world-system is changing; how it is different from what came before. The readings will help you get started.
SOME POSSIBLE TOPICS:
Changing family structures
Changing labor force participation
Changing gender roles
Changing roles of indigenous peoples in the world
Changing nature/manifestation or racial and/or ethnic groups
Changing nature of social movements
Changing nature of poverty
Changing employment structures and how they affect race & gender relations
Colonization
Decolonization
Drug Trade
Drug Use
Ethnic Conflicts (in US &/or elsewhere)
Hunger: in the US or Globally
Immigration from the Third World
Migrations
Political Refugees
etc, etc, etc.
In short, you can address any topic you choose and place it in a global context. The idea here, is to pull together everything you have learned about sociology and anthropology in a way that is meaningful to you by studying a problem YOU argue that it is important to study.
In brief, there are two "assignments" for the seminar. First, to write a thesis on a social problem which puts that problem in a global perspective, (or in rare cases explains precisely why a particular problem is NOT global, but only local). The second is to determine how to develop a theory of social problems that is global in its scope.
A Hidden Agenda
The third "assignment," the hidden agenda, is whether and how to develop a
course on global social problems. Ideally, such a course would fit in Sociology,
Anthropology, and Conflict Studies. Some issues are what is an appropriate course,
the level at which it should be taught (100, 200, 300, 400), what materials work and do
not work, types of assignments etc. As graduating seniors you are in an excellent position
to help me design this course. I hope you will think of doing this as your
"graduation" present to your junior colleagues and to the department.
The Readings
Since I picked the topic, I picked some books, listed below to get us
started. Some inspired this course. Some I have just read myself, and they have already
caused me to rethink some of the issues. Some I will be reading with you for the
first time. I have also put a few things on reserve in the resource room, Alumni 439.
For texts [in the bookstore] see the Text & Reserves
List.
For more details see Course Schedule. I will update this schedule weekly, adjusting the schedule to reflect or progress and our shifting interests. Here is rough overview of what and how we will read these:
On the first day January 25, I will discuss the course and give an overview. The readings and associated topics. Try to read all these for the next meeting. Read them to get a sense of what the books are about and what in them will be most helpful to you. After we discuss these readings in the first 2 or 3 meetings, and you begin to narrow your choice of social problem to study, we will design the remainder of the schedule. What I list below is not as much as it seems: introductory essays are easy to read, some of it will be familiar to some of you, some of it will not be. Concentrate on the material that is new, use the rest to refresh yourself on what you have learned in other courses. See Readings Week 1 & 2.
Tentative Schedule of Activities
We will take 6 to 8 meetings to go over readings and discuss issues. This will take us
until sometime in March depending on our pace. Each week some students will be assigned to
present the readings and others will be "scribes," that is official note takers.
The point of the latter is to allow freer discussion because everyone is not so
busy scribbling furiously to get notes. For instructions on how to present readings
see How to present readings to the class.
By the third meeting [Feb. 8] you need to choose the social problem you will study. This need be no more than a short note [or email] naming it. By the fifth meeting [Feb. 22] you will need to turn a typed discussion of your "problem." See Thesis Proposal and Annotated Bibliography for more details on this.
Once we finish the readings, we will break to work on individual projects. This will be late October and early November. During this time we will NOT meet as a group. Rather, you will need to schedule individual meeting with me to discuss your thesis and your progress on it. Most of these meetings will be during the time seminar would have met.
We will then resume meeting regularly in April for presentations of drafts of theses. I will have separate pages describing presentations of thesis. This will be where the seminar truly becomes a seminar. For each presentation, everyone [except, obviously, the presenter] must provide oral discussion of the thesis and written comments due within 24 hours. I will collect these comments, add my own, and give feedback to the presenter. Making these comments is a vital part of the course. This is how we all, together, help everyone write the best possible thesis. Failure to make comments in a timely and thoughtful way will have consequences for your grade. See How to present you thesis to the seminar.
You have two choices for completing your seminar paper. First, if you turn in your thesis during week 14 [April 25]. I will read it and give you feed back, and if it is sufficiently done, a provisional grade. I strongly urge all of you to do this, most of your grade hangs on your thesis, so this gives you some feedback and some time to correct it. It is better to turn in a poor draft and get some feedback, then to wait until it is too late, and not have sufficient time to implement the feedback. In the rare case where the draft receives a grade you find acceptable, you will be finished with the thesis. If you do not accept the grade, or it was insufficient for a grade, you will have until the last day of classes [May 5] to turn in your thesis. For those presenting last and who have extensive revisions, I may extend the due date until the scheduled final. Those who do not turn in a draft MUST turn in their thesis on the last day of classes [May 5].
Again, I do not want to be overly harsh, but I must emphasize that a thesis can not be accepted after the scheduled final. Grades for seniors are due too quickly. A thesis not turned in by the final will not be graded in time for graduation. In the cosmic order of the universe, a "C" on a thesis, is better than delayed graduation. I reserve the right to lower the grade on a thesis by a letter or more for being late. I sincerely hope no one ends up with either a C or a delayed graduation.
We will conclude with two events:
GRADES:
Your grade will be determined as follows:
Thesis
70
%
Reading Presentations 15 %
Comments on Theses
15 %
I will NOT give letter grades to reading presentations or comments, but grade as +, 0, -. With a decent job being a 0; + for outstanding, and - for one that is clearly deficient. I will then look at the overall result of all of these. If you have several +'s it can raise your grade above what you receive on the thesis; if you have several -'s it can lower your grade below what you receive on the thesis.
COMMUNICATIONS WITH PROF HALL
The best way to get in touch with me is by email. Assignments and general issues will be
posted on this website.
Send comments or questions to thall@mail.colgate.edu