| SOC 304I: FAMILIES OF THE WORLD FALL 2002, FANER 1222, TU & TH 9:35-10.50 Instructor: Shyamal Kumar Das, Department of Sociology GOALS: Families of the World (FOW) deals with: (1) the diversity among family patterns around the world; and (2) the impacts of social change on these families. The course’s main concern is not the highly industrialized societies like the US; rather it focuses mainly on families in other societies, which are considered traditional or semi-modern. There are two rationales for paying attention to these kinds of societies: (1) they are most diverse in nature and pattern; and (2) in recent years the impact of development on these societies has been tremendous. We will discuss some of the gender issues that are related to family in this respect, and three prevailing theories concerning the basic forms will be addressed. OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE: (a) to increase awareness and appreciation of diversity in family patterns in the societies of the world; (b) to understand the diverse theories that compete in explaining family patterns. INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF THE COURSE: A significant number of materials are incorporated from various disciplines. Anthropology, History, Social Demography, Development Studies, and Sociology give us information about various types of family life. Theories to be covered in the course are: structural-functional, theories based on socio-biological premises, and conflict theories. These theories largely deal with the age-old nature-nurture controversy, and they are grounded on the premises of the just-mentioned disciplines. For instance, conflict theories have strong roots in Development Studies, which is interdisciplinary by its very nature covering various elements from Anthropology, Economics, Sociology, Political Science, Demography, and so on. In our venture during the whole semester, we will engage ourselves in identifying the points of debates among proponents of these theories. GRADING CRITERIA: The final grade will be calculated on the basis of
merit points (maximum of 500). Points are accumulated as follows: The cut-off lines are as follows: Letter Grade Low Percentage Point Range A 90% 450-500 The course grade will not be curved. Brief Descriptions of Grading Criteria: Two essay type questions: 15 X 2 = 30 The quizzes will contain multiple choice questions. However, it is necessary to mention here that I have the discretion to change the format if I feel to do so. I hate to provide study-guide to students. If you can not understand any concept or any point, you may come and feel free to ask me any question. Don’t ask me for study-guide.
(b) Interview Based Paper: By the end of seventh week, a student is supposed
to submit a two/three page outline with a working bibliography. Before
writing up your outline, you have to talk to me, and take my approval.
This is mandatory. I would not grade your outline if you do not clear
your project from me. It is a student’s free choice to select topic
of his/her own interest as long as applying some major concepts of FOW.
The paper has to be a comparative analysis of at least two cultures. The
theme may cover issues like differential parental roles, or taboos, or
various impacts of social change, or anything else that is covered in
FOW. The outline should contain a brief description of the, which is supposed
to be a road-map of the project. The concepts/theories to be used have
to be mentioned in this description. I will provide a handout regarding
this. My main concern is to see how you apply these concepts in your paper.
Five points will be off for each class meeting passing after the deadline.
All papers will be graded on the basis of your argument, critical thinking, application of concepts, accuracy of description, organization, spelling, and grammar. References: If you use more than three words from any material, you need to put quote marks and cite the page number and source. In case of using close paraphrase, you should also provide this information as well. If you use information from web pages, you require write the complete citation so that I can double check this. Do not use personal web-sites. I would appreciate the references from scholarly journals and books than from newspapers and magazines. After reviewing your bibliography, I will let you know which references are acceptable and which are not. If your work purposely miscites anything or anybody, I will consider this as grounds for your having a failing grade on that. Any kind of plagiarism and fraud will be taken into account as the ground of giving you a failing grade, and taking the matter to the university disciplinary committee. Attendance Policy: Attendance is mandatory. I will add points 25 in your
grade for class attendance. In addition to these two books, we will use some relevant articles. Some of them are reserved in the library. Others can be checked out from the periodical section of the library. SCHEDULE OF WEEKLY TOPICS AND READINGS Note: Some of the readings mentioned below have taken specific theoretical stands. The letters before these readings indicate these stands. The letters are as follows: [c] = Conflict Theory, [sb] = Sociobiology, and [f] = Functionalism. The letter “R” at end of any material denotes that it is reserved in the library. The course is divided into two parts. Part I deals with Reflections on some of the variations in World Family Patterns, and Part II discusses Social Change and Family. August 20: Introduction
August 22- 29: Human Sexuality and Family Norms: Beliefs and Practices Pasternak, Ember, and Ember, Chapter 1, pp. 1-12, and Chapter 2, pp. 13-44 Sept 3-5: Gender Roles: Division of Labor and Social Behavior Ember and Ember, Chapter 3, pp. 45-78 Sept 10: Video: Nomads of the Rain Forest Sept 12-17: Theories, Part I: Functionalism [f] Murdock, George P. 1949. Social Structure, Chapter 1, “ The
Nuclear Family”, pp. 1-22 (R). Sept 26- Oct 1: Theories, Part III, Conflict Theory Oct 3- 8: Forms of Marriage and Marital Residence Ember and Ember, Chapter 4, Marriage and Other Relationships Oct 8: Outline and Working Bibliography for Research Paper and interview based papers are due Oct 10-15: Love, Sexual Property and, Sexual Jealousy [sb] Daly, Martin, Margo Wilson, and Suzanne J. Weghorst. 1982. “
Male Sexual Jealousy”, Ethology and Sociobiology, 3, pp. 1-27. ® Oct 17-22: Incest and Prohibition Oct 24-29: Mate Selection Ember and Ember, Chapter 6, Extension of Incest Taboo, & Chapter 7, Getting Married, pp. 147-165. Oct 31- Nov 5: Marital Residence and Descent Rules Nov 12: Marriage Relationships and Divorce Hendrix, L. 1997. “Quality and Equality in Marriage: A Cross-Cultural View”. Cross-Cultural Research. 31: 201-225. ® Nov 12: Fist Drafts of Papers Due. Nov 14: Parents and Children Part II: Social Change and Family Nov 19-21: Some Theoretical Reflections on Gender Inequality Coltrane, Scott, & Randall Collins. 2001. Sociology of Marriage and the Family. Chapter 3. pp. 69-94. Nov 21: First draft of interview based paper due. Nov 23- Dec 1: Thanks giving break. Dec 3: Race and Ethnicity Dec 8: Development and Women’s Work Dunaway, Wilma. 2001. “ The Double Register of History: Situating
the Forgotten Women and Her Household in Capitalist Commodity Chains”.
Journal of World System Research. VII: 2-29. ® |