Course Syllabus

FA21SOC101-3807.docx 

Please download the Syllabus with the link above

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

 

SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology

 

Term:  Fall 2021                      CRN:  3807                  Location:  Online

Meeting Days/Time: Thursday 9:00 am – 10:15 am

 

Professor:       Travis Blunt

E-Mail:             tblunt@miracosta.edu 

PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR FULL NAME AND “SOC 101” IN ALL E-MAIL/PHONE CORRESPONDENCE

Call/Text:        760-385-8269

Office:             Zoom

Office Hours:  By Appointment and dates below (Zoom link found on homepage of Canvas)

09/09-6pm-9pm

09/23-6pm-9pm

10/7-6pm-9pm

10/21-6pm-9pm

 

The professor reserves the right to make adjustments or changes to this syllabus throughout the semester. Students are responsible to closely review the syllabus after each update and follow the most current version posted on Canvas.

 

Course Description

This course offers a thorough study of human society and social phenomena. It is guided by sociologys basic principle that peoples lives are affected not only by individual characteristics but also by their place in the social world. The course emphasizes the systematic connections among human relationships, social institutions, and social organizations, which allow students to evaluate themselves, and the world around them, more analytically and critically. UC CREDIT LIMITATION: Credit for SOC 101 or SOC 101H. C-ID SOCI-110.

 

 

Sociology Department Mission Statement

Sociology is the study of human social behavior, groups, and how environments influence behavior. Sociologists focus on the origins, organization, institutions, and developments of society. Students take courses to prepare for a sociology major or to fulfill general education requirements. Career options include social work, human services, law enforcement, legal professions, business, and teaching.

Program Student Learning Outcomes

• The student will evaluate specific conditions and behaviors that define a social problem in society.
• The student will apply specific sociological theories to explain social problems.
• The student will assess different methods for dealing with or solving social problems.

Readings & Class Materials

All materials for this course will be FREE to you. With the rising cost of textbooks I have created a course that works with free materials. The textbook we will be using can be found here

https://openstax.org/details/books/introduction-sociology-2e

All other materials will be provided to you through canvas.

 

Assignments & Grading

Assignment	CSLOs	% of Total Grade
Writing Assignments	1,2,3	20
Weekly Bulletin	1,2,3	10
Class Participation	1,2,3	10
Final Project	1,2,3	20
Mid-Term Exam	1,2,3	20
Movie Report	1,2,3	10
Online Discussions	1,2,3	10
Extra Credit	Will vary
TOTAL		100

         *signature assignment

 

 

Reading and Writing Assignments (20 points) 20% of your final grade    

Students are expected to keep up with all assigned readings and be prepared to discuss the content during each class meeting. Writing should clearly and concisely demonstrate your understanding of concepts and perspectives described in the reading assignments. Proofread for grammatical and typographical errors prior to submission. Assignments must be submitted by the specific deadlines indicated on Canvas (see Policy on Late Work). Include personal experiences related to your life and connect them with the readings. You are NOT required to share personal stories if you are not comfortable. Please know I am only looking for application of the materials to real life scenarios, however these can be fake/made up scenarios. As long as you show the application to a potential real life situation/scenario, you will earn credit. These writing assignments will have specific prompts each week. Unless stated otherwise, each week you will need to include 1 scholarly research article. Do not include your name, my name, date, class name, your dog’s name :P You may include a title, nothing more. Simply start writing J

Unless otherwise stated, each of these assignments should be 2 FULL pages to earn full credit. Your citation does not count towards the page count.

 

Online Discussions (100 points) 10% of your final grade

This class is fully online. Aside from meeting each week you will be working at your own pace. This makes communication and interaction with other students a bit of a challenge when compared to in person meetings. These online discussion boards are one of the most important items in this class. Please do not take these lightly as I do not, especially when grading. While these discussion boards to not have a word count you are required to answer the prompt/topic fully. As a general rule of thumb a paragraph will NOT suffice for full credit. I am looking for about 2 paragraphs for each original post. These are broken into two sections of grading. 1) Your original post (due WEDNESDAY of each week) 2) You will need 2 replies for each forum discussion (due SUNDAY of that same week) Your replies need to be though provoking and engaging in some way. Simply agreeing, saying something along the lines of “oh that’s cool”, or simply not putting in an effort to engage with your classmate will not earn you full credit. Again, these are extremely important to me and the way my classes function so please make sure to put in the effort here. If you do not earn full credit you will see a comment explaining why so you are able to fix the issue for future posts.    

 

 

Classroom Participation (10 points) 10% of your final grade

We are going to be meeting 1 time each week through zoom. These meeting are scheduled and required. Simply being present is important but will not earn you full credit here. You MUST engage in our “classroom” discussion. If you are wondering how your participation is in the class please feel free to check in with me and I will let you know. I take this grade seriously and extra credit will not fill in here. Missing 3 or more classes can lead to you being dropped from the course. There is no need to email/message me if you are unable to attend our meeting. Keep in mind, information in these meetings will be found in our midterm exam. These meeting will not be recorded to view later so please make sure you are able to attend each week. Please do NOT feel like you can’t interrupt me mid-sentence if I am speaking, I encourage it. Let’s talk and discuss just like we would in the classroom. If there are multiple people talking I will make sure everyone’s voice is heard.

 

Weekly Bulletin (10 points) 10% of your final grade

The daily bulletin is something we would normally do in class everyday, however given the circumstances right now we are going to have to adapt. You will be responsible for finding a news article that is sociologically related in some way. This can be recent or anytime within the past year. You will also give a personal high and a personal low that is happening in your life at that moment. I also want you to include a YouTube link to your favorite song right now. You are responsible for creating questions that would engage our thinking as it relates to your article. This is a way for us to stay up to date on current events, while integrating it into related topics, and giving the class an idea of what you find interesting about our society! For this assignment you will need to include the following. You are also required to respond to another students post and engage. Engaging means creating a dialogue with the person or attempting to. Simple posts like, "Great Job" is not engaging. Please be thoughtful in your response.

No recording is required for this. Simply post on the forum. You MUST address/answer/complete every part of this assignment listed below.

1. 600 word write up about this significance of the article. I do not want info or summary about the article, we will have the link to gather info. I want information about how it is sociologically related and why you found it significant.

2. Link to the article

3. Link to a YouTube song of your choice

4. A high and a low that is going on right now. Don't feel pressured to share personal information here.

5. Remember everyone can read these so be respectful with the language we use here.

 

 

 

Midterm Exam (20 pts each) 20% of your final grade

This exam will be around week 10/11/12 depending on how our class flows. The exam will cover anything covered in the class. This can be from our zoom meetings, announcements, canvas, textbooks, any posted materials. It will consist of 20 questions that are multiple choice as well as a few true/false questions. The week before the exam we will have a meeting that will be a review for the midterm. There will be no surprise/trick questions. My goal is not to trick you but simply to check the retention of the materials. You’ve got this!

 

 

Movie Report (10 points) 10% of your final grade

This movie report will consist of a 4-6 page write up. Double spaced, times new roman, 12pt font, 1 in margins for the formatting. There will need to be scholarly articles included as well. The prompt for this paper will be available to you around week 8. You will have at least 2 weeks to view the film and write the paper. You will not be caught off guard by this J

Final Project (100 points) 20% of your final grade

Final Project: This project will be recorded and can be done with a group or solo. I will have a rubric available for you around the time we take the midterm. This project will be a research assignment. There will be no paper or exam for the final. You will only need to record yourself and have a power point. If you would like to use a different visual aid, I'm up for it but please clear it with me before starting your project.

For the final project you will be responsible for doing research into an organization that is making or attempting to make a social or psychological difference in our world. You will be required to give details about the organization and how it relates to the class. You will also be required to connect your information with information from our textbook as well as scholarly sources. 

 

 

Extra Credit

　    There may be an opportunity (sometimes a few) for you to earn extra credit. This will be discussed as extra credit arises and can be found in the announcements.

 

Policies on Late Work

Late work will not be accepted. Life situations arise, I understand that so please talk to me. Generally speaking I will not accept anything past the due dates.

 

Grading Standards

A	B	C	D	F
89.5 – 100%	79.5 – 89.5%	69.5 – 79.5%	59.5 – 69.5%	Below 59.5%

Classroom Etiquette

As an instructor of MiraCosta College I am committed to social justice and academic integrity. I will make every effort to foster an atmosphere of friendship, trust, and acceptance in the classroom. Thus, discrimination, intolerance, disrespect, or dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated. Students who disrespect their professor and/or fellow students, or who are disruptive to the class will face disciplinary consequences. Class disruptions also include racist, misogynistic, and/or homophobic statements or harassment. If you feel there might be an issue that impedes you from performing well in class, you must speak to me first.

Language is everything! We will avoid the use of words or phrases like “illegals,” “here illegally,” or “alien.” Instead, we will use the terms “undocumented” and “immigrant.” Be aware that some undocumented students like the term “Dreamers,” but not all. Similarly, anti-immigrant statements or harassment will not be tolerated in this classroom and will face disciplinary consequences. Please be mindful as you choose language and be respectful of everyone’s migration experience in this classroom.

 

Students with Disabilities

MiraCosta Community College is committed to providing educational opportunities to diverse populations. It is the goal of the college to offer mainstream education whenever possible. Since independence is encouraged, no student is obligated to accept supportive assistance; however, the college is committed to providing support services when and if such support is needed and requested. Students needing assistance, even on a temporary basis, are urged to make use of the Disabled Students Programs and Services.

 

https://www.miracosta.edu/student-services/dsps/index.html

 

MiraCosta Academic Honesty Policy

MiraCosta College highly values academic integrity. At the core, this means producing an honest representation of one’s own work. MiraCosta College also promotes the approach that education is best accomplished as a cooperative, collaborative enterprise in which students are encouraged to work with and learn from each other. The line between academic integrity and collaborative education is not always easy to define and may vary from one discipline to the next and from one instructor to the next. Many aspects of cheating and plagiarism are universally recognized, while others are subject to debate. This policy provides general guidelines that outline common definitions of academic dishonesty and affirms the right of instructors to employ more detailed academic integrity policies according to their preferences and practices when teaching their respective courses. Faculty are encouraged to outline their policies on their course syllabus. Students are encouraged to review each course syllabus to understand the academic integrity policies of the faculty and course. Examples of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Cheating: Copying another person’s work or using unauthorized aids, including technology such as cell phones or watches, during an examination, quiz, or assignment.
2. Plagiarizing: Copying someone else’s work or ideas and misrepresenting them as one’s own.
3. Falsification: Making up fictitious information and presenting it as factual or altering records for the purpose of misrepresentation.
4. Facilitation: Helping another student to cheat, plagiarize, or falsify information. This can include writing a paper for another student, referring a student to a website that offers services that fall under the aforementioned examples of academic dishonesty, or knowingly allowing a student to copy your own work.

https://catalog.miracosta.edu/academicpolicies/academicintegrity/

Class/Online Behavior Expectations

Students in this class are expected to follow these basic principles:

1. Demonstrate respect for oneself and for others.
2. Treat others with dignity and behave in a way which promotes a physically and psychologically safe, secure, and supportive climate.
3. Discussions should take place within a context of academic inquiry and the spirit of understanding diverse perspectives and experiences.
4. Any personal information shared in class/online should be considered confidential.
5. If you have any reservations about what you are going to post online, please consult with me prior to doing so

 

 

Important Deadlines & Dates

• May 3	SURF enrollment for fall begins*
  August 23	First day of fall semester classes
  September 5	Last day to add classes
  September 5	Deadline to withdraw without a "W"
  September 6	Labor Day (college closed)
  September 27	Deadline to file a petition for degree/certificate for fall
  November 12	Veterans Day (college closed)
  November 19	Deadline to withdraw without an evaluative grade
  November 25-26	Thanksgiving (college closed)
  December 13-16, 18	Final examinations
  December 18	Deadline to petition for pass/no pass grade for full-term classes
  December 18	End of fall semester
  December 24-January 3	College closed

 

 

Complaints, Comments, and Questions

I hope you enjoy this course as much as I enjoy teaching it. If you are having any problems, questions, or concerns I encourage you to contact me. Don't let small problems during the semester grow to a crisis at the end of the semester. I want you to succeed, help me get you there! You’ve got this!