Sociology 318 – Classical Social Theory

Fall 2002

Instructor: Paul Gingrich

office: CL 217

telephone: 585-4196

fax: 585-4815

email: paul.gingrich@uregina.ca

url: http://uregina.ca/~gingrich

Classes: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., CL313

Office Hours: Monday 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., Friday 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., or by

appointment.

Texts:

Kenneth H. Tucker, Jr., Classical Social Theory: A Contemporary Approach. HM435 T83

Marx, Karl, Capital, Volume 1. HB501M355 1976 or check www.marxists.org and all of volume 1 is at http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/index.htm

Emile Durkheim, The Division of Labor in Society. HD51 D98

Weber, Max, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. BR115 E3 W4 or on web sites: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/WEBER/toc.html or

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/weber/world/ethic/pro_eth_frame.html

Additional materials on reserve in the University Library, as handouts, or on web sites.

Selections from various sociologists are available at:

http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/courses/408f01.htm http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/DSS/DEADSOC.HTML

Assigments and Grading:

October 16 Short paper (five pages) 15 points

October 28 Midterm examination 20 points

December 13 Long paper (ten pages) 25 points

December 13 Final examination, 9:00 a.m – 12:00 noon 30 points

Discussion and participation 10 points

Total 100 points

Special Needs: If there is any student in this course who, because of a disability, may have a need for accommodations, please discuss this with the instructor, as well as contacting the Coordinator of Special Needs Services at 585-463l.

Calendar Description: An analysis of the emergence and development of sociological theory. The emphasis will be on the work of ‘founding figures’ such as Comte, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber, though the contributions of others may be discussed.

Sociology 318, Fall 2002. Tentative Class Schedule and Readings

Week of	Topic	Readings
September 3	Introduction	Tucker, Introduction
September 9	Introduction	Tucker, Ch. 1-2
September 16	Marx	Tucker, Ch. 3 Marx, selections from Capital, volume I
September 23
September 30
October 7	Durkheim	Tucker, Ch. 4 Durkheim, selections from The Division of Labor in Society
October 14
October 21
October 28	Weber	Tucker, Ch. 5 Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
November 4
November 11
November 18	Simmel and Mead	Tucker, Ch. 6 Simmel and Mead, selections
November 25	Gilman and Du Bois	Tucker, Ch.7 Gilman and Du Bois, selections
December 2	Review
December 13	Final examination, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon

Class Description. In this class we survey the works of the classical social theorists Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel, with a short discussion of George Herbert Mead, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and W. E. B. Du Bois. In addition to the textbook, students are expected to read around two hundred pages of original writing by each of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber, with shorter selections from Simmel, Mead, Gilman, and Du Bois. I will provide a reading guide to the works of these authors at the start of each section of the class.

The first paper is to be a short paper on a specific topic. The long paper is to be a more detailed exploration of the writings of one of the theorists. I will provide a list of suggested paper topics by mid-September. The final examination is a comprehensive examination, with greater emphasis placed on issues examined in the last half of the semester.

Last updated August 28, 2002

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