SOCI203 Meeting 1 (Draft)

SOCI 203/2AIntroduction to Society
Meeting 1: Introduction
AlexandreEnkerli

What to Expect
From me
From you
From the semester

Presentation
Getting to know me
"Who to expect"
"How I roll"
Here to help
Get to know you

Social scientist
Social networks Malian hunters
Geek culture (tech, beer, coffee)
Ethnographer
But phone surveys
"Public intellectual"
Social media
Presentations
Market research

Teacher
Diversified experience
Locations
Institutions
Fields
Constructivism
Critical thinking
Humour, play, informality
Flexibility

Podcast
Technology
Recording
Attentive listening
Lecturecasts
Lecture part
Not discussion
Available after class
Focus class time on participation

Slides
Will be posting them in advance
Follow along?
Hope for more
Wikified?
Outline
Crutch?
Skip

Who are you?
Numerous
Diverse
Names
Profiles
"Raised hand"

Where are you from?
Diverse origins
Disciplines
University experience

Setting Up for the Semester

Basic Terms
Course: SOCI 203/2A
Class: All of us
Class Meeting: Saturdays, 1:15 to 4:00
Classroom: H-507
Office: H-1125-28
Resource Lab: H-1132

Class Meeting Structure (After Today)
First half: Discussion and exercises
15' Break
Second Half: Preparation for material

Course Contributions
What {you} give to the course
How would it be different if you weren't here?
All have something to contribute
Diverse backgrounds
Diverse interests
I also contribute
We're all in the same boat
Different roles

Methods
Communicate
Prompted or not
Asking question
Reacting to somebody else
Do
Build, create, make...
Apply to own life (trace)
Editing material
Adding links

Channels
In the classroom (exercises and discussions)
Online (Moodle)
Direct communication (office hours, etc.)
Progress through the semester

Self-Assessment
Mid-Semester (October 24)
What grade, on 10, do you think you deserve?
Why? (Describe own contributions)
Still my decision
Not lenient
Can end up being zero

Assessing
No comparison
Not about attendance
May be connected to work outside of class
May be connected to learning experience
May have to do with progression

Evaluation of course contributions
End of semester
My evaluation
Based in part on self-assessment
Baseline
Notice progress

Online
Internet
Blended learning
Maximize learning experience
Mostly Moodle
Moodle site for the course: http://moodle.concordia.ca/moodle/course/view.php?id=28590
Forums
Wikis

Time Online
At least 5 to 10 minutes a week for quiz
Stick around
Contribute
Forums
Other Modules

Forums
News
Sociology café
General
Weekly Forums
Mid-Term Preparation
Wrap-Up
Can unsubscribe

Required Material
Complementarity
Main Sources
Knutila textbook
Wikibook
Other course resources (online)

Knuttila
Availability
Concordia Bookstore ($66.95/$50.25)
Former students
Library reserve
Resource lab (1132)
Choice
Treat as adults
Flexibility
Cost of textbooks
OUP

Wikibook
Availability
Moodle
Wikibookshttp://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Sociology
Choice
Cover bases
Open Access
Shared material

Wikibook Edits
Contribution
Not Anonymous
Thoughtful edits
Discourage from "spoiling"
Can have non-destructive fun

“Reading”
Making you think
Thinking like an academic
Not force mould
Take time
Tips
Read actively
Read efficiently
Not advised to read weeks in advance
Knuttila before Wikibook

Lot of work?
"Totally doable"
Less than project
Registering for a Gym
I work too

Reading Quiz
Before class discussion
Multiple-choice questions with correct answers
Ten questions or less
One minute each
Learning strategy
Low stakes
Question Sources
Some retention of core material
Not particularly critical thinking

Exams
Focus on thinking
Understanding
Some longer questions
Classroom
Higher stakes
Some of the same questions
Mid-Term (October 24)
Weeks 2-6
Final (Exam Period)
Weeks 8-12
Some comprehensive questions

Objectives

Core Objectives
Sociological Training
Critical Thinking

Sociological Training
Mastery of tools
Conceptual
"Think like a sociologist"
Terminological
"Talk like a sociologist"
Learning sociological discourse
Keywords for Search
Know use
Practical
"Work like a sociologist"
Not just say what is
Prepare for upper-levels and grad school

Critical thinking
How would you define critical thinking?

Own
«Sens critique»
Not take anything for granted
Not Dual/Binary
Not "it's patently false"
Not "it's certainly true"

Core Competencies
Literacies
Learning how to learn
Lifelong Learning

Think About Context
Source Criticism
Information and Knowledge

Easy Contexts for Critical Thinking
April fool's
Satire
Rumour site
Wikipedia
Advertising
Op-Ed

Warning Signs
Conspicuous rhetoric
French flag on French restaurant
Formal title as legitimacy

Next Week

Diverse
Front Matter
Internet Sociologist
Chapter 1
Introduction to Wikibook

Overall
Sense of the textbook
Critical thinking
Sense of the discipline

Front Matter
"Non-narrative" content
Guide
Working with book
"Exercise"
Spend time

Active reading
Critical thinking
Questions
Note-Taking
Headnotes
Marginalia
Journal
Annotations

Reading Skills
Efficient reading
Fran Shaver and Bill Reimer
Multiple passes
Concentric circles
Contexts
Try to predict
Why thought?
Semester progression

Internet Sociologist
Method to apply critical thinking
Much about sources
Apply critical thinking to tutorial itself
Think about purpose

Knuttila Chapter 1

Overview
Science as a Way of Knowing
Sociology and the Social Sciences
Sociology as the Study of Structure and Agency
Science, Theory, and the Origins of Sociology
The Sociological Imagination and Its 'Promise'
Developing the Sociological Perspective
Getting On with Sociological Analysis

Science as a Way of Knowing
Ways of knowing
Science
Also in appendix
Perry’s positions
First positions with "right answer"
Higher positions with critical thinking
Dominance of science
Part of sociology of science (STS)
As way of knowing
Scientific Method

Sociology and the Social Sciences
Disciplinary boundaries

Sociology as the Study of Structure and Agency
Personal/Public
Private/Public
Person/Group
Goal/”Greater Good”
Agency
"Act upon"
Free Will

Social Diversity
Human diversity
Link to sociological imagination
Particularism
Relativism

Science, Theory, and the Origins of Sociology
Emergence of capitalism
Frequent focus
Potential critique
As broad-reaching context
Not absolute
Science, enlightenment, classical liberalism
Careful on assumptions
Links between parts
Co-context
Emergence of Sociology
Contextualize

The Sociological Imagination and Its 'Promise'
Sociological Imagination

Developing the Sociological Perspective
Sociological Way of Thinking
Getting On with Sociological Analysis
Scholars
Max Weber
Émile Durkheim
Karl Marx
C. Wright Mills

Wikibook Introduction

Overview
1 What is Sociology?
2 History
2.1 Auguste Comte and Other Founders
2.2 The Development of the Discipline
2.3 Early Sociological Studies
2.4 Quantitative vs. Qualitative Sociology
3 Sociology and Other Social Sciences
3.1 The Development of Social Science
4 Sociology Today

Structure
Short
Definitions
Sociologists
Broad
Scholars/Figures
Development narrative
Phases
Disciplinary context
Figures outside sociology

Quiz
On all material for next time