R: = Required

S: = Supplemental

Week 1

Writing in Sociology

R: "Getting Started" Pp. 3-9 in A Guide to Writing Sociology Papers. 2007 Worth Publishers.

S: "The Promise" by C.W. Mills

S: Twighlight of the Books: What will it be like if people stop reading? (Caleb Crain, December 24, 2007, The New Yorker)

Why Go to College?

R: School Enrollment: Social and Economic Characteristics of Students: October 2003 (US Census Bureau)

Week 2

R: Maureen Hallinan. 1994. Tracking: From Theory to Practice. Sociology of Education 67: 79-84

• Link to Hallinan from off-campus computers

R: Jeannie Oakes. 1994: More than Misapplied Technology: A Normative and Political Response to Hallinan on Tracking. Sociology of Education. 67: 84-91.

• Link to Oakes from off-campus

Week 3

R:Jonathan Kozol: 2005Shame of the Nation. Three Rivers Press.

• Kozol chapter 2
• Kozol chapter 3

R: The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings (US Census Bureau)

R: Andrew DelBanco March 16, 2001. "Overheated Academic competition." New York Times

R: The Aims of Education (Andrew Abbott 2002, Pp. 4-8 in University of Chicago Record).

Week 5

R: The Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg (Malcolm Gladwell, Jan 11, 1999, The New Yorker)

R: Selections from Sociology by Rod Stark (2007), Thompson/Wadsworth

Week 8

R:  "Social Change and Social Movments" Chapter 21 in Sociology by Rod Stard (2007), Thompson.Wadsworth.

How to read in a sociology class (Or, Tips for Getting the Most Out of Assigned Readings)

As you read, I encourage you to keep the following questions in mind.  Frequently it's a good idea to skim a reading quickly to get an overview, and then read more carefully to gain a richer understanding of the material.  You are done reading when you have a pretty good sense of how to answer each of them. 

What type of paper/article is this? 

• Research paper
• Review paper
• Opinion paper
• Other (describe)

What question does the author ask in this paper?

What sociological concepts does the paper employ?  Can you define them?

Does the author answer the question s/he poses?  If so, what is the answer?

What type of evidence does s/he consider?

Where does this evidence come from? 

• Is it systematic? 
• Someone else's opinion? 
• Anecdote?

Does the author offer any interpretation of this evidence?

Can you identify any problems with this interpretation?

What surprised you in this reading?