COURSE DESCRIPTION

Self and Society introduces students to the concepts, theories, and methods used to analyze social interaction, social relationships, and the self. In this course we will explore various theories of the self, the nature of human behavior, the importance of language for perception and thought, reality as a social construction, and how self emerges and is maintained in and through our involvement in social relationships. In the course of our study we will understand how healthy selves are possible in the contexts of social relationships and communities.

REQUIRED BOOKS and READINGS

Inside Social Life, 4^th Ed. Spencer E. Cahill. Roxbury Publishing Company (2004)

The Pursuit of Attention, 2^nd Ed. Charles Derber. Oxford University Press (2000)

In addition to the two texts, other readings, listed on the course outline, are available through electronic reserve. I am an active user of e-mail. This means that on occasion I will send you a reading as an attachment to an e-mail message or as a webpage address. In the course of the semester some readings will be dropped while others are added. This and other course information will be sent to you via e-mail. It is in your interest to make a habit of reading your mail regularly – every day.

EXPECTATIONS

No doubt, you expect me to be present, prepared, and to conduct class on every assigned class period – or at least with very few absences. I expect the same from you – regular attendance and being prepared for class by having completed the assigned readings. Without your attendance and preparation it is difficult (really it is impossible) for us to accomplish our prime directive. In this course I will combine lectures with discussions of the readings and of current topics (that is, the news, movies, music, television, etc.) In this process I expect your cooperation. To a significant extent I will treat the world as our text. While I won’t take official attendance, I will be aware of your presence/absence.

EXAMS, PAPER, AND COURSE EVALUATION

Your grade for the course will be based on your performance on two midterm exams, a final exam, and a paper. The dates for the exams are listed on the course outline. The three exams and the paper each are worth 50 points. A total of 200 points may be earned. The exams will be comprised of definitions, short and long essay questions. Material covered on the exams will be drawn from lectures, discussions, and readings. Guidelines and topics for the paper will be distributed later in the course. While attendance will not be taken officially, it will be noted. Exams can only be made up with excused absences.

Grades will be distributed along the following guidelines:

200 – 190 = A 179 – 173 = B+ 159 – 150 = C+ 129 – 110 = D

189 – 180 = A- 172 – 166 = B 149 – 140 = C 109 – = F

165 – 160 = B- 139 – 130 = C-

CAVEAT – ESCAPE CLAUSE

This document qualifies as a contract – an agreement between you and me. As with many contracts, I have included an escape clause. This is it. Changes may be made in this document without prior notice.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week Topic Readings

1. The Nature of Human Nature Sacks – Neurology and the Soul

Jerome Bruner – Culture and Psychology

2. Language, Thought, Reality Charon – The Importance of the Symbol (reserve)

Zerubavel – Islands of Meaning

Vygotsky – The Development of Language

and Thought

Langston Hughes – That Powerful Drop (handout)

3. Symbolic Interaction and Self James – The Me and the I (handout)

Cooley – The Self as Sentiment and Reflection

Mead – The Self as Social Structure

Goffman – The Presentation of Self

Blumer – Society in Action

4. Identity and Self Van Ausdale and Feagin – Young Children’s Use

of Racial and Ethnic Identities

Milkie – Media Images’ Influence on Adolescent

Girls’ Self-Concepts

Anderson – The Black Male in Public

5. Social Bases of

Subjective Experience Becker – The Social Basis of Drug-Induced

Experience

Sterns – The Historical Struggle for Self-Control

in America

Smith and Kleinman – Managing Emotions in

Medical School

Exam: September 26^th

6. Self and Social Interaction Adler and Adler – The Gloried Self

Snow and Anderson – Salvaging the Self from

Homelessness

Irvine – Narratives of Self in Codependents

Anonymous

7. Interaction Order Goffman – Face-Work and Interaction Rituals

Cahill – The Interaction Order of Public Bathrooms

Thorne – Borderwork Among Girls and Boys

Holtgraves – Conversational Structure

8. Social Relationships Naples – A Personal Story of Doing Family

Karp – Caring for and About the Mentally Ill

Frank – The Social Contexts of Illness

9. Selves in Social Worlds Dunier – Competing Legalities on Sixth Avenue

Defined by Others Adler and Adler – Preadolescent Cliques, Friendships

and Identity

Paules – Working and Resisting at Route Restaurant

Berkowitz and Padavic – The Contrasting Agendas

of Black and White Sororities

10. The Politics of Reality Goffman – The Moral Career of the Mental Patient

Fox – Self Change and Resistance in Prison

Best and Furedi – The Evolution of Road Rage

Berger – The Historical Construction of the

Holocaust

Exam: October 28^th

11. Attention and Narcissism Derber – The Pursuit of Attention

12. The Modern and Gergen – The Dissolution of the Self

Postmodern Self Gubrium and Holstein – The Self in a World of

Going Concerns

Term Paper Due: November 21^st

13. The Deviant and Mediated Self Goffman – Stigma (handout)

Miller – The Mediated Self (attachment)

14. The Healthy Self, Healthy Miller – The Healthy Self (e-mail attachment)

Social Relationships, and Jones – The Third Wave (reserve)

Healthy Communities Wirth – Urbanism as a Way of Life (reserve)

Jacobs – Safe Neighborhoods (attachment)

Final Examination – Honors Section: December 13^th at 2:30 p.m.

– Section 01: December 13^th at 12:20 p.m.