LECTURE OUTLINE AND DEADLINES
1. Historical Outline of the
Concept of Society
Lecture given by Professor Daniel
Dagenais
Society, its unity and conflicts, its self-production through various
levels of interaction, its problems and transformation, is the object proper of
sociology. Now, the reality and concept of this object, one cannot take for
granted. The goal of this lecture is to outline the history, practical and
theoretical, of the concept of society, from its being construed by classical
sociology to its being challenged by the current process of globalization.
Required Readings
*Émile Durkheim: “Preface to the Second Edition”, excerpt from: The Rules of Sociological Method and
Selected Texts on Sociology and its Method, New York , Free Press, 1982 (original French
edition: 1895).
Michel Freitag: “Five Answers”, in The
European Journal of Social Theory, volume 10, number 2, May 2007, p.
261-276.
2. A Sociological Imagination for Mediated Societies
Lecture given by Professor Greg Nielsen
No other society in
history has been so cajoled, surrounded, dominated, or freed by media. The
objective of this lecture is to learn how to use the sociological imagination for
the social and cultural analysis of contemporary mediated society. A series of
working definitions of 10 sociological concepts (Society, Institution, Culture,
Social Structure, Agency, Values, Norms, Status, Roles, Private problems/Public
Issues) are discussed from both classical and contemporary sociology and
demonstrated through examples from popular television and film.
Required readings
*C. Wright Mills: “The
Promise”, in The Sociological Imagination,
New York , Oxford University
Jackson, Nielsen, Hsu.
Mediated Society: “Sources for a Critical Sociology of Mediated Societies”, in Mediated Society: A Critical Sociology of
Mass Media, Toronto : Oxford University
3. The Social Order of Everyday Life
Lecture given by Professor Bart Simon
Our everyday lives are
perfect case studies of the constant and never ending production of social
order through situated social interaction. This lecture introduces the
tradition of social interactionism and microsociology through the work of
Erving Goffman and the concept of “The Interaction Order”. Through a discussion
of Goffman’s work we will begin to see sociology in places where you may least
expect it; sitting in the classroom, going to the bathroom, standing in line at
Starbucks and checking on your Facebook page.
Required reading
*Goffman, E.: “Face
Engagements”, in Behavior in Public Places.
Notes on the Social Organization of Gatherings, New York , The Free Press, 1963.
Fine, G. A. (2010)
“The Sociology of the Local: Action and its Publics”, Sociological Theory, 28: 355-376.
4. Race and Ethnic Relations
Lecture given by Professor Meir Amor
Ethnicity, so many
people say, is a matter of culture. Indeed, ethnic groups have specific
cultures and values. Race, so many
people believe, is a matter of biology. For ethnic reconciliation the recommendation
is education, multiculturalism, self-discipline and self-improvement. For
racism, tolerance and good will are presented as measures individual should
adopt. The sociological perspective takes a different approach to questions of
ethnic and racial thinking and acting. The sociological perspective roots
ethnicity and racism in history, economy and politics. Ethnicity and racism have much more to do
with politics, subjugation, conquest, colonialism and exploitation than with
culture on the one hand, and biology on the other. Be my guests in discussing
these issues and seeing the sociological perspective in action.
Required Readings
*Weber, Max [1922]: “Class, Status, Party”,
in: McGee Jon and Warms Richard. (2003), Anthropological Theory: An
Introductory History. San Marcos : Texas State
University
Porter John (1979): “Melting Pot or Mosaic:
Revolution or Reversion?”, in The Measure
of Canadian Society: Education, Equality, and Opportunity .
Toronto
5. Addictions and
healthy lifestyles in the realm of the risk society
Lecture
given by Professor Sylvia Kairouz
This section will
revisit notions of health lifestyle and addictions in the context of theories
of risks in late modernity. Discussions will revolve around two main inquiries:
1) investigating addictive behaviors in light of Beck’s and Gidden’s theories
of risk, tackling coexisting approaches of “scientific-objectivism” and
“cultural relativism”; and 2) extending risk models to analyze population
health perspectives of addictive behaviors in relation to concepts of
governmentality and surveillance.
Addictive
behaviors will be considered on a continuum of risk, embedded at one end in
healthy practices and, at the other end, in harmful actions as an expression of
excess and/or addictions. At the empirical level, research findings will report
on the role of social contexts as a level of determination for the adoption of
excessive actions and the expression of addiction. To this end, multilevel
models will be analyzed conceptually and methodologically as a means to
comprehend the multiplicity and hierarchy of risks, as well as models of risk
assessment, risk management and control.
Required Readings
*Lupton, D. (2006). Risk and governmentality. In J.F. Cosgrave (Ed). The sociology of risk and gambling reader (Chapter 3), pp. 85-99.New York , NY
*Lupton, D. (2006). Risk and governmentality. In J.F. Cosgrave (Ed). The sociology of risk and gambling reader (Chapter 3), pp. 85-99.
Kairouz, S. et al. (2002), “For all those
reasons, I do… drink. A Multilevel Analysis of Contextual Reasons for Drinking
among Canadian Undergraduates”, in Journal
of Studies on Alcohol, September 2002, p. 600-608.
6. The Sociology of Emotions
Lecture given by Professor Valérie de Courville Nicol
This lecture aims to introduce students to the sociology of emotions
through an overview of Arlie R. Hochschild's book The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling, first
published in 1983. Students will become acquainted with concepts which include deep
and surface acting, emotional labour, emotion management, and feeling rules, as
they will be urged to consider how emotional work is affected by relations of
exploitation and of inequality.
Required Readings
* Elias, Norbert (1939): “On Changes in
Aggressiveness”, in Emotions: A Social
Science Reader, Monica and Paul Stenner, eds., New York
Hochschild,
Arlie R: “Feeling Rules”, chapter
4 of The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human
Feeling. Berkeley : University of California
Hochschild,
Arlie R.: “Gender, Status, and
Feeling”, chapter 8 of The Managed Heart:
Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley : University
of California
7. Sociology of Economies
Lecture given by Professor Satoshi Ikeda
Is capitalism the only way to organize our
economies? Is the corporate economy sustainable socially and ecologically? This
session offers some concepts and arguments for sociological analysis of our
economies. Based on the critical assessments of contemporary capitalism
students are encouraged to imagine sustainable and practical forms of economies
that are socially just, ecologically sustainable, and economically viable.
Required Readings
*Karl Polanyi: The Great Transformation. The Political and Economic Origins of Our
Time, chapters 4-5-6 (p. 45-80) + the “Forward” by Joseph Stiglitz, p.
VII-XVII.
Satoshi Ikeda:
“Globalization and Social Change”, in Lorne Tepperman and James Curtis (eds): Principles of Sociology. Canadian
Perspectives, Don Mills (ON), Oxford U.
Recommended Readings
Recommended Readings
8. Social Movements: the case of students’
movements in Québec
Lecture given by Professor Jean-Philippe Warren
In the 1960s,
Required Readings
* McCarthy, John D. and Zald, Mayer N. (1977).
“Resource Mobilization and Social Movement: A Partial Theory,” American Journal
of Sociology 82(12): 12–41
Dubé, Lise and Serge
Guimond, “Relative deprivation and social protest: The personal-group issue”, in
J. M. Olson, C. P. Herman, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), Relative deprivation and social comparison, The Ontario Symposium: Vol. 4.,
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale ,
NJ
9. Sociology of the Family
Lecture given by Professor Daniel Dagenais
It is no secret that
the family institution is going through dramatic changes challenging its very
existence. How can one possibly assess the scope and meaning of this mutation?
The goal of this lecture is twofold: on the one hand, to show that the
modernizing process of society has brought about the merging of various
cultural-traditional family types into a unified Modern type through an
individualizing process of their constituent dimensions (kinship, marriage,
parent-child relationship, gender); on the other hand, to show that the current
changes impacting the family testify to the limits of this individualizing
process.
Required Readings
*Émile Durkheim: “The
conjugal family” (1890), in Mark Traugott (ed): ÉmileDurkheim. On Institutional Analysis, The University of Chicago
Daniel Dagenais: “The
Ideal Type of the Modern Family”, in The
(Un)Making of the Modern Family, translated by Jane Brierley, Vancouver,
UBC Press, 2008, p. 1-13.
10. Population and the fertility transition
Lecture given by Professor Danielle Gauvreau
This session will
examine population issues as they have come to constitute an object for
sociologists and other social scientists interested in understanding societies.
The main focus will be on the fertility transition, which has led to
significant changes in the demographic regimes of most populations in the world
today. No easy explanation exists for this major transition which can be linked
to various theoretical currents. Empirical examples will be provided using the
Canadian and Quebec
experiences.
Required Reading
*Hirschman Charles, “Why Fertility Changes”, Annual Review of Sociology, 20, 1994: 203-233.
*Hirschman Charles, “Why Fertility Changes”, Annual Review of Sociology, 20, 1994: 203-233.
11. Theorizing Gender
Lecture given by Professor Anthony Synnott
This lecture explores
four different models of gender: the romantic model, the patriarchal model, the
radical feminist model, the post-modern model. Each of them has its own
historical roots, while continuing to have contemporary relevance.
Required Readings
*Simone de Beauvoir:
“Introduction” to The Second Sex,
translated by H. M. Parshley, New
York , Vintage Books, 1989.
Anthony Synnott:
“Theorizing Men: Heroes, Villains and Victims”, in Beyond Borders: Masculinities and Margins, Men’s Studies Press,
LLC, Harriman , Tennessee
12. Contemporary Social Problems: The Issue of
Youth Suicide
Lecture given by Professor Dagenais
We have witnessed,
over the last 40 years and in all Western societies at the same time, the
development of a phenomenon hitherto unheard of for: youth suicide. The lecture
will be devoted to the presentation of the main facts pertaining to
contemporary suicide (whose core is the birth of youth suicide) and of a
hypothesis linking it with Durkheim’s concept of anomic suicide.
Required Reading
*Émile Durkheim:
“Anomic Suicide”, in On Suicide,
translated by Robin Buss, London ,
Penguin Books, 2006.
Cutler, D.M., Glaeser E., Norberg Karen:
“Explaining the rise in youth suicide”,
NBER Working Papers number 7713, Issued May 2000 (http://www.nber.org/papers/w7713).
Complementary Readings
SCHEDULE AND DEADLINES
SCHEDULE AND DEADLINES
W
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E
K
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Date / Lecture
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Tutorials
|
Lectures
|
Professors
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Reading report deadlines
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Mid -term and final exams
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1
|
10 Sept.
|
Presentation of course outline.
|
Overall presentation
|
Prof. Dagenais
| ||
2
|
17 Sept.
Lecture 1
|
The concept of society
|
Prof Dagenais
|
1st report (if reading 1 chosen) OR
| ||
3
|
24 Sept.
Lecture 2
|
On mediated societies
|
Prof Nielsen
|
1st report (if reading 2 chosen)
| ||
4
|
1 Oct.
Lecture 3
|
Research workshop for Tutorials A & G
LB 211 ( )
|
The interaction order
|
Prof. Simon
|
2nd report (if reading 3 chosen) OR
| |
5
|
15 Oct.
Lecture 4
|
Research workshop for Tutorials B & H
LB 211 ( )
|
Race and Ethnic Relations
|
Prof. Amor
|
2nd report (if reading 4 chosen)
| |
6
|
22 Oct.
Lecture 5
|
Exam on lectures 1-4
|
Risk Society and Health
|
Prof. Kairouz
|
3rd report (if reading 5 chosen) OR
|
1st mid-term
|
7
|
29 Oct.
Lecture 6
|
Research workshop for Tutorials C & I
LB 203 ( )
|
Sociology of emotions
|
Prof. de Courville Nicol
|
3th report (if reading 6 chosen)
| |
8
|
5 Nov.
Lecture 7
|
Research workshop for Tutorials D & J
LB 211 ( )
|
Sociology of economies
|
Prof. Ikeda
|
4th report (if reading 7 chosen) OR
| |
9
|
12 Nov.
Lecture 8
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Research workshop for Tutorials E & K
LB 203 ( )
|
Students’ Movements
|
Prof. Warren
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4th report (if reading 8 chosen)
| |
10
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19 Nov.
Lecture 9
|
Exam on lectures 5-8
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Sociology of the family
|
Prof. Dagenais
|
5th report (if reading 9 chosen) OR
|
2nd mid-term
|
11
|
26 Nov.
Lecture 10
|
Research workshop for Tutorials F & L
LB 203 ( )
|
The fertility transition
|
Prof. Gauvreau
|
5th report (if reading 10 chosen)
| |
12
|
3 Dec.
Lecture 11
|
Theorizing genders
|
Prof. Synnott
|
6th report (if reading 11 chosen)
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13
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4 Dec.
Lecture 12
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The issue of suicide
|
Prof. Dagenais
|
6th report (if reading 12 chosen)
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FINAL EXAMINATION TO TAKE PLACE DURING EXAMINATION WEEKS (date to be confirmed)
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