Statement of Principles
1. Class Structure:
Each tutorial session will be split into two sections:
a. A 5-10 minute film/podcast/etc to begin each classes, relevant to the paper we will be examining.
b. A 50-55 minute combination lecture/discussion/question period on the main reading of the week.
b. A 50-55 minute combination lecture/discussion/question period on the main reading of the week.
The film may be excluded from the tutorial session in the case of particularly difficult readings.
2. Dialogue:
Beyond my responsibility to make available appropriate academic resources and present a lecture on the week's reading I see one of my main jobs as being a facilitator of respectful dialogue. What this means in practical terms is that I will be encouraging everyone to take a turn speaking and may have to ask some involved in the discussion to speak less. This should be understood as part of the process of learning how to have socially fluid and constructive group discussions in an academic environment. It is also kind of about learning how to be a nice person and let other people speak. It is also an important political exercise in not silencing others.
3. E-mail Policy:
E-mail: pedagogspeak@gmail.com
I will not respond to any specific questions over e-mail. Save to make appointments where we can discuss your question at length. If you cannot make it to office hours I will schedule time outside of these hours to meet with you. Please contact me if you are not going to be in class, preferably 24 hours in advance, this will be considered when taking stock of attendance at the end of the semester.
If many questions are being received by me on a particularly unclear topic I will post a response to the issue on this blog.
Many technical and mundane matters are also dealt with in this section. If you're concerned about something, especially something about computers, moodle, readings, etc. check here and follow the links.
4. Absences
Everyone gets one. Second absence and you get a warning. Third absence and I go to the boss.
5. Additional Resources
I will be regularly updating this blog as the semester continues with materials from class and additional materials I see as relevant. In particular, each week (no later than Friday) I will be posting a dissected version of the article we have gone over in class, including definitions of key concepts, argumentative structure, and an analysis of claims and evidence, I encourage you to go over these in concert with your lecture notes when preparing for examinations. Also, please send me comments or things that you think should be included on the site or any typos/errors you happen to notice.
6. Being Here
My tutorial sections (B and K) meet at 10:15 and 11:45, respectively. They are both located in the Hall building. (across from the library)
Section B: H-611 (10:15-11:15)
Section K: H-400 (11:45-12:45)
The lectures will take place in hall located in the John Molson Building. (MB 1.210) A huge auditorium on the first floor. You will need to check in with me on entering the auditorium, I will sign you off on a class list to keep track of lecture attendance.
No cell phones or laptops in the tutorials or in the lecture hall (sorry). If you have an identified learning disability and require a laptop to take notes please contact me and we will arrive at a solution.
7. Being There
Office Hours:
Monday - 5:00 - 6:00
Thursday - 11:00 - 12:00
The TA office is on the 11th floor in room #1134.
You can also schedule tutoring time with me by appointment. I respond to e-mails quickly and am very accommodating of people's schedules. As long as you are happy to learn, I am happy to help.
8. Readings and Cyber-Life:
How to get the readings (step by step, skip steps as necessary):
i. You have to have a MyConcordia Account, a Library Pin and access to Moodle. You will need a library card and all your student ID affairs in line to access these resources. To access Moodle go to the MyConcordia portal and find the heading 'Concordia Course Websites (Moodle)`or `My Moodle Courses`. You won`t be able to access the Moodle if your registration is incomplete.
ii. If you are off campus this link will help. If you want to set up your laptop in the library go here.
iii. Go to the Concordia Library Website Course Reserve link and type in: SOCI 203 2
iv. Click on the SOCI 203 2 link...OR
v. Skip steps (iii) and (iv) and click this link.
vi. Click on the reading you want to read. You will need a library pin to access the readings. See step (i) above if you are having problems with this or go ask at the library help desk.
9. Objectives of the Tutorial
As stated in the course outline, "during the tutorials, the weekly readings...will be analysed and discussed to make sure that a basic understanding of the key concepts and ideas is met in advance of the lecture." Which means that the tutorial's purpose is to provide an understanding of the unstated theoretical concepts and models underlying the analyses presented to you by the lecturer. This occurs before the lecture to enable a deepened understanding of what is being said by each speaker, and why they are expressing it in the manner that they do. You will also begin to see how the social objects examined by each lecturer are consistent with, or adapt, those presented and analysed by the author of the weekly paper. Though the often chaotic methodological complexity of sociology can be very overwhelming, ideally, the tutorials and lectures will help you understand why sociology works the way it does. By understanding why objects of social study arise at particular moments in history, and why sociology's content or subject (human society) complicates its form (methods), you will begin to look at sociology as a sociologist.
To achieve this I will work through the main weekly article in the following fashion:
i. I will introduce the article and give any essential contextual information about it.
ii. I will go through the key concepts one by one, highlight their importance, and define them.
iii. I will elaborate the argumentative structure. Including:
a) The relationship between claims and evidence.
b) The choice of evidence apropos of (appropriate to) the argument being made
c) Whether the argument is inductive or deductive.
d) The argumentative narrative (the flow and arrangement of arguments)
e) The place of the argument in a schema of oppression/resistance or problem/solution.
f) Reasons for evidence choices. Political and ideological implications.
g) The reason for the object of the essay's rise as a historical social object.
By breaking the argument into its component parts, and through my comments on your bi-monthly reading responses, you will learn how to properly read and summarize an article.
10. Reading Reports and Examinations
a) Reading Reports
Reading reports are due at the beginning of the tutorial before the first lecture and every second tutorial thereafter, or at the beginning of the tutorial before the second lecture and every second tutorial thereafter. For further clarification on this see the course outline. The purpose of the reading reports is to ensure that everyone is doing the readings and can also adequately and succinctly summarize an argument's basic parts.
You will hand in 6 reading reports. These should be no shorter than 150 and no longer than 200 words, and should highlight the thesis of the paper as well as the means by which the author attempted to defend this thesis. This is very important, do not include information on the paper's style, historical context, ideas from or comparisons with the author's other texts, or any evaluative (judging) statements. The aim of the reading reports is to describe, not evaluate. You should not make any moralizing or politicized statements about the content of the essay.
Each reading report will be marked out of 10, the average of these 6 reports will make-up 25% of your grade.
b) Examinations
Three examinations make up 75% of your grade. The examinations will take place on October 22nd and November 19th, with the third to be announced preceding the final exam period (TBA).
The exams will be short answer essay type consisting of 4 questions. These will be based on the lectures whenever possible. Some questions, however, may be based on the primary readings presented in tutorials. A comprehensive test preparation strategy would focus on all components of the course, while emphasizing the materials covered during the formal lectures in the auditorium.
Some potential question topics will be presented during the lectures.
The writing of these tests will take the place of normal tutorial presentations. The examinations will be written in-class, during regular class hours and in the regular tutorial class-room.
11. Additional Resources
There will be additional time scheduled for any students who would like to deepen their understanding of the Weber reading (which will be missed by my tutorials in lieu of an essential library tutorial). I will update students on this by class number 2.
Assuming that there are enough people interested, I will also be assisting in the setting up of study groups around exam time.
The links page will be updated as the semester proceeds. I will mention the basic academic web applications and supplementary academic resources to be included during class and will post them after lecture.
3. E-mail Policy:
E-mail: pedagogspeak@gmail.com
I will not respond to any specific questions over e-mail. Save to make appointments where we can discuss your question at length. If you cannot make it to office hours I will schedule time outside of these hours to meet with you. Please contact me if you are not going to be in class, preferably 24 hours in advance, this will be considered when taking stock of attendance at the end of the semester.
If many questions are being received by me on a particularly unclear topic I will post a response to the issue on this blog.
Many technical and mundane matters are also dealt with in this section. If you're concerned about something, especially something about computers, moodle, readings, etc. check here and follow the links.
4. Absences
Everyone gets one. Second absence and you get a warning. Third absence and I go to the boss.
5. Additional Resources
I will be regularly updating this blog as the semester continues with materials from class and additional materials I see as relevant. In particular, each week (no later than Friday) I will be posting a dissected version of the article we have gone over in class, including definitions of key concepts, argumentative structure, and an analysis of claims and evidence, I encourage you to go over these in concert with your lecture notes when preparing for examinations. Also, please send me comments or things that you think should be included on the site or any typos/errors you happen to notice.
6. Being Here
My tutorial sections (B and K) meet at 10:15 and 11:45, respectively. They are both located in the Hall building. (across from the library)
Section B: H-611 (10:15-11:15)
Section K: H-400 (11:45-12:45)
The lectures will take place in hall located in the John Molson Building. (MB 1.210) A huge auditorium on the first floor. You will need to check in with me on entering the auditorium, I will sign you off on a class list to keep track of lecture attendance.
No cell phones or laptops in the tutorials or in the lecture hall (sorry). If you have an identified learning disability and require a laptop to take notes please contact me and we will arrive at a solution.
7. Being There
Office Hours:
Monday - 5:00 - 6:00
Thursday - 11:00 - 12:00
The TA office is on the 11th floor in room #1134.
You can also schedule tutoring time with me by appointment. I respond to e-mails quickly and am very accommodating of people's schedules. As long as you are happy to learn, I am happy to help.
8. Readings and Cyber-Life:
How to get the readings (step by step, skip steps as necessary):
i. You have to have a MyConcordia Account, a Library Pin and access to Moodle. You will need a library card and all your student ID affairs in line to access these resources. To access Moodle go to the MyConcordia portal and find the heading 'Concordia Course Websites (Moodle)`or `My Moodle Courses`. You won`t be able to access the Moodle if your registration is incomplete.
ii. If you are off campus this link will help. If you want to set up your laptop in the library go here.
iii. Go to the Concordia Library Website Course Reserve link and type in: SOCI 203 2
iv. Click on the SOCI 203 2 link...OR
v. Skip steps (iii) and (iv) and click this link.
vi. Click on the reading you want to read. You will need a library pin to access the readings. See step (i) above if you are having problems with this or go ask at the library help desk.
9. Objectives of the Tutorial
As stated in the course outline, "during the tutorials, the weekly readings...will be analysed and discussed to make sure that a basic understanding of the key concepts and ideas is met in advance of the lecture." Which means that the tutorial's purpose is to provide an understanding of the unstated theoretical concepts and models underlying the analyses presented to you by the lecturer. This occurs before the lecture to enable a deepened understanding of what is being said by each speaker, and why they are expressing it in the manner that they do. You will also begin to see how the social objects examined by each lecturer are consistent with, or adapt, those presented and analysed by the author of the weekly paper. Though the often chaotic methodological complexity of sociology can be very overwhelming, ideally, the tutorials and lectures will help you understand why sociology works the way it does. By understanding why objects of social study arise at particular moments in history, and why sociology's content or subject (human society) complicates its form (methods), you will begin to look at sociology as a sociologist.
To achieve this I will work through the main weekly article in the following fashion:
i. I will introduce the article and give any essential contextual information about it.
ii. I will go through the key concepts one by one, highlight their importance, and define them.
iii. I will elaborate the argumentative structure. Including:
a) The relationship between claims and evidence.
b) The choice of evidence apropos of (appropriate to) the argument being made
c) Whether the argument is inductive or deductive.
d) The argumentative narrative (the flow and arrangement of arguments)
e) The place of the argument in a schema of oppression/resistance or problem/solution.
f) Reasons for evidence choices. Political and ideological implications.
g) The reason for the object of the essay's rise as a historical social object.
By breaking the argument into its component parts, and through my comments on your bi-monthly reading responses, you will learn how to properly read and summarize an article.
10. Reading Reports and Examinations
a) Reading Reports
Reading reports are due at the beginning of the tutorial before the first lecture and every second tutorial thereafter, or at the beginning of the tutorial before the second lecture and every second tutorial thereafter. For further clarification on this see the course outline. The purpose of the reading reports is to ensure that everyone is doing the readings and can also adequately and succinctly summarize an argument's basic parts.
You will hand in 6 reading reports. These should be no shorter than 150 and no longer than 200 words, and should highlight the thesis of the paper as well as the means by which the author attempted to defend this thesis. This is very important, do not include information on the paper's style, historical context, ideas from or comparisons with the author's other texts, or any evaluative (judging) statements. The aim of the reading reports is to describe, not evaluate. You should not make any moralizing or politicized statements about the content of the essay.
Each reading report will be marked out of 10, the average of these 6 reports will make-up 25% of your grade.
b) Examinations
Three examinations make up 75% of your grade. The examinations will take place on October 22nd and November 19th, with the third to be announced preceding the final exam period (TBA).
The exams will be short answer essay type consisting of 4 questions. These will be based on the lectures whenever possible. Some questions, however, may be based on the primary readings presented in tutorials. A comprehensive test preparation strategy would focus on all components of the course, while emphasizing the materials covered during the formal lectures in the auditorium.
Some potential question topics will be presented during the lectures.
The writing of these tests will take the place of normal tutorial presentations. The examinations will be written in-class, during regular class hours and in the regular tutorial class-room.
11. Additional Resources
There will be additional time scheduled for any students who would like to deepen their understanding of the Weber reading (which will be missed by my tutorials in lieu of an essential library tutorial). I will update students on this by class number 2.
Assuming that there are enough people interested, I will also be assisting in the setting up of study groups around exam time.
The links page will be updated as the semester proceeds. I will mention the basic academic web applications and supplementary academic resources to be included during class and will post them after lecture.
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