Sociology of Knowledge SOCI 770
Dr. Kristen Myers 815 Zulauf
kmyers@niu.edu Office Hours: TuTh 9:30-11:30
Last Taught Spring 2009
This syllabus is a contract between you and me. Please read it and ask any questions you may have. This class promises to be demanding, stimulating, and even exciting. If you choose to stay in this class after reading the syllabus, I will assume that you intend to participate fully in order to help the course
reach its potential.
Course Goals
This course is meant to serve as a bridge between sociological theories and methodologies. It is about the production of knowledge, powerful paradigms, and the tools of research. I have several goals for this course, and they may expand and change over the session.
1. To examine the process through which knowledge is re/produced both methodologically and theoretically.
2. To explore the mechanisms of paradigm shifts in sociology.
3. To understand the ways that the production of knowledge is political.
4. To understand the ways that power differences are reproduced through the production and legitimation of knowledge.
5. To examine the social consequences of elevating some forms of knowledge above others.
6. To develop critical insight about the Truth with a capital 'T.'
7. To apply the course material to your own research endeavors.
8. To improve your writing, teaching, organizational, and analytical skills.
Texts
There is a great deal of reading in this class. I inform you of all reading assignments ahead of time, and they are all due the date on which they are listed. You must keep up with the readings in order to perform well in this course. There are seven books to buy for this class: Bertolt Brecht's play Galileo; James Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me; Berger and Luckmann’s The Social Construction of Reality; Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions; Karl Popper's Logic of Scientific Discovery; Pierre Bourdieu’s Outline of a Theory of Practice; Sandra Harding’s Whose Science, Whose Knowledge? and Rodgers’2008 Debugging the Link Between Social Theory and Social Insects.
Many of these books are classics in the field, and you have likely read at least one of them already-that is fine. As the saying goes, "you never read the same book twice" since you approach a book with new insights after having read it.
The ensemble of reading and writing assignments should give you a fresh approach to the ways that knowledge is produced and the consequences thereof. I have selected these books because they help meet all of the course goals stated above. Some are harder to read than others, but they are all central to this course and I will hold you accountable for having read all assignments. Pace yourself; take notes.
Assignments
Expect to talk and write about everything you read in here. You will have approximately one assignment a week.
Briefs
Because there are so many readings and some of them are quite dense, I require you to write briefs on what you read. That is, you will write a summary of the key concepts and arguments of the material and try to link it to a) other readings and course material and b) your own growth as a scholar. You must bring your brief with you to class the day that the reading is due. Each brief should be about 4-5 typed pages-concise yet pithy. Your briefs will become an important resource for you: Each brief should serve as a reference for you so that you don't have to re-read the book in the future in order to retain key information—just consult your brief. You will write 5 briefs for this class, beginning with Berger and Luckmann.
Presentation of Your Lie
Early on in this course, you will be required to conduct original research of your own and present that material in class. I do this for several reasons: 1) it requires you to speak aloud in front of your peers early in the course, which will hopefully increase your comfort level in the class as the course progresses; 2) it requires you to interact with the material on your own terms, which will help you internalize major concepts and insights; 3) it makes the material come alive; 4) it cuts down on your overall reading.
In particular, each student will be assigned one chapter from Lies My Teacher Told Me. You will only have to read the chapter that you have been assigned, plus the introduction, and chapters 11 & 12. However, you will teach your chapter to the rest of the class-with an added set of information. You will supplement Loewen’s argument with your own empirical evidence. You will consult a minimum of 3 history text books-from different levels of education-to examine the ways that your “lie” is described for students. When you present Loewen’s perspective on the lie, you will elaborate with your own findings. Your presentation should last about 20 minutes long. You will be graded on the effectiveness of your oral presentation as well as any notes or handouts that you turn in to me.
Synthesis Essay
Before you begin writing briefs, you have one writing assignment that requires you to critically, analytically synthesize three pieces: Galileo, Lies My Teacher Told Me, and the film (that we will watch in class), Control Room. In analyzing and synthesizing these pieces, you will focus on the sociology/politics of knowledge and the consequences for real people. This essay will be about 5-7 pages for the undergrads and 7-10 pp for the grads. We will discuss this assignment more in class.
Heresy Report
A major concept in this course is heresy—or claims made that threaten the stability of a social order by undermining an agreed upon ideology. Calling something “heretical” helps silence and delegitimize the claim, reinforcing the status quo. Throughout history, claims have been made that have been condemned as heresy. You will choose one instance of heresy to research and explain. You will write a report describing in detail the circumstances surrounding the heresy. Then you will analyze the social forces involved in this event, relying upon you course readings and other relevant materials. This paper will be about 7-10 pp for the undergrads and about 15-20 pp for the grads.
Participation
This is an upper level graduate course. Part of the process of learning this material will be discussing it. Most of the ideas are abstract, although we start at a concrete level in order to make the material relevant to all of us. I will force you to talk to each other right away—indeed, we will read Brecht’s play aloud in class. If that doesn't break the ice, nothing will. However, I expect you to pick up the ball and keep a dialogue flowing from period to period. Your briefs should embolden you in class, forcing you to have processed material before coming to class. I expect you to act like interested scholars and to evidence that interest in class discussion.
I will reward you for your participation. Your final grade will include an evaluation of your class participation. Attendance is correlated with participation. The grading is not set in stone and it will include plusses and minuses. However, a guideline for the participation grades is as follows:
A: Student participates regularly in a well-informed manner
B: Student participates occasionally in a well-informed manner
C: Student participates occasionally
D: Student participates rarely
F: Who?
Exams
There are two in-class essay exams in this course: a midterm and a final. Each is cumulative. Each will require you to synthesize and apply major concepts and data learned in this course. I allow you to bring one (1!) sheet of typed or handwritten notes to each exam to help remind you of material. You must turn in this sheet with your exam at the time of the exam.
Missing work
Exams may be made up if you notify me at least a week in advance and we establish a make-up day before the exam is administered. There are no make-ups or substitutes for presentations. Your assignments are due on the dates scheduled—no exceptions. Failure to submit work results in a 0. No turning in work over e-mail.
Grading—10 point scale
Briefs + Synthesis essay: 30% Presentation: 10%
Exams (2 total): 30% Heresy paper: 20%
Participation: 10%
In this class, an 'A' is reserved for truly excellent work. If you earn an ‘A,’ you went above and beyond the call of duty not just with your effort but with your performance. A ‘B’ indicates very good work. You did not just do the minimum requirements, but you made an extra effort to show your skills, and your effort showed. A ‘C’ means you did average work-you did what was asked and you did is satisfactorily. Nothing less, nothing more. Grades who earn a C or lower essentially failed the class. For undergrads, a ‘D’ means you need to improve—you did below the minimum requirements. An ‘F’ is guaranteed if you turn nothing in. But you might receive an ‘F’ if you completely bungled the assignment. It is hard to get an ‘A’ or an ‘F’ in this class. It all depends on your effort.
Incompletes
I will give NO incompletes for this course. They do not help you. Instead, they often bury you because you are hard-pressed to make them up once a new semester has begun.
Due to e-mail, communication between faculty and students has become much easier over the years. I prefer e-mail to phone always. However, remember that I am not on e-mail 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and I will not always have time to check and/or respond to your e-mail. Do not expect a response to every e-mail you send me. I am not your Facebook friend, so use electronic communication sparingly. Also, I do not accept ANY assignments over e-mail.
Schedule (subject to change)-readings and assignments are due the day for which they are listed.
The Sociology of Knowledge—Why it matters
Week 1: January 15—Introduction to course; Film: Control Room
Week 2: January 22—Brecht read aloud in class—bring your copy
Week 3: January 29—Loewen presentations
Week 4: February 5-- Synthesis essay due in my mailbox (8th Zu), but no class (I will be at a conference)
Knowledge
Week 5: February 12—Berger and Luckmann (brief due)
Key concepts: social construction of reality, accounts
Paradigms
Week 6: February 19—Kuhn (brief due)
Key concepts: paradigmatic shifts, scientific revolutions
Power and Heresy
Week 7: February 26—Bourdieu (brief due)
Key concepts: orthodoxy, heterodoxy, cultural capital
Week 8: March 5—Discussion of Doubt and Heresy assignment
Week 9: March 19—Midterm Exam
Canon
Week 10: March 26—Connell article and Sprague article (Blackboard)
Positivism
Week 11: April 2—Popper (brief due)
Key concepts: positivism, falsification, universal truths
Week 12: April 9—More Popper, Sprague and Zimmerman article (Blackboard)
Relativism
Week 13: April 16—Harding (brief due)
Key concepts: positionality, power
Week 14: April 23—Rodgers (brief due)
Key concepts: Critical discourse analysis, anthropomorphization, naturalization
Week 15: April 30—Collins article; Sternberg’s thesis, exemplar (Blackboard)
Heresy paper due
May 7th, 6 pm: Final exam