Foundations of Sociology

 

Tamás Bartus – Károly Takács

 

The course offers an introduction to the basic problems and theories of sociology. The first part of the course is devoted to the study of social problems that often attract the interest of sociologist. The social problems we will study include inequality and poverty, race and gender, the demographic transition and the welfare state, social conflicts, deviant behavior, globalization and urbanization. In the second part of the course, we will study social institutions like the family, the educational system, economic organizations, the class structure, political parties and the democracy, which are responsible for the occurence of the above listed social problems. The course ends with an overview about theory construction. We will evaluate cultural, structural and interactionist explanations, and we will also discuss the main paradigms and meta-theoretical issues.

 

Compulsory reading:

The compulsory reading is available through (any computer connected to) the University Intranet. (The obvious solution is to find a free computer in the computer rooms of the Sóház).

 

  1. Launch Windows Explorer or your favorite web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer)
  2. Type the following text in the command line: \\oktatas\feladatok\Bartus\sociology
  3. For weeks 1-7, you should read/print the file sociology_reader_1.pdf. The material for weeks 8-14 will be available by 15 of March.

 

To be able to read or print the file, you should have installed the freely available software Adobe Acrobat Reader. (http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html)

 

Assessment

Students are expected to participate at the seminars, and complete a final written exam. Both activities can be honored with a maximum of 50-50 points. In total, you can receive maximum 100 points. The final written exam consists of five essay questions.  Seminar activity includes: (a) active participation at the class (b) holding a short oral presentation on assigned topics (“assignments”) and (c) writing a critical evaluation of the study material at the end of the course.  

 

Final written exam

50 points

Active participation and assignments

35 points

Critical comments on the study material

15 points

 

The grades then are calculated as follows:

 

 

  86 – 100

5 (jeles)

A (excellent)

71 – 85

4 (jó)

B (good)

56 – 70

3 (közepes)

C (satisfactory)

41 – 55

2 (elégséges)

D (low pass)

…. – 40

1 (elégtelen)

F (failed)

 


 

Weekly schedule

 

During the course, we cover the following topics:

 

1. Introduction: What is sociology?

 

2. Rules of the game

 

3. Class structure

 

4. Social interactions

 

7. Inequality and poverty

 

6. Racial inequalities

 

7. Gender inequalities

 

8. Education

 

9. Class conflict and politics

 

10. Social control

 

11. Community

12. Family