Class/

Economy and Society

Sociology 58 - University of North Carolina

Course website: Untitled (login and password given in class, it’s not your UNC Onyen)

Course grades: On Blackboard, blackboard.unc.edu (login with your UNC Onyen)

Professor: Ted Mouw	Teaching Assistant:
268 Hamilton Hall (962-5602)
email: tedmouw@email.unc.edu	Email:
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment.	Office Hours:

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Contacts

You can reach me by email at tedmouw@email.unc.edu. For simple questions, this is the quickest way to reach me. I will also be available before and after class to answer questions. I welcome your questions and opinions. For more difficult questions, please come to see me during office hours.

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that the classroom experience can be both fun and intellectually stimulating. I will have high standards for your participation and performance in the course. At the same time, the class will be a friendly environment. For example, I will expect you to come to class prepared to discuss, and I will call on you to participate in class. However, class participation will be conducted with a mixture of seriousness, humor, and respect to ensure a diversity of opinions and a supportive atmosphere for participation.

Readings:

I have deliberately selected the reading for this course to reflect this lack of consensus. My guiding principle has been to avoid textbooks that spoon-feed answers, but to give you a sample of the diversity of opinion. I believe that the function of the college classroom is to confront opposing arguments rather than ignore them. The challenge is for you to sort through these conflicting perspectives, and my expectation is that the class will work cooperatively to decide what is “right.” As much as possible, I will try to moderate a discussion based on the reading rather than impose my own views of what is right and wrong.

Requirements

Components of your grade:

1) Reading notes	2 points per class	58 points (2 x 29)
2) In-class essays (5)	15 points each	75 points (15 x 5)
3) Final		50 points
4) Final Paper		50 points
5) Class participation		50 points

Note: Your grades will be posted on Blackboard.

1) Class Attendance & Reading notes:

My expectation is that you will come to class everyday prepared to discuss the assigned reading. The reading in this class is not optional. As much as possible, I will try not to repeat things in lecture that were covered in the reading. The class discussion and lecture will begin where the reading left off.

On the class schedule page on the web, you we see links to reading questions for each class period. As you do the reading, take notes on these questions. Note: If you see a question preceded by a double asterisk (**), you do not need to take notes on it.

These are intended to be notes, so you do not need to write in full sentences or complete paragraphs. All I want to see is evidence that you have read and thought about the material. I only expect you to turn approximately 1-page of notes.

Each day’s questions are worth 2 points. They are graded on a Ö+ (2 points), Ö (1.8 points), Ö- (1 point) basis.

The reading notes should be turned in before class starts. ¼ point will be deducted from notes turned in after class starts.

Absence policy on reading notes:

If you let me know in advance, you may turn your reading notes in ahead of time if you have a scheduled absence for full credit.

If you are not able to attend class, you may email the TA your reading notes as long as they arrive in his/her email box by the time class ends. No late reading notes will be accepted after the end of each class. The only exceptions to this policy are medical situations accompanied by a doctor’s note. If you turn in the reading notes and duck out of class, you get partial credit.

2) Class attendance

Class attendance is mandatory. Because this is a discussion class, I expect you to be present in class and prepared to contribute.

I will take attendance each class. If you miss more than 3 classes during the semester, every additional absence will lower your class grade by 2 percentage points. The only exceptions to this are official UNC activities, illness accompanied by a doctor’s note, and sudden family tragedies etc.

3) In-class essays

Instead of a midterm, we will have 5 in-class essays throughout the semester. Each of these will be a single 15-minute essay question. The material covered will be everything since the previous in-class essay. Typically, these essay questions will be taken from the reading questions or the discussion questions in class (see the class notes for a list of questions). I will post a sample of the top essays, without names, to give you an idea of what I was looking for.

Absence policy on in-class essays: If you miss an in-class essay please talk to the TA to coordinate a time and place for a makeup. Makeup essays will be 15-minutes long and will be on a different question from the one given in class. Makeup essays must be completed within a week of the original in-class essay. It is your responsibility to make sure you get it done. No credit will be given for essays after the 1-week deadline.

3) Final Exam

At least 2/3 of the questions on the final will be taken from reading notes questions. All the questions will be short-essays.

Note: see the Registrar’s exam calendar for the exam time, http://regweb.oit.unc.edu/calendars/index.php

4) Final Paper

A final paper of 10 pages is due the day after the final day of class. The paper should explore one of the subjects discussed in class. If you turn a draft of your paper in two weeks before the end of class, I will read it and give you comments on it.

5) Class Discussion

I expect everyone to come to class prepared to discuss. Your class participation is worth 50 points. An “A” discussion grade (48/50) must be earned by outstanding and memorable comments and questions during the semester. A “B” grade (42.5/50) is “average” class participation—which means that you are prepared and willing to answer questions from the lecture notes (it doesn’t necessarily mean you get the answers right, but that you can discuss them based on the reading), and that you occasionally volunteer a comment or question. Less than a B indicates a lack of preparedness or cooperation in discussion or when called on.

Grades will be assigned as follows: 93-100%=A, 90-92%=A-, 87-89%=B+, 83-86%=B, 80-82%=B-, 77-79%=C+, 73-76%=C, 70-72%=C-,

67-69%=D+, 63-66%=D, 60-62%=D-, below 60=F

(fractions of a point will be rounded down)

Note: the official class schedule is on the class web page. The class schedule and readings may change, so don’t print all the reading notes at the beginning of the semester.