Week 1 & 2: Intro to Sociology and Brooklyn College

8/29 (Thurs) Orientation to class and semester

• Review website, syllabus and assignments, and expectations for the semester

9/3 (Tues) Can Sociology help us understand Brooklyn College?

• Conerly, Tonja R, et al. “1.1 What Is Sociology? – Introduction to Sociology 3e | OpenStax.” Openstax.org, OpenStax, 2020, openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/1-1-what-is-sociology.
• In class: “What Is Sociology?: Crash Course Sociology #1.” YouTube, 13 Mar. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnCJU6PaCio.

• Small groups: sociological exploration of Brooklyn College

9/5 Sociology of the college experience: read both articles below, but only post comments on 1

• “Everyday Sociology Blog: Is College for Jobs or Expanding the Mind: Why Not Both?” Everydaysociologyblog.com, 2020, www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2020/07/is-college-for-jobs-or-expanding-the-mind-why-not-both.html.
• “Everyday Sociology Blog: #Followfirstgenerationacademics.” Everydaysociologyblog.com, 2017, www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2017/12/followfirstgenerationacademics.html.
• Sign up for weekly photo illustration

Week 3 & 4: What is Sociology?

9/10 Thinking about self and society

• Read: Allan Johnson, The Forest and the Trees: Sociology as Life, Practice, and Promise. Temple University Press, 2008, pgs 13 – 25 (password-protected PDF)
• Post questions/comments

9/12 Exploration of self and society

• Post 1st photo illustrations here

9/17 Sociological Imagination and Sociological curiosity

• Read: C. Wright Mills The Sociological Imagination, Oxford Univ Press, chapter 1 (password-protected PDF))
• Read: Jacobs, Jerry A. “Sociological Curiosity: Updating c. Wright Mills.” Contexts, vol. 20, no. 3, 2021, pp. 34–39. JSTOR, https://www-jstor-org.brooklyn.ezproxy.cuny.edu/stable/27059855

9/19 Personal problems and social troubles

• Post 2^nd photo illustration here
• Introduce sociological autobiography assignment
• In class: “Why You Should Use Your (Sociological) Imagination | Pawan Dhingra | Talks at Harvard College.” YouTube, 7 Mar. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3W-PDIlUsE.

Week 5 & 6: Culture, Norms, Individual and Society 

9/24 Culture and norms

• Read: Dalton Conley You May Ask Yourself WW Norton 4^th edition pgs 113-127 (password-protected PDF))

9/26 culture, norms, and socialization

• Post 3^rd photo illustration here
• In class: Grey’s Anatomy: education, culture, and adult socialization
• Discuss sociological autobiography

10/1 Individuals, society, and social interaction

• Read: Dalton Conley You May Ask Yourself WW Norton 4^th edition pg 132-145 (password-protected PDF).
• In class: practice for sociological autobiography
• In class: second biography example

10/3 NO CLASS, college closed

10/8 social interaction and shared realities 

• Post 4^th photo illustration here
• In class: Sechrest-Ehrhardt, Lisa. “Social Identity and Social Interaction | Lisa Sechrest-Ehrhardt | TEDxGeorgeMasonU.” YouTube, 24 Aug. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=29C3ts4YxAA.
• In class: “Everyday Sociology Blog: Everyday Sociology Talk: Migration and Masculinity.” Everydaysociologyblog.com, 2017, www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2013/01/everyday-sociology-talk-controversy-and-research-on-same-sex-parenting.html.
• DUE: draft of sociological autobiography

10/10 Social interactions and shared realities in times of pandemic

• Read: K Gutierrez “Chinatown Through a Pandemic: A Phoenix Rising.” Entin, J., & Theoharis, J. (Eds.). (2024). Until we’re seen : Public college students expose the hidden inequalities of the covid-19 pandemic. University of Pennsylvania https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/reader.action?docID=30753724&ppg=1
• Read: E.L. Lopez “‘Zoom School’ and the Digital Divide in Immigrant Communities During COVID-19.” Entin, J., & Theoharis, J. (Eds.). (2024). Until we’re seen : Public college students expose the hidden inequalities of the covid-19 pandemic. University of Pennsylvania https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/reader.action?docID=30753724&ppg=1

Week 7 – 9: Power and inequality, intersectionality

10/15 NO CLASS (Conversion day, classes follow a Monday schedule)

10/17 Power and social institutions: linked concepts

• Read: Stammler, Pernilla, and Chris Drew PhD. “Social Institutions in Sociology (Definition and Explanation).” Helpful Professor, 23 June 2023, helpfulprofessor.com/social-institutions-in-sociology/.
• CLASS ASSIGNMENT
• Video for class/class assignment: Liu, Eric. “How to Understand Power.” YouTube, 4 Nov. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Eutci7ack.

• In class: “Social Institutions, Social Institution Definition, Social Institutions in Sociology.” Sociologyguide.com, 2025, www.sociologyguide.com/basic-concepts/Social-Institutions.php.
• Draft of autobiography returned

10/22 Gender

• Examples of power
• Read: Lorber, J. (1994). “‘Night to his day’: The social construction of gender.” Paradoxes of gender, 1, 1-8. (password-protected PDF)
• “Employment and Earnings in Select Occupations.” DOL, 2025, www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/data/employment-earnings-occupations.
• In class: “Pre-Colonial Communities’ History of Gender Fluidity.” Bbc.com, 2020, www.bbc.com/news/av/world-53573764.

10/24 intersectional perspectives on gender

• Post 5^th photo illustration here
• In class: “What Is Intersectionality?” YouTube, 30 Aug. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-xZKHhdMEc.
• DUE Revised/final Sociological Autobiography

10/29 Race

• Watch: “Race – The Power of an Illusion.” 2003. 2hr 51min. Director: Jean Cheng et. al. Part 3: the House We Live In. (first 30 minutes only)
• Goldberg, B. S., Martin, N. D., Chulani, V., & Flores-González, N. (2022). Youth Views on Race. Contexts, 21(1), 8-13. https://doi-org.brooklyn.ezproxy.cuny.edu/10.1177/15365042221083004

10/31 intersectional perspectives on race

• Post 6^th photo illustration here
• In class: “Olympic Gold Medalist Caster Semenya Discusses Criticism about Her Body, Discrimination.” YouTube, 31 Oct. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA-9_MQ5fPI.
• In class: Radcliffe, Mary. “Which Way Are Key Demographic Groups Leaning in the 2024 Election?” ABC News, 4 Oct. 2024, abcnews.go.com/538/key-demographic-groups-leaning-2024-election/story?id=114472688.
• ‌In class: Perry, Stephanie, and Curtis Bunn. “Black Swing-State Voters Overwhelmingly Back Harris — with Key Divides on Age and Gender, Howard Poll Shows.” NBC News, 19 Sept. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/howard-poll-black-swing-state-voters-overwhelmingly-back-harris-rcna171467.
• In class: TED. “The Urgency of Intersectionality | Kimberlé Crenshaw | TED.” YouTube, 7 Dec. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOe5-UsQ2o.

11/5 Immigration 

• Read: “The Economics of Migration.” Contexts.org, 2019, contexts.org/articles/the-economics-of-migration/.
• ‌“How Immigration Will Define the US Election – the Global Story Podcast, BBC World Service.” YouTube, 26 Oct. 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVFNQU9Z0WE.
• ‌Villafranca, Omar. “New York City Schools Feeling Strain of Migrant Surge.” Cbsnews.com, CBS News, 12 Jan. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-city-schools-migrant-strain/.

11/7 Intersectional perspectives on immigration

• “National Exit Polls: Election 2024 Results.” Nbcnews.com, NBC News, 5 Nov. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/exit-polls.
• ‌In class: “Navigating the Path to Legal Status: An Undocumented Immigrant’s Story, Pt. 1.” Contexts.org, 2023, contexts.org/blog/navigating-the-path-to-legal-status-part-one/.
• Post 7^th photo illustration here
• University of Minnesota digital archives of immigration stories

Weeks 9 -13: Social institutions (power, structural inequality)

11/12 Education

• Read: Anyon, J. (1980). Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work. The Journal of Education, 162(1), 67–92. https://www-jstor-org.brooklyn.ezproxy.cuny.edu/stable/42741976

11/14 Education as lived experience

• In class: Cohen, Danielle. “NYC School Segregation Report Card: Still Last, Action Needed Now!” Escholarship.org, 10 June 2021, escholarship.org/uc/item/5fx616qn.
• Teaching styles from article
• Post 8^th photo illustration here

11/18 Extra Credit

11/19 Policing/Criminal Justice 

• Article: “Police and the Liberal Fantasy.” Jacobin.com, 2017, jacobin.com/2017/10/police-reform-prisons-racism-vitale.
• ‌“Incarceration Statistics.” Vera Institute of Justice, 2015, www.vera.org/ending-mass-incarceration/causes-of-mass-incarceration/incarceration-statistics.

11/21 Alternatives to Police and Prisons

• Post 9^th photo illustration here
• “What Is Transformative Justice?” YouTube, 11 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-_BOFz5TXo.
• ‌“What a World without Prisons Could Look like | Deanna van Buren.” YouTube, 3 Apr. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6X1i8khmt8.
• Black Youth Project 100 report: Agenda to Build Black Futures

11/26 Family as a social institution

• Read: van Stee, E. G. (2023). No Place Like Home? Contexts, 22(3), 12-17. https://doi-org.brooklyn.ezproxy.cuny.edu/10.1177/15365042231192494 
• “Stages of Family Life: Crash Course Sociology #38.” YouTube, 18 Dec. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWTz3KBCxfg&t=199s.
• Draft of final project due

11/28 THANKSGIVING

Week 14: Social Change

12/3 Social movements and social change: climate activism 

• Read: Dalton Conley You May Ask Yourself WW Norton 4^th edition pgs 697 – 713 (password-protected PDF))
• “A Brief History of Environmental Justice.” YouTube, 4 Aug. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=30xLg2HHg8Q.
• ‌Film: “The Sacrifice Zone.”
• ACTUP Oral History Archive

12/5 Social movements, CUNY, and the origins of the SEEK Program

• Post 10^th photo illustration here
• Schiller, G., & Weiss, A. (Producers), & Schiller, G., & Weiss, A. (Directors). (2023). The five demands [Streaming video]. Brooklyn, NY: Icarus Films. Retrieved November 7, 2024 from https://docuseek2-com.brooklyn.ezproxy.cuny.edu/if-fived.
• Drafts returned

12/10 & 12/12 Presentations of final projects

• Post photos for Tues 12/10
• Post photos for Thurs 12/12

Final projects due on 12/17