Syllabus *

Department of Sociology, University of Colorado, Boulder

SOCY-1004 (002): “Deviance in U.S. Society”

Classroom: Hale Science Bldg., Room 230 ○ Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays 3:00 – 3:50 pm

Instructor: Kevin D. Vryan Office: Ketchum 217 Fall, 2006

F Brief Course Description:

· Examines the social construction of deviance in the United States, emphasizing existing theory and research about such issues as deviant careers, deviant lifestyles, and processes of social control.

F Instructor Contact Information:

· Â Email: Kevin.Vryan@colorado.edu

· ( Phone: (303) 499-1237

o When you call, please be sure to leave a clear message including your name and phone number, and the times I can (or can’t) call you back.

· ^ Office Hours: Mon., Wed., & Fri., 4–5 pm (after every class when class meets) & by Appt.

o I’m happy to meet with you—by appointment—at other times & locations.

· , Mailbox: If you have to leave something for me, you can do so Monday-Friday from 8 am to 5 pm, by giving it to an administrative staff person in the Sociology Department Office: Room 219 of Ketchum Hall. Make sure to ask the administrative staff member to date and initial it before putting it in my mailbox (this is only necessary if it is something with a due date).

F WebCT

Use this resource!!! You’ll find your grades, the syllabus, a calendar, copies of the handouts, and more online. There is a discussion area where you can send questions or feedback to me, or talk with other students.

F Welcome to “Deviance in U.S. Society”!

In this course, we will explore the notion of “deviance” as it is applied to people, including their identities, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We’ll inquire into the ways that people or their actions come to be defined as deviant or not, and we’ll look at various effects of that labeling on the individuals and groups involved. We’ll examine formal and informal social control mechanisms, learning about the ways that deviance is discouraged or minimized and the ways that “normativity” is maintained and reproduced. We’ll learn about research that exposes how specific forms of deviant behavior or identity operate, and will apply various sociological theories that seek to answer general questions about deviance in individuals, in group contexts, and in society in general.

There are two major goals I have for this course. First, an obvious purpose of this course is to teach you about a particular subject matter and body of research (the sociology of deviance). I hope you come to share my view that a sociological awareness can significantly enhance your understanding of deviance, normativity, and social control, and of human experience generally. Sociological research helps us understand the human world “out there” much better. Second, and no less important, I hope that you leave this course much better equipped to make sense of and positively affect your own life and the social worlds you inhabit and create. I encourage you to explore the relevance of the ideas we explore to your own personal experience, and to share those processes with the rest of us in class (you’ll notice that I use my own life experiences in discussions as well.)

I very much hope that this class will be educational, interesting, and fun for all of us. Throughout the semester, please feel free to let me know if you have any ideas about how we might be able to better achieve these goals (or please feel free to suggest anything at all). Email is a great way to send your thoughts to me, there’s a WebCT discussion thread for this purpose, or you can call me or write your thoughts down (anonymously if you prefer, delivered to my campus mailbox).

F What to Expect During Class:

Here’s what you can expect in this class on an average day of regular class…

First, we’ll usually begin with a very short and very easy (if you did the readings) quiz.

Immediately after the quiz, I’ll tell you the answers. If there’s no quiz, I’ll pass around an attendance sheet at the very beginning of class (right at 3 pm).

Next, except on exam or presentation days, I’ll ask if you have any questions or comments about anything. If you have any questions about the assigned readings or upcoming papers or exams, this is the time to ask. Also, if you want to bring up anything for discussion relevant to the subject matter of the course, you can do that during this time (e.g., a topic in the news related to deviance).

After the quiz and Q&A, I’ll proceed to lecture briefly and/or lead discussions or other activities related to the topic o’ the day. I will not regurgitate everything that’s important from the readings in my lectures (that’d be boring for all of us), and I try to maximize time for students to talk in class and to take part in guiding our focus. However, I will lecture about some of the ideas I consider most important or most potentially confusing from the assigned readings. Further, lectures will present additional information not in the readings (this additional information is included on exams).

I hope this class will include a lot of student participation even though it’s a fairly large class. After all, we and the people we experience in our everyday lives are part of the subject matter of this course; …we all share common experiences of deviance and social control in our own lives; …we each have a unique set of experiences that no one else shares; …and every one of us has something to teach the rest of us about the extreme complexity and diversity that characterizes human experience in contemporary society. And if that isn’t compelling enough, then please participate in class discussions just to break up the monotony of my voice.

F Civility & Consideration in Class:

While being considerate of and civil with others should characterize all classroom behavior, I ask you to keep in mind that this course includes subject matter that at times can be disturbing or can touch on sensitive areas of people lives, such as rape or victimization due to race, religion, body characteristics, or sexual orientation. It’s also the case that we examine a wide range of ways that people behave, think, and feel, and we look at groups that define “right” and “wrong” in ways differently than we do. We’ll learn more about others, social reality, and ultimately ourselves, by keeping an open mind and suspending judgment as much as possible while trying to learn what different realities are like and how other people experience them.

I expect that all of us will treat each other with professional courtesy, respect, dignity, consideration, and understanding. These concerns are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexuality-related identities, gender variance, and nationalities.

For more information regarding student classroom and course-related behavior, see: http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html. More information regarding student conduct policies and procedures can be found at: http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code.

& Required Textbook:

• Patricia A. Adler & Peter Adler (Eds.). 2006. Constructions of Deviance: Social Power, Context, and Interaction, 5^th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
• If you buy a used copy, note that you need the FIFTH edition! (other editions have different readings)

i Course Requirements & Grading i

� Final Course Grade �

Your final grade in this class will be based on three exams, two short papers, a number of short quizzes, and attendance. The maximum number of points you can earn in this course is 500 (not including extra credit), distributed as shown in the following table. Extra credit, described later in this syllabus and in separate handouts, may be worth either a maximum of 50 or a maximum of 75 points (explained below).

• Exam 1 15% ( 75 points)
• Exam 2 15% ( 75 points)
• Final Exam 15% ( 75 points)
• Short Paper 1 10% ( 50 points)
• Short Paper 2 15% ( 75 points)
• Short Quizzes 20% (100 points)
Attendance 10% ( 50 points)

• Final Unadjusted Score 100% (500 points)

• Extra Credit: Presentation maximum of 50 or 75 points possible

Your final letter grade will be calculated using the following table. The “Final Adjusted Score” consists of your “Final Unadjusted Score” plus any Extra Credit points earned.

Final Letter Grade	Final Adjusted Score	Final Score Percent
A+	485 – 500	97% - 100%
A	465 – 484	93% - 96%
A-	450 – 464	90% - 92%
B+	435 – 449	87% - 89%
B	415 – 434	83% - 86%
B-	400 – 414	80% - 82%
C+	385 – 399	77% - 79%
C	365 – 384	73% - 76%
C-	350 – 364	70% - 72%
D+	335 – 349	67% - 69%
D	315 – 334	63% - 66%
D-	300 – 314	60% - 62%
F	0 – 299	0% - 59%

¤ Exams ¤

F TIMELINE:

October 20 EXAM 1 75 points

November 29 EXAM 2 75 points

December 16, 1:30-4:00 pm FINAL EXAM 75 points

F PURPOSES OF EXAMS:

(1) To assess how effectively you have learned the material from the assigned readings and the in-class lectures and discussions.

(2) To provide a fair and relatively objective way to evaluate your performance and issue grades.

(3) To encourage you to study the readings carefully and to pay close attention in class.

F GENERALLY HOW IT WORKS:

There will be three exams. Exam 1 and Exam 2 are mandatory, and are each worth a maximum of 75 points. These two exams will be administered in class during our regular class time.

Each exam may include any of the following formats: multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and short essay questions. Exam 2 will only cover material from classes or readings since Exam 1 (it is not cumulative).

The Final Exam is optional (see options below). The Final Exam will be cumulative, covering all course material from the entire semester.

For all three exams, you will be responsible for knowing the material from:

(a) Assigned readings (note: this includes information NOT discussed in class)

(b) Any handouts I distribute in class (even if you were absent when distributed), and

(c) Everything said or done in class, including lectures, discussions, videos, guest speakers, etc.

F FINAL EXAM OPTIONS:

You have two options for the Final Exam. The choice is yours:

OPTION A: You can take Final Exam as scheduled, on December 16, 2006, from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm.

· If you take the Final Exam, you can NOT do Option B. You must use your Final Exam score.

· If you do not show up to the Final Exam, you will automatically be doing Option B.

OPTION B: You can use the average of your scores on Exams 1 and 2 as your score for the Final Exam.

· If you are happy with your previous exam scores, you can choose this option and not take the Final Exam.

F MAKE-UP POLICY FOR EXAMS:

Except in extreme circumstances, there are no “make-up” exams, so be sure to be present on exam days! Also, the time that you have to complete the exam will not be extended if you are late. If you experience a verifiable emergency that makes it completely impossible for you to attend the class on an exam day, you must provide documentation of the emergency and contact me as soon as possible. If you have a documented and valid reason for missing an exam, I may issue a substitute exam which may be more difficult than the original exam. If you know in advance of a conflict with an exam day/time, see me as soon as possible.

These policies of only granting make up exams in the most extreme circumstances and of making substitute exams more difficult than regular exams are meant to ensure that a student can’t have an unfair advantage over the rest of the class by having more time to prepare for an exam. Many students don’t feel prepared enough and would like more time when the dreaded exam day arrives, but if they take the exam anyway, it’s unfair to allow someone else to have extra time to prepare. These make-up policies are also intended to keep a student from gaining an advantage by being able to find out from other students what topics were covered or what questions were on the exam.

þ Short Quizzes on Readings þ

F PURPOSES OF QUIZZES:

(1) To assess whether or not you did the readings due since the last quiz.

(2) To serve as a reward for attendance and promptness.

(3) To provide an additional way to evaluate your effort and performance in this course.

F HOW IT WORKS:

Quizzes will be given at the beginning of class on most days, but you will not know which days are quiz days. Combined, all your quizzes will be worth 100 points and constitute 20% of your final grade in this course (not including extra credit). Because the number of points possible on all quizzes will not equal 100, I will rescale the quiz scores at the end of the semester so that the maximum possible is 100.

Quizzes will cover the assigned readings that were due since the previous quiz (which may be more than one class period and therefore more than one set of readings), and nothing else!

They are intended to reward you for doing the readings on schedule, but these quizzes will not seek to test the depth of your knowledge in the way that the Exams will (in other words, quiz questions are easier than exam questions). Thus, you shouldn’t have to “study” the readings to ace the quizzes, BUT the questions are designed so that you MUST have read the readings carefully at least one time through to get the questions right (unless you’re just a lucky guesser).

Just carefully read the assigned readings and come to class on time!

If you do those two things, you will surely do very well on the quizzes. If you don’t do the readings, you will likely do very poorly on the quizzes. Also, if you are tardy, you will not only lose attendance points, but will also lose all the quiz points for that day (since there are no make-up quizzes).

F MAKE-UP POLICY FOR QUIZZES:

There are NO “make-up” quizzes under any circumstances, so be sure to be on time to class! Quizzes will always be at the very beginning of a class period, so if you arrive a few minutes late to class you may miss that day’s quiz. If you miss a quiz, you miss it forever, and can not make up those lost points (except by doing extra credit, as described elsewhere in this syllabus).

� Short Papers (written assignments) �

F TIMELINE:

Monday, September 18 Paper 1 Proposal Due

Friday, September 22 Proposal Approval Due

Friday, September 29 Paper 1 Due

Friday, November 17 Paper 2 Due

F PURPOSES OF SHORT PAPERS:

(1) To give you an opportunity to reflect more deeply on some of the ideas we explore in class.

(2) To give you an experience of conducting sociological research, analyzing social phenomena, & communicating your findings in a scholarly manner.

(3) To encourage you to use a sociological lens to inquire about aspects of your own experience, and to facilitate your learning of how sociology can be personally relevant and useful to you.

(4) To give me an additional means of assessing the depth of your knowledge and understanding of the course material, and to do so in a diverse manner (i.e., different than the exam and quiz formats).

F TOPICS:

• Short Paper 1: Norm Violation: A Deviant Sociological Field Experiment
• Be deviant & observe. Then describe, analyze, and explain (as described in handout).
• NOTE: you must get prior approval of your Short Paper Proposal before doing this assignment
• Short Paper 2: “When I Was Labeled”: An Autoethnographic Inquiry
• Analyze your own experience of having been labeled as deviant in the past or present.

F GENERALLY HOW IT WORKS:

Short Paper 1 is worth a maximum of 50 points (10% of your grade), and Short Paper 2 is worth a maximum of 75 points (15% of your grade). Combined, both paper grades are worth a maximum of 125 points, or 25% of your final course grade (not including extra credit). You must submit a Proposal for Short Paper 1 by Monday, 9/18. In case you need to modify your proposal or explain something further, you have until the end of that week (Friday, 9/22) to get approval of your Proposal. I must approve your project by 9/22, and before you do the rest of the Short Paper 1 assignment.

The details about the topic for each Paper, and explanations of what I expect of you in these Papers and in the Proposal, will be given as handouts in class. If you miss class, make sure to get these handouts!!! As always, it is your responsibility to make sure you get handouts if you are absent (or tardy) when I pass them out. Note that all handouts will be available online via WebCT.

F REQUIREMENTS & GRADING:

Grading criteria and requirements for each assignment are detailed on the handouts. Read them carefully!

F LATE POLICY FOR SHORT PAPERS:

• A Paper (or Proposal) is due at the beginning of class (3:00 p.m.) on the day it is due.
• After the due date and time, an assignment will be penalized by 5 points for each day (“day” = a 24-hour period starting at 3 pm) that it is late. Thus, be sure to get your papers & proposals in on time!
• A Short Paper that is six or more days late will not be graded and will result in no credit (0 points).
• If you must submit an assignment late, I prefer that you email it to me as an attachment. The email server will note the time I received the email, which will determine the amount of the late penalty.
• If you drop off a paper or proposal with the staff in the sociology department, you must ask them to put the time and date on it, and then they will put it in my mailbox.

¦ Attendance & Tardiness ¿

F PURPOSES OF ATTENDANCE/TARDINESS POLICIES:

Attendance is a very important part of this course. There’s a lot that goes on in the classroom that you can’t get from someone else’s notes, and that you will be responsible for knowing for the exams and paper assignments. The attendance policy is designed to reward you for showing up each day, and for doing so on time (and to negatively sanction the deviant behaviors of failing to come to class or showing up late).