Sociology 4461, Section 003

Critical Thinking: Consumerism in America

Fall, 2006

Professor Sara Steen

Email address: steen@colorado.edu

Office information: Ketchum 205; 303-735-6658

Office hours: Thursdays 12:30-2:30, or by appointment

Assisted by Kristina Kahl

Email address: kristina.kahl@colorado.edu

Course description and objectives

This is a class about questioning. Together, we will take one aspect of American society—consumerism (which we will define as the acts of selling, purchasing, and consuming)—and ask questions about why consumerism has come to occupy such a central place in our culture, why we shop the way we do, and what the effects of our behavior are on local, national, and global levels.

Critical thinking requires us to question many of the things that go unnoticed in everyday life, and to challenge assumptions we may hold that influence the ways we move about in the world. Each of us will be asked to take different perspectives on issues than we are accustomed to—an uncomfortable but frequently enlightening exercise. I view this course as a collective effort, and as such, its success will depend as much on the effort and energy that you put into the work as on the materials that I prepare for class.

Course meetings

Regular class sessions will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11-12:15 in Ketchum 234. Please plan to arrive on time, to listen attentively when others are speaking, and to refrain from holding side conversations, reading non-class materials, surfing the internet, and so forth. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Leave cell phones and beepers at home or turn them off before class begins.

As you can undoubtedly see, I am expecting a baby this semester. I have planned the semester so that I will teach through Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, Kristina Kahl will step in for me. Kristina is a sociology graduate student pursuing her doctorate, which she hopes will focus on consumerism. She is NOT a teaching assistant for this course, but rather will be sitting in on the course, participating in discussions, and serving as a consultant for you as you work on your final projects. During the last three weeks of class, you will be preparing and presenting your final projects to the class. Please note that while Kristina will coordinate the grading process for evaluating your final projects, I am ultimately responsible for all of your grades in the course, and all questions or concerns about grades should be directed to me.

Course readings

The following books are required reading, and are available at the University Bookstore. All readings should be completed by the date indicated on the syllabus.

Klein, Naomi. 2002. No Logo. New York: Picador.

Quart, Alissa. 2003. Branded. New York: Basic Books.

Schor, Juliet B. 1998. The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer. New York: Basic Books.

Schor, Juliet B. and Douglas B. Holt, editors. 2000. The Consumer Society Reader. New York: New Press.

A few additional readings are available at the course WebCT website, which is located at https://webct.colorado.edu.

Reading groups

Within the first two weeks of the semester, I will assign each of you to a reading group consisting of five students. You will work in these groups in various capacities throughout the semester, and you should rely on your group members to act as a support system as you work your way through the course. Each group will be in charge of presenting and discussing some of the readings for the course.

Course requirements

Your grade for this course is based on your willingness and ability to grapple with the material. Your grade will not be affected by the grades of other students in the class. Your grade will consist of the following elements:

Class participation	10%
Reading group—discussion leadership	10%
Reflection journals (4 out of 5)	20%
Exams (2) Midterm Final	35%
Final project and paper Final project presentation Final project paper	25%

Class participation: Participation requires a number of different skills, and will be graded accordingly. Effective participation requires preparation, thoughtful contributions, careful listening skills, and continual reflection on the course material. Ten percent of your participation grade will come from my assessment of your involvement in the course.

Reading group participation: Throughout the course of the semester, you will work with four other students in reading groups. You should rely on your group members to act as a support system for the course—if you miss a day, you should email them for material you may have missed; if you prefer to study in groups, you should use this group as a starting point to find study partners. On one occasion over the course of the semester, your reading group will be required to lead classroom discussion on a particular set of readings. You will be responsible as a group for deciding on classroom activities and discussion questions, and you will actually lead the class for the entire period on your assigned date. To grade your discussion leadership, I will ask each group member to assess the role of all group members (including him/herself), and I will also assess the quality of the discussion overall.

Reflection journals: To participate effectively, you must read and reflect on the assigned material, and come to class prepared to discuss the material. To achieve these goals, I will ask you to maintain a reflection journal throughout the course of the semester. The two things you should be demonstrating in all your journal entries are that you understand the main points of the assigned reading, and that you have given them some thought. I will provide you with grading criteria for these journals in the second week of the semester. I will collect journals from 1/3 of the class each Tuesday, so you should bring your journal to class EVERY TUESDAY. While each journal will be collected five times, only four of these will count toward your final grade (you can drop your lowest grade, including a grade of zero resulting from you being absent on the day your journal was to be collected).

Exams: There will be two exams in this class, one midterm and one final. These exams will be part take-home and part in-class. The take-home portion of the exam (essay questions) will be handed out one week prior to the in-class portion of the exam (multiple choice and short answer), and will be due on the date of the in-class portion of the exam. The final will cover material covered since the midterm, and will be worth slightly more than the midterm (to allow you to get used to my testing style).

Final project: For your final project, you will create a project that demonstrates your ability to apply critical thinking skills to the topic of consumerism. I encourage you to be creative in thinking about possibilities, and to work collaboratively on a project if you are comfortable doing so. We will take time early in the semester to talk more about this.

Course policies

Email policy

If you contact me via email, you MUST put “4461” in the subject line so that I can identify your emails and respond to them in a timely manner. If you do not use this subject line, I cannot guarantee a response to your email. Approximately 80% of the email I receive is spam, and your email may be inadvertently deleted if I cannot identify it by the subject line. In general, you can expect email responses within 48 hours of receipt. Note that I do not check email in the evenings or on weekends, so an email sent on Friday may not receive a response until Tuesday. If you need an urgent response, you should talk to me after class and/or check the course website (WebCT) to see if what you need is available there.

Please do not email me with questions about your grade. University policy prohibits the discussion of student grades via email. This policy is intended to protect you; your grade is a private matter, and email is a public forum. The first place to go if you have questions about your grade in the course is to WebCT—I will post all of your grades there so that you have an easy way to keep track of your progress in the course. If you wish to discuss your grade, please make an appointment with me.

Late work policy

All assignments must be submitted on time and in person. I will not acknowledge assignments that are submitted via email or left in my mailbox or under my office door. If you need additional time to complete an assignment, you must email me no later than 5 p.m. on the day before the assignment is due. If you do this, I am generally willing to grant up to two additional days for you to complete an assignment. You may take advantage of this policy no more than two times over the course of the semester.

Special accommodations for religious holidays: The University of Colorado at Boulder has legal and moral obligations to accommodate all students who must be absent from classes or miss scheduled exams in order to observe religious holidays. If you will be absent from class for a religious observance, you must notify me of any scheduling conflicts in writing by September 12th.

Special accommodations for learning disabilities: If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services by September 12^th so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services is located in Willard 322, and information is available at www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices.

Special accommodations for student athletes: If you are on an athletic team and will be missing classes, please get me a letter by September 12^th. It is your responsibility to look ahead on the syllabus and deal with any conflicts (e.g., scheduled assignments) prior to the conflicting activity. Merely providing a letter to me does not mean that you have dealt with these conflicts—you are responsible for working with me to develop a plan to cover any absences.

SCHEDULE OF DAILY TOPICS,

READINGS, AND ASSIGNMENTS

Date	Topic	Assigned Reading	Approx. # of Pages	Written Assignments Due
August 29	Welcome and introductions
Introduction to consumerism
August 31	Discussion of Kingsolver readings	Kingsolver pp. 22-30 and 109-130—WebCT	30
September 5	Introduction to branding	Quart (1-109)	110
September 7
September 12	Consumerism and kids	Quart (113-232)	120	All reading journals will be collected
September 14	Quart discussion: Reading group #1
September 19	Needs, desires, and social construction	Schor and Holt (Chs. 2, 5, 7)	48
September 21
September 26	Liberatory dimensions of consumerism	Schor and Holt (Chs. 16, 18)	35
September 28	Schor and Holt discussion (can focus on chs. 2, 5, 7, 16, and/or 18): Reading group #2
Competitive consumerism
October 3	Culture of spending	Schor (1-109)	110
October 5
October 10	Habits of consumption	Schor (111-175)	65
October 12	Schor discussion: Reading group #3
October 17		Schor and Holt (Chs. 11, 13, 14)	64
October 19	MIDTERM EXAM			Take-home portion of midterm exam
Branding and advertising
October 24	Klein’s argument about branding	Klein (xv-86)	95
October 26
October 31	Advertising	Klein (87-164)	80
November 2	Klein discussion, part 1: Reading group #4
November 7	Consumerism and employment	Klein (165-258)	85
November 9
Culture jamming: Fighting back
November 14	Anti-corporate activism	Klein (259-344)	90
November 16	Project presentation planning period
November 21	NO CLASS
November 23	NO CLASS
November 28	Consumerism and citizenship	Klein (344-458)	110
November 30	Klein discussion, part 2: Reading group #5
Final project presentations
December 5	Project presentations	Schor and Holt (chs. 21, 22, 24)	55
December 7	Project presentations
December 12	Project presentations	Schor and Holt (Chs. 26, 27)	42
December 14	Project presentations			Final project paper due
Monday, December 18, 1:30 - 4:00pm	Final exam			Take-home portion of final exam