Sociology (SOCI) 337
Contemporary Sociological Theory

This version of SOCI 337 closed May 2004. To current version.

Delivery mode: Individualized study.
Credits: 3 - Social Science
Prerequisite: SOCI 287 or SOCI 288 is strongly recommended but not required.
Centre: Centre for Global and Social Analysis
Challenge for Credit: SOCI 337 has a Challenge for Credit option.

>> Overview | Outline | Evaluation | Course Materials | Course Fees | Course Availability


Overview

SOCI 337 is designed for students who have already taken introductory courses in sociology and who are, therefore, familiar with some of the basic concepts and methods of sociology. This course introduces students to a range of different theoretical perspectives that have together influenced the development of modern sociology.

Outline

  • Unit 1 Historical Background
  • Unit 2 Structural Functionalism
  • Unit 3 Conflict Theory
  • Unit 4 Neo-Marxism
  • Unit 5 Symbolic Interactionism
  • Unit 6 Dramaturgical Analysis
  • Unit 7 Ethnomethodology
  • Unit 8 Exchange Theory
  • Unit 9 Feminist Theory
  • Unit 10 Recent Trends in Sociological Theory

Evaluation

To receive credit for SOCI 337, students must achieve a course composite grade of at least "D" (50 percent) and a grade of at least 60 percent on the final examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

5 Quizzes (2% each) 3 Essays (20% each) Final Exam Total
10% 60% 30% 100%

Course Materials

Textbooks

Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Anchor Books, Doubleday.

Handel, Warren. 1982. Ethnomethodology: How People Make Sense. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Marcuse, Herbert. 1964. One-Dimensional Man. Boston: Beacon Press.

Merton, Robert K. 1967. On Theoretical Sociology. New York: Free Press.

Ritzer, George. 1988. Contemporary Sociological Theory, 2d ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Dahrendorf, Ralf. 1958. "Toward a Theory of Social Conflict." Journal of Conflict Resolution 2: 170-183.

MacIntyre, Alasdair. 1970. "One Dimensional Man: The Critique of Contemporary Society." In Herbert Marcuse by Alasdair MacIntyre. New York: Viking Press.

Rose, Brad. 1990. "The Triumph of Social Control: A Look at Herbert Marcuse's One Dimensional Man 25 Years Later." Berkeley Journal of Sociology 35: 55-68.

Other Material

The course materials include a student manual.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice.
Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.

[AU Home Page]
Athabasca University
1 University Drive
Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3
(780) 675-6111, (800) 788-9041
Ask AU
This page was updated by G. Zahara