TY - JOUR AU - Ward, Matthew PY - 2018/01/12 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Sociological Theory Syllabus JF - TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology JA - TRAILS VL - IS - SE - DO - UR - https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/sociological-theory-syllabus-ward SP - AB - This course teaches students about key theoretical traditions within sociology, as well as the philosophies of social science underlying these perspectives, including Positivism and Interpretivism. The course relies on a variety of primary and secondary texts, individual and group-based writing assignments, in-class activities, and discussions. The centerpiece of the course is a significant participant-observation research project aimed at getting students to grasp the utility of theory, showing them how to practically apply theory, and encouraging them to recognize the recursive link between theorizing and data collection. Early in the course, students are required to form small groups and select participant-observation field sites that they will visit at regular intervals throughout the semester. After each field site visit, students submit a written assignment that includes both their field notes and an analysis of their observations using concepts and theories recently discussed in class. The next class meeting is then devoted to small group discussion meetings in which students share their experiences from the field and collaboratively answer question sets aimed at further refining their ability to practically apply course material to the world. This basic structure is then repeated using a new set of paradigms, theories, and theorists. Students submit a final theory paper that that draws on their field site research and resembles a shortened journal article. Substantively, the course discusses philosophies of science, the purpose of theory, classical sociological theory, core theoretical paradigms (functionalism, conflict, symbolic interactionism), and 'atomistic' theories (exchange theory, rational choice theory, behaviorism). Key thinkers covered include: Durkheim, Marx, Wallerstein, Weber, Cooley, Mead, Goffman, Skinner, Homans, Blau and others. Assigned readings include several original texts, especially when covering Durkheim, Marx, and Weber. ER -