INTRODUCTION
This class will help you gain a more sophisticated, informed understanding of some classic American value conflicts and social problems, and the possibilities that exist for solving them, using principles and concepts of sociology, political science and economics. The social problems we will focus on in our readings and discussions have been chosen in accordance with the University mission statement’s emphasis on social justice, and are intended to continue the interrogation of American social and political ideals and the themes of diversity and pluralism students encounter in CULF 1320, The American Experience. Our class discussions and assignments are structured to encourage you to reflect on the meaning of individual and public responsibility, and help you define the “common good” according to your value system. “American values” are highly diverse, and any position you take will inevitably be opposed by others with competing visions. On the basis of values, Americans have wrangled from the republic’s earliest days about the importance of the individual, the role of government, and what kind of society the United States is and should be. This investigation is part of SEU’s liberal arts mission of producing students who have thought deeply about issues beyond their narrow discipline, and can make considered decisions about thorny ethical dilemmas. In other words, this class attempts to prepare you for democratic citizenship. It also is intended to prepare you for the Capstone course, helping you develop the research, critical thinking, moral reasoning, and extended writing skills necessary for succeeding in that class. Your work in the course will be divided between two major tasks: learning about approaches to the social problems discussed in your textbook, and completing in-depth research on a social problem of your choice in the three-part paper (totaling approximately 12-15 pages).
This course presents the principles and methods of sociology, as well as those of political science and economics, to analyze current social problems. It is complementary to “The American Experience,” in that it continues the theme of social pluralism and consideration of social and political ideals as it explores the problems and issues our society faces in the present. Class discussions and assignments are structured to encourage students to address the meaning of individual and public responsibility as well as to define the common good. The importance of identifying conflicting values in defining social problems and their solutions is an integral part of this course.
Through the analysis of material presented, the completion of group and individual learning activities, and the writing of a critical paper on a current social issue, each student will demonstrate the ability to:
1. Accurately describe the social, economic, and political dimension of major problems and dilemmas facing contemporary American society;
2. Critically analyze social problems by identifying ethical perspectives and applying concepts of sociology, political science, and economics;
3. Use knowledge and analyses of social problems to evaluate public policy, and to suggest policy alternatives, with special reference to questions of social justice, the common good, and public and individual responsibility.
COURSE MATERIALS
These textbooks are required:
Social Problems (5th edition) John J Macionis
American Dilemmas Handbook (Spring 2012)
You will be required to read quality news sources on a regular basis.
I will provide you with additional materials over the course of the semester.
THE PAPER
Like the Capstone paper for which this class is a prerequisite, your paper will focus on possible policy solutions to a controversial social problem. As you will see on the syllabus and in the handbook, the paper is divided into three parts: Submissions One, Two, and Three. Submission One identifies the social problem or problems on which you will focus, states your “research question,” and provides a chronological overview of the major events and decisions that led to the status quo. Submission Two examines the arguments and evidence of the major stakeholders of your issue in depth, and analyzes the values that lead them to take their positions. In Submission Three, you yourself take a position in the debate, and support your position with arguments, evidence and “moral reasoning.” Over the short semester, you will REVISE the previous section according to my comments and those of your peer reviewers, and knit the pieces into a longer, coherent whole. Revision, indeed, is crucial to your grade, since it will reveal your development, your advance from the relative unsophistication of your early understanding of your issue to the informed expertise you will have after completing your research, analysis, and the course readings. As opposed to the simplistic ways social issues are discussed in much public discourse, our discussions and the course readings are intended to bring you face to face with the moral and political complexity of social problems, and with the real-world obstacles to solving them.
