ASSIGNMENT:
Imagine you will be teaching this course to undergraduate students at College next semester. With this in mind, keep a “teaching journal” for this course that will guide you as you prepare your class. Think of this teaching journal as an outline of your lecture notes for the hypothetical class you will teach. Who knows? Maybe you will teach sociological theory one day! Prepare your journal with this thought in mind.
For every week listed in the course syllabus, list the major theorists we discussed and outline their main contributions. For each theorist, list and define (in your own words) at least two of their main concepts. Then, outline a lesson plan that includes at least one social case (an example of a social issue, event, or situation, historical or contemporary) that you can use to show your students how the concepts can be used to develop a better understanding of the world. In other words:
1. Name the theorist and share some notes about their perspective.
2. Identify and define (in your own words) at least two concepts that are central to their
theoretical perspective.
3. Come up with a real-world case that you will use to explain these concepts to your students.
Be sure to clearly explain the case, and to clearly explain exactly how and why the concepts are useful to understanding the case. How will you use this case/example to teach? How will you help your students to understand?
Your objective is to provide a set of “lecture notes” that will help you to inspire your students to think theoretically. But you must clearly explain to me how you will do this by following the instructions above.
FORMAT:
Format, presentation, and clarity are just as important as the content of your entries.
All journals should be typed and well organized according to theorist. Each entry should include the different components/sections outlined above.
Each entry (for each theorist) should be roughly 1-2 pages (double spaced) in length (12-point font, one- inch margins). For each concept definition, you should provide at least a few sentences. You should provide one to two paragraphs for each case/example you list and explain.
Your journal should include entries for:
C. Wright Mills
Karl Marx
W.E.B. Du Bois (Black Reconstruction in America) Jane Addams
Pierre Bourdieu
Loic Wacquant
Emile Durkheim
Eviatar Zerubavel
