INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

SOC103 H1S
Sections L5101 & L2001
Winter 2016
University of Toronto, St. George Campus

Course Director: Jasmin Hristov

Class Time and Location: Tue, 6-8pm, CH (Convocation Hall)
Contact Information: [email protected]; 416 978-6579
Office Hours and Location: Tue 1-5pm; Room 389, Department of Sociology, 725 Spadina St.
Administrative Assistant: Meghan Dawe
Contact Information: [email protected]
Office Hours and Location: TBA
Teaching Assistant: ____________
Contact Information: ___________
Office Hours and Location: ______________
All Teaching Assistants:
Laura Upenieks [email protected]
Andreea Mogosanu [email protected]
Aaron Shantz [email protected]
Yunjoo Roh [email protected]
Course Description
This course introduces students to the discipline of sociology by exploring how social
institutions shape our lives. The course begins with the question of what it means to think
sociologically and provides students with a basic sociological vocabulary as well as a brief
overview of major theoretical perspectives. Throughout the rest of the course, we look at
institutional systems including the economy, politics, kinship, education, and religion. There are
two overarching themes: 1) Institutions, as products of social relations that reflect and sometimes
reproduce power inequalities; and 2) Institutions, as structures that determine how human needs
are satisfied and human abilities are deployed. The course has global and historical dimensions
in that it seeks to understand institutions as human products emerging under particular historical
and geographic circumstances.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course students should have developed an understanding of:
the meaning of key concepts such as social institution, institutional setting, institutional
system and institutionalization
the function of institutions in regulating social action through norms, values, and formal
rules
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institutions as products of the intersection of economic and political conditions at a

particular historical moment
the place of institutions in the relationship between human agency and social structure
the ways in which institutions shape and are being shaped by globalization
Course Format
Lecture
The lecture will consist of an interactive presentation by the instructor. The first 5-10 minutes of
lecture will be devoted for clarification questions and a brief review. Students are expected to
engage seriously with the assigned readings before attending lecture.
Tutorials
The pedagogical approach of this course rests on the idea that learning is a collective process and
thus, the classroom should be a community of learners. Tutorials are offered with the purpose of
enriching your learning experience and facilitating the understanding of readings and lecture
content by offering a space for discussion. Tutorial attendance is optional. However, you MUST
self-enrol in a tutorial through Blackboard, regardless of how frequently you intend to attend.
Instructions on how to self-enrol can be found on Blackboard. On any given day when tutorials
are held, there are five tutorials running parallel 4-5pm and five tutorials running parallel 5-6pm.
The latter tutorial groups will be dismissed early enough to allow enough time for students to
arrive at Convocation Hall for the 6pm lecture. Tutorials will be held on the following dates:
Jan 19, Feb 2, Mar 8, and Apr 5.
Required Texts
Custom edition of: Brym, R. (2014). New Society 7th Ed. Toronto: Nelson Education.
[customized version] available for purchase at the University of Toronto Bookstore.
Course-pack of selected readings available online on Blackboard at NO COST for
students enrolled in the course.
Evaluation
Type
Test 1
Test 2
Final Exam

Weighting
25%
30%
45%

Date
Feb 23, 2016
Mar 22, 2016
During scheduled
examination period

The tests and the final exam will consist of a combination of multiple-choice and shortanswer questions.
Any documentaries shown in class form an integral part of the course material. The tests
and exam will require you to incorporate the knowledge gained from documentaries into
your answers.
Note that a Preparation and Review session will be held outside of class time prior to
each of the tests and the final exam. Details of time and location will be announced.
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E-mail /Online Communication

Questions regarding any administrative aspects of the course, such as tutorials, enrollment,
access to Blackboard, textbooks, missed tests, grades, and others, should be directed to the
courses Administrative Assistant Meghan Dawe. Clarification questions regarding course
content should be directed first to your TA and if you require further assistance, to the professor.
If you require help with course material, please use tutorial time to bring up these questions.
Alternatively, you may see your TA or professor during office hours. Please check Blackboard
three times a week for important course announcements.
Attendance
Regular attendance at lectures is required in order for you to do well in the course. Lectures
explain as well as supplement the readings. One does not substitute for the other. If you need to
miss lecture, you will not be penalized, however you should ensure that you know someone in
the class from whom you can borrow lecture notes. Lecture power-points will be posted on
Blackboard. Keep in mind that these do not contain all lecture content or explanations but
rather constitute an outline/point-form organization of the content, including some key
definitions.
Use of Electronic Devices in Class
The use of electronic devices for purposes other than note-taking / course-related work is not
allowed. It inhibits learning and is also disruptive and disrespectful.
Talking during Lecture
Talking to your classmates during lecture (even if you are whispering) is disturbing. Please
refrain from talking unless you have been invited to do so by the instructor. If you are unclear
about something that was said by the instructor, please put up your hand instead of asking your
classmates. This will ensure that you or your classmates do not miss anything important and fall
behind during lecture.
Taping / Recording / Photographing Lectures
Lectures and course materials prepared by the instructor are the instructors intellectual property
covered by the Canadian Copyright Act. Students wishing to record lecture or other course
material in any way are required to ask the instructors explicit permission and may not do so
unless permission is granted. This includes tape recording, filming, photographing PowerPoint
slides, Blackboard materials, etc. Once obtained, such permission is only for that individual
students own study purposes and does not include permission to publish them in any way. It is
absolutely forbidden for a student to publish an instructors notes to a website or sell them in
other form without formal permission.

Blackboard
Announcements, handouts, lecture power-points, and any additional learning aids will be posted
here, so please check the website at least three times a week.
Policy on Disputing Term Test Grades
If you disagree with the grade you were given on your test, you must present your argument in
writing and schedule a meeting with your TA within two weeks after the grades have been
posted on Blackboard.
Policy on Missed Test
Students who miss a test will receive a mark of zero.
If you miss a test for a legitimate reason, you must follow the steps described below. Telling
the professor or TA why you missed a test will not be considered.
Students who miss a test due to a medical or family crisis, will be given the opportunity to write
a make-up test if within three days they provide the Administrative Assistant Meghan Dawe
with a written request for special consideration which explains why the test was missed,
accompanied by proper documentation from a physician or college registrar. A request
should be accompanied by contact information (the students telephone number and email
address) so the date, time and place of the make-up test can be communicated to the student. In
case of illness, you must supply a duly completed Verification of Student Illness or Injury
Form (available at www.illnessverification.utoronto.ca). A doctors note is not acceptable. The
form must be placed in a sealed envelope and submitted to Meghan Dawe. If a family crisis
prevents you from meeting a deadline, you must get a letter from your college registrar. The
letter must be placed in a sealed envelope and submitted to Meghan Dawe.
Accessibility Needs
Students with diverse learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. In particular, if you
have a disability or health consideration that may require accommodations, please feel free to
approach me and/or Accessibility Services at (416) 978-8060 or visit:
http://studentlife.utoronto.ca/accessbility
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The University of Toronto treats cases of academic misconduct very seriously. Academic
integrity is a fundamental value of learning and scholarship at the U of T. Participating honestly,
respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in this academic community ensures that your U of T degree
is valued and respected as a true signifier of your individual academic achievement.
The University of Torontos Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters outlines the behaviours
that constitute academic misconduct, the processes for addressing academic offences, and the

penalties that may be imposed. You are expected to be familiar with the contents of this
document. Potential offences include but are not limited to:
In papers and assignments:
Using someone elses ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgement.
Copying material word-for-word from a source (including lecture and study
group notes) and not placing the words within quotation marks.
Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of
the instructor.
Making up sources or facts.
Including references to sources that you did not use.
Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment including:
working in groups on assignments that are supposed to be individual
work;
having someone rewrite or add material to your work while editing.
lending your work to a classmate who submits it as his/her own without
your permission.
On tests and exams:
Using or possessing any unauthorized aid, including a cell phone;
Looking at someone elses answers;
Letting someone else look at your answers;
Misrepresenting your identity;
Submitting an altered test for re-grading.
Misrepresentation:
Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University,
including doctors notes.
Falsifying institutional documents or grades.
**Students who commit an academic offence face serious penalties. All suspected cases of
academic dishonesty will be investigated following the procedures outlined in the Code of
Behaviour on Academic Matters. The consequences for academic misconduct can be severe,
including a failure in the course and a notation on your transcript. Avoid plagiarism by citing
properly: practices acceptable in high school may prove unacceptable in university. If you have
questions about appropriate research and citation methods, seek out additional information from
me, or from other available campus resources like the U of T Writing Website.

SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND COURSE WORK

JAN 12 Introduction to the Course: Philosophy, Objectives, Expectations, and Syllabus
JAN 19 Relational Analytical Framework, Major Theoretical Fields in Sociology, and Basic
Sociological Vocabulary
Mills, C.W. The Sociological Imagination: The Promise [ONLINE]
Brym, N/S, Ch.1, pp.2-13; 15-20
Tutorials Begin
JAN 26 The Social Nature of Work and the Economy
Wood, E.M. (1998). The Agrarian Origins of Capitalism. [adapted version]. Monthly
Review 50(3) [ONLINE].
Cox, L. and Gunvald Nilsen, A. (2014). The Bourgeois Has Historically Played a Most
Revolutionary Part. In We Make Our Own History: Marxism and Social Movements in
the Twilight of Neoliberalism. London: Pluto Press pp.101-108. [ONLINE]
FEB 2 Capital as a Social Relation
Mooers, C. (2014). The Birth of the Liberal Subject: Commodities, Money, and
Citizenship. In Imperial Subjects: Citizenship in an Age of Crisis and Empire. New York:
Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc., pp.17-22. [ONLINE]
Tutorials held
FEB 9 Colonialism, Slavery and the Emergence of a World Economy
McNally, D. (2002). The Colour of Money: Race, Gender, and the Many Oppressions of
Global Capital. In Another World is Possible. Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring Publishing,
pp.105-116 [ONLINE]
Brym, N/S Ch. 9, pp.214-217
FEB 16 BREAK
FEB 23 TEST ONE
MAR 1 From a World Economy to a Global Economy: Major Patterns in Work and
Employment under Neoliberalism
Brym, N/S, Ch.19, pp.467-476 and 480-484
Brym, N/S, Ch. 11
Harvey, D. (2005). The Neoliberal State. In A Brief History of Neoliberalism. New York:
Oxford University Press, pp. 64-67; 69-71; 75-76. [ONLINE]
Bello, W. (2008). Manufacturing a Food Crisis: How Free-Trade is Destroying Third
World Agriculture. The Nation. [ONLINE]
Robinson, W. (2004). Globalization as Epochal Change. In A Theory of Global
Capitalism: Production, Class, and State in a Transnational World. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, pp. 6-13 and 16-22 [ONLINE]

MAR 8 State, Politics and Civil Society

Brym, N/S, Ch.18, pp.439-449
McNally, D. (2011). Debt, Discipline and Dispossession: Race, Class and the Global
Slump. In Global Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and Resistance. Oakland,
CA: PM Press, pp. 113-145. [ONLINE]
Robinson, W. (2004). The Transnational State. In A Theory of Global Capitalism:
Production, Class, and State in a Transnational World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, pp.85-88; 94-103. [ONLINE]
Tutorials held
*March 13 is the last day to drop a course without receiving a grade
MAR 15 Socialization and the Family
Brym, N/S, Ch.3
Brym, N/S, Ch.10
MAR 22 TEST TWO
MAR 29 Religion and Education
Brym, N/S, Ch. 12
Brym, N/S, Ch.13
APR 5 Doing Sociology: Research Methods
Brym, N/S, Ch. 20
Tutorials held