Minority Studies (SOCI 2319)
When we try to explain Sociology we often have either not enough words or too many. However, Kenneth Plummer, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex, United Kingdom, put beautifully the magical draw of Sociology when he wrote: And the sociologist gets up every day and stands in wonder at the little social worlds—and indeed human societies—that we have created for ourselves: their meaning, order, conflict, chaos and change. For the sociologist, social life is sometimes sensed as something quite inspiring, and sometimes as something quite horrendous which brings about disenchantment, anger and despair. Sociologists stand in awe and dreading, rage and delight at the humanly produced social world with all its joys and its sufferings. We critique it and we critically celebrate it. Standing in amazement at the complex patterns of human social life, we examine both the good things worth fostering and bad things to strive to remove. Sociology becomes the systematic, sceptical study of all things social. (Plummer 2010) Sociology is a useful scientific enterprise because it gives us the scientific tools we need to understand ourselves and the people around us. Sociology matters because it gives us the scientific tools we need to analyze, explain, and predict human behavior in groups. Therefore, the information you will receive in this course is useful, and it matters. All of your course material is either peer-reviewed or is accurate based on your instructor’s training and knowledge. Sociology is a science. Our scientific perspectives have descriptive meaning in the real world. Science observes various phenomena and then wants to know what those phenomena are, and under what natural or social circumstances they occur. From those observations, we develop theories that are tested many times so that we know they are valid and that they apply to real people, real societies, and real social systems in our real world. Science is as objective as the scientist can make it. We follow very strict protocols in our search for knowledge and truth. The material for this course is grounded in the science of sociology and is not “common sense,” or “opinion,” or “well, that’s just a theory.” In science, our theories are robust and have weight; they are valid because they have been tested, and they do explain and predict reality. Sociology is useful, and it matters because it is the scientific study of us, all of humanity in all our diversity. To learn more about this, go to the Modules Tab in EO-Canvas and read all of the information about Perspectives, Theories, and Causation. This course examines material and contains content that some of us might find challenging, offensive, obscene, or extremely difficult. No personal affront is intended, I am NOT trying to hurt your feelings or give you nightmares, but I maintain the right and responsibility to access your grasp of all the material discussed in this class since it meets all Sociology Department learning objectives. If you are disturbed and if necessary, you may contact me in Eagle Online Canvas email about this. There are many topics that we may be studying this semester, including but not limited to rape, torture, murder, mutilation by the self and others, nudity (forced or voluntary), slavery, economic, social, and political inequality, human sexuality including gender identity, human trafficking, what it means to be human, how the structures of our society guide how we think and the way we interact with one another, cannibalism, globalism, isolationism, the movements of populations, war, climate change, religion, child abuse, and other equally difficult ideas and topics. I do not teach these things to hurt your feelings or cause you psychological damage; I teach them because they are about the way we behave and the way we interact with one another based on the ways we structure our societies. Many of these topics/issues are very difficult, and we will be looking at videos and still photos that will be profoundly disturbing to many of us. However, we are adults. Even if you are not a legal adult, you are in an adult college classroom, and you must be prepared to be confronted with ideas you had never thought about and knowledge that you didn’t know existed. If you are offended by the course material, withdraw from the course. I am not trying to upset you, I am trying to impart information that it is critical for an informed citizen of the world to know. 4B4BWelcome to Our Class! I love sociology! Even the most difficult of topics that we study I find fascinating because sociology is delving into our collective psyche and behavior. Why do humans behave the way we do? How does our sociocultural background delimit our thought and behavioral processes? For example, I was born and raised in a small town in Southwestern Iowa, where we froze in the winter and sweltered in the summer. From the perspective of most of you, I’m about a thousand years old, so my upbringing was probably very different from yours. Not everyone had a telephone! Not everyone had a radio! Not everyone had a TV! All TVs shows were in black and white, there were only three channels, and they went off the air at midnight! Not everyone had indoor plumbing! Not everyone could read or write! Not everyone had a car! Rock and Roll was just starting out and most parents and teachers hated it! Most people didn’t have air conditioning! We walked to more places than we rode. Everyone seemed like a Republican—not the kind of Republicans that exist today with Trump as their leader—who could be very conservative or very liberal. Democrats could be very liberal or very conservative. We were at the beginning of the rise of the American Middle Class, letter carriers lived next door to the mayor and railroad workers lived next to physicians. Racism, sexism, and homophobia were prevalent and prominent. The Civil Rights Movement was just getting underway and a president and several Civil Rights leaders were assassinated. That background colored and shaped the way I think about the world and the sociological perspective that provides a particular lens through which I see and understand the world. It is my hope that you will learn to analyze our human society from a different framework than ever before. I hope you will enjoy our class and that you will be glad you took sociology. Thus, I welcome you to our class! Learning is fun, fundamental, and lifelong now let’s get going so that we can be successful students of life! Hi! I am Ruth Dunn, your Sociology Instructor for this course I have supplied some photographs so that you will know how I look. I have been teaching Sociology at HCC since January 1998, full-time since January 2015. I LOVE teaching. For me, it’s not really work; it’s joyful play. I have two adult daughters, four grandsons (one is transgender), two granddaughters (one is bisexual), and two great-grandchildren. I have had purple hair since 2013. I was married for 38 years; my beloved husband died in May 2018 and I will always miss him. We have three huge, furry, Maine Coon Cats; the smallest weighs 12 pounds, the largest 16-17 pounds. I am a member of Texas Community College Teachers Association (TCCTA), ALPHA CHI National Academic Honor Society, ALPHA KAPPA DELTA International Sociology Academic Honor Society, PHI KAPPA PHI International Academic Honor Society, the ACLU, Cy-Tom Democrats, Houston Justice Coalition, Indivisible Cypress, and the NAAPC as well as a supporter of the Southern Poverty Law Center. I love hard rock, heavy metal, classical music, symphonies, ballet, Victorian novels, Sci-Fi, books of all sorts, movies but I usually watch them when they come out on NetFlix or Amazon Prime. I like Cuban food, French food, Italian food, big juicy cheeseburgers, chili cheese dogs, American BBQ, Koran BBQ, Porterhouse steaks, ice cream—dark chocolate only, please—Talenti dark chocolate gelato, Häagen-Dazs or Dove ice cream bars—again, dark chocolate only!—potato chips, extra-crisp French fries, Tex-Mex, Chinese, pasta. I could go on with this forever, but I’ll stop here. This gives you a clue as to who I am so that you will have a better understanding of your teacher for this semester. I believe with my whole heart and soul that we can do better and be better toward our fellow humans if we just learn more about each other and learn more about our hopes, our dreams, our fears, the mind and soul of our humanity, we can do better. I believe that we have the obligation to care for our fellow humans, to care for our planet, and to bring about equality among all peoples of our world. I believe that inequality can be overcome, but it will require us to work every day toward equality. I believe that you can do whatever you set your mind and heart to as long as you put the necessary work into it.
Prerequisites and / or Co-Requisites |
SOCI 2319—Minority Studies Prerequisite: Must be placed into college-level reading (or take GUST 0342 as a co-requisite) and be placed into college-level writing (or take ENGL 0310/0349 as a co-requisite). HCCS Student Handbook. |
Core Curriculum Objectives |
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Learning Outcomes |
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Upon successful completion of this course, students will: |
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1. Compare and contrast the basic theoretical perspectives of sociology. |
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2. Identify the various methodological approaches to the collection and analysis of data in sociology. |
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3. Describe key concepts in sociology. |
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4. Describe the empirical findings of various subfields of sociology. |
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5. Explain the complex links between individual experiences and broader institutional forces. |
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Core Curriculum Skills and Assessment: |
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Sociology 2319§012 is a core curriculum course. It may be used to fulfill the requirements for a core Social and Behavioral Sciences course OR a core Cross/Multi-Cultural Studies course. |
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Please click here to go to the HCC Student Catalog for more information about course offerings. |
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Given the rapid evolution of necessary knowledge and skills and the need to take into account global, national, state, and local cultures, the core curriculum must ensure that students will develop the essential knowledge and skills they need to be successful in college, in a career, in their communities, and in life. Through the Texas Core Curriculum, students will gain a foundation of knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world, develop principles of personal and social responsibility for living in a diverse world, and advance intellectual and practical skills that are essential for all learning. Students enrolled in this core curriculum course will complete several assignments designed to cultivate the following core objectives: |
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Critical Thinking Skills—to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information |
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Communication Skills—to include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication |
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Empirical and Quantitative Skills—to include the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions |
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Social Responsibility—to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities. |
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These objectives will be assessed as follows: |
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Critical Thinking: Nearly all the work in this course will require critical thinking about the societal topics that we address. Your critical thinking skills will be assessed through the written work that you submit and being able to conduct an informed discussion of the required readings. |
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Communication: Nearly all the work in this course will also require that you be able to communicate well in writing. Your communication skills will be assessed primarily through the written work you submit and class participation. |
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Empirical and Quantitative: You will be required to answer questions from the required readings that assesses your empirical and quantitative skills. Furthermore, you will be expected to critically assess various research projects and comprehend various quantitative facts. |
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Social Responsibility: This entire course, reading and class material, is largely focused on social responsibility as an element of Sociology is the understanding that we are social beings. |
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Program Student Learning Outcomes (PSLOs) |
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Instructor and Student and Responsibilities |
As your Instructor, it is my responsibility to: |
• Provide the grading scale and detailed grading formula explaining how student grades are to be derived |
• Facilitate an effective learning environment through class activities, discussions, and lectures |
• Describe and direct any special projects or assignments |
• Inform students of policies such as attendance, withdrawal, tardiness and policies on makeup work |
• Provide the course outline and class calendar which will include a description of most special projects or assignments |
• There may also be separate handouts, occasional verbal instructions, and classroom activities for assignments not included in the course calendar |
• Be available at mutually convenient times of Instructor and student to meet either before or after class as needed or at another scheduled time |
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As a student it is your responsibility to: |
· Attend class in-person and / or online |
· For online-only classes, be online regularly throughout the day every day, participate in online discussions and activities, both inside and outside of class |
· For in-person or hybrid classes, be in class everyday your class meets, participate in discussions and activities, both inside and outside of class |
· Be an active listener or reader, take good notes, pay attention, ASK questions, participate in discussions in class |
· Participate actively by reviewing course material, interacting with classmates, and responding promptly in your communication with me |
· Read and comprehend the textbook and all other course material |
· Use all of the resources available for each course you take |
· Constantly look for ways to apply the course concepts to specific experiences in your own life |
· Make the online components supplied by the publlisher of your textoobkions between what you read, see, or hear in the classroom, hallways, library, and other meeting places on campus, and your life outside of school. |
· Talk about the course material. Weave it into discussions outside of school. Teach some of the concepts and theories to your friends, family, and co-workers. It will give you something new and interesting to talk about! (Much more interesting than the weather!) |
· Complete all required, gradable activities on time. |
· Create a checklist for all assignments. |
· Ask for help when there is a question or a problem. |
· Meet all course requirements and assignments |
· Help each other; form study groups online or in person |
· Keep copies of all written work including, but not limited to, this syllabus, handouts, and instructions for gradable activities |
· Make a commitment to do your very best work in the class |
· Be consistent |
· Follow instructions very carefully |
· Be aware of and comply with academic honesty policies in the HCCS Student Handbook |
· You are responsible for your learning and for your education. therefore, you must read and do everything that is required for each day and week of your sociology course. If you don’t read and do everything that is required throughout the course, you are not fulfilling your task of managing your own learning. If you have not read all of the available, required information by the end of the first day of class, please do not ask any questions about the day-to-day workings of the class, titles of books, due dates, assignments, absences, readings, page numbers, submitting assignments, late submissions, missing an in-class graded discussion, missing any course participation, missing a class, what you are supposed to be doing in class each day, online discussions, quizzes (includes tests), assignments, projects, or any other kind of gradable activity or (REPEAT) anything about the day-to-day operation of our class that you need to pass this class, I will not respond. |
· I expect you to behave like the adult that you are and find the information that I have provided for you, because any and all information that you need to pass this class will be discussed in class or will be in Eagle Online. I am here to guide your learning and help you to understand sociology. Watch the Medieval Help Desk, for five points added to your first special project written assignment; at the end of the first special project assignment, write two pages, double-spaced telling me the video is about and what you thought about it. I am not here to show you how to open a book, tie your shoes, or read directions. I am a resource for you, the learner, and you need to use my knowledge to help you learn. You need to take charge of your own learning process by reading all of the information in Eagle Online-Canvas that is pertinent to the day-to-day processes that occur in and out of our classroom. |
Houston Community College—Standard 100-Point Grading System |
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A=100—90=4 points per semester hour B= 89—80=3 points per semester hour C= 79—70=2 points per semester hour D= 69—60=1 point per semester hour F= 59 and below =0 points per semester hour P* (In Progress)=0 points per semester hour W (Withdrawn)=0 points per semester hour I (Incomplete)=0 points per semester hour AUD (Audit)=0 points per semester hour |
*IP (In Progress) is given only in certain developmental courses. The student must re-enroll to receive credit. COM (Completed) is given in non-credit and continuing education courses. GPA: To compute the grade point average (GPA), divide the total grade points by the total number of semester hours attempted. The grades “IP,” “COM,” and “I,” do not affect your GPA. |
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Incompletes |
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I do not give Incompletes. Incompletes are always at the discretion of the instructor. In over 20 years in the classroom, I have had only six students clear an incomplete. Furthermore, you do NOT have a right to an incomplete, that is at my discretion! However, IF and ONLY IF I decide to give an Incomplete, you are REQUIRED to clear the incomplete by the end of the next long semester, and you will be responsible for responding to an email from me detailing the rules of clearing the Incomplete. If you don’t acknowledge the agreement to clear the Incomplete, or if you don’t clear the Incomplete by the end of the next long semester after the incomplete is incurred, your grade will automatically roll over to an F or to whatever grade you earned at the point where the Incomplete was given. I will NOT extend the Incomplete or change it from an F. Also, in order to be given an Incomplete, you must have completed, by the due dates, 85% of all course work assigned as of the date you request the Incomplete with a cumulative grade of 75% or higher. I will not give an Incomplete after the Official Last Day of Instruction that is in the Official Academic Calendar on the HCCS Website. No Gradable Activities of Any Kind Will be Accepted After the Official Last Day of Instruction that is in the Official Academic Calendar on the HCCS Website. Any information about Due Dates in this syllabus or in EO-Canvas is null and void if the dates listed are after the Official Last Day of Instruction that is in the Official Academic Calendar on the HCCS Website. Advisors, counselors, department chairs, deans, administrators, and other support staff and faculty do not make the rules for Incompletes for my courses. The rules for being given an Incomplete and clearing the Incomplete for this course are at the discretion of Ruth Dunn, Sociology Instructor at Houston Community College. |
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The cutoff time for the online components related to your textbook, quizzes, and assignments will be 11:30 PM every Sunday for 16-week and 12-week classes. Shorter courses will have different due dates that will be closer together because of the shortness of those courses. Regardless of the length of the course, they all have the same number of credit hours and must, therefore, cover all of the course material that would be in a 16-week Regular Term course. No Gradable Activities of Any Kind Will be Accepted After the Official Last Day of Instruction that is in the Official Academic Calendar on the HCCS Website. Any information about Due Dates in this syllabus or in EO-Canvas is null and void if the dates listed are after the Official Last Day of Instruction that is in the Official Academic Calendar on the HCCS Website.
Click Here to See the OFFICIAL HCCS Calendar for This Term |
HCCS OFFICIAL Day of Record for Fall 2019 |
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AUGUST 2019 |
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Aug 28 |
Fall 2019 1st 4 WK: Official Day of Record |
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SEPTEMBER 2019 |
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Fall 2019 1st 8 WK: Official Day of Record |
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Fall 2019 Reg 16 WK: Official Day of Record |
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Sep 25 |
Fall 2019 2nd 4 WK: Official Day of Record |
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Sep 25 |
Fall 2019 2nd 4 WK: Official Day of Record |
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OCTOBER 2019 |
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Fall 2019 2nd Start: Official Day of Record |
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Oct 23 |
Fall 2019 3rd 4 WK: Official Day of Record |
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Oct 28 |
Fall 2019 2nd 8 WK: Official Day of Record |
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NOVEMBER 2019 |
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Nov 20 |
Fall 2019 4th 4 WK: Official Day of Record |
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Click Here To See the HCCS OFFICIAL LAST DAY to Withdraw with a Grade of “W” for Fall 2019 |
Last Day to withdraw with a Grade of “W” for Fall 2019 |
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SEPTEMBER 2019 |
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Sep 11 |
Fall 2019 1st 4-WK: Last Day to withdraw |
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Sep 30 |
Fall 2019 1st 8 WK: Last Day to withdraw |
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NOVEMBER 2019 |
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Nov 1 |
Fall 2019 Reg 16 WK: Last day to withdraw |
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Nov 5 |
Fall 2019 3rd 4 WK: Last Day to withdraw |
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Nov 11 |
Fall 2019 2nd Start: Last Day to withdraw |
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Nov 22 |
Fall 2019 2nd 8 WK: Last Day to withdraw |
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DECEMBER 2019 |
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15B15BFinal Exam |
There is no final exam for this course. |
16B16BInstructor’s Practices, Procedures, and Policies |
58B58BLate and Missed Gradable Activities Policy |
59B59BLate Discussions and Assignments |
All of your gradable activities are available beginning the first day of the semester. |
That means that you have as many weeks as the course for which you registered is available. |
Because you have access to ALL of your gradable activities you have no reason to be late, or to ask for an extension. |
If you think you want to ask me for an extension because you didn’t have time to complete a gradable activity, you may want to think about such a request more than once, or twice, or three times, until you have decided that it is a waste of your time to ask because the answer will be “NO!” |
I do not take kindly to students who waste their time or who run out of time when they have all of the gradable activities available from the first day of class. |
If you are in any course that is shorter than 12 weeks or if you are in a mini-term and you don’t have time to complete everything, remember that no one forced you to register for a short course. |
I have no sympathy for students who complain about the amount of work required in a short course. |
You registered for the course and if you decided to take a short course in the mistaken belief that there would be less work to do, then you made a serious error that could affect your GPA and/or your ability to Transfer. |
Beginning Fall 2019, online components and gradable activities related to your textbook are available from the first day of the semester until the Official Last Day of Instruction that is in the Official Academic Calendar on the HCCS Website. |
Late Gradable ACTIVITIES OF ANY KIND will not be accepted. |
Once the cut-off date has passed for a WRITTEN ACTIVITY THROUGH EO-CANVAS/and or online components related to your textbook, you will no longer be able to submit the activity and you will receive a zero that cannot be made up. |
Once the cut-off date has passed for a WRITTEN ACTIVITY THROUGH EO-CANVAS/and or online components related to your textbook and you have submitted the wrong assignment, or submitted an assignment through the wrong link for that activity, you will not be allowed any make-ups. |
Failure to follow all of the rules that are in this syllabus or in the EO-Canvas Modules or Assignments may result in poor grades. |
You MUST read my commentary that will be embedded in your written assignments and / or the comment sections of the Rubric so that you understand why you received the grade you were given. |
My commentaries are meant to explain concepts about which you are unsure and to give you useful feedback that will help you to improve your grades throughout the semester. |
It is your responsibility to read my comments about each of your gradable activities BEFORE you contact me about your grade. |
The Daily QUIZZES, if any, in online components related to your textbook, CANNOT BE MADE UP! |
Weekly QUIZZES cannot be made up. |
The Daily ASSIGNMENTS, if any, in online components related to your textbook, CANNOT BE MADE UP. |
Weekly ASSIGNMENTS if any, in online components related to your textbook, CANNOT BE MADE UP. |
Showing up every day or being online every day does not guarantee a passing grade for any SOCI course taught by Ruth Dunn. |
You must DO THE REQUIRED work. |
If you don’t do the REQUIRED work, you will not be able to pass this course. |
REPEAT: Just showing up does not guarantee a passing grade. |
YOU MUST COMPLETE AND PASS ALL OF THE REQUIRED WORK IN ORDER TO EARN A PASSING GRADE. |
There are NO exceptions to this policy. |
NO Exceptions! |
When instruction ends per the Official Last Day of Instruction in the Official HCCS Academic Calendar in the HCCS Website, the final exams will begin—there is NO final in this course!—and No Gradable Activities of Any Kind Will Be Accepted After the Official Last Day of Instruction that is in the Official Academic Calendar on the HCCS Website. |
The end of the semester is kind of like driving over a cliff; if you didn't get your faulty brakes fixed, you're doomed. |
DON'T PROCRASTINATE! DO THE NECESSARY COURSE WORK BEFORE IT'S DUE! DON'T WAIT! DO THE WORK NECESSARY TO PASS THIS COURSE. |
37B37Making Up Missed or Late Work |
I do not permit make-up work or late work unless you can supply written documentation that I, reasonably, can use to decide whether your excuse concerning an unsubmitted written assignment or an absence from a class on a due date for an in-class assignment of some kind meets my criteria. You will be required to provide from a hospital, emergency room, (or any other such medical facility), from an undertaker or funeral home, from the military, from another college, university, or other such institution of higher learning, from your advisor only if you are a CECHS student, or from any source that your Instructor deems legitimate, written documentation within 48 hours of missing any assignment. Make-up work and accepting late work is always at the discretion of the instructor. If and only if I agree privately with a student to permit late or make-up work, it will be no more than 2 gradable activities per semester. |
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Instructor’s Academic Integrity Policy |
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Academic Integrity means that you take your education seriously and that you understand what lack of integrity costs you and your educational institution. Cheating hurts us all. Those who are honest and work hard for their grades are hurt when cheaters get higher grades. Those who are dishonest are cheating themselves out of an education and when caught can face severe penalties including expulsion. Faculty are cheated out of their time when we spend extra hours tracking down and proving dishonesty. Academic Integrity is Personal Integrity; are you an honest person, or are you a dishonest person? This is a choice that we make; please make the right one. |
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Most students are honest, hard-working, diligent, thoughtful, and are attending Houston Community College in order to learn and improve in some significant way their lives. Unfortunately, there are a few students who make it necessary to develop classroom policies to deal with academic dishonesty. Therefore, the following set of policies will be used in order to discourage and reduce academic dishonesty (cheating). This policy expands on the policy of Houston Community College as stated this syllabus and in the HCCS Student Handbook. |
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“Scholastic Dishonesty Includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion. |
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Cheating on a Test includes: |
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Copying from another student’s test paper |
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Using, during a test, materials not authorized by the person giving the test. |
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Collaborating with another student during a test without authorization. |
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Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in whole or in part the contents of an unadministered test. |
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Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for one’s self, to take a test. |
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Bribing another person to obtain a test that is to be administered. |
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‘Plagiarism’ means the appropriation of another’s work and the unacknowledged incorporation of that work in one’s written work for credit. |
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‘Collusion’ means the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing work offered for credit.” (HCC Core Sociology Curriculum.) |
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We will be using TurnItIn© for all written work. This program will allow you to discover if you have plagiarized. It will also let you know about any mechanical writing errors you have made so that you can correct them BEFORE you submit your gradable activity. |
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Academic Dishonesty will result in: |
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A grade of zero for that activity. |
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A failing grade for the course. |
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A notice placed in your academic file and on your transcript. |
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Every effort I can bring to bear to have you expelled from the college. |
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If I cheat, and if I am caught I will receive a zero for the course! If I withdraw before the official drop date, I will be reinstated so that I will receive the zero that I have earned. |
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I understand that if I receive an F for cheating and decide to drop the course, Instructor Dunn will have me reinstated and my grade will be changed from a W to an F. |
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I have retained this policy statement for my own records. |
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Please see the Instructor’s Academic Integrity Policy at the end of this syllabus. |
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Attendance Policies |
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38B38BAttendance Policy for Online-Only Courses |
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You must log in to EO-Canvas a minimum of three times a day for a minimum of one-two hours a day during a mini-term. For Regular Term (16-week), Second Start (12-week), and SS 12 WEEK ONLINE ONLY ONLINE ONLY&F8B (8-week) classes, you must be logged in five days a week for a couple of hours or more each day. If you’re not doing your job, your grade might be penalized! Just so you know: your instructor can track every page you access, every time you log in, how long you are online, and everything that you do online in EO-Canvas and in any online components related to your textbook. |
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Student Conduct |
Any student who is disruptive and engages in any behavior that reasonably I find unacceptable will be asked to leave the classroom or locked out of the course. Serious disruptions will result in the Campus Police being called and administrative withdrawal from the course. Disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to: inappropriately challenging the instructor; belligerence toward the instructor or other students; drawing a firearm (loaded or not) or a bladed weapon in a scabbard or not; verbal or physical threats or intimidation directed toward faculty, staff, or students; verbalizing inappropriately, foul or obscene language, personal attacks, lack of consideration for diversity, racist, sexist, ageist, or other unacceptable language. |
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· If you are unsure of anything regarding this class AFTER YOU HAVE READ ALL REQUIRED INFORMATION, ask me! I do not bite! I am here to help you to understand and to help you to succeed. |
Sociology Program Information |
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62B62BProgram-Specific Information |
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There is a significant amount of information in the Modules Tab in EO-Canvas about sociology, and it can help you throughout your life. |
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HCC Policies |
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63B63BStudent Handbook |
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Please use this link to the HCC Student Handbook (http://www.hccs.edu/resources-for-current-students/student-handbook/. You will find information about the following on this website. |
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International Student Services |
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Health Awareness |
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Electronic Devices |
Libraries/Bookstore |
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Police Services and Campus Safety |
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Student Life at HCC |
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Student Rights and Responsibilities |
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Student Services |
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Testing |
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Transfer Planning |
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Veteran’s Services |
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EGLS3 |
The EGLS3 (Evaluation for Greater Learning Student Survey System) will be available for most courses near the end of each long term until finals start. This brief survey will give invaluable information to our faculty about their teaching. Results are anonymous and will be available to faculty and division chairs after the end of the term. EGLS3 surveys are only available for the Fall and Spring semesters and are not available during Mini terms or Summer semesters due to logistical constraints. (http://www.hccs.edu/resources-for/current-students/egls3-evaluate-your-professors/) |
Campus Carry |
You may have the right to carry deadly weapons on our campuses (fir arms and explosive devices in or out of a holster or container and bladed weapons in or out of a scabbard, etc.) but you do NOT have the right to display them peaceably or threateningly in my classroom. Concealed carry means concealed! If you are unsure of the law, please read http://www.hccs.edu/district/departments/police/campus-carry/, which is information about the Campus Carry Law in Texas. |
HCC Email Policy |
When communicating via email, HCC requires students to communicate only through the HCC Email system to protect your privacy. If you have not activated your HCC student email account, you can go to HCC Eagle ID and activate it now. You may also use the Eagle Online-Canvas Inbox email system to communicate with HCC faculty and staff. |
Office of Institutional Equity |
Please use this link to access the HCC Office of Institutional Equity, Inclusion, and Engagement http://www.hccs.edu/departmetns/institutional-equity/ |
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This link will take you to the following topics: |
· Services for Students with a Qualified Disability |
· ADA Accommodation Process for HCC Students |
· Student’s Responsibility for Obtaining Reasonable Accommodations |
· Examples of Reasonable Accommodations |
· ADA Counselors http://www.hccs.edu/support-services/disability-services/ |
· Grievance and Appeal Process |
o The College District official to receive complaints is David Cross, the ADA/Section 504 coordinator. Reports of discrimination based on disability may be directed to the ADA/Section 504 coordinator. The College District designates the following person to coordinate its efforts to comply with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, which incorporates and expands the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended: |
§ Name: David Cross |
§ Position: Director of EEO Compliance and the Office of Institutional Equity |
§ Address: 3100 Main Street, 7th Floor, Houston, TX 77002 |
§ Telephone: (713) 718-8271 |
o A party who is dissatisfied with the outcome of the investigation may appeal through the applicable grievance policy beginning at the appropriate level. See DGBA(LOCAL) for employees, FLD(LOCAL) for students, and GB(LOCAL) for community members. These policies are available at https://www.hccs.edu/about-hcc/policies/. |
o A party shall be informed of his or her right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. |
Office of the Dean of Students |
Contact the office of the Dean of Students to seek assistance in determining the correct complaint procedure to follow or to identify the appropriate academic dear or supervisor for informal resolution of complaints. (http//www.hccs.edu/about-hcc/procedures/student-rights-policies—procedures/student-complaints/speak-with-the-dean-of-students/) |
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Use of Electronic Devices in the Classroom |
The use of electronic devices by students in the classroom is up to the discretion of the instructor. Any use of such devices for purposes other than student learning is strictly prohibited. If an instructor perceives such use as disruptive and/or inappropriate, the instructor has the right to ask the student to terminate such use. If the behavior continues, the student may be subject to disciplinary action to include removal from the classroom or referral to the dean of student services for further disciplinary action. https://www.hccs.edu/media/houston-community-college/district/pdf/2018-2019-Student-Code-of-Conduct.pdf |
Students must obtain consent from an instructor in order to audio or video record any portion of classroom time. If a student is receiving an accommodation for a disability, the student may be required to sign a statement assuring that the recording is only for personal use and will not be distributed. Failure to abide by this policy may result in disciplinary action. https://www.hccs.edu/media/houston-community-college/district/pdf/2018-2019-Student-Code-of-Conduct.pdf |
You may, if you wish, make Audio and/or Visual recordings of our F2F classes for your own use to help you study and catch up on any discussion by your instructor or fellow students that you might not recall as clearly as necessary for your greater understanding of the course work. You may not and must not upload to any website of any kind anything that you might have recorded in our classroom. What is discussed in a F2F classroom, is proprietary to HCCS, the publisher of your textbook, and your instructor. Inappropriate behavior with anything recorded in any way in one of Ruth Dunn’s courses will result in a major deduction of up to two letter grades to your final course grade. |
Studying |
Many students who are fresh from high school, or older students who have been out of school for some time, do not understand the necessity of dedicated study time while in college. The rule of thumb for studying is 3 hours of study time outside of class for every hour spent in the classroom—this translates to 9 hours of study time per week for each course you are taking. Regular, routine, daily study is much more effective than “cramming” at the last minute. Regular log-ins, keeping up with assigned readings, taking complete and comprehensive notes, reviewing your notes regularly and often, looking over any handouts, beginning assignments as soon as they are available, forming study/discussion groups with other students who are taking the same course from the same instructor, being alert and attentive in class, participating in discussions, asking questions, and asking for clarification for any material that you don’t understand, are all necessary skills to develop and use while you are in college. Good study habits really do lead to good grades! The document Student Success Skills for the Social Sciences that is available on my site on the Learning Web will help you to understand how to study for this class. If you need tutoring, or if your instructor tells you that you must get tutoring, Click Here! |
Suggestions for Improving Your Course Grade |
You may turn in any written assignments two or more class days before the due date by submitting the assignment in the EO-CANVAS Assignments link as an attachment. I will correct the assignment and will make suggestions for improvement, and I will send it back to you as an attachment for corrections in the EO-CANVAS Assignments link. Students who avail themselves of this offer almost always earn “A’s” for their assignments if they follow all of my instructions carefully. You may submit to me your assignments in the EO-CANVAS Assignments link for early turn in no later than one week before the due date that is in the Due Dates in the Calendar in EO-CANVAS. All assignments turned in on the due date will be considered complete and finished and may not be rewritten. No attachments will be accepted in Online Discussions for this class. Please copy and paste into the text box for the Discussions. Click Here if you need tutoring. Early Submission and Correction of Gradable Activities applies ONLY if the two days or one week is BEFORE The Official Last Day of Instruction that is in the Official Academic Calendar on the HCCS Website. Any information about Due Dates in this syllabus or in EO-Canvas is null and void if the dates listed are after the Official Last Day of Instruction that is in the Official Academic Calendar on the HCCS Website. |
Student Course Materials and Instructions |
Please don’t ask me where your gradable activities or required readings are. They are in EO-Canvas and/or the online components from your textbook. All Required Readings, Instructions, Directions, Rubrics, Templates, Examples (if any), Checklists (if any), Miscellany, Handouts, and any Activity or resource that your Instructor deems valuable and useful will be in the Modules Tab in EO-Canvas. Gradable Activities such as, but not limited to, Quizzes (includes Exams if any), Projects, Assignments, and Discussions will be in the Assignments and/or Discussions Tab in Eagle Online and/or Online components related to your textbook. It is your responsibility to follow the directions and read and/or watch and/or do whatever is required. If something says REQUIRED, it is required. All Assignments, Discussions, Projects, and any other Gradable Activities are REQUIRED. All student course material, (with the exception of the required textbook which must be purchased)—Learning Objectives, Lecture Notes, and ALL Instructions for ALL Gradable Activities for this course, as well as rubrics, templates, instructions, videos, miscellany, and examples—will be found in EO-Canvas and/or Online components related to your textbook. EO-Canvas and/or Online components related to your textbook. contain the primary course resources that will help you succeed in SOCI 2319. All of the instructions you will need to complete any and all Gradable Activities will be found in EO-Canvas and/or Online components related to your textbook. You MUST have your required textbook before the first day of class! If you don’t have your required textbook before the first day of class, you will be behind and may not be able to catch up. I have provided you with all of the resources (except the required textbook) that you will need for this course. Everything you need to do well in this course, (except the required textbook) is in EO-Canvas and/or Online components related to your textbook. Click Here for Tutoring Resources. |
Any Errors or Omissions in this Syllabus May Be Corrected at any Time During the Semester without Prior Notice; You Will Be Notified If This Occurs. Instructor Ruth Dunn reserves the right to make any changes to the syllabus or to the course material in EO without prior notice. If a change is made, you will be notified immediately. If there is a rule or other course information that will affect your grade for this class that is not in the syllabus it will be in the Modules, Assignments, or Discussions Tabs, in EO Canvas and has as much weight and importance as if it were in the syllabus. |
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46B46BLegitimate Sources |
The Internet has a wide variety of sites offering a wide variety of ideas, fake “facts,” “alternative facts,” real and accurate facts, fantasies, conspiracy theories, and just plain crap about almost any topic you can think of. In order to make sure that you are using legitimate sources, you will be supplied with a list of websites in the Modules Tab in EO-Canvas that are vetted and approved by your instructor and by librarians throughout the United States. If there is a website or a news source that you want to use that is not on this list, you must get your instructor’s permission to use it. Your textbook is always a legitimate source; you don’t have to get permission to use it. A fact cannot be fake, and something that is fake cannot be a fact. We are going to be learning how to find legitimate sources and true, accurate, scientifically provable facts. Science can be faked, but the science we will be studying is true and accurate to the best of our ability to discover given the current state of our knowledge and knowledge gathering techniques. |
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47B47BFalse Science and False Facts |
For almost all of the written work in this class, you will be required to find and use data and statistics from legitimate sources; you can have your opinions, but don’t use them unless I’ve given you permission or requested them. If you submit a gradable written activity that uses falsities, that openly lies or wallows in nonsensical conspiracy theories and pseudo-science, you will receive a zero for that activity that cannot be made up. Accepting lies, untruths, pseudo-science, “alternative facts,” anecdotal evidence, and pure BS is an increasingly dangerous practice that is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s political and sociocultural environment which means that we must always stand firmly on the side of objective truth, provable science, and factual information from legitimate sources. We will adhere to such strictures throughout our course and throughout our time together. If you do not follow these rules, your grade will suffer. |
Please do not tell me that we don’t need science because none of it is real; what a comment like that tells me is that you are not ready to learn, that you are being intellectually lazy, and that you think what you are saying about science is very, very clever, but it’s not—it’s just showing your ignorance and immaturity, and that will not be tolerated. For more information, check out Khan Academy, Bill Nye, the Science Guy, Scientific American Podcasts, NPR’s Science Friday, and NPR’s Shankar Vedantam’s social science correspondent and the host of the Hidden Brain. |
There is no Loch Ness Monster, Atlantis, Camelot, Hogwarts, Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti, La Llorna, Chupacabra, humanoid vampires, lycanthropy, aliens from other planets, people living under or inside volcanoes, a flat earth, or any other such nonsense. No scientific evidence has ever been found that any of these things exist. My grandmother told me fairy tales about magical creatures who live in the Arctic Circle. I loved my grandmother, but those creatures don’t exist no matter how much she might have believed them to be real. However, if you have ever been a voting member of an Althing, and if the country you come from builds highways and other transportation systems in a way that protects the huldufálk, and you can prove you come from that country, I might give you extra points, or you can look up this information and tell me what country is referenced in an EO-Canvas email, and I will add the equivalent of ten points onto your lowest post-first week activity score. |
64B64BInstructor of Sociology: |
Ruth Dunn, BS, MA |
Office Address: F7, Room C219, West Loop Campus |
5601 West Loop South, Houston TX 77081 |
Office Phone: 713-718-7999 |
Email: EAGLE-ONLINE CANVAS E-MAIL |
Sociology Department Chair: |
Dr. Nichole Boutteheiniluoma, PhD (Doctor “B” is what she likes to be called) [email protected] |
Office Address: Room 215, West Loop Campus |
5601 West Loop South, Houston TX 77081 |
Office Phone: 713-718-2087 |
49B49BSociology Program Coordinator: |
Daniel Argo [email protected] |
Office Phone: 713-718-2494 |
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50B50BAcademic Dean for Social and Behavioral Sciences: |
Dr. Aaron Knight, PhD [email protected] |
Office Address: Suite 420, Northline Campus |
8001 Fulton Street, Houston TX 77022 |
Office Phone: 713-718-2445 |
Academic Integrity Policy (Repeat) |
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NOTE: Any Errors or Omissions in this Syllabus May Be Corrected at any Time During the Semester without Prior Notice; You Will Be Notified through EO-Canvas Announcements if This Occurs. Instructor Ruth Dunn reserves the right to make any changes to the syllabus or to the course material in EO without prior notice. If a change is made, you will be notified immediately through EO-Canvas Announcements. If there is a rule or other course information that will affect your grade for this class that is not in the syllabus it will be in the Modules, Assignments, or Discussions Tabs, in EO Canvas and has as much weight and importance as if it were in the syllabus. |
Works Cited
Plummer, Kenneth. 2010. Sociology: The Basics. First. Milton Park Abingdon and New York, Oxfordshire and New York: Routledge and Taylor & Francis Group. Accessed August 3, 2019.