Social Stratification Schedule

Tentative Daily Schedule and Announcements

Note schedule changes in Module 5: The New Poverty: Work, Race and the Underclass

NO CLASS ON THURSDAY, APRIL 16

Recommended News Articles and Other Resources:
(thoughtful responses welcome on Sakai News Items online discussion board)
What Red Ink? Wall Street Paid Hefty Bonuses
Obama Calls Wall Street Bonuses "Shameful"
A Bold Plan Sweeps Away Reagan Ideas
Finally, a Budget that Targets Inequality (Too Much weekly newsletter)
The Pay At the Top

Getting Started

Tues. Jan. 20

First Class. Introduction to the Course.
Tasks to complete by the end of the week:
1) Update your email address at https://www.acs.rutgers.edu/studentdir/ (this is important for receiving course emails--note: the URL above has been updated and should work))
2) Access the course website and read the course homepage carefully. Familiarize yourself with the course website's navigation structure and contents.
3) Access the Online Discussion forum at the Sakai course site and respond to my message under Bill Moyers and Me (please do this if at all possible by 10:00 Wednesday night and read the responses of others for discussion in class on Thursday);
4) Register at the New York Times website if you haven't done so before.
5) Familiarize yourself with the department's policy on plagiarism and proper citation at the department's Web-Enhanced Curriculum (see links on left toolbar). You are responsible for knowing and understanding the department's plagiarism and citation policies.
6) Declare your major if you have not done so already, by going to the registrar's office and asking to be listed as a sociology major (920) or criminal justice major (202). This will enable you to receive periodic messages from the department of interest to majors.

Module 1: Introduction to the Lived Experience of Inequality--And How It Matters

Thurs. Jan 22	Discussion of Sakai postings about what social stratification has meant in our lives. Read: Bill Moyers, "This is the Fight of Our Lives" (keynote address to Inequality Matters conference, 2004) Film: People Like Us: Social Class in America (Part 1) Film Website Reminder: Sakai "Bill Moyers and Me" posting should be made by 10:00 p.m. the night before this class, so that you and others can read the responses of classmates.
Tues. Jan. 27	Read: Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed, Introduction, Chapters 1-2 Come prepared to discuss the Bill Moyers and Me postings in Sakai In Class: Excerpt from SEIU, Stronger Together: Invisible No More: Quality Home Care and L-Curve Video
Thurs. Jan. 29	Continue film: People Like Us: Social Class in America Discuss Ehrenreich Assignment
Tues. Feb 3	Read: Ehrenreich, Chapter 3, and Evaluation (final chapter) and Simon Head, "Inside the Leviathan," New York Review of Books (Dec. 16, 2004) Explore: AFLCIO Website: Paying the Price at Wal-Mart (explore the links). Come prepared to discuss the Wal-Mart controversy as well as Ehhrenreich's experience. Highly recommended: Frontline online video: Is Wal-Mart good for America?
Thurs. Feb. 5	Finish film: People Like Us: Social Class in America Ehrenreich Reader's Guide Assignment should be submitted via the Sakai assignments page the night before this class.

Module 2: The Concept of Social Class in the 21st Century: Is It Still Useful?

Tues. Feb. 10	Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Stratification and Social Class Read: Gilbert, The American Class Structure, Ch. 1 [Sakai Resources] Better quality image Figure 1-1: Gilbert-Kahl Model of the Class Structure Powerpoint - PDF-Handout
Thurs. Feb12	The Gilbert-Kahl Model of the U.S. Class Structure Read: Gilbert, The American Class Structure, Ch. 11 [Sakai Resources] and Janny Scott and David Leonhardt, "Class in America: Shadowly Lines that Still Divide," New York Times Class Matters series (May 16, 2005) Powerpoint - PDF-Handout Discussion of MicroCase Assignment
Tues. Feb. 17	Social and Cultural Capital and Social Reproduction Read: Elliot B. Weninger and Annette Laureau, Cultural Capital and Peter W. Cookson, Jr. and Caroline Hodges Persell, Elite Boarding Schools: Curricula as Cultural Capital (Sakai Resources--for Cookson & Persell, you may need to click on "print as image" in printer dialog box when printing) *Bring* both articles to class with you for textual analysis Explore: some elite boarding school websites: Philips Academy Andover, Groton School, Philips Exeter Academy, The Taft School Powerpoint - PDF-Handout Video: excerpts from the UP series
Thurs. Feb. 19	Meritocracy, Mobility, and the "Death" of Social Class Read: Stephen McNamee and Robert K. Miller, "The Meritocracy Myth," Sociation Today (Spring 2004), and Terry Nichols Clark and Seymour Martin Lipset, "Are Social Classes Dying?" (1991), reprinted in their The Breakdown of Class Politics (2001) [Sakai Resources] Powerpoint - PDF-Handout
Tues. Feb 24	U.S. Inequality in Comparative Context Read: Elizabeth Gudrais, "Unequal America: Causes and Consequences of the Wide--and Growing--Gap Between Rich and Poor," Harvard Magazine (July-August 2008) [Sakai Resources] and "Understanding Human Development, The Measure of America: American Human Development Report 2008-2009. Project website: http://measureofamerica.org/ Powerpoint - PDF-Handout
Thurs. Feb. 26	Film: Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? MicroCase Exercise: How Does Social Class Matter? due.

Module 3: Explaining the Growing Inequality in the U.S.

Tues. March 3	Growing U.S. Inequality and Its Consequences Read: Economic Apartheid, Preface, Introduction, Chapters 1-2 Film: For a contrasting perspective from the Cold War era, we will watch the 1955 film, "America's Distribution of Wealth," which can be viewed online. Powerpoint - PDF-Handout Class Background Assignment discussed.
Thurs. March 5 Study Guide for Exam	Explaining Rising Inequality in the U.S. Read: Economic Apartheid, Chapter 3. Video excerpt from Jim Lehrer News Hour on winner-take-all society Powerpoint - PDF-Handout
Tues. March 10	Exam Review
Thurs. March 12	In-Class Exam on basic concepts and ideas in Modules 2 and 3.
Spring Break	Plan ahead for the class background assignment if you don't want to use your break for working on it.
.	Class Background Assignment should be handed in (as hard copy) at the beginning of class on Tuesday, March 31st.

Module 4: Economic and Political Stratification: Power and Ideology

Tues March 24	No PowerPoint today. Further discussion of concepts for the class background assignment, as well as of consolidation of last two papers in the course.
Thurs March 26	Social Class and Economic Power in the U.S. Read: Domhoff, Who Rules America? Preface, Introduction and Chapters 1-3 Recommended: Check out An Internet Guide to Power Structure Research Powerpoint - PDF-Handout
Tues March 31	Film: Selections from Bill Moyers' Free Speech for Sale and Now Class Background Assignment should be handed in (as hard copy) at the beginning of class
Thurs April 2	The Political Spectrum: Understanding Where the "Experts" Are Coming From Political Compass posting due the night before class: go to Political Compass online discussion at Sakai site to get directions Examine an alternative political classification: : Introduction to the Political Spectrum of the U.S. (Monika Wood) Discussion of political labels and orientations
Tues April 7	How Public Policy and Opinion is Shaped Read: Domhoff, Chapter 4-5 (read these two chapters carefully) Powerpoint - PDF-Handout AIG advertisements: cafeteria sleep
Thurs April 9	Read: Domhoff, Chapters 6-8 Powerpoint - PDF Handout
	Note: Instead of a separate paper, your understanding of the Domhoff book will be incorporated in to the John Turner assignment, due at the end of the course.

Module 5: The New Poverty: Work, Race and the Underclass

Tues. Apr.14	The Complex Relationship Between Race and Class Film: The Two Nations of Black America. Discussion of film: what it means to say that the problem of racial inequality today is primarily one of class and what kinds of solutions follow from a "race-based" vs. "class-based" analysis. Note: Although there is no reading assignment for this class, students are encouraged to get going on the the reading assignment for Thursday. Recommended: State of the Dream 2009
Thurs. April 16	CLASS CANCELLED
Tues April 21	Race and Class in Historical Context Read: William Julius Wilson, "Jobless Poverty: A New Form of Social Dislocation in the Inner-city Ghetto," in D.G. Grusky and S. Szelenyi, The Inequality Reader (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2007) [Sakai Resources ] and Read: Anderson, Code of the Street, Preface, Introduction, Chapter 1 Student film: Down Germantown Avenue: An Introduction to Elijah Anderson's Code of the Street Powerpoint - PDF-Handout
Thurs April 23	Explaining Inner-City Violence: The Code of the Street Read and Discuss: Anderson, Chapters 2-4 Read for John Turner assignment: Excerpts from C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination John Turner Essay assignment discussed (see left toolbar link) John Turner Essay Powerpoint - PDF-Handout
Tues April 28	Read: Anderson, Chapters 5-7 No PowerPoint today Tavis Smiley interview with Elijah Anderson (requires RealPlayer)
Thurs April 30	Read: Anderson, Conclusion. Brainstorming about the John Turner paper.
Thursday, May 7	John Turner Essay must be submitted via Sakai assignments page by 2:00 p.m. Thursday, May 7th