REVISED 03/31/2021

 

The Community in Rural and Urban Settings
Spring 2021

Section 701
CRN: 43033


Douglas Clayton Smith
Professor of Sociology

131 Grise Hall WKU Office Phone:  (270) 745-3131 
Department of Sociology and Criminology Email:  Douglas.Smith@wku.edu
Western Kentucky University Personal Webpage:  people.wku.edu/Douglas.Smith/
1906 College Heights Blvd. #11057 Class Webpage: wku.blackboard.com
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1057  
Office Hours: I will be available Tuesdays 12 to 2 and Wednesdays 12 to 1 and 2 to 3.  
WKU Catalog Description: Study of the structure and function of community life and the process of balancing community needs and resources.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Sociology has always been a discipline interested in "better living through science." As a part of this effort, sociologists often work to get people to see how social forces affect their perceptions and actions; however, sometimes we tend to forget that people's actions occur someplace; that the places we live, work, and play in are intertwined with sense of self; and that the effects of people's actions in their places are felt both locally and globally. Thus it is important for sociologists broaden its focus on race, class, and gender toward understanding communities and the other social worlds people inhabit.

If you think about your life thus far, it is probably hard to deny the importance of your places like your hometown or your neighborhood in shaping who you are. And it's probably easy to recognize that you and I and everyone else, through our actions and interactions in the places we go, shape the lives of the others around us. This course examines how we as human beings organize ourselves in space to meet our daily needs. We do so with an eye toward how to make our lives and the lives of future generations better.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

I want this course to give you a certain set of knowledge, feelings, and skills. These would specifically be:

REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS:

Electronic copies will be available on our Blackboard website.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Examinations. 

The course will have a two examinations during the semester. There will be no final--the Community study will be viewed as the final project.

Community Study. 

Each student will conduct a case study of a community. The case study will be comprised of four parts. See attachment for a description of the project and due dates. Due dates are firm. Late papers will be penalized one letter grade for each day that the paper is late.  Each of the eight subsections is worth 3.5 percent and the final project will be worth 12 percent.  

Community Ethnography Book Review. 

As preparation for your community study, you will read and submit a book review on a community ethnography. I will provide the class with an extensive list of community ethnographies-both old and new, urban and rural. These books will be available either at Helms-Cravens or through interlibrary loan. You will choose one (NOTE: if the ethnography you choose is shorter than 50 pages, you will be asked to read an additional short ethnography), read it, and write a summary of it. Your report should place the authors study of community within the context of the course thus far. You will point to social structures and/or processes the ethnography emphasizes as well as where you think the argument community lost, found, liberated framework and why. No plagiarism of the text will be tolerated. All paraphrases of material will need citations. If I discover any problems, you will be asked to correct it before I will grade the paper.

GRADING PROCEDURES:

COURSE CALENDAR:

Dates Questions Readings
Week 1

Jan. 19 -- Jan. 22

   

Week 2

Jan. 25 -- Jan. 29

   

Week 3

Feb. 1 -- Feb. 5

Defining Terms: Community, Neighborhood, Rural, Urban, Metropolitan, Nonmetropolitan
  • Berry, Wendell. 1987. "Does Community Have a Value?" Pp. 179-92 in Home Economics. San Francisco: North Point Press.

  • Freie, John F.  1998.  "Chapter 2.  Genuine Community"  Pp. 21-37 in Counterfeit Community:  The Exploitation of Our Longings for Connectedness.  Lanham, Maryland:  Rowman and Littlefield

  • Bradshaw, Ted K. 2013. "The Post-Place Community: Contributions to the Debate about the Definition of Community." Pp. 11-24 in M.A. Brennan, J.C. Bridger, and T.R. Alter (eds.), Theory, Practice, and Community Development. Routledge.

  • Orum, Anthony M. 1998. "The Urban Imagination of Sociologists: The Centrality of Place." The Sociological Quarterly 39:1-10.
  • Lee, Barrett E. and Karen E. Campbell. 1997. "Common Ground? Urban Neighborhoods as Survey Respondents See Them." Social Science Quarterly 78(4):922-36.
  • Ratcliffe, Michael, Charlynn Burd, Kelly Holder, and Alison Fields. 2016. "Defining Rural at the U.S. Census Bureau." American Community Survey and Geography Brief.
  • Wilkinson, Kenneth P. "Rural and Social Interaction." Pp. 54-58 in The Community in Rural America. Social Ecology Press.

Week 4

Feb. 8 -- Feb. 12

The Community Concept in History 
  • Stoneall, Linda. 1983. "Classical Theories of Social Changes and the Question of Community." Pp. 8-11 in Country Life, City Life. New York: Praeger.
  • Lyon, Larry. 1987. "The Typological Approach: Community on a Rural/Urban Continuum." Pp. 17-31 in The Community in Urban Society. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

  • Bridger, Jeffrey C., A.E. Luloff, and Richard S. Krannich.  2002.  "Community Change and Community Theory."  Pp. 9-21 in Persistence and Change in Rural Communities:  A 50-Year Follow-up to Six Classic Studies, edited by A.E. Luloff and R.S. Krannich. New York: CABI Publishing

Week 5

Feb. 15 -- Feb. 19

Community Memory and Nostalgia
  • Gongaware, Timothy B. 2010. "Collective Memory Anchors: Collective Identity and Continuity in Social Movements" Sociological Focus 43(3): 214-239, DOI: 10.1080/00380237.2010.10571377

  • Sandul, Paul. 2014. "Collected Memory and the Continued Legacies of Boosterism."Pp. 182--207 in California Dreaming: Boosterism, Memory and Rural Suburbs in the Golden State. West Virginia University Press.

Week 6

Feb. 22 -- Feb. 26

Assets and Needs,
Vulnerability and Resilience,
Community Capitals
  • Ilvento, Tom, Lori Garkovich, Gary Hansen, Ron Hustedde, and Rick Maurer. No Date. "Alternative Methods of Community Needs Assessment"
  • Kretzmann, John P. and John L. McKnight. 1993.  "Introduction" Pp. 2-10 in Building Communities from the Inside Out.  Chicago, IL: ACTA Publications.
  • Kretzmann, John P. and John L. McKnight. 1993.  "Asset-Based Community Development: Mobilizing an Entire Community." Pp. 345-354. in Building Communities from the Inside Out. Chicago, IL: ACTA Publications.
  • Snow, Luther K. 2001. "Introduction." Pp. 4-8 in The Organization of Hope: A Workbook for Rural Asset-Based Community Development.  Chicago, IL: ACTA Publications.
  • Snow, Luther K. 2001.  "How to Use ABCD in Your Rural Community." Pp. 71-77 in The Organization of Hope: A Workbook for Rural Asset-Based Community Development. Chicago, IL: ACTA Publications. 
  • Bergstrand, Kelly, Brian Mayer, Babette Brumback, and Yi Zhang. 2015. "Assessing the Relationship Between Social Vulnerability and Community Resilience to Hazards." Social Indicators Research 122(2):391-409. doi:10.1007/s11205-014-0698-3.
  • Anglin, A.E. (2015). Facilitating community change: The Community Capitals Framework, its relevance to community psychology practice, and its application in a Georgia community. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, 6(2), 1-15.

Community Study Part I, Number 1 Due 2/22/2021

Week 7

Mar. 1 -- Mar. 5

Demographic Analysis
  • Frank L. Farmer, Zola K. Moon, and Wayne P. Miller. No Date. Understanding Community Demographics. University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service MP472.
  • Downtown and Business District Market Analysis https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/downtown-market-analysis/understanding-the-market/demographics-and-lifestyle-analysis/
    • Example: Sallisaw, OK Community Analysis
    • Additional Data: Kentucky By the Numbers https://kybtn.ca.uky.edu/ County Profiles

Community Study Part I, Number 2 Due 3/01/2021

Community Study Part I, Number 3 Due 3/05/2021

Week 8

Mar. 8 -- Mar. 12

Employment, Conflict, Cultural Creatives, Gentrification, and Growth Coalitions
  • Logan, John R. And Harvey L. Molotch. 1987. "The City as a Growth Machine." Pp. 50-98 in Urban Fortunes: The Political Economy of Place. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  • Murdoch, James, Carl Grodach, and Nicole Foster. 2016. "The Importance of Neighborhood Context in Arts-Led Development: Community Anchor or Creative Class Magnet?" Journal of Planning Education and Research 36(1):32-48.
  • Sherman, Jennifer. 2018. "‘Not Allowed to Inherit My Kingdom’: Amenity Development and Social Inequality in the Rural West." Rural Sociology 83(1):174-207.
  • Cheshire, Lynda, Robin Fitzgerald, and Yan Liu. 2019. "Neighbourhood Change and Neighbour Complaints: How Gentrification and Densification Influence the Prevalence of Problems Between Neighbours." Urban Studies 56(6):1093-1112.

EXAM 1 Released this Week

Week 9

Mar. 15 -- Mar. 19

Solidarity, Attachment, and Satisfaction and Networks
  • Theodori, Gene L. 2001. "Examining the Effects of Community Satisfaction and Attachment on Individual Well-Being." Rural Sociology 66(4):618–628.
  • Hawdon, James, and John Ryan. 2011. "Social Relations that Generate and Sustain Solidarity after a Mass Tragedy." Social Forces 89(4):1363-1384.
  • Weijs-Perree, Minou, Pauline Van den Berg, Theo Arentze, and Astrid Kemperman. 2017. "Social Networks, Social Satisfaction, and Place Attachment in the Neighborhood." Region 4(3):133–151.
  • Small, Mario Luis. 2017. "Chapter 1: Confidants" Pp. 11–23 in Someone To Talk To: How Networks Matter in Practice. Oxford University Press.

Community Study Part II, Number 4 Due 3/15/2021

Week 10

Mar. 22 -- Mar. 26

Community Action, Interaction, and Activeness
  • Wilkinson, Kenneth P. 1970. "Phases and Roles in Community Action." Rural Sociology 35(1):54-
  • Zekeri, Andrew A. 1994. "Adoption of Economic Development Strategies in Small Towns and Rural Areas: Effects of Past Community Action." Journal of Rural Studies 10(2):185–195.
  • Parisi, Domenico, Michael Taquino, Steven Michael Grice and Duane A. Gill. 2004. "Civic Responsibility and the Environment: Linking Local Conditions to Community Environmental Activeness." Society and Natural Resources 17:97-112.

Community Study Part II, Number 5 Due 3/22/2021

Week 11

Mar. 29 -- Apr. 2

Taking Stock and Looking at Community Study Examples

Community Study Part II, Number 6 Due 3/29/2021

Week 12

Apr. 5 -- Apr. 9

Sources of Cohesion, Support and Solidarity
  • Rotolo, Thomas and John Wilson. 2012. "State-Level Differences in Volunteerism in the United States: Research Based on Demographic, Institutional, and Cultural Macrolevel Theories." Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 41(3):452–473.
  • Berrone, Pascual, Liliana Gelabert, Federica Massa-Saluzzo, and Horacio E. Rousseau. 2016. "Understanding Community Dynamics in the Study of Grand Challenges: How Nonprofits, Institutional Actors, and the Community Fabric Interact to Influence Income Inequality." Academy of Management Journal 59(6):1940-1964.
  • Sharkey, Patrick, Gerard Torrats-Espinosa, and Delaram Takyar. 2017. "Community and the Crime Decline: The Causal Effect of Local Nonprofits on Violent Crime." American Sociological Review 82(6):1214-1240.

Community Ethnography Book Review Due, April 9, at end of day (midnight).

Week 13

Apr. 12 -- Apr. 16

Community, the Color Line, and Inequality

Community Power Structure

  • Sampson, Robert J. 2009. "Racial Stratification and the Durable Tangle of Neighborhood Inequality." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 621(1):260–280.
  • Tach, Laura M. 2014. "Diversity, Inequality, and Microsegregation: Dynamics of Inclusion and Exclusion in a Racially and Economically Diverse Community." Cityscape 16(3):13-46.
  • Parisi, Domenico, Daniel T. Lichter, and Michael C. Taquino. 2011. "Multi-Scale Residential Segregation: Black Exceptionalism and America’s Changing Color Line." Social Forces 89(3):829-852.
  • Hwang, Jackelyn and Robert J. Sampson. 2014. "Divergent Pathways of Gentrification: Racial Inequality and the Social Order of Renewal in Chicago Neighborhoods." American Sociological Review 79(4):726–751.
 
  • Tait, John L., Janet Bokemeier, and Joe M. Bohlen. 1978. Identifying the Community Power Actors: A Guide for Change Agents. North Central Regional Extension Publication 59.
  • Strauss, Anselm. 1993. "Social Worlds and Interaction in Arenas." Pp. 225-243 in Continual Permutations of Action. Aldine de Gruyter.
  • Smith, Douglas Clayton. 1996. Pp. 7-25 in Power and Process in the Siting of Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University.

 

Community Study Part III, Number 7 Due 4/12/2021

Week 14

Apr. 19 -- Apr. 23

Smart Growth and Sprawl
  • Maine State Planning Office. 1997. The Cost of Sprawl. Augusta, ME: Maine State Planning Office.
  • Beatley, Timothy and Kristy Manning. 1997. "Principles of Urban Form." Pp. 40-85 in The Ecology of Place. Washington, DC: Island Press.
  • Trillo, C. 2013. "Urban Sprawl Management, Smart Growth: Challenges from the Implementation Phase." International Journal of Society Systems Science 5(3):261–282.
  • Wei, Yehua Dennis and Reid Ewing. 2018. "Urban Expansion, Sprawl, and Inequality." Landscape and Urban Planning 177:259-265.

 

Community Study Part III, Number 8 Due 4/19/2021

EXAM 2 Released this Week

Final's Week

Apr. 26 -- Apr. 30

Final Exam

 

COURSE NORMS:

RESOURCE INFORMATION:

The Writing Center offers individual conferences about writing with their staff of English majors and graduate students. Their services are available to all Western Kentucky University students. While the offices of the Writing Center are in Cherry Hall 123, the Center are currently offering online consultations for students. The writing tutors have been trained to provide helpful feedback to students at all phases of a writing project: they can help you brainstorm ideas, structure your essay, clarify your purpose, strengthen your support, and edit for clarity and correctness. But they will not revise or edit the paper for you. See instructions on the website (www.wku.edu/writingcenter) or call (270) 745-5719 during their operating hours (also listed on our website) for help scheduling an appointment.    

In compliance with University policy, students with disabilities who require academic and/or auxiliary accommodations for this course must contact the Student Accessibility Resource Center located in Downing Student Union, Room 1074.  The SARC can be reached by phone number at 270-745-5004 [270-745-3030 TTY] or via email at sarc.connect@wku.edu. Please do not request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a faculty notification letter (FNL) from The Student Accessibility Resource Center.

SYLLABUS CHANGE POLICY:

The syllabus for any class is a road map. The readings in the course calendar are places we are scheduled to visit.  Anyone who has taken a preplanned road trip or vacation knows that the trip is not fun unless you stop at the interesting roadside attractions even though they might divert from your original route or time table.  It's the process of getting there that is fun and relaxing and intriguing.  In that light, I reserve the right to alter the standards and requirements set forth in this syllabus at any time. Notice of such changes will be by announcement on Blackboard and/or by email notice.

ADD/DROP DATES:

Last day to add a full semester class: January 26

Last day to drop a full semester class without receiving a grade: January 26.

Last day to receive 25% refund for the Spring semester: February 8.

The 60% point of the Spring semester: March 21.  

Last day to drop a class with a W: March 25

Last day to remove an incomplete from Fall or Winter terms: April 16

Roster freeze date (No late adds or withdrawals for extenuating circumstances will be processed after this date): April 29

HONOR CODE: 

Students are expected to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct. Persons violating the Student Code of Conduct (in particular but not limited to the section on academic conduct) in any assignment or exam in this class will receive a minimum penalty of a grade of zero (0) for the assignment, and may receive an "F" for the course at the instructor’s option.  In particular, no form of academic misconduct will be tolerated (see https://www.wku.edu/studentconduct/process-for-academic-dishonesty.php.) Know your Regulations!