COURSE DESCRIPTION:

    Social change is a story of hope, achievement, and sometimes despair, depending on your perspective and context. In this course we examine social change in modern societies. We will ask, what do sociologists mean by social change? Are we losing, gaining, staying the same or oscillating?  What causes social change? How do large-scale changes affect us individually? and Who controls such change and to what extent? The very idea of social change applies to all spheres of social life from the family to the global economic system.  In this seminar we will focus, in particular, on how technology, social movements, war, corporations, and states relates to change in these areas. 

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

By the end of the course you will be able to:

Students are expected to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct published in the Western Kentucky Undergraduate Catalogue, p. 327-331. 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 cheating or plagiarism will be tolerated (see page 339 for details; if you wish further clarification consult the course website or the instructor.) Know your Regulations!

Class guidelines:

I am operating under the assumption that we are all adults here, and we should treat each other as adults. As adults we will not tolerate disrespectful behavior. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO SWITCH OFF YOUR CELL PHONES! 

Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services, Garrett Conference Center, Room 101.  The Office for Student Disability Services telephone number is (270) 745-5004 V/TDD.  You should discuss any accommodation you need with them and they will give you a form listing the approved accommodations to give to me to sign. This process should be completed by the end of the second week of class.

Please DO NOT request accommodations directly from me (Dr. Smith) without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services.

REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS:

Massey, Garth. 2012. Ways of Social Change: Making Sense of Modern Times. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

In addition, supplementary readings will be provided to you.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

I. Attendance (10% of final grade):

Attendance is required and will be checked at the beginning of every class period (with the exception of exam review days). For more on the WKU Attendance Policy see p. 29 in the WKU Undergraduate Catalog.

II. Readings and QIPs (20% of final grade):

The reading will come from the books, along with any supplementary articles I post to our Blackboard site. I expect you to come to class with the reading completed. To promote in-class discussion and encourage you to keep up with the readings, you will turn in a Question, an Interest, or a Problem (QIP) that the readings raised for you. QIPs should achieve two goals: 1) direct the class's attention toward and promote discussion of the reading's main point(s); 2) connect the reading to the main points of the prior readings. These QIPs will be graded 2 points/no points based on whether or not they achieve the two goals stated above. QIPs must be sent to me via email (Douglas.Smith@wku.edu) by 10:00pm the night before class. Please make sure the subject line of the email includes QIP.

III.  Exams (45% of final grade):

There will be three exams (15% of grade each).  Each exam will cover a third of the course.  

IV.  Term Paper (25% of the final grade):

A term paper is required of each student.  Explore an area of interest to you within social change. I strongly urge you to begin thinking about this paper and begin work on it as soon as possible.  The term paper topic must be approved.  Approval is secured after submission of an outline which:  (1) identifies an issue or problem to be studied; (2) describes your method of analysis (e.g., library literature review, interviews, consultations, computer data analysis); (3) lists some source material--in other words you must do some preliminary research for the outline; (4) states clear and concise study objectives.  

SCHEDULE FOR FINAL RESEARCH PAPER:

There will be 4 course assignments related to your final paper:

1. Research proposal statement (1 page), due  on February 15 (10 points)

2. Meeting with Professor Smith by April 3rd (20 points)

3. First Draft of final paper (8-10 pages), due on April 22nd (30 points).

4. Final Draft of analytical paper (13-17 pages), due on May 3rd (40 points).

The Final Draft is also due in lecture.

Sections of the Paper.  The final paper should include:  (1) title page with your name and reference to this course; (2) an introduction which states the problem, the objectives and importance; (3) a statement of the method of analysis; (4) a brief evaluation of the data and information used; (5) the findings with regard to the problem and its solution; (6) conclusions and/or policy recommendations; and (7) a bibliography and list of persons contacted with dates and places.  

Clarity of Communication.  Pay attention to organization, paragraph and sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and neatness as well as other factors that make for clear and effective communication.  

Factual content and accuracy.  Use facts to illustrate your points.  Use ideas and statements from course texts as well as scientific journals, monographs, or books.  Provide in-text citations and a bibliography at the end of the paper to indicate the source of facts and statements used.  Please use the reference and citation style as required by the journal, Rural Sociology (I will make copies of these pages for those who need them.).  

Conciseness.  Write carefully and as briefly as possible.  The purpose of this is to develop patterns of communication that are designed to compete for reader attention, yet provide detailed information that excites interest.  Use figures, graphs, tables, and/or illustrations to summarize facts that would take too many words to express or that supplement points made.

Synthesis and integration.  Synthesize and integrate facts and concepts.  All written assignments require analysis and synthesis.  Course concepts or knowledge should be incorporated.  

On average, I am looking for papers of about 15 pages in length (double spaced with ample margins and not including tables and references), though good papers can range from 10 to 25 pages.  Papers should not exceed 25 pages. 

Writing assistance is available at the WKU Writing Center:  http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Academic/AHSS/English/wccenter/wcpage.html