Sociology 561

Spring 2015
MW 5:05pm —  6:25pm
GH 143

"Interactionism insists on being a humble theory, not claiming too much and not dealing with major abstractions and false dualisms. Indeed the real task of an interactionist is simply to look at social life as people ‘do things together.’; its core interests lie in the doing of ethnographies and in the intimate familiarity with ongoing social… worlds. It is a hands-on ‘down-to-earth’ empirical approach… In general, the tradition is one steeped in the exploration and inspection of data." — Ken Plummer (2003)

"The symbolic interactionist point of view requires you to take into account more things than almost any other perspective. At least, it disposes you to do your research in such a way that if anything is obviously (or not so obviously) affecting the phenomenon you want to understand, you’ll be free to take advantage of finding that out. This distinguishes it from other kinds of research which, for either theoretical or technical reasons, limit your view of what’s relevant so that you just don’t see those other factors which might be important." — Howard S. Becker (1970)

"Few other social science approaches have made so deep and explicit a commitment to complex questions. Interactionists should not stop asking those questions. Quite the contrary, to remove that complexity—to simplify interactionism—would destroy its essence." — Kevin Mihata (2002)

Course Description

This is a graduate course designed to provide depth and breadth of understanding in the sociological perspective known as symbolic interactionism. Students will read original analyses concerning the philosophical foundations of the perspective, research methods and theory construction, application to various substantive domains, and variations in theoretical expression and combinations with related perspectives. Upon completion of this course, the competent student will increase their knowledge about the symbolic interactionist perspective and its substantive contributions; improve their skills of reading, analyzing, and evaluating sociological research; and stimulate their thinking about their own research.

Course Requirements

The fundamental requirements are as follows: 

1. Read and acquire a basic understanding of all assigned materials for each class, 
2. be prepared each class to discuss those materials and explore ideas contained in them, 
3. prepare discussion issues/questions for each section of readings and turn them in at the end of the class in which we cover the section.  These should not be less than one and not more than three typed pages in length. The goal of these assignments is to provide an incentive for students to read and critically thinkn about the material. They will be graded on the following scale: 2 = good, solid coverage and analysis of readings; 1 = minimal, superficial coverage and analysis, 0 = did not turn them in. Lastly, 
4. Write six short readings-focused papers, 5-8 pages long, typed, double-spaced. In them, students will focus on the question, "What do I know and understand now that I didn't know, or misunderstood, before these readings?" This strategy makes students do what good scholars must always do; constantly explore the boundaries of ignorance and knowledge.  The first of these papers must be handed in on Monday, February 16; the second on Wednesday, March 4; the third on March 25; the fourth on April 8; the fifth on April 22; and the sixth on May 6.

Grades will be determined based on performance in these areas.

Course Outline

The literature surrounding symbolic interaction is vast. There is no way we can cover it all in just a semester. So, below is my attempt to organize a tour of this area. In selecting the readings, I have attempted to give you examples of excellent interactionist research on many interesting topics. I also have attempted to introduce you to different groups of interactionists. The purpose is to give you a conceptual scheme around which to organize your own continuing reading and interpretation fo the literature.