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SOCIAL
INTERACTION AND COMMUNITY Syllabus
FALL 2009 In this section, we discuss the nature of symbolic interaction, its core concepts and the pragmatic philosophy of George Herbert Mead. We focus on the social character of the self, the process by which it is acquired, maintained and reconstructed. We then turn to a discussion of how selves socially produce and manage reality. WEEK 1 Tuesday, September 15, 2009 INTRODUCTION TO SYMBOLIC INTERACTION We will introduce the basic ideas of symbolic interaction as theory and methodology. In particular, we will examine the theoretical ideas of George Herbert Mead, Charles Cooley, W. I. Thomas, Georg Simmel, Anselm Strauss and Howard Becker. Required Readings:
WEEK 2 Tuesday, September 22, 2009 MULTIPLE SITUATIONS AND MULTIPLE SELVES How are identities constructed? To what extent do gender, race, class, ability and sexuality shape these identities? Required Readings:
WEEK 3 Tuesday, September 29, 2009 THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY “If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (WI Thomas and Dorothy Thomas, The Child in America). How, and in what ways, is reality socially constructed? Are there limits to how reality might be constructed? Are all realities equally probable? Is any definition of a situation likely to emerge or are some definitions more likely to emerge than others? Required Readings:
WEEK 4 Tuesday, October 6, 2009 IN-CLASS TEST (15%) WEEK 5 Tuesday, October 13, 2009 FALL READING WEEK PART TWO: SOCIAL IDENTITIES: PRODUCTION, MANAGEMENT AND CHANGE In this section, we focus on the ways identities are altered, constructed as “different” and regulated. We consider how individuals produce and reproduce social order and social structures, the ways in which social structures shape and constrain individual behaviour, and how some individuals and groups have definitions of situations which prevail over those of others. WEEK 6 Tuesday, October 20, 2009 IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT: ERVING GOFFMAN Individuals try to present themselves in a favourable light through a process of impression management. What are the identities we work to create and manage in public presentations? Embodiment, for example, can be seen as a type of impression management. Examples of beauty, eating problems and other presentations of selves are seen as ways to produce and manage public perceptions. Embodiment, for example, can be seen as a type of impression management. Examples of beauty, eating problems and other presentations of selves are seen as ways to produce and manage public perceptions. Drawing on the work of Erving Goffman, we take up the concept of impression management and its social implications. Required Readings:
WEEK 7 Tuesday, October 27, 2009 SOCIAL IDENTITIES AND GENDERED EMBODIMENT What is the relationship between bodies and identities? How we adorn, maintain and present our bodies is one way we construct social identities. Ageing, for example, involves a complicated regime of disciplining the body to conform to cultural standards of “appropriate” ageing. Gender identities, for example, are closely tied to cultural norms of bodily appearance. In this lecture, we examine the close association between bodily maintenance and social identities.
See: Mickey Mouse Monopoly WEEK 8 Tuesday, November 3, 2009 SOCIAL IDENTITIES AND RACIALIZED EMBODIMENT Required Readings:
See: Tough Guise (first hour) WEEK 9 Tuesday, November 10, 2009 IN-CLASS TEST (15%) PART THREE: CREATING AND MONITORING SOCIAL ORDER In this section, we consider the ways in which identities and self-concepts arise through interaction, through socialization, through participation with others in groups, through adherence to prevailing norms and roles, and through the use of language and symbols. WEEK 10 Tuesday, November 17, 2009 SOCIAL IDENTITIES AND DISCOURSE How are social selves produced and reproduced through language. Conversation is seen as an intricately coordinated dance between two or more people, a dance that is also gendered, raced and classed. How does language shape social interaction rituals? What happens when gender, power, socialization and identity shape interpersonal relations? Required Readings:
WEEK 11 Tuesday, November 24, 2009 IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION: PRODUCING AND MANAGING IDENTITIES Individuals try to present themselves in a favourable light through a process of impression management. What are the identities we work to create and manage in public presentations? Required Readings:
See: Wit WEEK 12 Tuesday, December 1, 2009 CHANGING IDENTITIES AND EXITING ROLES How do individuals change their identities and exit roles? What accounts for behavioural change? How do we identify social change? We explore some of these ideas by examining the concepts of identity conversions, situational adjustment, commitment and critical turning points. Required Readings:
See: Leaving the fold In its Canadian debut, Leaving the Fold tells the story of five young people born and raised within an ultra-Orthodox Jewish world who no longer wish to remain on the inside. As young adults, they pay a steep price for abandoning their parents and community to seek the freedom to make their own choices. From the Hasidic enclaves of Montreal, Brooklyn and Jerusalem, the filmmakers unveil stories of conflict, coercion and struggle. WEEK 13 Tuesday, December 8, 2009 IN-CLASS TEST (15%) HAVE A GREAT BREAK AND COME BACK RESTED! |
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