Faculty Syllabus

SOCI-1306 Contemporary Social Problems


Samuel Echevarria-Cruz


Credit Summer 2024


Section(s)

SOCI-1306-701 (99166)
LEC TuTh 1:30pm - 3:30pm DIL DLS DIL

Course Requirements

 

COURSE GRADING SCHEDULE

·       45% Discussion Boards

·       15% Exam #1

·       15% Exam #2

·       15% Exam #3

·       10% Packback

 


Readings

 

REQUIRED TEXTS: Social Problems (4rd edition) by Joel Best

Additional readings in Blackboard

 


Course Subjects

 

Week

Topic

Tasks

Assessments

Due Dates

1

Orientation

Read & Review: Syllabus, Discussion Board (DB)

Packback (PB)

Intro DB/PB

8/29

2

The Social Problems Process

Chapter 1

DB/PB

9/5

3

Claims

Chapter 2

DB/PB

9/12

4

Activists as Claimsmakers

Chapter 3

DB/PB

9/19

5

Experts as Claimsmakers

Chapter 4

DB/PB 

9/26

6

Exam Week

Exam Review

Exam #1

10/3

7

The Media & Claims

Chapter 5

DB/PB

10/10

8

Public Reaction

Chapter 6

DB/PB

10/17

9

Policymaking

Chapter 7

DB/PB

10/24

10

Social Problems Work

Chapter 8

DB/PB

10/31

11

Exam Week

Exam Review

Exam #2

11/7

12

Policy Outcomes

Chapter 9

DB/PB 

11/14

13

Claims across Space and Time

Chapter 10

DB/PB

11/21

14

Thanksgiving Break

None

None

11/28

15

The Constructionist Stance

Chapter 11

DB/PB

12/5

16

Exam Week

Exam Review

Exam #3

12/12

 

 


Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

 

COURSE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Describe how the sociological imagination can be used to explain the emergence and implications of contemporary social problems. 

2. Explain the nature of social problems from at least one sociological perspective, e.g., critical, functional, interpretive, etc. 

3. Identify multidimensional aspects of social problems including the global, political, economic, and cultural dimensions of social problems. 

4. Discuss how “solutions” to social problems are often contentious due to diverse values in society. 

5. Describe how the proposed “solutions” to a social problem, including social policies, may bring rise to other social problems. 

 


Office Hours

M T W Th F 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Zoom

NOTE Please email me to let me know you will be attending my office hours (sechevar@austincc.edu) to receive the Zoom link. Look forward to meeting with you!

Published: 05/31/2024 10:29:52