In Search of American Community - Purdue Universityweb.ics.purdue.edu/~hoganr/SOC 531/syllabus_soc531... · Web view1. Introduction and Overview (first ... these lessons in advanced

Sociology 531: Community OrganizationHogan, Fall 2013Office: Stone 307, Office Hours: TTH Noon-1:30 p.m. (or by appointment)phone: 426-4696 (no messages); 49-44668 (leave messages)e-mail: [email protected] ; website: http://ics.purdue.edu/~hoganr

Community Studies

Community studies represent one of the oldest traditions in sociology in the U.S., usually associated with the Chicago School and the Middletown Studies, in the early twentieth century. Here we will begin a little earlier, with what might be considered the original community study, published by DuBois in 1899. From there we will trace the history in lecture/discussion and in selected readings that cover what might be considered the best of the genre.

Required Readings (available for purchase at Vons)

W.E.B. DuBois, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (University Pennsylvania, 1999 [1899]: a classic, which could/should be the new canon).

Robert S. and Helen Merrell Lynd, Middletown: A Study in American Culture (Harcourt Brace, 1929: the canonical community study).

http://icdweb.cc.purdue.edu/~hoganr

mailto:[email protected]

William Foote Whyte, Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum (University of Chicago, 1981 [1943]: the canonical participant observation study).

Aldon Morris, The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black Communities Organizing for Change (Free Press, 1984: a wonderful example of where community studies, social movements, political sociology, and stratification come together again, just as they did in DuBois).

John Walton, Storied Land: Community and Memory in Monterey (University California, 2001: the gold standard for taking the cultural turn without losing history in a fit of postmodern whimsy).

What every Student Needs to Know

This is a small class facing a huge topic. My intention is to avoid formal lectures and try to generate a discussion about community and community studies. You will be asked to read and write on a weekly basis and to come to class every TTH prepared to talk about your reading and writing and the material that we have covered in class. Most probably, I will need to do some lecturing early in the semester to provide background information, but the goal is to get students engaged in attempts to answer the following two questions: (1) What are communities? (2) What are community studies?

We will attempt to answer these questions in class, and the readings are offered as data—each represents a community

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study and a study of a community. There is no text. There is no right or wrong answer—only answers that you can or cannot defend or sustain in writing or in discussion. By the end of the semester you will be expected to answer these questions and will also be expected to consider two additional questions: (1) How are communities created and transformed? (2) How and why are communities important?

Along with the schedule of weekly readings, I offer weekly writing assignments that are intended to get you into the process of thinking about communities and community studies. We will work on developing the thinking and writing skills that will be required to produce an analytical essay (roughly 25 double-spaced pages or somewhere around 6,000 words) that deals with the five books, the class lectures/discussion, and the four questions referenced above.

This paper will require some research, aside from the required readings and class lectures/discussions. Probably, most of you will find it useful to do some research on a community that you are interested in learning more about—you could study the Purdue community or your home town or Oaxaca, Mexico, but that is not necessarily required. Generally, you will find that it is helpful to take advantage of your outside experience, in other classes and outside of class. Most often, students are most successful when they talk about and write about: (1) things that they already know something about (available facts can be used for background and descriptive writing and also to support arguments) and (2) things that they feel strongly about (familiarity might breed contempt, but that is still better than apathy).

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The analytical essay is due on the last day of class. At the same time you will turn in all of the writing that you have done in the course of the semester, at minimum, each of the 14 weekly assignments—the original copy with my comments. These materials will be used to determine your final grade—roughly 50% for the final essay and 50% for the weekly writings, although there will be a substantial fudge factor in grading the 14 essays, which will be used in combination with my judgment on your participation and your progress through the process of developing your analysis and your analytical abilities.

Please come to class having done the reading and writing assignments and prepared to participate in a discussion. There are no points for attendance, and you will be asked to leave if you are texting or surfing the web, reading the Exponent, talking to your neighbor, or otherwise distracting your classmates or me.

Please ask me if you are unable to decide how you are doing on your weekly assignments. Your weekly writing will be returned with comments but not grades. I might add some artwork in case you are struggling with trying to evaluate where you stand:

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Generally, however, you need to get into the game—come to class prepared for lecture or discussion, read, think, write; repeat for 15 weeks.

Schedule of Topics, Reading, and Writing Assignments

1. Introduction and Overview (first week)- what is a community?- what are community studies?- read introduction (pp. ix-xxxvi) by Elijah Anderson and first eight chapters (pp. 1-96) of DuBois

- write a short essay (~250 words typed/printed) on one (only one) of the following

- Describe- Anderson on Dubois- DuBois on Philadelphia- what you know about a different community

(just the facts)- the idea of community or community studies (as described in class or otherwise documented—your opinions are not welcome here)

- Express your feelings/opinions about- DuBois- Philadelphia- a different community- the idea of community or community studies (your opinions are welcome here)

2. Introduction and Overview (second week)- what is a community?

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- what are community studies?- read next four chapters (pp. 97-234) of DuBois - write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following. Choose one that you did not write on in week one. Use comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.

- Describe- Hogan on Dubois- Anderson on DuBois- DuBois on Philadelphia- what you know about a different community


- Express your feelings/opinions about- Hogan- DuBois- Philadelphia- a different community- the idea of community or community studies (your opinions are welcome here)

3. Introduction and Overview (third week)- what is a community?- what are community studies?- read the rest (pp. 234-397) of DuBois (be sure to scan the appendices—lots of god stuff, pp.400-509)

- write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following.

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Choose one that you did not write on in weeks one and two. Use comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.

- Describe- Hogan on DuBois- Anderson on Dubois- DuBois on Philadelphia- what you know about a different community


- Express your feelings/opinions about- Hogan- DuBois- Philadelphia- a different community- the idea of community or community studies (your opinions are welcome here)

4. Introduction and Overview (fourth week)- what is a community?- what are community studies?- read foreward, preface and first ten chapters (pp. v-152)

of Middletown- write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following. Use comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.

- Describe- Hogan and/critics on Lynds

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- Lynds on Middletown- what you know about a different community


- Express your feelings/opinions about- Lynds- Middletown- a different community- the idea of community or community studies (your opinions are welcome here)

5. Introduction and Overview (fifth week)- what is a community?- what are community studies?- read chapters 12-19 (pp. 153-314) of Middletown- write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following. Use comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.

- Describe- Hogan/other critics on Lynds- Lynds on Middletown- what you know about a different community

(just the facts)- the idea of community or community studies (as expressed in class or otherwise documented—your opinions are not welcome here)

- Express your feelings/opinions about- Lynds

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- Middletown- a different community- the idea of community or community studies (your opinions are welcome here)

- Explore- Hogan/DuBois/Lynds as you might imagine

them analyzing- each other- each other's communities- some other community- the idea of community or community

studies

6. Introduction and Overview (sixth week)- what is a community?- what are community studies?- read chapters 20-29 (pp. 315-502) of Middletown (be sure to scan appendix and tables, pp. 505-534)

- write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following. Use comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.

- Describe- Hogan/other critics on Lynds- Lynds on Middletown- what you know about a different community


- Express your feelings/opinions about

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- Lynds- Middletown- a different community- the idea of community or community studies (your opinions are welcome here)

- Explore- Hogan/DuBois/Lynds as you might imagine them analyzing

- each other- each other's communities- some other community- the idea of community or community

studies

7. Stepping out of the Mold (seventh week)- what is a community?- is Cornerville a community?- what are community studies?- is participant observation a reasonable methodology?- how are communities created?- how do communities change?- read preface, intro, Part I of Street Corner Society (pp. vii-108)


- Describe- Hogan/other critics on Whyte- Whyte on Cornerville

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- what you know about a different community (just the facts)

- the idea of community or community studies (as described in class or otherwise documented—your opinions are not welcome here)

- Express your feelings/opinions about- Whyte- Cornerville- a different community- the idea of community or community studies (your opinions are welcome here)

- Explore- Hogan/DuBois/Lynds/Whyte as you might

imagine them analyzing- each other- each other's communities- some other community- the idea of community or community

studies

8. Stepping out of the Mold (eighth week)- what is a community?- is Cornerville a community?- what are community studies?- is participant observation a reasonable methodology?- how are communities created?- how do communities change?- read Part II. of Street Corner Society (pp. 111-252) - write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following. Use

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comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.

- Describe- Hogan/other critics on Whyte- Whyte on Cornerville- what you know about a different community




imagine them analyzing- each other- each other's communities- some other community- the idea of community or community

studies

9. Stepping out of the Mold (ninth week)- what is a community?- is Cornerville a community?- what are community studies?- is participant observation a reasonable methodology?- how are communities created?

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- how do communities change?- read Part III. And appendices of Street Corner Society (pp. 255-380)


- Describe- Hogan/other critics on Whyte- Whyte on Cornerville


- the idea of community or community studies (as expressed in class or otherwise documented—your opinions are not welcome here)



imagine them analyzing- each other- each other's communities- some other community- the idea of community or community studies

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10. Communities, Organizations, and Power (tenth week)- what is a community?- is the NAACP a community?- what are community studies?- Is Morris (1984) a community study?- how are communities created?- how do communities change?- why does it matter?- read preface, introduction, chapters 1-4 (pp. v-99)- write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following. Use comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.

- Describe- Hogan/other critics on Morris- Morris on Southern black communities- what you know about a different community


- Express your feelings/opinions about- Morris- Southern black communities- a different community- the idea of community or community studies (your opinions are welcome here)

- Explore- Hogan/DuBois/Lynds/Whyte/Morris as you might imagine them analyzing

- each other

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- each other's communities- some other community- the idea of community or community

studies-Analyze

- a community- a community study- communities- community studies

11. Communities, Organizations, and Power (eleventh week)- what is a community?- is the NAACP a community?- what are community studies?- Is Morris (1984) a community study?- how are communities created?- how do communities change?- why does it matter?- read chapters 5-9 (pp. 100-228)- write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following. Use comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.



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studies-Analyze


12. Communities, Organizations, and Power (twelfth week)- what is a community?- is the NAACP a community?- what are community studies?- Is Morris (1984) a community study?- how are communities created?- how do communities change?- why does it matter?- read chapters 10-11, notes and appendices (pp.229-338)- write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following. Use

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comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.






studies-Analyze


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13. Community studies and local history (thirteenth week)- what is a community?- is a Spanish Mission community?- what are community studies?- what is local history?- how are communities created?- how do communities change?- why does it matter?- read preface, chapters 1-3 (pp. xiii-106)- write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following. Use comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.

- Describe- Hogan/other critics on Walton- Walton on early Monterey- what you know about a different community

(just the facts)- the idea of community or community studies or local history (as described in class or otherwise documented—your opinions are not welcome here)

- Express your feelings/opinions about- Walton- Monterey/Spanish Alto

California//Revolutionary California- a different community- the idea of community or community studies or local history(your opinions are welcome here)

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- Explore- Hogan/DuBois/Lynds/Whyte/Morris/Walton as you might imagine them analyzing


studies-Analyze


14. Community studies and local history (fourteenth week)- what is a community?- which community is Monterey?- what are community studies?- what is local history?- how are communities created?- how do communities change?- why does it matter?- read chapters 4-5 (pp. 107-233)- write a short essay (~250 words typed or word processed) that deals with one (and only one) of the following. Use comments on last paper to guide you on selection and preparation of this paper.

- Describe- Hogan/other critics on Walton- Walton on early Monterey

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- the idea of community or community studies or local history (as expressed in class or otherwise documented—your opinions are not welcome here)

- Express your feelings/opinions about- Walton- Monterey/Spanish Alto

California//Revolutionary California- a different community- the idea of community or community studies or local history (your opinions are welcome here)

- Explore- Hogan/DuBois/Lynds/Whyte/Morris/Walton as you might imagine them analyzing


studies-Analyze

- a community- a community study- a local history- communities- community studies- local histories

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15. Community studies and local history and public history (fifteenth week)

- what is a community?- what are community studies?- what is local history?- what is public history?- what is academic history?- which stories should we privilege?- how are communities created?- how do communities change?- why does it matter?- read chapters 6-7 (pp. 234-303)

Final analytical paper due on last day of class

Weekly Writing

Over the course of my teaching career I have come to realize that even graduate students have a hard time writing analytical essays. Furthermore, I have discovered that analytical writing is, in fact, a synthesis of sorts. Students learn in first year English composition classes to write expressive, descriptive, exploratory, and analytical prose, but they have trouble applying these lessons in advanced social science courses. Consequently, we need to progress through the basics on the path to writing analytical essays. This is the essence of our weekly writing assignments. These are not graded, but they are required and will be used both in helping you through the process of reading, thinking, and writing and in grading your efforts in this regard. Some substantial segment of your total

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grade in this course—perhaps 50% will be based on your effort, indicated in your weekly writing and in your class participation, more generally.

Quite apart from learning about communities and community studies, this course is designed to teach you to think and write analytically. In order to do so, it is imperative that you recapitulate the lessons that you have learned in English Composition.

The most fundamental, elementary forms of writing are description (just the facts) and expressive writing (feelings and opinions). The first challenge, which you must meet to pass this course, is to separate fact from opinions and feelings. Once you have mastered this, which is the essence of expressive and descriptive writing you will be prepared to try exploratory writing.

The most difficult form of writing is exploratory—where you adopt the opinions and feelings (or, in this class, the theoretical or methodological approach) of someone else and attempt to apply these in a decidedly unnatural or artificial form of writing. The value of the exploratory is heuristic. It teaches the writer how to use different styles (in this course: different theories, methods, or general approaches to community studies). For our purposes, your exploratory writing will be your attempt to apply what you learn from readings and in class to the four sociological questions that are the focus of this course, or, perhaps, to a sociological topic of your choice that you can introduce in class and develop as an appropriate topic. Before you are ready to do so, however, you must write expressive and

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descriptive essays on the topics and the approaches covered in readings and in class. Then you can apply the different approaches to the topic as your first exploratory essay. For most of you, this first exploratory essay will be your effort to apply DuBois or Hogan to Middletown (or some other community (around week five). This might be followed by your first attempt to write an analytical essay, although many of you will not be ready to do this by week six.

The analytical essay is the ultimate synthesis. You bring back the alienated components of facts and opinions, including other people's opinions and your opinions (which are now informed by the facts developed in description and by the exploratory efforts to explain these facts from a different point of view). The analytical essay should be your answer to the question (or questions) that you have generated in the course of writing on this topic. Ideally, before writing your analysis you already will have explored the views of the leading experts in the field (in this case, the major community studies scholars) and will have compared and contrasted these (as they were more or less successful in answering your question(s) and as they relate to your developing approach). Thus your final analytical paper should build on your efforts to apply all of what you have learned in reading, thinking, and writing and in class lectures and discussions, together with whatever additional research you bring to bear. This final paper is expected to be the best evidence of your progress toward analytical thinking and writing.

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Rules, etc.

As necessary, we will discuss the academic rules and the classroom rules involving turn-taking, mutual respect, courtesy, etc. My impression (based on the past twenty five years of teaching undergraduate and graduate students here at Purdue) is that you all know how to read, write, and talk within a classroom setting and have some sense of academic standards and practices. We will discuss these more, in theory and practice, later on. For now, only one issue deserves special attention.

Plagiarism: Presenting as your own ideas or words that you have borrowed from someone else is plagiarism. Plagiarism is the most serious of academic sins. Plagiarism is grounds for failure in the course and disciplinary measures that might include expulsion from the university.

The typical case of plagiarism is when a student is attempting to describe something in the assigned readings. If you are writing and your book is open then you should include a reference to that page (Dubois, p. 98). In fact, if you are looking for the answer in the text then you probably are not yet ready to write. Trying to rephrase the writing of a professional is much too hard. Invariably you wind up borrowing. It is easier to simply quote the text, but you don’t want your essay to be a string of quotes. The key is to read first, then think, then write. Repeat as necessary.

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Parting Comments

This course is still a work in progress. The recommended readings and the course website are still incomplete (as I write these words). I have written no lectures, but I have lots of stuff that I have used in other classes, including material on all of the required readings (all of which I have taught before) and material on types of writing (which I have taught before). I also books and other materials bequeathed from Professor Harry Potter, who taught this course here at Purdue until he retired.

The extent to which this course is more discussion or more lecture and the extent to which you work individually or in groups is subject to negotiation. You will not be required to write group essays, but we may use small groups as a way of facilitating discussion of your weekly writings (I have done that in other classes) or as a way of generating material for class discussion (I have done that before too). We will see how things develop. Lecturing is, of course, the easiest thing for me to do, but I hope that we will come to approximate something closer to a graduate seminar—with more discussion and less lecture. What this course becomes will depend upon what we (you and I) are willing to invest in it. After more than thirty years of university teaching, mostly here at Purdue) I am cautiously optimistic.

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Documents

In Search of American Community - Purdue Universityweb.ics.purdue.edu/~hoganr/SOC 531/syllabus_soc531... · Web view1. Introduction and Overview (first ... these lessons in advanced