Advanced Sociological & Research Methods
In this course we will study what sociology is & what it isn't, focusing specifically on the different methodological techniques sociologists have developed over the years as a way to create, defend & sustain their discipline. We will start by reading selections from four different kinds of canonical sociological theory, ethnography, survey research & experiments paying close attention to the ways these specific genres of sociology become linked to certain subject matters, as well as the methodological techniques associated with each genre. Students will follow-up these readings by writing a Draft Proposal for a Sociological Study of their own. We will then carefully study the similarities & differences between sociology and other forms of social scientific & realist writing, including theology, anthropology, history, political science, geography, documentary studies & finally digital storytelling (i.e., audio, visual and photographic stories). Students will then create from start to finish a digital (audio, visual, photographic) story of their own based on a topic I assign to the entire class. This will allow them to further explore, develop and critique core methodological techniques such as conceptualizing, documenting, observing and archiving. Many of the readings used in this course (including but not limited to selections from Durkheim's Suicide, White's Street Corner Society & Kinsey's sexuality surveys) will be distributed via email, however, students will be required to obtain a copy of Robert Coles' Doing Documentary Work, any edition, Zora Neale Hurston's Every Tongue's Got To Confess and Denis Wood's Everything Sings.
Audio Ethnography
In this course students will learn how sounds ranging from everyday conversations to oral histories to song lyrics can be used to understand the social dynamics of community, the relationship between individuals and communities, institutional power and social injustice. They will start by reviewing how sociologists working both inside the academic discipline of sociology and out have used sounds to create analyses about the social world. This will include a thorough review of the ethnographic work and methodological strategies of Clifford Shaw (criminology), Zora Neale Hurston (folklore), David Boder (anthropology), Harold Garfinkel (ethnomethodology), Glenn Gould (public radio), Mitchell Duneier (ethnography) and Ira Glass (public radio), as well as an exploration of how this work compares to other forms of documentary work, such as visual sociology, documentary photography and photojournalism and documentary filmmaking. Following this literature review, they will then explore how different audio ethnographies have been used to both document the social world, as well represent it. This will include an exploration of the ways academic sociologists, as well as other social scientists and historians, have used audio as a form of evidence in their work, as well as a their final form of analysis. During this portion of the course, students will have the chance to actually record and produce a short, ethnographic audio clip from start to finish. These clips may be about any topic of the student's choosing, except for one requirement: They must be set in and around the town where the course is taught.
Turning Life Into Fiction, The Methods of Sociological Research
This course is all about the way sociology (and other social scientific analyses) get made & made-up, that is, how sociology is researched, written & defended. We start by examining philosophical ideas about truth, fiction & reality using recent news, tabloid and pop cultural stories. We then shift into the history of sociology and when and why different kinds or genres of sociology were first made, namely sociological theory, ethnography, survey research, & experiments. Finally, we put into practice four different methodological techniques, observation, questioning, measuring & testing, as well as consider the ethical, social & rhetorical power of these techniques.
Courses currently under revision or in development
Writing Ethnography & Biography
In this course students will learn how sounds ranging from everyday conversations to oral histories to song lyrics can be used to understand the social dynamics of community, the relationship between individuals and communities, institutional power and social injustice. They will start by reviewing how sociologists working both inside the academic discipline of sociology and out have used sounds to create analyses about the social world. This will include a thorough review of the ethnographic work and methodological strategies of Clifford Shaw (criminology), Zora Neale Hurston (folklore), David Boder (anthropology), Harold Garfinkel (ethnomethodology), Glenn Gould (public radio), Mitchell Duneier (ethnography) and Ira Glass (public radio), as well as an exploration of how this work compares to other forms of documentary work, such as visual sociology, documentary photography and photojournalism and documentary filmmaking. Following this literature review, they will then explore how different audio ethnographies have been used to both document the social world, as well represent it. This will include an exploration of the ways academic sociologists, as well as other social scientists and historians, have used audio as a form of evidence in their work, as well as a their final form of analysis. During this portion of the course, students will have the chance to actually record and produce a short, ethnographic audio clip from start to finish. These clips may be about any topic of the student's choosing, except for one requirement: They must be set in and around the town where the course is taught.
Turning Life Into Fiction, The Methods of Sociological Research
This course is all about the way sociology (and other social scientific analyses) get made & made-up, that is, how sociology is researched, written & defended. We start by examining philosophical ideas about truth, fiction & reality using recent news, tabloid and pop cultural stories. We then shift into the history of sociology and when and why different kinds or genres of sociology were first made, namely sociological theory, ethnography, survey research, & experiments. Finally, we put into practice four different methodological techniques, observation, questioning, measuring & testing, as well as consider the ethical, social & rhetorical power of these techniques.
Courses currently under revision or in development