Introduction
The purpose of this assignment is to help the class better understand the course materials. Your group primarily is reponsible for presenting the assigned materials listed below. You are welcome to introduce additional materials from other sources to improve your presentation.
Please feel free to rely upon easily available resources to develop your group presentation. Two web-based resources that you might find helpful are:
Your presentation should be concise and well-organized. You will be allowed 45 minutes to present. You are encouraged to provide your classmates with a brief written summary of your presentation. Dr. Sapp will grade your presentation based upon its content, clarity of presentation, and organization. Each presentation is worth 50 points.
Typically, all members of the group will receive the same grade for a presentation. After completing the presentation, each member of the group will assign a letter grade to other members of their group to be submitted to Dr. Sapp. This letter grade should reflect the total contribution of each of the other members of the group to the presentation. Dr. Sapp might modify an individual's grade for the presentation based upon the evaluations provided by fellow group members.
Presentation
The group presentation should answer these questions about the assigned materials:
- What are the key concepts and ideas expressed by the theorists you are assigned to present?
- How do these concepts and ideas help us understand society?
Assignments
Shown below are the dates and topics of the group presentations and the group responsible for the presentation.
February 14: Auguste Comte
February 19: Herbert Spencer
February 21: Emile Durkheim
February 26: Max Weber
Group 4
Classical Social Theory, Chapter 7: Max Weber.
March 4: Functionalism
Group 5
Classical Social Theory, Chapter 12: Talcott Parsons.
Contemporary Social Theory, Chapter 3: Functionalism.
Parsons and Functionalism
March 6: Karl Marx
Group 6
Classical Social Theory, Chapter 4: Karl Marx.
March 11: Conflict Theory
March 13: Symbolic Interactionism
Group 8
Symbolic Interactionism (PowerPoint).
Classical Social Theory, Chapter 8: Charles Cooley.
Classical Social Theory, Chapter 9: George Herbert Mead.
Contemporary Social Theory, Chapter 5: Symbolic Interactionism (Blumer).
March 25: Social Constructionism
March 27: Rational Choice
April 8: Ethnomethodology
April 10: Phenomenology
April 15: Feminist Theory
April 17: Critical Theory
April 22: Modernism and Postmodernism
April 24: Special Section on Women
