Family

Sociology 220 The Family Fall 1996 Valparaiso University Thursday 6:30-9:15 Heidbrink 123 Scott A. Lukas M.A., Ph.D. (ABD) Full-Time Instructor Office: 216 Huegli 464-5307 (Office) slukas@exodus.valpo.edu Office Hours: M/W: 2:30-4:00, T: 9:00-10:00 Course Description and Objectives This course will offer an introduction to the theoretical study of the family and its major substantive components including marriage, divorce, dating and relationships, religion and ethnicity, domestic crisis, gender and power roles, remarriage, reproductive issues, family planning and nontraditional families. Through a family text, a study guide, an ethnography of nontraditional family forms, films and discussions, the class will focus on the complexities and controversies surrounding the sociological study of marriage and the family. The objectives of The Family are: (1) To understand the various theoretical approaches to the study of the family. (2) To study, discuss and understand the major substantive components of theories of the family and to contextualize them in terms of their affective realms. (3) To appreciate the diversity of family forms, including the understanding of lesbian and gay marriage. (4) To produce an assessment of western family forms and to determine any potential changes the contemporary family will/has undertake(n). (5) To explain and critique the political uses of the family in the rhetoric of American politics and media (“family values”). (6) To produce a preliminary comprehension of the research methods used by social workers and sociologists in the study of families. Texts (1) Intimate Relationships, Marriages, and Families, Third Edition, F. Philip Rice, 1996, Mountain View: Mayfield. Available as a shrink-wrap package with study guide. Price: $41.95 (2) Families We Choose: Lesbians, Gays, Kinship, Kath Weston, 1991, New York: Columbia University Press. Price: $15.50 (new), $11.65 (used) (3) There are four additional articles we will read beginning November 14th which are available on reserve at Moellering Library. I have placed four copies of each article on reserve (2 for library use only and 2 for library/overnight use). Course Requirements and Grading There are a total of 250 points in this course. Your course grade will be calculated on the basis of the following assignments: •Two course examinations consisting of multiple-choice, matching and essay questions taken from the course readings, films and lectures (60 points each). •Three position papers (worth 20, 30 and 20 points respectively). •Ten Personal Involvement Assessment (PIA) handouts which are found in the Rice Study Guide (3 points each, for 30 points total). •Attendance and participation (30 points). 1 Your final course grade will be judged with the following scale: 250-225.............A 224-200.............B 199-175.............C 174-150.............D 149 and below..F Position Papers Position Papers will involve topics appropriate to the course readings and discussions. I will provide more detailed information on these three assignments later, but here is a brief description of each. POSITION PAPER #1 (4-5 pages) will focus on the cultural construction of gender and you will be asked to write on issues of masculinity and femininity as perceived and produced in popular media. POSITION PAPER #2 (5-7 pages) involves the Weston text Families We Choose and here you will write on the differences and similarities between “traditional” and “nontraditional” families. POSITION PAPER #3 (2-3 pages) is designed to have us think about the ways in which one might academically and professionally study families, as social workers, sociologists, etc. You will be required to write a short research proposal on how you would intend to study a specific aspect of family and/or marriage issues. Attendance and Participation In this course attendance is mandatory. Since we only meet once per week, it will be impossible to do well without attending the lectures. Additionally, everyone is expected to participate in discussions and various groups activities which will greatly supplement the reading materials on families. This is the sort of course in which personal experience can help to explain and understand the many theories and contexts into which we will delve. Participation may also raise your grade a half letter. I will not give incompletes in this course except in cases of family and/or medical emergencies. Films We will view a number of films throughout the semester. Please make sure that you are in class to watch them. They will not be available for outside of class viewing. Honor Code Please review and understand the Honor Code of Valparaiso University in the Academic Guide and Student Handbook. By enrolling in this course you agree to abide by and uphold the honor code. All of your written assignments should be turned in with the code (“I have neither given or received, nor have I tolerated others’ use of unauthorized aid”) written in full along with your signature. Unauthorized aid is defined in this course as one or more of the following: plagiarism in any written form, allowing another person to complete assignments for you, completing another person’s assignment, dishonesty and/or cheating on an examination, multiple submission of the same written work in different courses. All violations of the Valparaiso University Honor Code will be pursued in strict accordance with our university policy. 2 Thursday August 29 Introduction: Syllabus, Course Objectives Lecture: The Family, Introductory Issues Activity/Discussion: What is a Family? Rice Chapters 1 and Appendix Thursday September 5 Family Backgrounds, Dating and Being Single Rice Chapters 3, 4, 5 Film: Date Rape PIA (p. 7) DUE Thursday September 12 Issues in Families and Ethnicity; Love & Gender Rice Chapters 2, 6, 7 Film: Family Feud (42 min) PIA (p. 17) DUE PIA (p. 69) DUE Thursday September 19 Marriage Issues Rice Chapters 8 (Skim), 9, 10, 11 PIA (p. 91) DUE PIA (p. 101) DUE POSITION PAPER #1 DUE Thursday September 26 Inside the Family: Power, Communication, Decisions Rice Chapters 12, 13, 14 Film: Two for the Money (11 min) PIA (p. 125) DUE Thursday October 3 FIRST EXAMINATION Thursday October 10 Ethnographic Study: Families We Choose Weston Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 PIA (p. 147) DUE Thursday October 17 NO CLASS: FALL BREAK Thursday October 24 Ethnographic Study: Families We Choose Weston Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8 Thursday October 31 Family Planning, Reproductive Technologies & Children Activity: Abortion Debate/Discussion Rice Chapters 15, 16, 17 3 Thursday November 7 Extended Families; Families in Crisis & Domestic Violence Rice Chapters 18, 19 Film: Domestic Violence: Faces of Fear (56 min) PIA (p. 187) DUE PIA (p. 197) DUE Thursday November 14 Remarriage and Serial Monogamy; Non-Western Marriage and Families Rice Chapters 20, 21 [Also read Robert Lowie’s “The Family” and his “Marriage” available on reserve at Moellering Library] Film: Strange Relations (60 min) POSITION PAPER #2 DUE PIA (p. 207) DUE Thursday November 21 Applying the Family: Research Methods Guest Lecture: Lorri Petties, Dept. of Social Work, Valparaiso University Thursday November 28 NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING BREAK Thursday December 5 Critiquing the Family Film: TBA Activity: What are “Family Values”? [Read Judith Stacey’s “Backward toward the Postmodern Family” available on reserve] Thursday December 12 Research Methods and the Study of Families [Read Kerry Daly’s “Using Qualitative Methods to Study Families” available on reserve] Activity: Discussion of Position Papers POSITION PAPER #3 DUE SECOND EXAM is scheduled for Tuesday, December 17 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. 4