Introduction to Contemporary Social Problems

Course Number: SOCY 105

Term: Fall 2021

Professor: Philip N. Cohen

Course Description

This course adapts a common Social Problems framework to focus on the coronavirus pandemic and related social problems. Students will become familiar with the empirical patterns and trends, political and cultural debates, and policy issues concerning the pandemic in relation to a variety of issues. To succeed, students will attend class and/or online sessions, complete quizzes, take midterm and final exams, and submit three short papers and an issue paper.

Communication with Peers

With a diversity of perspectives and experience, we may find ourselves in disagreement with one another. We agree to conduct ourselves in a collegial manner and that to work together to foster and preserve a virtual classroom environment in which we can respectfully discuss and deliberate controversial questions.

I encourage you to confidently exercise your right to free speech—bearing in mind that you may be expected to defend arguments that support your position. Free speech has its limit and this course is not the space for hate speech, harassment, and derogatory language. I will make every reasonable attempt to create an atmosphere in which each student feels comfortable voicing their argument without fear of being personally attacked, mocked, demeaned, or devalued.

Any behavior (including harassment, sexual harassment, and racially or culturally derogatory language) that threatens this atmosphere will not be tolerated. Please alert me immediately at any point during our semester together if your engagement in discussion has been in some way hindered by the learning environment.

Difficult subjects in hard times

This is a hard time for a lot of people. And the content of this course will include current topics that are difficult for some people to confront or discuss. As the professor, I cannot anticipate what those topics are, or who will be affected, but I can be sensitive and work with students who let me know of their needs. If there is a topic you are unable to discuss or need to be warned about, please notify me so we can make appropriate arrangements for your work. We will endeavor to be sensitive and considerate. However, we cannot prevent all students from being exposed to topics or ideas that they find objectionable or offensive.

If you or anyone else is struggling personally, please contact the UMD Counseling Center. They have a page of COVID-19 support resources here: https://www.counseling.umd.edu/covid19/. In a crisis, you can call them day or night at: 301-314-7651. The national Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 800-273-8255. It is OK to seek help, for you or someone you care about.

Major Course Components

Weekly Quizzes

There will be a short quiz on the readings each week, administered on ELMS. This must be completed before the Tuesday class session.

Reaction essays

You will write three reaction essays of at least 500-750 words, in which you describe and react to a news story or event. These will require a link to a legitimate news source, and your formal commentary, critique, or reaction to its content.

Issue paper

Analyze a COVID-19 related problem in terms of one of our theoretical perspectives (functionalist, conflict, feminist, interactionist). First, explain how the theoretical perspective might help explain the topic. Second, using evidence from a recent news article (and other sources if you want), make an evidence-based argument about the social problem. Include a copy of the news article. Length: 1500 words or more. Scores will be deducted 10% for each day late.

Midterm and Final Exams

The midterm and final exam will be multiple-choice. The final will be cumulative.

Textbook

You will be asked to purchase and read several chapters from an online textbook titled A Sociology Experiment. These chapters cost only $1 each. You have to register and buy them here: https://www.sociologyexperiment.com/. They are identified in the schedule below.

Schedule

Weeks are listed by the Monday of each week. Readings and lectures are listed on bullet points. Each week before the Tuesday class you must:

· View the videos, if any

· Complete the readings

· Complete the quiz on ELMS (before noon Tuesday)

Week 1: August 30

Social Problems Prologue: The COVID-19 Pandemic

· Reading: Two short essays from Contexts

· Thursday lecture: Online version on YouTube here. or come to the lecture for the in-person version -- your choice.

Week 2: September 6

Introduction to Social Problems

· Reading: Social Problems: Continuity and Change

Week 3: September 13

Social Class, Poverty, and Inequality

· Reading: Social Class, Inequality, and Poverty (Sociology Experiment, Chapter 4)

· Video: Unstable Housing: Matthew Desmond

· Video: Having Children in Poverty: Kathryn Edin

· Video: Measuring Inequality with the Gini Index

Week 4: September 20

Reaction essay #1 due, Thursday at noon

Today's economic crisis

· Reading: Tracking the COVID-19 Recession's Effects on Food, Housing, and Employment Hardships. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, August 9, 2021. 

· Reading: TBA

· Video: Florida's Star Motel was in disarray before coronavirus. The pandemic pushed it over the edge.

Week 5: September 27

Race and Ethnicity

· Reading: Race and Ethnicity (Sociology Experiment, Chapter 7)

Week 6: October 4

Health and Illness

· Reading: Health and Illness (Sociology Experiment, Chapter 15)

Week 7: October 11

The 1918 Flu pandemic

· Reading: Barry, John M. 2017. "How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America." Smithsonian Magazine. (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journal-plague-year-180965222/).

· Reading: Roberts, Jennifer D., and Shadi O. Tehrani. 2020. "Environments, Behaviors, and Inequalities: Reflecting on the Impacts of the Influenza and Coronavirus Pandemics in the United States." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17 (12): 4484. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124484.

· Reading: Gamble, Vanessa Northington. 2010. "'There Wasn't a Lot of Comforts in Those Days:' African Americans, Public Health, and the 1918 Influenza Epidemic." Public Health Reports 125 (3_suppl): 113-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549101250S314.

· Video: Spanish Flu: a warning from history

· Video: The next outbreak? We're not ready | Bill Gates

· Video: How humans are making pandemics more likely

· Video: The next pandemic could come from our farms

Week 8: October 18

Reaction essay #2 due, Thursday at noon

Midterm exam

Week 9: October 25

Black-White Disparities in the COVID-19 Pandemic

· Reading: Hammonds, Evelynn M., and Susan M. Reverby. 2019. "Toward a Historically Informed Analysis of Racial Health Disparities Since 1619." American Journal of Public Health 109 (10): 1348-49. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305262.

· Reading: Bobrow, Emily. 2020. "She Was Pregnant With Twins During Covid. Why Did Only One Survive?" The New York Times, August 6, 2020.

· Reading: How the Pandemic Economy Could Wipe Out a Generation of Black-Owned Businesses. By Lydia DePillis, Propublica, March 4, 2021.

· Video: PBS News Hour: The economics behind racial coronavirus disparities: https://youtu.be/Nhi12MOjU1I

· Video: PBS News Hour: How COVID-19 is highlighting racial disparities in Americans' health: How COVID-19 is highlighting racial disparities in Americans

Week 10: November 1

Trump, Biden, and the federal response

Week 11: November 8

The family

· Readings: TBA

Week 12: November 15

Reaction essay #3 due, Thursday at noon

Black Lives Matter

· Reading: Hannah-Jones, Nikole. 2019. "Our democracy's founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true." New York Times Magazine August 14. https://pulitzercenter.org/sites/default/files/the_idea_of_america_full_essay.pdf

· Bouie, Jamelle. "America holds onto an undemocratic assumption from its founding: that some people deserve more power than others." New York Times Magazine August 14. 

· Altman, Alex. 2020. "Why The Killing of George Floyd Sparked an American Uprising." Time, June 4, 2020. https://time.com/5847967/george-floyd-protests-trump/

· Reading: Chatelain, Marcia, and Kaavya Asoka. 2015. "Women and Black Lives Matter." Dissent 63 (3): 54-61. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/585790

· Video: The 1619 Project of the New York Times Magazine. https://embeds.mediastorm.com/0o5v/2/film-online-platforms-and-new-media-the-1619-project-of-the-new-york-times-magazine

· Video: Crenshaw, Kimberle. 2016. The Urgency of Intersectionality. TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality.

· Video: Vox: How America's justice system is rigged against the poor

· Optional reading: Kelley, Robin D. G. 2016. "Black Study, Black Struggle." Boston Review. March 1. http://bostonreview.net/forum/robin-d-g-kelley-black-study-black-struggle.

Week 13: November 22

No class on Thursday for Thanksgiving

Week 14: November 29

Vaccines

· Reading: Hoffman, Jan. 2019. "How Anti-Vaccine Sentiment Took Hold in the United States (Published 2019)." The New York Times, September 23.

· Reading: Reich, Jennifer A. 2018. "When the Personal Is Political—and Infectious." Contexts 17 (3): 34-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536504218792524.

· Video: "Dying in the name of vaccine freedom." By Alexander Stockton and Lucy King, New York Times, August 21, 2021.

· Video: "Why you think you're right - even if you're wrong." Julia Galef TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/julia_galef_why_you_think_you_re_right_even_if_you_re_wrong

Week 15: December 6

Final exam: DATE

Final issue paper due Thursday, December 16. The assignment will be posted here.