Readings for Sociology
This course will require deep reading nearly every class period. As the concepts in this course are both challenging and polarizing, reading for understanding and then discussing with peers is the primary method for identifying what we, as individuals, believe about each topic. Race, gender, poverty, authority, and similar topics will be examined through these readings and discussions. While the following is not a complete reading list, it does outline some of the themes we will be discussing.
Click on each title to download a PDF file of the text.
Click on each title to download a PDF file of the text.
Remember: We don't have to agree with everything that we read. But, if we only read things that we personally agree with, we fail to challenge ourselves to create new knowledge. Identifying what we believe is part of the learning process. There are no right or wrong answers!
"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" by Dr. Horace Miner
Most cultures exhibit a particular configuration or style. A single value or pattern of perceiving the world often leaves its stamp on several institutions in the society. Examples are “machismo” in Spanish-influenced cultures, “face” in Japanese culture, and “pollution by females” in some highland New Guinea cultures. Here Horace Miner demonstrates that “attitudes about the body” have a pervasive influence on many institutions in Nacireman society.
"The Virtue of Selfishness" by Ayn Rand
The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism is a 1964 collection of essays by Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden. Most of the essays originally appeared in The Objectivist Newsletter. The book covers ethical issues from the perspective of Rand's Objectivist philosophy. Some of its themes include the identification and validation of egoism as a rational code of ethics, the destructiveness of altruism, and the nature of a proper government.
"Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn
In Ishmael, which received the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship for the best work of fiction offering positive solutions to global problems, Daniel Quinn parses humanity’s origins and its relationship with nature, in search of an answer to this challenging question: How can we save the world from ourselves?
"The Wave" by Todd Strasser
The Wave is based on a true incident that occured in a high school history class in Palo Alto, California, in 1969.
The powerful forces of group pressure that pervaded many historic movements such as Nazism are recreated in the classroom when history teacher Burt Ross introduces a "new" system to his students. And before long "The Wave," with its rules of "strength through discipline, community, and action, " sweeps from the classroom through the entire school.
Listen to the audio book HERE.
The powerful forces of group pressure that pervaded many historic movements such as Nazism are recreated in the classroom when history teacher Burt Ross introduces a "new" system to his students. And before long "The Wave," with its rules of "strength through discipline, community, and action, " sweeps from the classroom through the entire school.
Listen to the audio book HERE.
"Where We Stand" by bell hooks
This incisive examination of class is rooted in cultural critic hooks personal experience, political commitment, and social theory, which links gender, race, and class. Starting with her working-class childhood, the author illustrates how everyday interactions reproduce class hierarchy while simultaneously denying its existence. Because she sustains an unflinching gaze on both her own personal motivations and on persistent social structures, hooks provides a valuable framework for discussing such difficult and unexplored areas as greed, the quest to live simply, the ruling-class co-optation of youth through popular culture, and real estate speculation as an instrument of racism.