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Graduate Course Proposal Form Submission Detail - AFA6105
Tracking Number - 1680
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Current Status:
Approved, Permanent Archive - 2007-07-18
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Detail Information
- Date & Time Submitted: 2007-03-13
- Department: Africana Studies
- College: AS
- Budget Account Number: 120200
- Contact Person: Edward Kissi
- Phone: 47784
- Email: ekissi@cas.usf.edu
- Prefix: AFA
- Number: 6105
- Full Title: Social Theory and Social Thought
- Credit Hours: 3
- Section Type: D -
Discussion (Primarily)
- Is the course title variable?: N
- Is a permit required for registration?: N
- Are the credit hours variable?: N
- Is this course repeatable?:
- If repeatable, how many times?: 0
- Abbreviated Title (30 characters maximum): Theory and Social Thought
- Course Online?: -
- Percentage Online:
- Grading Option:
R - Regular
- Prerequisites: None
- Corequisites:
- Course Description: Course examines the nature of social theory as an analytical tool and its relevance for understanding social thought and the historical and contemporary experiences of peoples of African descent in Africa and the Diaspora.
- Please briefly explain why it is necessary and/or desirable to add this course: This course is necessary to give graduate students in the Department of Africana Studies a firm grounding in social theory and its application and relevance to topics and issues that are central to the discipline of Africana Studies.
- What is the need or demand for this course? (Indicate if this course is part of a required sequence in the major.) What other programs would this course service? This theory course will be a required core course for all graduate students in the MLA and Graduate Certificate programs in the Department of Africana Studies. A maximum of 20 students will be expected to take this course that will be offered once a year. This course will attract students from a wide variety of disciplines who may be interested in the application of social theory to the study of Africa and diasporic groups.
- Has this course been offered as Selected Topics/Experimental Topics course? If yes, how many times? No.
- What qualifications for training and/or experience are necessary to teach this course? (List minimum qualifications for the instructor.) The instructor of this course should have a Ph.D. in any of the Humanities and Social sciences with a firm grounding in the history and contemporary analysis of social theory and methods of social investigation.
- Objectives: (1) Writings and concepts of major historical and contemporary social thinkers will be examined. (2) Basic divisions in approaching the study of human behavior and social life will be analyzed and critiqued. (3) An exploration of the interaction between theory and research as applied to understanding and analyzing social phenomena will be conducted. (4) An analysis of the relevance of grand social theories as they relate to understanding Africa, the African Diaspora, and the lived experiences of African Americans will be undertaken.
- Learning Outcomes: (1) Students will be able to understand the nature of social theory and the works of eminent social theorists. (2) Students will be able to identify major social theorists and their approaches to ascertaining social reality. (3) Students will be able to comprehend the linkage between social theory and empiricism. (4) Students will be able to comprehend the relevance of social theory for understanding the historical and contemporary conditions of life in Africa, the African Diaspora, and the lived experiences of African Americans. (5) Students will be able to create research proposals and conduct social research that combines sound theoretical analyses and valid empirical inquiry.
- Major Topics: 1. What is Social Theory? 2. The Historical Evolution of Social Theories. 3. Understanding the Role of Theory in Race and Racism. 4. Major Social Theorists in the Classical Tradition. 5. Major Social Theorists. 6. Contemporary Social Theorists. 7. Functional Social Theory. 8. Phenomenology, Verstehen Sociology, and Symbolic Interactionism. 9. Contemporary Conflict Theorists on Power and Class. 10. Conflict Theorists on Race: The United States. 11. Contemporary Conflict Theorists on Race: The United States I. 12. Contemporary Conflict Theorists on Race: United States II. 13. International Perspectives on Conflict and Change. 14. Overview.
- Textbooks: Required Reading:
Berch Berberoglu, An Introduction to Classical and Contemporary Social Theory: A Critical Perspective. ( 3rd edition). Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2005.
Derek L. Phillips, Knowledge from What? Theories and Methods in Social 3 Research. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1971.
Julie K. Ward and Tommy Lott (eds.) Philosophers on Race: Critical Essays. Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishing, 2002.
T. B. Bottomore (ed.) Karl Marx: Selected Writings in Sociology and Social Philosophy. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1956.
Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore, “Some Pri
- Course Readings, Online Resources, and Other Purchases:
- Student Expectations/Requirements and Grading Policy:
- Assignments, Exams and Tests:
- Attendance Policy:
- Policy on Make-up Work:
- Program This Course Supports:
- Course Concurrence Information:
- if you have questions about any of these fields, please contact chinescobb@grad.usf.edu or joe@grad.usf.edu.