Course credit
3 credit hours
Course description
Analysis of nature and range of social problems arising in modern industrial society. Consideration given to conditions creating them and methods by which society seeks to cope with them.
Delivery
This course is available in a web-based format, utilizing web pages and WebCT, a computer conferencing program. WebCT requires Internet access and a web browser — no additional software is required. Students may need access to someone who can assist with computer set-up.
This course is available in a print-based format. Mail completed assignments to the GIS Office. We will forward them to the instructor for grading.
Prerequisites
none
Instructor
Marybeth Stalp, Assistant Professor
I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology and work in the Sociology, Anthropology & Criminology Department at the University of Northern Iowa. I have been at UNI since Fall 2003.
I received my Bachelor of Arts from Regis University in Denver, CO in 1993, where I completed a triple major of English Literature, Communication Arts, and Sociology. I then earned my Master of Arts in Sociology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1996. Next, I moved to the University of Georgia where I completed a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies in 1998, and a Ph.D. in Sociology in December 2001. After teaching at both the University of Georgia and Piedmont College, I was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Western State College in Gunnison, CO for one year before starting my position here at UNI.
I have taught the following courses at the Undergraduate level:
I have also taught Qualitative Methods and the Graduate Proseminar at the Graduate level.
My research interests center on the intersection of gender and culture in contemporary society. Current research includes an examination of contemporary US women's quilting activities as a gendered form of cultural production, with specific attention to family tensions emerging as midlife women develop leisure interests. A second project centers on the emergence of Red Hat Society Chapters, with focus on the leisure aspects of midlife women, positive spin on aging, and the social benefits of belonging to such an organization. Finally, I have a long term interest in the overlap between public and private in the lives of national First Ladies--that is, how the private lives of First Ladies are carried out in public.
Evaluation
15 assignments, 4 exams
Overview
This is an introductory-level course which examines selected social problems in American society from a sociological perspective. The course has three basic objectives:
A sociological approach to analyzing social problems does not presume any particular ideological orientation, and it emphasizes a realistic view of society, one that is not influenced unduly by mainstream societal views. This course will not attempt to teach you what or how to think about particular social problems, instead it will familiarize you with some of the basic intellectual and analytical skills that sociologists use in attempting to understand the organization of human society.
Basic outline
UNIT 1
Assignment 1 - Chapter 1: Sociological Approach to Social Problems
Assignment 2 - Chapter 2: Wealth and Power: The Bias of the System
Assignment 3 - Chapter 3: World Population and Global Inequality
Assignment 4 - Chapter 4: Threats to the Environment
Exam 1: Chapters 1-4
UNIT 2
Assignment 5 - Chapter 5: Demographic Changes in the US
Assignment 6 - Chapter 6: Problems of Place
Assignment 7 - Chapter 7: Poverty
Exam 2: Chapters 5-7
UNIT 3
Assignment 8 - Chapter 8: Racial and Ethnic Inequality
Assignment 9 - Chapter 9: Gender Inequality
Assignment 10 - Chapter 10: Sexual Orientation
Assignment 11 - Chapter 11: Disability and Ableism
Exam 3: Chapters 8-11
UNIT 4
Assignment 12 - Chapter 14: Work
Assignment 13 - Chapter 15: Families
Assignment 14 - Chapter 17: Health and Health Care Delivery
Assignment 15 - Chapter 19: Progressive Plan to Solve Society’s Social Problems
Exam 4: Chapters 14, 15, 17, 19
Grading
15 assignments, 450 points (30 points each), 20%
4 exams, 480 points (120 points each), 80%
Total, 930 points, 100%
Textbook(s)
Eitzen, D. Stanley, and Zinn, Maxine Bacca. Social Problems. 10th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. 2006.
Texts are available from the vendor of your choice or
University Book and Supply
1009 West 23rd Street, Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Phone: 319-266-7581 or 800-728-7581
Fax: 319-277-1266
E-mail: bookstore@panthersupply.com
To enroll
ONLINE
GIS enrollment information
IN PERSON
UNI Continuing Education
2637 Hudson Road (corner of 27th St. and Hudson Rd.)
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0223
Campus map (Look for Building 31)
For more information
Cindy Klodt, Guided Independent Study
UNI Continuing Education
319-273-2123 or 800-772-1746
ContinuingEd@uni.edu