FCST+342_01+MON-WED+CLASS+SYLLABUS

SPRING 2011
 * Family Sociology **

MAKE SURE YOU ARE READING THE CORRECT SYLLABUS FOR YOUR SECTION

FCST 342-01 MONDAY/WEDNESDAY 1:00 - 2:15 University Hall, Room 2006 Department of Family & Child Studies Montclair State University

** Professor: Connie Gager ** Office: 4030 University Hall Office hours: Wednesday 2:15 - 3:15 or through WIMBA or by appt. E-mail: gagerc@mail.montclair.edu E-MAIL IS THE BEST WAY TO REACH ME IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, ETC. HOWEVER, PLEASE CHECK THE COURSE CAFE PAGE OF THE WIKI BEFORE E-MAILING QUESTIONS. I WILL TYPICALLY ANSWER E-MAILS THE SAME DAY, BUT PLEASE GIVE ME 1-2 DAYS TO RESPOND. E-MAILS SENT OVER THE WEEK END MAY BE ANSWERED ON THE FOLLOWING MONDAY.

** HYBRID COURSE OVERVIEW ** This course is designed to build on introductory Introduction to Family Studies course (FCST 200). If you have not completed FCST 200 you cannot take this class. Using a sociological perspective, the course places special emphasis on understanding family-related social and demographic data available on the internet and developing writing skills to describe these data and trends.

**This course is designed as a hybrid course: that means we will combine** **face-to-face meeting in the classroom at Montclair** **with "on-line" classes using Blackboard, the course wiki, blogging, and specified internet data and media sites. When class is on-line, you will need to download and read the PowerPoint lecture slides (some will have commentary), complete the reading for the week, and in most cases complete an interactive individual or group assignment on the wiki.**

**MONDAY CLASSES ARE "ON-LINE" AND WILL NOT MEET AT MONTCLAIR. WEDNESDAY CLASSES WILL MEET FACE-TO-FACE AT MONTCLAIR.**

For some assignments you will need to go to specified data sites to retrieve family data and interpret it. Other assignments involve listening to podcasts, watching YOU TUBE clips, or doing on-line research on the week's topic and answering questions or reflecting on the reading, slides, or multi-media activities in your blog. In a few assignments you will be asked to create a dialogue with your group members on on your group pages on the wiki. The class is designed to be highly interactive - meaning you will participate actively via the course wiki as well as when we meet face-to-face. The course is also designed to promote democracy. By this I mean YOU the students can add, inform, and contribute to the wiki and the course.

**If you have a failing grade on the on-line writing assignments (blogs), you will fail the class. It is imperative that you attend class regularly and complete the reading and on-line assignments prior to class.**

**COURSE DESCRIPTION AND POLICIES** The course begins with a brief overview of theoretical and methodological perspectives on families. Much of the course focuses on changing family and relationships patterns in the contemporary U.S. We will explore variation in families by gender, race and ethnicity, and sexual orientation. We will also examine changes in the rates of cohabitation, marriage, and divorce and how these changes impact individual and societal relationship expectations. We will also study change and stasis of family roles and why they remain highly gendered. Students will be urged to think sociologically and to critically examine the status quo of family roles. This type of critical examination is described well by Lynn Hirschman: "Here's the feminist moral analysis that choice avoided: The family -- with its repetitious, socially invisible, physical tasks -- is a necessary part of life, but it allows fewer opportunities for full human flourishing public sphere like the market or the government. This less-flourishing sphere is not the natural or moral responsibility only of women. Therefore, assigning it to women is unjust. Women assigning it to themselves is equally unjust. To paraphrase, as Mark Twain said, “A man who chooses not to read is just as ignorant as a man who cannot read.”

Throughout the course, we will critically examine data and research on families and the interpretation and presentation of research on families in the media. In the last section of the course, we will consider issues involving the public policies and programs designed to assist families. For example, we will study how welfare reform has affected families living in poverty.

** Group work ** Students will work with their groups on some on-line assignments and on a group project. I will assign you to groups of 3-4 alphabetically, based on your last name. YOUR GROUPS ARE FROM GROUP 11 TO GROUP 20 WITH THE DOG NAMES. So if your name starts with an A or B you are likely in group 11 or 12. Find your group listed on the left panel on the main page of the wiki and add your Montclair e-mail address and any other info you would like to share.

Working with groups is sometimes difficult, but ultimately a great learning experience. In addition, the study of group dynamics is an essential part of Sociological Inquiry. So completing group experiences will make you a better and wiser family sociologist. **PLEASE complete group assignments in a timely manner as your other group member's ability to complete an assignment depends on you! Also, USE your group pages to communicate as we will not always meet face-to-face.**

**Again check your group page on the wiki at least once a week, whether a group assignment is due or not.**

The group project involves choosing a popular relationship book and critically evaluating the book, comparing the data utilized by the book author with more academic data sources on contemporary relationships found in scholarly journals and on government and educational websites.

**Text and reading** The book for this course is: //Families As They Really Are// by Barbara Risman ISBN-978-0-393-93278-2 [|TEXT homepage]

Other required course readings are linked each week on the Schedule & Readings (syllabus) below. Click on the link for that week's reading. For the three articles from the Journal of Marriage and Family (weeks 2, 5, & 11 - click on the link to the full text).

A few readings are on Blackboard and are in //italics//.

** Please regularly check the Syllabus and Course Cafe on the wiki - think of the wiki as Facebook - information will be added regularly!! **

** Course Requirements/Student Responsibilities ** 1. **Class attendance:** Students must attend class regularly when we meet face-to-face. All reading assignments should be completed prior to class as well as on-line individual and group assignments, so that you can make an informed contributions to class and on-line discussions and writing assignments. Class discussion is highly encouraged!

2. **Wiki blog assignments:** **A blog** is an on-line journal. It comes from the term web log. You will create a blog and you will complete your individual assignments on your blog. You will be responsible for setting up your own blog and linking it to the wiki. This is part of assignment 1. All instructions can be found under Assignment 1. If you have a failing grade on these assignments, you will fail the class. **You may miss ONE Wiki assignment with no penalty.** (The sum of these will be worth 30% of course grade).

3. **Exams and tests:** There will be a midterm exam and a final test. The midterm exam and the final test will be given on Blackboard and will consist of multiple choice questions. A full class review will be given before the midterm exam and before the final test. Both the midterm exam and final test will be available for a two-day period on Blackboard. (The midterm exam is worth 25% of your grade and final test is worth 20% of course grade).

**You will take these on-line on Blackboard and class will not meet on those dates.**

4. **PowerPoint presentation group project:** For this project, students will work in groups to choose and evaluate a popular book on family or personal relationships. Groups will also compare data used in the book with related research from a scholarly journal and from data from an approved internet site such as the National Center for Health Statistics or the U.S Census Bureau). Each group will present their findings to the class in a 12-14 minute PowerPoint slide show format (12-15 slides). Group presentations will be scheduled in April. The Group PowerPoint Presentation is due on, Friday, APRIL 22 and must be submitted through the ASSIGNMENT feature on Blackboard by 4:00 P.M. Final test questions will include questions based on these presentations, so class attendance is required. I will make the group assignments and discuss how to do the group project in detail in class as well as explain how to conduct research using on-line reference resources through the library in February. Detailed instructions on the group project assignment will be on blackboard and discussed in class. DO NOT MISS THIS CLASS!! (Group project worth 25% of course grade)

5. **Grading:** Your course grade is based on your 1) Wiki blog assignments and group work (30% of your grade), 2) a midterm exam (25%), 3) the PowerPoint group presentation (25%), & 4) a final test (20% of your grade). **You cannot pass this class if you fail to take any of the exams, or fail to give a PowerPoint group presentation, or have an incomplete record on wiki individual and group assignments!**

6. **Course Wiki & Blackboard** Students are expected to regularly log on to the course wiki to 1) check their group page, 2) check the week's reading and assignments on the "Syllabus," 3) Download PowerPoint lecture slides, 4) note questions asked by students and answered by me or other students. Both students and the professor can post relevant announcements or interesting websites on the Course Cafe.

**PLEASE check the wiki 1 - 2 times per week!!!!**

The course wiki is your main on-line resource for this course. Use the course wiki to: 1) access the course syllabus and assignment instructions, 2) create your blogs and link them to the wiki, 3) access PowerPoint lecture slides, 4) access project directions, 5) ask questions using the Course Café page and post websites, information relevant to the course, 6) access group home pages for assignments and project information sharing, and 7) read class announcements on the Course Cafe.

ALWAYS CHECK THE COURSE WIKI COURSE CAFE PAGE AND YOUR MONTCLAIR E-MAIL PRIOR TO FACE TO-FACE CLASS MEETINGS IN CASE OF AN UNFORSEEN CLASS CHANGE, ESPECIALLY DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. IF WE CANNOT MEET AT MONTCLAIR, CLASS WILL BE HELD ON-LINE.

We will use Blackboard for 1) taking the midterm exam and final test 2) posting the group project assignment, and 3) posting of a few readings that are not linked on the wiki or in your text. **AGAIN you will also take the midterm exam and final test through Blackboard.**

To access Blackboard go to Montclair State University homepage. Once you log in, click on the link for Family Sociology, which takes you to our class website. Click on folder **Course Documents** to access a few non-text reading by week and when taking exams or tests.

**Related websites:** [|U.S. Bureau of the Census] [|Alan Guttmacher Institute] [|2009 Statistical Abstract] [|National Center for Health Statistics] [|Child Trends] [|Annie E. Casey Foundation] [|Childstats] [|Welfare, Children & Families: A Three City Study]

** Course Outline: **

**Week 1:** **Wednesday -** **Introduction: What is a family?** READING: Risman text, Reading # 5 by Coontz WIKI ASSIGNMENT: Complete Assignment 1 on wiki. This will provide an introduction to course and introduction to blogging. You will set up your blog and link it to the student blog page of the wiki.

**Week 2:** **Monday - CLASS MEETS ONLINE, NO CLASS AT MONTCLAIR** **Families and relationships in the 21st century** Reading: Risman text, In the News, pp: 246-248 by Cherlin Hymowitz, [|The New Girl Order]

**Wednesday -** **Demographic Trends and Families** [|Article on Demographic Trends from Journal of Marriage and Family] After clicking this link, scroll down and click on link **open in a new window** Complete Assignment 2 BEFORE CLASS

**Week 3:** **Monday - CLASS IS ON-LINE, NO CLASS AT MONTCLAIR** **Theoretical perspectives on family sociology** READING: //Cherlin Chapter on Blackboard, pp. 16-32//

**Wednesday -** **Methods of research family sociology** READING: Risman text, Reading # 2 by Cherlin & Reading # 3 by Cowan Complete ASSIGNMENT 3

**Week 4:** **Monday - CLASS IS ON-LINE, NO CLASS AT MONTCLAIR** **The role of gender in families** READING: Risman text, Reading # 30 by Risman & Seale Hirshman, [|Hirshman article] Complete ASSIGNMENT 4 BEFORE Class

**Wednesday -** **Love & sexuality** READING: Reading Owen et. al on Hooking Up [| Owen et al article on Hooking Up]

**Week 5:** **Monday** **LGBT & Q families: Families we choose** READING: Risman text, Reading # 20 by Green Complete ASSIGNMENT 5 [|Map of History of Gay Mariage]

**Wednesday** **- CLASS IS ON-LINE, NO CLASS AT MONTCLAIR** **Race, ethnicity, & families** READING: Risman text, Reading # 7 by Franklin [|Article on Review of Race, Ethnicity, and Colorism from Journal of Marriage and Family] After clicking the above link, click the link: **LINKED TEXT**

**Week 6:** **Monday - CLASS MEETS ON-LINE, NO CLASS AT MONTCLAIR** The rise of cohabitation; selection effects READING**:** Risman text, Reading # 13 ** [|Yabiku & Gager, 2009 article on Proquest] Just read introduction and discussion section.**

**Wednesday -** **Overview of project assignment** READING: **Print & Read Project Assignment on Blackboard and bring to class** [|Shulevitz article] Review Risman text, Reading #3 by Cowan on Causality **Also bring your laptops to class if you have one.** *DO NOT MISS THIS CLASS!!!!!!!!*

**Week 7:** **Monday – Mandatory Group Project meeting. Use your group pages to set up a meeting place. You may use the classroom or make other arrangements.**

** Wednesday - ** ** Midterm Review: Student centered review, I post questions and students will take turns answering. **

**Week 8:** ** Monday - Class is on-line No class at Montclair ** **Marriage** READING: Risman text, Reading # 28 by England & Edin **In the News by Julian Sanchez pp: 313-320 Risman text** Complete ASSIGNMENT 6 by Wednesday AFTER Spring Break!

**Wednesday -** ** CLASS WILL NOT MEET AT MONTCLAIR - TAKE THE MIDTERM ON BLACKBOARD **

**MIDTERM EXAM on Blackboard March 8 through March 9**

** Week 9: ** ** NO CLASS SPRING BREAK **

**Week 10:** **Monday –** CLASS IS ON-LINE, NO CLASS AT MONTCLAIR **Marital Satisfaction**

**Wednesday -** Divorce READING: Risman text, Reading # 16 by Rutter and
 * [|New York Times article on divorce and the economy] **

**Week 11:** **Monday -** CLASS WILL MEET AT MONTCLAIR **Effects of divorce on spouses and children** Reading #17 by Li Movie clip: The Squid & the Whale **Complete ASSIGNMENT 7 BEFORE CLASS**

**Wednesday - CLASS IS ON-LINE Due to Professor's conference** **The State, social policy, and families** Reading: Risman text, Reading #28

**Week 12:** **Monday - CLASS IS ON-LINE, NO CLASS AT MONTCLAIR** **Poverty & Welfare Reform** READING: Risman text, Reading # 19 by Coontz & Folbre

**Wednesday -** Reading: [|Article on Review of Poverty and Families from the Journal of Marriage and Family] After clicking the above link, click the link : **LINKED TEXT** ** [|NY Times article on Increased Use of Food Stamps] **
 * Poverty and Welfare Reform (cont) **

**Monday: CLASS IS ON-LINE, NO CLASS AT MONTCLAIR** **All’s fair in love and housework?** READING: ** [|The Second Shift by Hochschild, Chap 4] ** ** [|Professor Gager's research on connection between housework and sex in the Wall St. Journal] ** [|COO of FACEBOOK: Speech on Why Women Don't Reach the Top of our Workforce] **Complete Assignment 8**
 * Week 13:**

Wednesday - **Final review and course wrap up** READING: Risman text, Reading #40 by Risman ** Project Due Friday APRIL 22 by 4:30 P.M. **

**Week 14:** Monday & Wednesday

** Class Project Presentations **

**Week 15:** ** Monday – Take FINAL TEST on Blackboard ** ** No class at Montclair, take test on Blackboard MAY 2 & MAY 3 **