SY 4280 - Social Inequality

M/W 9:00 a.m. – 10:40 a.m., Science Building S-100

Prof. Jacob Heller

Tower C-2, Rm. 320, 876-3336

jheller@alumni.sunysb.edu

Objectives: This course will investigate the nature, causes, and consequences of inequality in American society.  Inequalities exist in all areas of life – no two groups or individuals are truly “equal.”  This course will focus its attentions on differences that occur along the American cultural fault lines of race, class, and gender (listed here in no particular order).  These major causes of inequality have ramifications for almost all aspects of life: health and sickness, level of education, poverty or wealth, employment status, likelihood of incarceration, living conditions, etc. 

Required Readings: The following three books are required for this course; this means you must have access to them and complete ALL assigned readings in a timely and thoughtful manner:

·         Domhoff, G. William, Who Rules America?  Power and politics in the year 2000 (Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Press, 1998).

·         Thomas M. Shapiro, ed., Great Divides: Readings in social inequality in the United States (Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Press, 2001).

·         Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America (NY: Metropolitan Books, 2001).

The Elements of Style by Strunk and White is also HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for anyone enrolled in this course, because there will be a strong emphasis on high quality writing.

Requirements/Grading: Grades are the enemy of learning.  Nevertheless, they remain a feature of American college life – they are an artificially and intentionally imposed form of inequality.  In order to reduce any competitiveness among students, as well as to reduce ambiguity about evaluations of performance in the course of the semester, everyone taking this course will be subject to the following grading scheme:

General Policies: Late or “make-up”  work will not be accepted.  Work missed for absence may only be completed based on an individual review of the case, including the nature of the reason for the absence, any patterns of absence, and the nature of the work missed.

Please Note: If you have any physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may impact on your ability to carry out assigned course work, please contact the staff in the DSS (Disables Student Services) office,. DSS will review your concerns and determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation of disability is confidential.

Syllabus

tentative and entirely subject to change