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SOC 313
Seminar on the Sociology of Knowledge
SOC 313 SP
Next Offered in 9899 SP
This seminar is concerned with the social sources and social
consequences of knowledge. It focuses on the cultural and
structural conditions that generate empirically inacurate
beliefs about what people think, feel and do. Consequently,
considerable attention is given to the types of factual
error implied in such concepts as ideology, sterotypes,
false consciousness, trained incapacity, self-fulling
prophecies, and, most explicitly, pluralistic ignorance.
Although illustrative materials will be drawn from diverse
sources, the seminar is basically built around one question:
what are the social circumstances that lead human beings to
construct, adopt, maintain and transmit erroneous
conceptions about themselves and others?
MAJOR READINGS
Readings are drawn from the writing of K.
Marx, G. Lukacs, K. Mannheim, E. Durkheim, P. Sorokin,
R. Merton, L. Fleck, M. Douglas and recent publications
in attribution theory (in social psychology), pluralistic
ignorance (in sociology) and institutionalized knowledge (in
anthropology).
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Midterm and final examinations
plus paper.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Requirements:
SOC151 and permission of the instructor. Preference given
to senior sociology majors.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting
or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the
first class, they will be dropped from the class list.
NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form
to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Prerequisites:
SOC 151
Last Updated on MAR-10-1997
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