Fall 2024 - SA 442 D100
Applying the Sociological Imagination (S) (4)
Class Number: 5533
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Sep 4 – Dec 3, 2024: Fri, 12:30–4:20 p.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
Travers .
atravers@sfu.ca
Office Hours: By appointment
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Prerequisites:
Minimum of 72 units including either SA 101 or SA 150.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Selected Topics in Sociology. Seminar exploring the topic through discussion, and developing original ideas that engage with sociological theory and methods. Course topic varies with the instructor and section. See detailed course outline for more information. Students may repeat this course for further credit under a different topic.
COURSE DETAILS:
The purpose of this course is to provide space for us to engage with social theorizing and social movements that seek to abolish prisons, specifically, but also the carceral state in general (policing, borders, social work, and other institutions and practices of discipline and surveillance). This necessarily requires us to consider the Eurocentric, white supremacist, colonial, hetero-patriarchal and capitalist constructions of the human that traditionally anchor the origin story of Sociology as a discipline. Our project involves reading against the grain of whiteness and wealth and drawing on resources beyond academic scholarship. This endeavor is necessarily multidisciplinary, drawing as it does on critical race, postcolonial, cultural studies, Black feminist, Indigenous, and biopolitics/assemblage theorizing and knowledge production.
Course Structure
I envision this course as combining teamwork, mini-lectures, student presentations and class discussion. But the course structure, including 50% of graded assignments, will be collaboratively determined in the first month of the semester. Bring your interests and ideas.
Grading
- Individual Assessment (Choose from:) 50%
- (up to 5) 30-minute end of class response papers on the week’s readings/material - 10%
- (up to 5) 5-minute video presentation on week’s readings/material (one per week max - 10%
- Course diary (weekly impressions, critical thinking questions, insights) - 50%
- Class Leadership in Teams: 25%
- Select material to assign for your class – max two hours’ worth of work. Organize and facilitate a one-hour portion of class time. Specify your learning outcomes. Produce a reflection afterwards.
- Public Education in Teams: 25%
- Choose a medium for engaging the public about prison abolition – for example, 3 X Tiktok videos, a Youtube video, a public presentation to a specific group of people, etc.
NOTES:
Grading: Where a final exam is scheduled and the student does not write the exam or withdraw from the course before the deadline date, an N grade will be assigned. Unless otherwise specified on the course syllabus, all graded assignments for this course must be completed for a final grade other than N to be assigned. An N is considered as an F for the purposes of scholastic standing.
Grading System: The Undergraduate Course Grading System is as follows:
A+ (95-100) | A (90-94) | A- (85-89) | B+ (80-84) | B (75-79) | B- (70-74) | C+ (65-69) | C (60-64) | C- (55-59) | D (50-54) | F (0-49) | N*
*N standing to indicate the student did not complete course requirements
Academic Honesty and Student Conduct Policies: The Department of Sociology & Anthropology follows SFU policy in relation to grading practices, grade appeals (Policy T20.01), and academic honesty and student conduct procedures (S10‐S10.05). Unless otherwise informed by your instructor in writing, in graded written assignments you must cite the sources you rely on and include a bibliography/list of references, following an instructor-approved citation style. It is the responsibility of students to inform themselves of the content of SFU policies available on the SFU website.
Centre for Accessible Learning: Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need classroom or exam accommodations are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (1250 Maggie Benston Centre) as soon as possible to ensure that they are eligible and that approved accommodations and services are implemented in a timely fashion.
The Sociology and Anthropology Student Union, SASU, is a governing body of students who are engaged with the department and want to build the SA community. Get involved! Follow them on Instagram!
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Billy-Ray Belcourt. A Minor Chorus: A Novel. Norton. ISBN: 9781324021421. Print copy
Mariame Kaba. We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice. Haymarket Books. ISBN: 9781642595260. SFU Library.
All other course material will be collaboratively identified over the first few weeks, with every effort made to ensure it is available at no additional cost.
REQUIRED READING NOTES:
Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION
Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.