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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: August 18, 2002
Latest Update: August 23, 2002
E-Mail Icon jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

jeanne: Crossing Wires :Copyright, National Research Council of Canada. Image added July 4, 1999. Syllabus for Soc 595-01:
Graduate Seminar in Reinterpreting Theory
 40112 - SOC 595-01 Special Topics:Re-Interpreting Theory - 3.0 units
TTh 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm - SCC E143 - Footnote 21 applies. J Curran
Class Page for Reinterpreting Theory

* * *

Instructor:

Jeanne Curran, Ph.D., Esq.
Office: SBS-B326
Telephone: 310-243-3831
Office Hours: Tuesday 4 - 5 pm; Wednesday 12 - 2 pm; By appointment.
Teaching and Research Associate: Patricia Acone

Course Description:

Whether you hold to the mainstream belief in empiricism or whether you follow the new traditions of science and philosophy that recognize the interdependence of humans and the structural contexts in which they live, our world is changing, and we are often hard pressed to make sense of our memories as they encounter our lived experiences.

Theorists who have been rather passe for ages are suddenly seen to have a great deal more to say about our world that makes sense than ever we thought. Marx's concept of labor exploitation is with us today as we consider jobs disappearing without adequate new employment. And commodification reigns in our world as never before. Recently we have been watching as global corporations have commodified the water of third world companies. Hannah Arendt, the political philosopher, has had a major impact on feminist studies, though she was long all but ignored. Giddens suggests that we've all been wrong in choosing to focus on either the agent or the structure, insisting in structuration theory that both agent and structure are interdependent.

In this seminar we will look at many of the predictions of what theory may look like in the future and practice ways of reinterpreting theory in the Twenty-First Century. Because we are critical theorists, that means that we will also look at ways to transform the world we live in to conform with a better life for all living creatures and things.

Texts:

1. Greg M. Nielsen (2002) The Norms of Answerability: Social Theory between Bakhtin and Habermas. SUNY Press, Albany. 2002. ISBN: 0-7914-5228-X (pbk.) Required.

This will be the primary text for the course. Nielsen fits the aestheticism of Bakhtin together with the empiricism of Habermas and, like Giddens, sees new ways of understanding the interdependence of reason and art, and the other. The text is demanding if you are unfamiliar with the terms. For that reason, I have tried to prepare explanatiory essays and practice modules to be sure that you understand.

AND Choose ONE of the recommended texts.Most of us don't have time to cover a great deal of reading during the semester. So please notice that you are to choose ONE of the recommended books, not both.. Of course, if you want to read the other, too, I'll be delighted. But you aren't required to read the third book to get an A. You will find that the two books are very different in style and reading level.

This means you ARE required to have two books, the REQUIRED text and ONE Recommended text. AND you are required to use the Site Teaching Modules.

Alternate 2. Maria Pia Lara (1998) Moral Textures: Feminist Narratives in the Public Sphere. University of California Press. Berkeley. 1998. ISBN: 0-520-21777-2 (pbk.) Recommended.

Maria Pia Lara is a Professor of Philosophy in Mexico. Those of us who focus on morality and ethics follow here work carefully. She was hard for me to read. That's because I don't have the lived experience of everyday exchanges with philosophy scholars. Use the Teaching Modules to help you with the vocabulary and concepts. Her main thesis is that those who have been exploited react by demanding a voice in the public sphere. They demand recognition for what they have suffered. Through these demands, they transform the dominant discourse, bringing to the public sphere new ways of seeing their world and ours.

Alternate 2.. Daniel Rigney ((2001) The Metaphorical Society: An Invitation to Social Theory. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., NY. 2001. ISBN: 0-7425-0938-9 (pbk.) Recommended.

We used The Metaphorical Society last year as a way to organize an overview of social theory. Stylistically it is easier to read, and it's vocabulary is less demanding. Nonetheless, I like Rigney's approach, and I think that someone of you who are not eager to go as deeply into theory as Lara and Nielsen do might enjoy the book a little more. Our students liked the book last year and Rigney offers an excellent bibliography for reading on your own at a later time. Your choice.

AND

3. Site Teaching Modules for Reinterpreting Theory Required.

Course Objectives:

  • To provide a general overview of theory as we reinterpret contemporary theorists.
  • To recognize and be able to discuss modernism, critical theory, and postmodernism.
  • To recognize and be able to discuss the embeddedness of theory in the social context from which it originates.
  • To recognize and be able to discuss the major trends of empiricism and situatedness.
  • To recognize and be able to discuss the major advantages and disadvantages of the divergent social theory approaches of positivism and interdependence of agency nd structural context.
  • To recognize and be able to discuss current trends in theory.

Grading and Suggested Measures of Learning:

  • Using Common Sense:

    Permission to enroll in this course is premised on upper division status, rendering you capable of performing competently. However, I recognize that crises occur and that you have many conflicting demands as students, family members, and workers. Please remember that A's are earned, not given for the status characteristic of "being a good student who could get an A if he/she made the effort." One way to deal with such crises effectively is to be sure that I know when they are happening. Because most of my lectures and your practice are on the site, it's easier to make up missed time over conflicts than you might think.

    Nota bene: If you have the flu, please don't come and give it to the rest of us. We'll help you catch up when you're well. I lost three weeks to flu this summer. The bugs are getting stronger and more resistant to medication. If I lose three weeks during classes, you'll be left with a substitute.

    If you haven't slept, and are falling asleep from exhaustion, please stay home and sleep. Sleep deprivation is a very real problem. We all drive freeways to get here, and go home often late at night. You can kill yourself and others that way. Please don't.

    I do not give specific deadlines, because I want you to use your common sense and your own discipline to study effectively. All work can be made up within university limits.

  • Our Grading Standards:

    • Evidence of Learning Our grading standards and what to do to "get an A." And, no, we don't give tests, at least not to determine grades.

    Plausible Schedule for Reading Course Texts:

    1. Week of August 26:
      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability. Foreword. Caryl Emerson. pp. ix-xvii.
      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability. Introduction. Theory on the Borders of Sociology. pp. 1-22.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    2. Week of September 2
      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability. Chapter 1. Diversity and Transcultural Ethics. pp. 23-48.
      • Pia Lara. Moral Textures. Introduction. pp. 1-17.
      • Rigney. The Metaphorical Society. Chapter 1. The Metaphorical Imagination. pp. 1-12.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    3. Week of September 9
      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability.Chapter 2. Communicative Action or Dialogue?. pp. 49-65..
      • Pia Lara. Moral Textures. Chapter 1. Autobiographies and Biographies: The Construction of Women's Identity. pp. 23-49.
      • Rigney. The Metaphorical Society. Chapter 2.Society as a Living System. pp. 13-40.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    4. Week of September 16
      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability. Chapter 3. The World of Other's Words.. pp. 67-87.
      • Pia Lara. Moral Textures.Chapter 2. Communicative Rationality: Betweeen Spheres of Validity. pp. 50-67.
      • Rigney. The Metaphorical Society. Chapter 3. Society as Machine. pp. 41-62.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    5. Week of September 23
      • Tuesday, September 24: Students receive first accounting of learning evidence submitted for a grade.
        See Evidence of Learning.

      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability. Chapter 4. On the sources of Young Bakhtin's Ethics (Kant, Vvedenskij, Simmel, Cohen) pp. 89-108.
      • Pia Lara. Moral Textures. Chapter 3. Feminism as an Illocutionary Model.. pp. 68-80.
      • Rigney. The Metaphorical Society. Chapter 4. Society as War. pp. 63-80.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    6. Week of September 30
      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability. Chapter 5. Action and Eros. (Kant-Weber-Bakhtin) pp. 109-123.
      • Pia Lara. Moral Textures. Chapter 4. Autonomy and Authenticity as Textures of the Moral Subject. pp. 81-91.
      • Rigney. The Metaphorical Society. Chapter 5. Society as Legal Order. pp. 81-100.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    7. Week of October 7
      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability. Chapter 6. Reflexive Subjectivity. (Mead-Bakhtin) pp. 125-141.
      • Pia Lara. Moral Textures. Chapter 5. Narrative Cultural Interweavings: Between Facts and Fiction.. pp. 92-104.
      • Rigney. The Metaphorical Society. Chapter 6. Society as Market. pp. 101-120.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    8. Week of October 14
      • Review of the first hundred or so pages of each book. Recall that you will probably be reading only two of them.

      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability. Chapter 7. Citizenship and National Identity. pp. 143-165.
      • Pia Lara. Moral Textures. Chapter 6. Justice and Solidarity: Women in the Public Sphere. pp. 107-119.
      • Rigney. The Metaphorical Society. Chapter 7. Society as Game. pp. 121-141.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    9. Week of October 21
      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability. Chapter 8. A Dialogue on the Nation in Postnational Times. pp. 167-199.
      • Pia Lara. Moral Textures. Chapter 7. The Moral Foundation of Recognition: A Critical Revision of Three Models. pp. 120-1445.
      • Rigney. The Metaphorical Society. Chapter 8. Society as Theaater. pp. 143-161.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    10. Week of October 28
      • Nielsen. The Norms of Answerability. Chapter 9. Conclusion. On Culture and the Political.. pp. 201-207.
      • Pia Lara. Moral Textures. Chapter 8. Feminist Models of Recognition: Problems of Multiculturalism. pp. 146-164.
      • Rigney. The Metaphorical Society. Chapter 9. Society as Discourse. pp. 163-198.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    11. Week of November 4
      • Pia Lara. Moral Textures. Conclusion. pp. 165-171.
      • Rigney. The Metaphorical Society. Postscript. A Guide to Metaphorical Analysis.. pp. 199-212.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    12. Week of November 11

    13. Week of November 18

    14. Week of November 25

    15. Week of December 2
      • Friday, December 6, is the last day of classes.

      • Review and Class Presentations.
      • Site Learning Module for Week 1, including study and practice materials. Online only.

    16. Week of December 9
      • Exams: December 9-13. Because we consider exams structurally violent and inadequate measures of learning, there will be no exam in this class. The time will be available for face-to-face interaction amongst ourselves.
      • Students receive final accounting of learning evidence submitted for a grade.
        See Evidence of Learning.

    17. Week of December 16
        • Grades Due.