SOC 230(F) Craft and Consciousness
A sociological examination of how craft shapes consciousness. How and in what ways do work experiences shape habits of mind, sensibilities, moral rules-in-use, ways of seeing and knowing, images of our society, and world views? How do men and women in different occupations and professions establish criteria of validity and reliability to assess their work experiences? How do they develop and internalize rules for discernment that enable them to sort through multiple and always conflicting versions and representations of social reality? How do they make moral judgments on complex business, political, and social issues? How and with what results do common work experiences shape close-knit occupational communities in a modern society? The course will pay particular attention to the functionally interconnected but experientially disparate occupational worlds of great metropolises. The course will host men and women from a wide range of occupations and professions-from police detectives to policy analysts, journalists, filmmakers, artists, educators, attorneys, corporate executives, and scientists-to discuss their work and work worlds. Among the readings are: Everett C. Hughes, The Sociological Eye: Work, Self, and Society; Joseph Bensman, Dollars and Sense and Craft and Consciousness; and Adriano Tilgher, Homo Faber.
Format: discussion seminar. Requirements: intensive reading and preparation for guest visits to the seminar; full participation in interviewing guests; ten 1000-word papers, each summarizing and analyzing students' interviews with guest/s; and a final term paper of 5000 words.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 15 (expected: 15). Preference given to freshmen, sophomores, and majors in anthropology and sociology.
Hour: JACKALL