Jinwoo Lee

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course introduces students to the sociological study of health and illness. More specifically, this course examines the ways in which key sociological variables shape and explain the health and illness of the US population. This course covers following topics: socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, gender, family, and psychosocial factors. 

COURSE MATERIALS

Books:   Mirowsky, John and Catherine Ross. 2003. Social Causes of Psychological Distress.

Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter/Transaction.

 Mirowsky, John and Catherine Ross. 2003. Education, Social Status, and Health.

Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter/Transaction.

Journal articles and book chapters: See course calendar. (Available through the course website)

GRADING

Your grade will be determined by the three grading criteria. First, you will have three in-class exams. Each exam is worth 25% of the final grade and is going to be administered during regular class meetings. Next, you will have two take-home assignments. Each assignment is worth 10% of the final grade. The detail will be provided. Finally, 5% of your final grade will be determined by attendance.

 

Grading Item

%

Date or Due

 

Grading Scale

Exam 1

25

2/15 (F)

 

A (93≥ %), A- (90-92%)

Exam 2

25

3/29 (F)

 

B+ (87-89%), B (83-86%), B- (80-82%)

Exam 3

25

5/3 (F)

 

C+ (77-79%), C (73-76%), C- (70-72%)

Assignment 1

10

3/8 (F)

 

D+ (67-69%), D (63-66%), D- (60-62%)

Assignment 2

10

4/26 (F)

 

F  < 60%

Attendance

5

10 random dates

 

P  ≥ 70%

Total

100

 

 

             

 

EXTRA CREDIT

In addition to these three grading criteria, a couple of students will have a chance of upgrading the grade to the next level (awarded up to 3 grade points) if they choose and are being selected to present the combined assignment. The detail will be provided as the semester progresses. 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course introduces you to a perspective that emphasizes the role of social factors in shaping health inequality in the US. The fact that some people are healthier than others and understanding factors that create and explain those variations will be our primary concern. We will study following topics: class, race, gender, family, and psychosocial factors. The primary objective of this course is to understand how social causes have consequences for health and well-being.

COURSE MATERIALS

1.      Text book: 

Mirowsky, John and Catherine Ross. 2003. Social Causes of Psychological Distress. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter. [available at the University Co-op (2244 Guadalupe)]

2.      All other readings (journal articles and book chapters) will be posted on the Blackboard (courses.utexas.edu).

GRADING

Your grade is based on THREE items:  in-class exams, take-home assignments, and attendance.

Exam We will have three in-class exams. All three exams are a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions and each exam is worth 25% of the final grade. All exams will be held during regular class meetings in the date specified. Note that there is NO exam during the final exam period because we do not have final exam.

Assignment You will have two take-home assignments. Each assignment is worth 10% of the final grade. I will announce the detail about topics in class and post the information on Blackboard. NO assignments will be accepted after the end of class at the due date without excuses listed in the Course Policies.

Attendance Finally, attendance is worth 5% of the final grade. Attendance will be taken 10 times on a random basis throughout the semester. Each student can have 3 absences of the 10 attendance calls without penalty. After this, all absences will result in a 1 point deduction up to 5 points (%).

 

 

 

Grading Item

%

 

 

Grading Scale

Exam 1

25

 

 

A (93≥ %), A- (90-92%)

Exam 2

25

 

 

B+ (87-89%), B (83-86%), B- (80-82%)

Exam 3

25

 

 

C+ (77-79%), C (73-76%), C- (70-72%)

Assignment 1

10

 

 

D+ (67-69%), D (63-66%), D- (60-62%)

Assignment 2

10

 

 

F  < 60%

Attendance

5

 

 

P  ≥ 70%

Total

100

 

 

             

 

 

This course introduces you to a perspective that emphasizes the role of social factors in shaping inequality in health and well-being. We will study following topics: definitions and measures of various types of health; the patterns of health disparity-SES, race/ethnicity, gender; family; and psychosocial factors that may account for why/how those patterns exist. The primary objective of this course is to understand how social causes have consequences for health and well-being.

Description: 

This course introduces you to a perspective that emphasizes the role of social factors in shaping inequality in health and well-being. We will study following topics: definitions and measures of various types of health; the patterns of health disparity—SES, race/ethnicity, gender and family; and psychosocial explanations that may account for why/how those patterns exist. The primary objective of this course is to understand how social causes have consequences for health and well-being. 

 

This course introduces you to the social distribution of health and well-being. We will critically examine how social statuses and roles affect physical and mental health. Moreover, we will pay particular attention to the mechanisms through which social causes have consequences in health and well-being. This course emphasizes themes such as gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and roles/social relationships, all of which are inherent forces that may generate social inequality in health and well-being, thus serve as major interests to medical sociologists. In this class, we will emphasize diversity, heterogeneity, and inequality, and discuss how medical sociologists study the increasing complexity of health processes. The objectives for this course are to become critical thinkers about social antecedents of individual health outcomes.