Course Descriptions

Honors Social Science: Classical and Contemporary Social Theory

Drawing on primary sources, this seminar introduces social theory as the systematic investigation of social life: how it is organized, continually transforms itself, is challenged by problems and conflicts, and is influenced by the behavior of groups and individuals. Topics in classical theory include social equality in democratic societies (Tocqueville), how social structure influences knowledge (Marx), individuals as influenced by the social collective (Durkheim), society as influenced by individual actors (Weber), how social structure influences even intimate relationships (Simmel), mass deception and manipulation through modern culture (Horkheimer and Adorno), and the relationship between the individual’s purposes and the needs of society (Merton). Contemporary topics include how rituals bind us together (Randall Collins), the nature of social cooperation and trust (Karen Cook, Russell Hardin, Margaret Levi), the social consequences of economic structure (Mark Granovetter), the phenomenon of racial difference (Orlando Patterson), power and inequality (Anthony Giddens), and the coming transformation of the nation state (Saskia Sassen).

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Classical Sociological Theory, 3rd ed. (2012). Calhoun, Gerteis, Moody, Pfaff, Virk, eds. Wiley-Blackwell

Contemporary Sociological Theory, 3rd ed. (2012). Calhoun, Gerteis, Moody, Pfaff, Virk, eds. Wiley-Blackwell

EVALUATION:

Average of four 5-page essays, adjusted for quality of class participation

ABOUT THE PROFESSOR:

Professor Gregg, who grew up in Berkeley, California, is a social and political theorist with a BA from Yale, a PhD from Princeton (in political science), and a PhD from the Free University of Berlin (in Philosophy). He is the author of Human Rights as Social Construction; Thick Moralities, Thin Politics: Social Integration across Communities of Belief; and Coping in Politics with Indeterminate Norms: A Theory of Enlightened Localism. He is completing a book on The Human Rights State and another titled Second Nature: The Genetic Self-Transformation of the Human Species. He is also engaged in a long-term project that draws on files of East German dissidents monitored by the secret police (“Stasi”) until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. These projects all deploy classical and contemporary sociological theory to solve problems in political philosophy. He has taught at universities in China, Japan, and Germany. The College of Liberal Arts Committees on Research and Teaching awarded him the Silver Spurs Fellowship in recognition of outstanding scholarship and teaching. He is partial to theater and hopes someday to become a playwright.

This course provides an introduction to macroeconomics in a political economy setting. The course begins by addressing the traditional goals of macroeconomics policy, such as low unemployment and inflation, and then turns to discussion of policies that can be used to achieve them, such as taxes, expenditures, and interest rate changes. The third part of the course then links the policy tools to the goals through consumption, investment, wages, and prices.

The style of teaching is Socratic with considerable emphasis on understanding macroeconomics in the context of the economic problems experienced in the U.S. since World War II. Yet by this method students are expected to gain an understanding of macroeconomic theory at the level usually required of sophomore level economics students.

Finally, there is a course paper to permit students to develop their own ideas about an economic problem of interest. Some use of computer models will also augment our learning.

Texts/Readings:

David A. Kendrick, Goals and Policies for the Economy (mimeo)

Robert E. Hall and David H. Papell, Macroeconomics: Economic Growth, Fluctuations, and Policy

Paul Krugman, Peddling Prosperity

Assignments:

Two one-hour exams:           44%

Some exercises:                   13%

Term paper:                         15%

Final exam:                          28%

About the Professor:

David Kendrick, Sen. Ralph Yarborough Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts, has been teaching macroeconomics to Plan II students since 1988. His specialties are macroeconomics and computational economics.  Professor Kendrick holds a doctorate from M.I.T. and was the winner of a President's Associates Teaching Award in 1991-92. He has published nine books.