how would (do) you teach theory?

Like Andy, I’m thinking through a graduate theory course (required for our major). I’m not sure how to do it. So I ask your advice. I could do a “classic” Marx, Weber, Durkheim course with a few moderns thrown in. But my concern is it makes theory seem like a subfield of sociology (or intellectual [...]

recent theory for sociology grad students

The time has come to plan my syllabus for fall, 2009, graduate social theory. Last semester I screwed it up (yes, for those of you in the class, I admit it!) — I assigned a newish book I hadn’t read, by a reputable author, which turned out to be awful. The class was sporting about [...]

i don’t get it (a rant)

So I guess I, too, am unhealthily obsessed with Tom Friedman. I won’t mince words: I think he is an idiot. But he’s also the mouthpiece of a set of “ideas” that seem to be a media consensus. Friedman tells us his dream solution to our current crisis: “President Obama announced today that he had [...]

the kind of promotion no money will buy

I’m going out on a limb to declare mine the first sociology course podcast featured by iTunes:

religion

This new survey on religion is getting a lot a press. Some findings (stolen from CNN): • “Born-again” or “evangelical” Christianity is on the rise, while the percentage who belong to “mainline” congregations such as the Episcopal or Lutheran churches has fallen. One in three Americans consider themselves evangelical, and the number of people associated [...]

ask a scatterbrain: recommending reviewers

When I was in grad school, someone I knew submitted an article to ASR with a cover letter suggesting a few reviewers who might be good for the article. The rejection came back in a snide letter noting that it was reject even though it was sent to some of “your hand-picked reviewers.” It strongly [...]

what has the economy done to you?

I like confessions. That’s why I blog. And tell personal stuff when I do. I kinda used to be a Marxist. Then I went to graduate school. I became more analytical, gave upon the labor theory of value, lost my commitment, and became someone who no longer identified as a Marxist. I can’t say that [...]

what is the unemployment rate?

With new job losses, it’s at 8.1%. If you include people who have stopped looking, we’re talking 9.3%. If we’re talking about people who work part time but want full time work, we’re talking 14.8%. What else am I missing? We could count the prison population, bumping it up to 16%… Other things? This graph [...]

best. comic. ever.

Finding this funny is an antecedent variable to being regarded as my friend. You have been warned. Special thanks to xkcd for the awesome.

the funniest thing i’ve read in a long long time.

Is right here. Thanks to my colleague, Josh Whitford, for sending it to me! I wish to high heaven that Thomas Friedman himself has read it. I think I might email him the link…

when push comes to shove, do i really believe in democracy?*

As most of you probably know, California’s Supreme Court is reviewing the passing of proposition 8 right now. Tina and I have written a bunch about this and same-sex politics here (Tina knows a lot about this stuff, I follow as an interested observer. See here, here, here, here and here). What’s tough about this [...]

ask a scatterbrain: editing ethics

This question comes from a professional editor who has a PhD in sociology. What do people see as the ethical boundaries for editors particularly with respect to students or people on the job market?  At one extreme, there is ghost writing.  This is part of the commercial publishing business, but is obviously cheating and unethical [...]

you know you want one

Given how much time I spend talking about statistics, several of my undergraduates recently brought a rather awesome website to my attention. I refer to Sassy Statistics, which offers a fine line of stats humor apparel. No, really, they do, and they’re quite funny. Just check out this sample:

ask a scatterbrain: discussion sections

This course I am teaching next quarter has discussion section, taught by TAs. This will be the sixth time I’ve taught a course with an accompanying discussion section, and I still feel like I have no real idea of how to structure a course that uses a discussion section effectively, other than that it is [...]

more evidence that people giving advice on managing work and family don’t understand how busy i am

From a NY Times piece that claims a shared workspace will keep family members on the same page: Take a large, old frame from a flea market or your attic, cut a corkboard to size, cover it with fabric and place it in the frame. Tack pieces of ribbon on the corkboard to create separate [...]