Course Description
The structure of work and industry with an emphasis on the rise of management and the modern corporation, the growth and decline of labor unions, and the emergence of service industries.
Athena Title
WORK AND INDUSTRY
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in SOCI 2750
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to how sociologists have analyzed work and workers in modern industrial societies. On completion of the course, students should (1) have a basic knowledge of the nature of work and economic organizations; (2) be familiar with some of the important debates and issues in the study of work and workers and with the concepts necessary for understanding these debates and issues; and (3) be able to evaluate critically studies in the sociology of work and to assess their strengths and weaknesses. Students will be asked to demonstrate their mastery of the course content in written work that is appropriate for an academic context. Students will be asked to demonstrate their mastery of the course content in speech that is appropriate for an academic context.
Topical Outline
The following topics may be covered in this course: I. The historical and sociological significance of work II. Control of work and workers III. Job finding and career choice IV. The unofficial side of the workplace V. Labor unions VI. Managers VII. The Professions VIII. Service and sales work IX. Marginal and stigmatized work X. The globalization of work XI. Work and family XII. Work and gender
Syllabus