TEACHSOC: Sociology and professionalization

[Anne Eisenberg]

 Let me heartily echo Ray's and Kathleen's comments about the importance of sociology student socialization.  One of the things we tend not to do well enough is to convey a clear conception of the academic and scholarly aspects of sociology.   Reading journal articles is an important aspect of that socialization.  It forces students to take the time to read, think and consider the issues raised in a journal article.   Additionally - one of our roles, as teachers, is to model the skills necessary for undertstanding a range of ideas, including difficult scholarly ideas.   Anne F. Eisenberg Assistant Professor Department of Sociology SUNY-Geneseo 123D Sturges Hall Geneseo, NY  14454 716-245-5447 (office) 716-245-5337 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: Ray Muller To: Michael DeCesare Cc: teachsoc@googlegroups.com Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 1:42 PM Subject: TEACHSOC: : List of Sociology Journals Hi Mike, I do agree with up (up to a point). I do however feel that sociological journals help socialize sociology majors into the discipline. Many of our students are improperly socialized into the major and, when asked, have an exceedingly hard time defining what sociology is, let alone how to think sociologically about a social issue.  Journal articles showcase (a) the difference between a properly narrow sociological topics for research papers and the typical paper titles we get (e.g. for my Sociology of Religion class, I get "reports" an Scientology, Women and Islam, Abortion and Catholicism), (b) it helps them better understand how the systematic application of sociological concepts, theories, issues, and concerns helps ensure a properly sociological paper, (c) well written journal articles (and there are some out there...) give students a sense of how a sociological paper should to be written and organized, (d) finally, I think it is also important for students to push themselves a bit, explore the literature, and -especially - learn to deal with the frustration of understanding only bits and pieces of what they read. I remember how I once struggled (sometimes still do), but practice does help (esp. if you go on to grad. school).   Thanks,Ray   From: teachsoc@googlegroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Michael DeCesare Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 11:47 AM To: teachsoc@googlegroups.com Subject: TEACHSOC: Re: List of Sociology Journals Hi everyone,   I think John raises some valid and interesting issues. Among other things, he asked about the proportion of articles we can expect students to understand. I'd like to add another, related question: Is it important for students to even read the articles that appear in our journals?   It seems to me that there's a reasonable case to be made that much of the work that's published in our journals--and not just the top-tier ones--is not only incomprehensible to people who aren't thoroughly trained in statistics, as John pointed out, but is also perceived to be trivial and/or irrelevant to lots of sociologists. So why is it important for our undergraduates to read the latest ASR, AJS, or Social Forces articles--especially when not many of us even read them?   I ask because aside from using them to teach students the differences between scholarly and non-scholarly work, it's increasingly difficult for me to justify requiring students to read the latest and greatest articles from our discipline's journals.   Stirring the pot,   Mike! ****************************** Michael DeCesare California State University, Northridge Department of Sociology 336 Santa Susana Hall 18111 Nordhoff Street Northridge, CA 91330-8318 818.677.7198 818.677.2059 (Fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.csun.edu/~mdecesare ----- Original Message ----- From: John Glass To: teachsoc@googlegroups.com Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 8:26 AM Subject: TEACHSOC: List of Sociology Journals just curious...has anyone ever asked students about whether or not they understand journal articles? i think it is an unwarranted assumption that directing students to journals is going to assist them in learning material within our discipline. let's face it, how many of the articles can we expect undergraduates to understand given the increasing complexity of statistical analyses? how many do WE understand? and we expect students to use current research to write term papers?   i have asked students to pick a journal article, read it, rate their level of undertanding (likert scale of 1 - 5) and then discuss what they DID understand and what they DIDN'T understand. it was an interesting assignment...for me. has made me reconsider things like "research" papers.   something to think about?   john   John E. Glass, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology Division of Social & Behavioral Sciences Colin County Community College Preston Ridge Campus 9700 Wade Boulevard Frisco, TX 75035 +1-972-377-1622 http://iws.ccccd.edu/jglass/ [EMAIL PROTECTED]   "We are more concerned about the discovery of knowledge than with its dissemination" B. F. Skinner --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to teachsoc@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---