Department of Sociology | University of Waterloo

Undergraduate Courses

Sociology of Knowledge (Soc 404)

Sociology Department, University of Waterloo (Fall 2004)

Course Instructor: Dr. C. Barry McClinchey	Meeting Time: Thursdays 1:30pm to 3:20pm
Office: Room 2056, PAS	Location: HH 334
e-mail: bmcclinc@watarts.uwaterloo.ca	Office Hours: 2:30 to 4:00 pm Mondays
Phone: 888-4567 ext: 3547	10:30 to 11:30 am Thursdays

Course Description:

The sociology of knowledge explores the social origins of thought. The course will focus on addressing classical and contemporary theory on the relationship of social thought to social action, comparative value systems and the role of specialized knowledge in society. In the course of our discussions, students will be expected to effectively critique the relevant theoretical explanations of knowledge in both historical and contemporary contexts.

Through the weekly seminar sessions, this course will provide a basic overview of the field and an opportunity for the more detailed analysis of some its classic works.

Required Reading:

1. Courseware Package,

Sociology 404 2004. Available at the University Bookstore.

(This Courseware Package contains a selection of materials from the Suggested Reading List.)

2. Additional materials from the Suggested Reading List will be available at the Dana Porter Library Reserve Desk. Other titles may only be available from the stacks located in the University Libraries.

3. The Suggested Reading List contains a sample of possible resources for Sociology of Knowledge. Students are expected to demonstrate through the seminar presentation, assigned essay and class participation an informed understanding of the relevant literature that is related to their essay and the discussion topics.

Course assessment requirements:

Class participation/attendance 15%

Seminar presentation 20%

Essay 65%

1. Seminar participation is essential. Students will be assessed for the efforts they make to contribute to the education of their colleagues and themselves. Marks will be assigned for attendance and participation. Details of the required seminar presentation will be discussed during the class of September 16, 2004.

2. The required assignment will be essay format. The topic and expectations will be outlined during the class of September 16, 2004.

"Note on avoidance of academic offenses: All students registered in the courses of the Faculty of Arts are expected to know what constitutes an academic offense, to avoid committing academic offenses, and to take responsibility for their academic actions. When the commission of an offense is established, disciplinary penalties will be imposed in accord with Policy #71 (Student Academic Discipline). For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students are directed to consult the summary of Policy #71 (Student Academic Discipline) which is supplied in the Undergraduate Calendar (p.1:11). If you need help in learning how to avoid offenses such as plagiarism, cheating, and double submission, or if you need clarification of aspects of the discipline policy, ask your course instructor for guidance. Other resources regarding the discipline policy are your academic advisor and the Undergraduate Associate Dean."

Grievance: “Students who believe that they have been wrongfully or unjustly penalized have the right to grieve; refer to policy #70, Student Grievance, http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/policy70.html.”

Meeting Dates and Topics:

1. Thursday September 16, 2004.

Classical theory and The Sociology of Knowledge

An overview.

Required Reading:

Curtis, J.E., (Introduction) The Sociology of Knowledge, Praeger Publishers, New York. 1970. pp. 1-64.

2. Thursday September 23, 2004.

Influential thoughts on the development of a Sociology of Knowledge

Required Reading:

Mannheim, Karl, AThe Sociology of Knowledge@ from Ideology and Utopia (1929)

3. Thursday September 30, 2004.

The Social Construction of Reality

Berger and Luckman

Required Reading:

Selections from:

Berger, Peter and Luckman, Thomas, The Social Construction of Reality,

4. Thursday October 7, 2004.

Knowledge and Social Class.

Theories of social and cultural capital.

Required Reading:

Selections from:

Bourdieu, Pierre, Capital, Habitus and Field.

5. Thursday October 14, 2004.

The Legitimization of Knowledge: Ideology and Knowledge

Establishing the boundaries of knowledge: academic, artistic, scientific and religious

Required Reading:

Marx, Karl and Engles, The German Ideology - Part 1 (1846)

6. Thursday October 21, 2004.

A Classic Examination of the Sociology of Science

Required Reading:

Merton, Robert, AParadigm for the Sociology of Knowledge@ from the Sociology of Science. (1973.)

7. Thursday October 28, 2004.

The Gatekeepers of Knowledge

Required Reading:

Crane, Dana, AThe Gatekeepers of Science: Some Factors Affecting the Selection of Articles for Scientific Journals@., The Sociology of Knowledge, (Curtis) 1970

8. Thursday November 4, 2004.

What is truth?

Required Reading:

Fuchs, Stephen, The Professional Quest for Truth: A Social Theory of Science and Knowledge

9. Thursday November 11, 2004.

Education: A Cultural Perspective on Knowledge

Ballantine, Jeanne, H., The Sociology of Education: A Systematic Analysis. Chapter 10 pp. 292-333.

10. Thursday November 18, 2004.

Aspects of Gender and the allocation of knowledge.

Required Reading:

Briskin, L. AFeminist Pedagogy; Teaching and Learning Liberation@ from Sociology of Education

11. Thursday November 25, 2004.

The Corporate Framework of Knowledge

Buchbinder, Howard, and Newson, Janice, Corporate-university linkages in Canada: transforming a public institution. Higher Education, Vol. 21, pp 355-379.

12. Thursday December 2, 2004.

The Information Highway

The Internet and Aknowledge@

A critical analysis of the AInformation Age@

Course Overview and Review

Revisit the “Masters”

Course Essay is Due.

Suggested Readings:

Berger, Peter and Luckmann, Thomas, The Social Construction of Reality. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1966.

Cetina, Karin Knorr, ALaboratory Studies: The Cultural Approach to the Study of Science@ from Handbook of Science and technology Studies (1995).

Clifford, James, and Marcus, George, eds. Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography

Collins, Harry and Pinch, Trevor, AEdible Knowledge: The Chemical Transfer of Memory@ from The Golem: What Everyone Should Know About Science (1993).

Collins, Harry M., AReplicating the TEA-Laser: Maintaining Scientific Knowledge@ from Changing Order: Replication and Induction in Scientific Practice (1985).

Curtis, J.E., (Introduction) The Sociology of Knowledge, Praeger Publishers, New York. 1970.

De Gre, Gerard, AThe Sociology of Knowledge and the Problem of Truth.@ The Journal of the History of Ideas 2, 1941: 110-115.

Derrida, Jacques, AStructure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences@ and ADifférance@

Foucault, Michel, Discipline and Punishment: The Birth of the Prison

Freud, Sigmund, Chap. VII of The Interpretation of Dreams and Civilization and Its Discontents

Fuchs, Stephan, The Professional Quest for Truth: A Social Theory of Science and Knowledge Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1992.

Kuhn, Thomas, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970 (originally 1962).

Latour, Bruno and Woolgar, Steve, Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientjfic Facts. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983 (originally 1979).

Mannheim, Karl, AThe Sociology of Knowledge@ from Ideology and Utopia (1929).

Marx , Karl and Engels, Friedrich, The German Ideology - Part I (1846).

Merton, Robert, AParadigm for the Sociology of Knowledge@ from The Sociology of Science (1973; originally published in 1945).

Merton, Robert, AThe Puritan Spur to Science@ (originally 1938), AThe Normative Structure of Science@ (originally 1942), and AThe Matthew Effect in Science@ (originally 1968), all from The Sociology of Science (1973).

Nietzsche, Friedrich, On the Genealogy of Morals

Popper, Karl, ASociology of Knowledge@ from The Open Society and Its Enemies, Vol. II (1962).

Stehr, Nico and Meja, Volker, AThe Classical Sociology of Knowledge Revisited.@Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization 4, 1982: 33-50.