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	  Sat, 28 Jun 1997 12:58:46 -0400 (EDT)
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 12:58:46 -0400 (EDT)
Message-ID: <970628125845_816271928@emout02.mail.aol.com>
To: socgrad@csf.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: Intro Sociology Course
Charles,
Either in addition to or instead of doing a "sample" of many of the various
sections of sociology (like crim, work and occupations, gender, culture,
etc.) I would recommend spending some time really helping students learn what
it means to think sociologically.  I think this means more than just exposing
them to the various sections.  For example, spend some time on things like:
What is a perspective?
What is science?
What is social science?
What is sociology? etc.....

Then, once they have an idea what sociology is (as compared to psychology or
religion or whatever), you can tackle fun subjects like "freedom" or
something, and figure out how to think about such things sociologically.

This is how I was taught, and it totally sparked my sociological imagination.
 I was taught by Joel Charon, using the intro book he had written.  He also
has something called Ten Questions, which I think is a neat book.  He's very
heavy into symbolic interactionism, so that's definitely the slant of his
stuff.  But it's very fun!  The ten question include:
What does it mean to be human?
Why do we believe what we do?
Does the individual really make a difference?

We also read Peter Berger's Invitation to Sociology, which I think rocks.

These are just some suggestions of mine.  Good luck!
Ivy Kennelly
U Georgia