GLCb1006 Main Issues in Sociology

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Pospěch, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Iva Šmídová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Olivera Tesnohlidkova (lecturer)
Magdalena Michlová (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Pavel Pospěch, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: doc. Mgr. Pavel Pospěch, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites
20
none
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course introduces to the key issues in contemporary sociological discussions. Drawing on classical texts in the discipline, it addresses key topics, such as power, alienation, rationality and performativity and follows the development of thought on these topics from the classical thinkers to contemporary applications. The course is structured into two parts, the first one (8 units) focusing on general sociological theory and the introduction to key sociological terms, and the second one (4 units) dealing with gender theories and with the multiple ways gender issues are entangled in societal arrangements and institutions.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students will be able to:
- Identify key topics in the contemporary discourses in sociology and gender studies
- Use the key terms developed in sociology and gender studies to discuss contemporary developments and apply these terms to empirical cases
- Compare and contrast the major approaches towards the study of society, including interpretative approaches, interactionism, social constructivism, Marxism and others
- Students will be fluent in the basic vocabulary of sociological theory
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction: key issues in sociology, organization of the course
  • 2. The power of society
  • Key thinkers: Émile Durkheim, Benedict Anderson, Jeffrey Alexander
  • 3. Alienation and commodification
  • Key thinkers: Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci
  • 4. Modernity and rationalization
  • Key thinkers: Max Weber, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer
  • 5. Social forms and modern culture
  • Key thinkers: Georg Simmel, Jean-Francois Lyotard
  • 6. Social construction of reality
  • Key thinkers: Peter Berger, Thomas Luckmann, Alfred Schutz
  • 7. Reading week
  • (no classes)
  • 8. Distinction
  • Key thinkers: Pierre Bourdieu, Robert Putnam
  • 9. Power
  • Key thinkers: Michel Foucault, Norbert Elias
  • 10. Social structures and gender
  • Key thinkers: Sandra Harding
  • 11. Understanding gender in interactions
  • Key thinkers: Candace West, Don Zimmerman
  • 12. Gender as performance
  • Key thinkers: Judith Butler, Iris Marion Young
  • 13. Sexuality and normativity
  • Key thinkers: Michel Foucault
Literature
  • Simmel, G. 1991. Money in modern culture. Theory, culture and society 8: 17-31
  • Giddens, Anthony, and Philip W. Sutton. 2010. Giddens Sociology 6e. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Simmel, G. 1997. The Conflict in Modern Culture. In: Frisby, D. & Featherstone, M. (eds). Simmel on Culture. London: Sage. Pp. 75-100.
  • Young, I. M. 1994. "Gender as Seriality: Thinking about Women as a Social Collective". SIGNS -CHICAGO. 19 (3): 713.
  • West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. 1987. Doing Gender. Gender & Society, 1(2), 125–151.
  • APPELROUTH, Scott. Classical and contemporary sociological theory : text and readings. Edited by Laura Desfor Edles. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Pine Forge Press, 2012, xxiv, 862. ISBN 9781412992336. info
  • BUTLER, Judith. Gender trouble : feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge, 1999, xxxiii, 22. ISBN 0415924995. info
  • FOUCAULT, Michel. Discipline and punish : the birth of the prison. 1st pub. London: Penguin Books, 1991, 333 s., ob. ISBN 0-14-013722-X. info
  • FOUCAULT, Michel. The history of sexuality. Translated by Robert J. Hurley. New York: Vintage Books, 1990, vii, 293. ISBN 0394751221. info
  • BOURDIEU, Pierre. Distinction : a social critique of the judgement of taste. Translated by Richard Nice. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984, xiv, 613. ISBN 0674212770. info
  • BERGER, Peter L. and Thomas LUCKMANN. The social construction of reality : a treatise in the sociology of knowledge. 1st pub. London: Penguin Press, 1967, 249 s. ISBN 0140135480. info
Teaching methods
The teaching will consist of two weekly units (lecture with class discussion and seminar elements). Individual preparation is expected, as students will be assigned a reading list for the course. Students’ participation in class discussion is expected and will be strongly encouraged.
Assessment methods
To finish the course successfully, students are expected to attend the lectures and participate in class discussions. 3 position papers (30% of the grade) will be submitted during the semester at specified deadlines. A final essay (70% of the grade), to be submitted at the end of the semester, will discuss a common assignment specified at the beginning of the semester.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/GLCb1006