International Trade and Business (English)
Bachelor TR-NQF-HE: Level 6 QF-EHEA: First Cycle EQF-LLL: Level 6

Course Introduction and Application Information

Course Code: UNI242
Course Name: Basic Issues in Sociology
Semester: Spring
Course Credits:
ECTS
5
Language of instruction: English
Course Condition:
Does the Course Require Work Experience?: No
Type of course: University Elective
Course Level:
Bachelor TR-NQF-HE:6. Master`s Degree QF-EHEA:First Cycle EQF-LLL:6. Master`s Degree
Mode of Delivery: E-Learning
Course Coordinator: Dr. Öğr. Üy. SELEN YANMAZ
Course Lecturer(s): Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Selen Yanmaz
Course Assistants:

Course Objective and Content

Course Objectives: This course aims to bring out and nurture the students’ sociological imagination in understanding social issues. The sociological imagination intends to show them the relationship of their personal biography with the social structure, in the socio-historical context that they are living in. It suggests that the personal problems they deal on a daily basis have strong ties to the larger social issues and thus have causes and origins that also lie outside the individual.
One of the central aims of this course is to challenge the students to think more critically about social issues. It aims to teach them about social contruction in relation to socio- historical contexts and thus critically analyze social life.
Course Content: This course is an exploration of basic issues in sociology based on the current research and literature as well as fundemental social theories.It examines the linkages between social structures/institutions, culture and human experience. Students learn to follow major discussions around basic issues in sociology and critique popular discourses from a critical sociological perspective.

Learning Outcomes

The students who have succeeded in this course;
1) Students will have the ability to understand theories and theoretical perspectives in sociology and social sciences.
2) Students will gain the knowledge and skills to interpret social, economic and historical facts from a sociological perspective by rational thinking in social, economic and historical context.
3) Students can think critically when they evaluate the problems of sociology or other related fields, and can judge under a critical point of view theoretical and empirical studies conducted in those fields.
4) Students develop an interest in the problems of the modern societies and they can evaluate those problems within a wide perspective.
5) Students can apply their knowledge and research skills in interdisciplinary studies and can transfer those skills to other disciplines.

Course Flow Plan

Week Subject Related Preparation
1) Introduction
2) Sosyoloji Nedir? • Giddens et al. Chapter 1 – What is Sociology?
3) Sosyoloji Çalışmak • Giddens et al. Chapter 2 – Asking and Answering Sociological Questions • Thio, Alex and Jim D. Taylor. Social Problems. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning 2012, “Introduction to Social Problems” Pages: 1-13 (available online at http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763793098/93098_CH01_Thio.pdf)
4) Socialization and Social Interaction • Giddens et al. Chapter 4 – Socialization and the Life Course (pg 91 – 107 and pg 110 to end of chapter) • Giddens et al. Chapter 5 – Social Interaction and Everyday life in the Age of the Internet (pg 121-133 and 136 to end of chapter)
5) Midterm
6) Culture, Class, and Consumption • Giddens et al. Chapter 3 – Culture and Society • Wright, Bradley. “Conspicuous consumption and your iPhone” (available online at http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2008/09/conspicuous-con.html) • Sternheimer, Karen. “Consuming Home” (available online at https://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2015/07/consuming-home.html#more) • Giddens et al. Chapter 8 – Stratification, Class and Inequality (From beginning of chapter to pg 236)
7) Culture, Class, and Consumption Giddens et al. Chapter 3 – Culture and Society • Wright, Bradley. “Conspicuous consumption and your iPhone” (available online at http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2008/09/conspicuous-con.html) • Sternheimer, Karen. “Consuming Home” (available online at https://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2015/07/consuming-home.html#more) Giddens et al. Chapter 8 – Stratification, Class and Inequality (From beginning of chapter to pg 236)
8) Gender • Giddens et al. Chapter 10 – Gender Inequality • Barber, Kristen. “The Well-Coiffed Man: Class, Race, and Heterosexual Masculinity in the Hair Salon” Gender&Society. 2008 22: 455 • Steinem, Gloria. “If Men Could Menstruate” in Ms. Magazine. 1978. (available online at http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/steinem.menstruate.html)
9) Gender • Giddens et al. Chapter 10 – Gender Inequality • Barber, Kristen. “The Well-Coiffed Man: Class, Race, and Heterosexual Masculinity in the Hair Salon” Gender&Society. 2008 22: 455 • Steinem, Gloria. “If Men Could Menstruate” in Ms. Magazine. 1978. (available online at http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/steinem.menstruate.html)
10) Race and Ethnicity Giddens et al. Chapter 11 – Race, Ethnicity, and Racism • Cole, Nicki Lisa. “What Is Racial Formation Theory?”. 2019. (available online at https://www.thoughtco.com/racial-formation-3026509)
11) Work, Economy, and Global Inequality • Giddens et al., Ch. 14 “Work and Economic Life” • Giddens et al., Ch. 9 “Global Inequality” • Giddens et al., Ch. 19 “Population, Urbanization and the Environment” (From “Population growth, Urbanization, and environmental Challenges” pg 674 to 681) • Giddens et al., Ch. 20 “Globalization in a Changing World” (From the beginning of the chapter, pg 689 to 705, From “Globalization and Inequality “ pg 711 to end of chapter) • Ghosh, Jayati. “150 years of 'Das Kapital': How relevant is Marx today?”. 2017. (available online at https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/08/150-years-das-kapital-relevant-marx-today-170817115417283.html) • Kaufman, Scott Eric “‘No one is making them stop’: Why corporations outsource catastrophe -and workers pay the price” (available online at http://www.salon.com/2015/07/06/no_one_is_making_them_stop_why_corporations_ outsource_catastrophe_and_workers_pay_the_price/)
12) Work, Economy, and Global Inequality • Giddens et al., Ch. 14 “Work and Economic Life” • Giddens et al., Ch. 9 “Global Inequality” • Giddens et al., Ch. 19 “Population, Urbanization and the Environment” (From “Population growth, Urbanization, and environmental Challenges” pg 674 to 681) • Giddens et al., Ch. 20 “Globalization in a Changing World” (From the beginning of the chapter, pg 689 to 705, From “Globalization and Inequality “ pg 711 to end of chapter) • Ghosh, Jayati. “150 years of 'Das Kapital': How relevant is Marx today?”. 2017. (available online at https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/08/150-years-das-kapital-relevant-marx-today-170817115417283.html) • Kaufman, Scott Eric “‘No one is making them stop’: Why corporations outsource catastrophe -and workers pay the price” (available online at http://www.salon.com/2015/07/06/no_one_is_making_them_stop_why_corporations_ outsource_catastrophe_and_workers_pay_the_price/)
13) Deviance, Social Control and Social Change • Giddens et al., Ch. 7 “Conformity, Deviance and Crime” • Jeffrey Reiman and Paul Leighton, The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and Criminal Justice, Ninth Edition. Boston: Pearson, 2010, “Introduction: Criminal Justice through the Looking Glass, or Winning by Losing” pg 20-27 • Essig, Kate. “Activism Or Slacktivism? How Social Media Hurts And Helps Student Activism” (available online at http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/activism-or-slacktivism- how-social-media-hurts-and-helps-student-activism) • Castells, Manuel. “Opening: Networking Minds, Creating Meaning, Contesting Power” pp 1- 20 in Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age. 2012. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
14) Wrap up

Sources

Course Notes / Textbooks: Giddens, Anthony, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P. Appelbaum, Deborah Carr. 2018.
Introduction to Sociology (Seagull Eleventh Edition).
References: Lecturer's notes

Course - Program Learning Outcome Relationship

Course Learning Outcomes

1

2

3

4

5
Program Outcomes
1) Has a broad and interdisciplinary perspective on international business and trade by the use of social sciences and mathematics,
2) Possess the knowledge and skills related to different functions and interactions of international business and trade.
3) Possess the knowledge and skills to interpret the data, concepts and ideas in the field of international business and trade with scientific and technological methods.
4) Use different theoretical approaches to understanding and solving various business and trade problems.
5) Explains the competitiveness of the countries with the requirements of international competition and interprets the functioning of the actors and regulatory structures in the international environment.
6) Understands the value of developing new trade projects and generating strategies within international market needs.
7) Solves complex business and global trade problems by using various statistical techniques and numerical methods and makes analyzes by using statistical programs effectively.
8) Uses a foreign language at the B1 General Level in terms of European Language Portfolio criteria according to the level of education.
9) Develops teamwork, negotiation, leadership and entrepreneurship skills.
10) Possess the knowledge of universal ethical values, social responsibility and sufficient legal and regulatory knowledge.
11) Develops positive attitudes related to lifelong learning and identifies individual learning needs and carries out studies to correct them.
12) Students will be able to communicate their ideas and solutions both written and orally, and present and publish them on both national and international platforms.
13) Uses information and communication technologies together with computer software at the advanced level of European Computer Using License required by the field.

Course - Learning Outcome Relationship

No Effect 1 Lowest 2 Average 3 Highest
       
Program Outcomes Level of Contribution
1) Has a broad and interdisciplinary perspective on international business and trade by the use of social sciences and mathematics,
2) Possess the knowledge and skills related to different functions and interactions of international business and trade.
3) Possess the knowledge and skills to interpret the data, concepts and ideas in the field of international business and trade with scientific and technological methods.
4) Use different theoretical approaches to understanding and solving various business and trade problems.
5) Explains the competitiveness of the countries with the requirements of international competition and interprets the functioning of the actors and regulatory structures in the international environment.
6) Understands the value of developing new trade projects and generating strategies within international market needs.
7) Solves complex business and global trade problems by using various statistical techniques and numerical methods and makes analyzes by using statistical programs effectively.
8) Uses a foreign language at the B1 General Level in terms of European Language Portfolio criteria according to the level of education.
9) Develops teamwork, negotiation, leadership and entrepreneurship skills.
10) Possess the knowledge of universal ethical values, social responsibility and sufficient legal and regulatory knowledge.
11) Develops positive attitudes related to lifelong learning and identifies individual learning needs and carries out studies to correct them.
12) Students will be able to communicate their ideas and solutions both written and orally, and present and publish them on both national and international platforms.
13) Uses information and communication technologies together with computer software at the advanced level of European Computer Using License required by the field.

Assessment & Grading

Semester Requirements Number of Activities Level of Contribution
Midterms 1 % 40
Final 1 % 60
total % 100
PERCENTAGE OF SEMESTER WORK % 40
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL WORK % 60
total % 100

Workload and ECTS Credit Calculation

Activities Number of Activities Preparation for the Activity Spent for the Activity Itself Completing the Activity Requirements Workload
Course Hours 14 0 3 42
Study Hours Out of Class 12 4 48
Midterms 1 12 1 13
Final 1 21 1 22
Total Workload 125