KYORIN UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN STUDIES

476 Miyashita-cho, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-8508, Japan

TEL (042) 691-0011 FAX (042) 691-8617

AMERICAN SOCIETY (1) & (2)

2012/13 Wednesday (3) 13:00-14:30 Prof. Fumie Kumagai

1. OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE E-mail: fkumagai@ks.kyorin-u.ac.jp

The U.S. presidential election will be held in November 2012. Thus, ever since the beginning of the year, the American public has been paying strong attention to the political and social issues in the country. Not only American Society, but also the world today in a sense symbolizes the issues of “Social Problems.” Why? In order to find the answer to the question, you may be very much interested in studying the course in “American Society Today.” American society is in the midst of dismay and upheaval., and its socio-cultural characteristics are extremely complicated. Nevertheless, we realized strong American ties to Japan through the Operation Tomodachi, one of its larges relief efforts in recent years, extended for the devastating East Japan Great Earthquake.

This course attempts to uncover the nature of diversity of American society and culture, not merely describing its characteristics but also investigating into causes of these phenomena. That is, rather than simply describing the phenomenon the course tries to assist the students to acquire skills to seek for causal relationships by asking why it is so. This approach will result in fostering the future oriented perspective.

English in this course is regarded as a lingua franca useful in global society. At first, readings for the course would appear tough if you are not familiar with practical and usable English. However, it is essential for you to acquire such English ability today. It is, therefore, hoped that this course will assist you to achieve this objective.

2. TEXTBOOK

Annual Editions: Social Problems 11/12 38th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2011 ($30.25).

(URL: http://catalogs.mhhe.com/mhhe/printProductDetails.do?isbn=0078050855 )

3. REFERENCES

● Fumie Kumagai, Ph.D. HP: http://members2.jcom.home.ne.jp/fkumagai/

● 熊谷文枝著書: http://members2.jcom.home.ne.jp/fkumagai/profile.html

● 清水克祐著『アメリカ州別文化事典』1986 名著普及会

● 熊谷文枝著『日本的生産システムｲﾝUSA』1996日本貿易振興会(JETRO)

● 熊谷文枝著『デジタルネットワーク社会の未来』1999ミネルヴァ書房

● 熊谷文枝著『21世紀アメリカの社会問題』2004勁草書房

● 熊谷文枝著『アメリカの家庭内暴力と虐待』2005ミネルヴァ書房

● 熊谷文枝・原田進安・佐藤淳子共著『熟年離婚再考』2010試論社

● Fumie Kumagai, Unmasking Japan Today: The Impact of Traditional Values on Modern Japanese Society. 1996, Praeger.

● Fumie Kumagai, Families in Japan: Changes, Continuities, and Regional Variations. 2008, University Press of America.

McGraw-Hill Education Web Sites URLs:

● McGraw Hill Educa;tion: http://catalogs.mhhe.com/mhhe/home.do

● Social Problems: http://catalogs.mhhe.com/mhhe/viewProductList.do?cnt=19&catid=927464

● Fumie Kumagai’s Home Page: http://members2.jcom.home.ne.jp/fkumagai/

● Examples of Sociology Links: http://members2.jcom.home.ne.jp/fkumagai/SocURLs/SocURLs.htm

● Kyorin-Gaigo eLearning Sites: http://61.195.175.183/gaigo/

● Kyorin-Gaigo eLearning Useful Links: http://61.195.175.183/gaigo/links/index.html

● Kyorin-eLearning English Studies: http://61.195.175.183/gaigo/links/englishlinks.htm

● Kyorin Universal Passport: 熊谷文枝「アメ社シラバス」:

https://portal.kyorin-u.ac.jp/unipa/faces/up/jg/Jgc00101A.jsp

4. COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING

It is your responsibility for reading assignments before attending each class session. If you are just interested in getting credits without really trying hard, this is not the right course for you. Nevertheless, it is all up to you if you would like to learn from the course. At the end of each session, in-class quizzes on CRV will be administered. Distributions toward the final grade are (1) Attendance =20%; (2) Quizzes=20%; and (3) Final Take-Home Exam=60%). Students who miss more than one-third of the class-meetings, and/or cheating will automatically receive a grade "D", i.e., a failure, regardless of the performance in other assignments of the course.

5. CLASS SCHEDULE: See the attached for Spring and Fall Semesters, respectively.

CLASS SCHEDULE

FOR AMERICAN SOCIETY (1) Micro Perspectives

SPRING SEMESTER 2012/13

Professor Fumie Kumagai

Department of Foreign Studies, Kyorin University

S-1. 4/11 Introduction & Organization of the Course

S-2. 4/18 US Diversities through Video

Video: In America vol.2 - Going Places

S-3. 4/25 Uniformity and Diversity through the Internet Maps

S-4. 5/2 (Study Day) – No In-Class Session

S-5. 5/9 Social Problems & Theoretical Perspectives

A/E#1: Social Problems: Definitions, Theories, and Analysis

S-6. 5/16 The Value System and the Moral Life of the United States

A/E#3: Spent

S-7. 5/23 Power Elite

A/E#4: Who Rules America?

S-8. 5/30 Immigration

A/E#11: Immigration Benefits America

S-9. 6/6 Social Stratification and Mobility

A/E#14:Goodbye, Horatio Alger

S-10. 6/13 The Rich and the Poor

A/E#15:The Myth of the “Culture of Poverty”

S-11. 6/20 Race and Ethnic Relations

A/E#11: Who We Are Now?

S-12. 6/27 Prejudice and Discrimination

A/E#20: Why We Hate

S-13. 7/4 Gender Discrimination

A/E#22: Great Expectations

S-14. 7/11 Sex Slavery

A/E#23: Human Rights, Sex Trafficking, and Prostitution

S-15. 7/18 Human Sexuality

A/E#24: Answers to Questions about Marriage Equality

(Exam 7/25 *The Final Take-Home Essay Due

(Submit to Kyomuka by 12:00 noon, No In-Class Session)

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL SUMMERVACATION!

CLASS SCHEDULE

FOR AMERICAN SOCIETY (2) Macro Perspectives

FALL SEMESTER 2011/12

Professor Fumie Kumagai

Department of Foreign Studies, Kyorin University

F-1. 9/19 Introduction & Organization of the Course

F-2. 9/26 Marriage and the Family

A/E#27: The Frayed Knot

F-3. 10/3 Parenting

A/E#28: Good Parents, Bad Results

F-4. 10/10 Work-Life Balance

A/E#29: Overworked, Time Poor, and Abandoned by Uncle Sam

F-5. 10/17 Education

A/E#32: Nine Powerful Practices

F-6. 10/24 Crime

A/E#35: Fighting Crime

F-7. 10/31 Drugs & the Globalization of Crime

A/E#37: The Globalization of Crime

F-8. 11/7 Terrorism

A/E#42: War in the Fifth Domain: Cyber Warfare

F-9. 11/14 Aging and Fertility

A/E#43: Population and Sustainability

F-10. 11/21 Population & Demography

A/E#44: How to Feed 8 Billion People

F-11. 11/28 VIDEO: Self-Expression

F-12. 12/5 Ecology

A/E#45: The Science of Climate Change

F-13. 12/12 American Culture and Globalization

A/E#50: Can America Fail?

F-14. 12/19 The Future and Social Change

A/E#49: A User’s Guide to the Century

*Distribution of the Final Take-Home Essay Exam

F-15. 1/9 *Final Take-Home Essay Exam Due

(Submit at the beginning of the class.) Course Evaluation.

ENJOY YOUR SPRING VACATION!