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230007 UE B4 Guided Reading: Classics of Sociological Texts (2025W)
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Fr 22.08.2025 00:01 to We 17.09.2025 23:59
- Deregistration possible until We 15.10.2025 23:59
Details
max. 25 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
- N Thursday 02.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 09.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 16.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 23.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 30.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 06.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 13.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 20.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 27.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 04.12. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 11.12. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 18.12. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 08.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 15.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
- Thursday 22.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum 17, Kolingasse 14-16, OG02
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
In this course, we will read classic sociological texts, bearing in mind that "classic" does not necessarily mean “old”. We will start with the acknowledged classics like Max Weber and Georg Simmel but we should also arrive at Derrida, Baudrillard, and other more or less contemporary thinkers. The reading will be focused on one common topic: western modernity. We will discuss modernity, the (arguably) still present condition in which we live, in its most important aspects and effects, including power, organisation, institutions, and modern identities. After finishing the course successfully, students will be able to critically discuss the long-term developments and short-term changes in our societies and they will have a basic set of theoretical vocabulary with which they can analyse these changes and seek further understanding of them. They will know the key thinkers in the history of sociology and their contribution to the major intellectual traditions of our discipline and they will be able to relate that knowledge to contemporary social developments.
Assessment and permitted materials
There is compulsory attendance at this seminar. Students are expected to read the prescribed texts and participate in seminar discussions. Note: Attendance at the first meeting is compulsory. If you fail to turn up without a proper excuse, you will be de-registered from the course.
A short mid-term test and a final test (both written in-class) will check students' knowledge of the basic concepts.
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Important Grading Information:
All students who received a place in the course are assessed if they have not deregistered from the course in due time or if they have not credibly shown an important reason for their failure to deregister after the cause for this reason does no longer apply
Students who credibly show an important reason (e.g. a longer illness) for the withdrawal from a course with continuous assessment are not assessed.
Whether this exception applies is decided by the lecturer. The request for deregistration must be submitted immediately.
For a positive assessment of the course, all partial achievements must be fulfilled.
The plagiarism-detection service (Turnitin in Moodle) can be used in course of the grading.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the production of texts is only permitted if this is expressly requested by the lecturer (e.g. for individual work tasks).
In order to ensure good scientific practice, the lecturer can provide for a "grading-related discussion" of the written work submitted, which must be completed successfully.
If any requirement of the course has been fulfilled by fraudulent means, be it for example by cheating at an exam, plagiarizing parts of a written assignment or by faking signatures on an attendance sheet, the student's participation in the course will be discontinued, the entire course will be graded as "not assessed" and recorded accordingly.
You can find these and other provisions in the study law: https://satzung.univie.ac.at/studienrecht/.
In case you have received three negative assessments of a continuously assessed course and want to register for a fourth attempt, please make sure to contact the StudiesServiceUnit Sociology during the registration period (for more information see "third attempt for continuously assessed courses" https://soziologie.univie.ac.at/info/pruefungen/#c56313)
A short mid-term test and a final test (both written in-class) will check students' knowledge of the basic concepts.
-----
Important Grading Information:
All students who received a place in the course are assessed if they have not deregistered from the course in due time or if they have not credibly shown an important reason for their failure to deregister after the cause for this reason does no longer apply
Students who credibly show an important reason (e.g. a longer illness) for the withdrawal from a course with continuous assessment are not assessed.
Whether this exception applies is decided by the lecturer. The request for deregistration must be submitted immediately.
For a positive assessment of the course, all partial achievements must be fulfilled.
The plagiarism-detection service (Turnitin in Moodle) can be used in course of the grading.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the production of texts is only permitted if this is expressly requested by the lecturer (e.g. for individual work tasks).
In order to ensure good scientific practice, the lecturer can provide for a "grading-related discussion" of the written work submitted, which must be completed successfully.
If any requirement of the course has been fulfilled by fraudulent means, be it for example by cheating at an exam, plagiarizing parts of a written assignment or by faking signatures on an attendance sheet, the student's participation in the course will be discontinued, the entire course will be graded as "not assessed" and recorded accordingly.
You can find these and other provisions in the study law: https://satzung.univie.ac.at/studienrecht/.
In case you have received three negative assessments of a continuously assessed course and want to register for a fourth attempt, please make sure to contact the StudiesServiceUnit Sociology during the registration period (for more information see "third attempt for continuously assessed courses" https://soziologie.univie.ac.at/info/pruefungen/#c56313)
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
To pass the course successfully, students must attend every class. Two absences are tolerated.
Reading compulsory texts and active participation in class discussions is required.
A short mid-term test will be assigned in class during the semester to test the knowledge of the first four classical thinkers (Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, Marx). A second, final test, will be administered at the end of the semester.
The final grade will be based on active participation in class (20% of the grade) and the results of the mid-term (30%) and final (50%) tests.
Reading compulsory texts and active participation in class discussions is required.
A short mid-term test will be assigned in class during the semester to test the knowledge of the first four classical thinkers (Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, Marx). A second, final test, will be administered at the end of the semester.
The final grade will be based on active participation in class (20% of the grade) and the results of the mid-term (30%) and final (50%) tests.
Examination topics
Students are expected to read all texts in the syllabus. The content of the readings will be subject to two tests (mid-term and final) throughout the semester. Apart from this, there is a compulsory attendance.
Reading list
Excerpts from the following books and papers will be used in the seminar:Appelrouth, S. & Desfor Edles, L. 2012. Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Berger, P. & Luckmann, T. 1966. The social construction of reality: a treatise on the sociology of knowledge. New York: Doubleday.Bourdieu, P. 1996. Distinction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Bourdieu, P. 1994. Re-thinking the state. Sociological Theory 12(1): 1-18.Foucault, M. 1977. Discipline and punish. New York: Vintage Books.Merton, R. 1968. Social theory and social structure. New York: The Free Press.Ritzer, G. 2011. Sociological theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.Simmel, G. 1950. The sociology of Georg Simmel. New York: Simon and Schuster.Simmel, G. 1991. Money in modern culture. Theory, culture and society 8: 17-31.
Association in the course directory
Im auslaufenden Bachelorstudiengang Soziologie: Äquivalent zu BA T1 UE Grundlagen Theorien ("Klassiker*innen lesen)
Last modified: Fr 27.06.2025 00:02