Sociology 155/255

Sociology 155/255 rev 3/22/2024

“The Changing American Family”

Syllabus

Spring Quarter, 2024

Mon, Wed 3-4:20 P

Building Econ 140

Plus once a week section (sign up via Canvas)

Michael J. Rosenfeld

Professor

Department of Sociology

mrosenfe@stanford.edu

http://www.stanford.edu/~mrosenfe

(NOTE that the website contains reading questions and much additional class information)

Office Hour Wednesdays 4:30-5:30

TA: Lizzie Deneen

Overview:

The American family has changed a great deal in the past few decades. Extra-marital cohabitation and divorce have risen sharply in the past 30 years. Young adults are marrying later than ever before. Interracial marriage and same-sex cohabitation have increased. Same-sex marriage went from being one of the most divisive political issues in the U.S. to the law of the whole U.S. in a remarkably short time. Women’s roles in the labor force have changed, and women’s place in society and within the home seems to have changed as well. What do all these changes mean? Are recent changes in the American family really as dramatic as they seem? We will examine family change from historical, social, demographic, and legal perspectives.

The situation we are in: The world is not normal right now. If the world-wide craziness is interfering with your ability to get things done, reach out to me and we will find an accommodation as best we can.

Students with Disabilities:
Students with disabilities that may necessitate an academic accommodation must initiate a request with the Stanford Office of Accessible Education, https://oae.stanford.edu/. If you need accommodations, please share your OAE letter with Professor Rosenfeld early in the quarter.

The Honor Code:
Students are responsible for understanding the University’s Honor Code policy and must make proper use of citations of sources for writing papers, creating, and presenting their work, and doing research. For tips on how to uphold the honor code in an online learning environment, read these recommendations. If you have any questions regarding this policy, please contact me.

COVID-19 safety: For my own safety, I will be wearing a mask at all times. The first two rows of chairs in the lecture hall are mask required. Other seats further back are mask optional. I reserve the right to change the masking policy to masks required for everyone.

Computer use in class: In order to limit distractions in class, there is no computer use in class, except by special permission from Professor Rosenfeld.

Units:

This Course justifies an additional unit of credit, beyond what would be expected based on the typical assignment of class time and outside work. An additional unit represents, on average, 30 additional hours of work expected of a student during the quarter, devoted to the especially heavy reading load and to the preparation of the students’ section presentation, and to the students’ brief GSS research report.

Note: in case course enrollment is limited, Sociology majors get preference.

The Books:

This is an intensive reading class. There are a lot of books (and some articles and some court decisions) on the reading list. Reading the books and keeping up with the reading is the most important part of the class. The two assessments will thoroughly test your knowledge of the books. Course lectures won’t mean much if you have not done the reading. Since you are going to be spending a lot of time with the books, I urge you to buy the books if you can afford to do so. As a back-up plan, most (but not all) of the books are available online through the library. The books will also be available from the library reserve (digital versions only as of now)

Required Books, all available at the Stanford Bookstore (and all on reserve at the library)

* Cherlin, Andrew J. 1992. Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage. Second Edition. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN-10: 067455082X. $25.

* Waite, Linda and Maggie Gallagher. 2001. The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier, and Better off Financially. Broadway Books. ISBN : 0767906322. $11.

* Friedan, Betty. 2001 [1963]. The Feminine Mystique. WW. Norton. ISBN : 0393322572. $10 on Kindle, $14 in paperback.

* Wallerstein, Judith, and Sandra Blakeslee. 2004. Second Chances: Men, Women and Children a Decade After Divorce. ISBN : 0618446893. $10.

* Rosenfeld, Michael J. 2007. The Age of Independence: Interracial Unions, Same-Sex Unions, and the Changing American Family. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN-10: 0674034902. $20.

* Hochschild, Arlie and Anne Machung. 2003 [1989]. The Second Shift. New Updated Edition. Penguin. ISBN : 0142002925. $11.

* Rosenfeld, Michael J. 2022. The Rainbow after the Storm: Marriage Equality and Social Change in the U.S. Oxford University Press. · ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0197600443. $20.70.

Further Required Reading, links available from my website:

* Moynihan, Daniel Patrick. 1965. “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action”

* Acs, Gregory, Kenneth Braswell, Elaine Sorensen, and Margery Austin Turner. 2013. "The Moynihan Report Revisited." The Urban Institute.

* Judith Stacey “Good Riddance to the Family”

* David Popenoe “Two-Parent Families are Better”

* Patricia Hill Collins, 1998, "It's All in the Family: Intersections of Gender, Race and Nation"

* Rosenfeld, Michael J., and Reuben J. Thomas. 2012. "Searching for a Mate: The Rise of the Internet as a Social Intermediary" American Sociological Review 77 (4):523-547.,

* Cohen, David S., Greer Donley, and Rachel Rebouche. 2023. "The New Abortion Battleground." Columbia Law Review 123 (1):1-100.

* Gamson, Joshua. 1995. "Must Identity Movements Self-Destruct? A Queer Dilemma." Social Problems 42 (3):390-407.

And cases:

Roe v Wade (1973)

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org (2022)

For journal articles, know how to use the Stanford library proxy server if you are off campus:

https://library.stanford.edu/using/connecting-e-resources/connect-campus-faq

Requirements:

For Undergraduates (soc 155):

* First half of quarter midterm assessment	25%
* Make one 15 minute presentation to discussion section, and lead (along with the TA) the section discussion for that week.	20%
* Regular section and class participation	20%
* A brief paper using GSS data	10%
* Second half of class assessment	25%

* Assessments will be timed, open book essay assessments with most of the questions drawn from a set of questions known in advance (so you can outline or even write answers in advance). But note: it will be vital for you begin the assessments having done all the reading already.

For Graduate Students (soc 255):

* First half of quarter midterm assessment	20%
* Make one 15 minute presentation to discussion section, and lead (along with the TA) the section discussion for that week.	20%
* Regular section and class participation	15%
* One 10 minute presentation to class, presenting a different book from the one you presented to section	15%
* A brief paper using GSS data	10%
* second half of quarter assessment	20%

NOTE:

Questions are posted on my website for each reading.

See, specifically, http://www.stanford.edu/~mrosenfe/Soc_155_fam_reading_Q.htm


Week 1:
April 1	Introduction to the class
April 3	Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, Chapters 1-3 (Demographic Trends, Explanations, and Consequences)

Week 2:
April 8	Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, Chapters 4+5 (Race and Poverty, The State of Our Unions)
Apr 10	Waite and Gallagher, The Case for Marriage, Ch 1-7

Week 3:
Apr 15	Waite and Gallagher, The Case for Marriage, Ch 8-14
Apr 17	Moynihan “The Negro Family” (available on my website) Acs et al: “The Moynihan Report Revisited”

Week 4:
Apr 22	Reading from the Feminine Mystique, Chapters 1 and 2, and the first 6 pages of Ch 3 (p 57-127 in the paperback edition)
Apr 24	Reading from the Feminine Mystique, Chapter 4, Chapter 6, chapter 14 and chapter 15 (epilogue).

Week 5:
Apr 29	Wallerstein, Second Chances, Read Chapters 1-7, plus chapters 15-18, and the Appendix.
May 1	Feminine Mystique, Ch 5, plus Judith Stacey “Good Riddance to the Family” (available on my website) David Popenoe “Two-Parent Families are Better” (available on my website; or via the NYTimes here)

Week 6:
May 6	In-class Midterm
May 8	Rosenfeld, The Age of Independence, Ch 1-3

Week 7:
May 13	Rosenfeld, The Age of Independence, Ch 4-7, and Patricia Hill Collins "It's All in the Family: Intersections of Gender, Race, and Nation"
May 15	Roe v Wade (1973) Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org (2022) Cohen et al, The New Abortion Battleground (2023) GSS paper draft due

Week 8:
May 20	The Second Shift, chapters 1-6, 16, and 17
May 22	Rosenfeld The Rainbow after the Storm Ch 1-9 Josh Gamson: Must Identity Movements Self Destruct?

Week 9:
May 27	Memorial Day
May 29	Rosenfeld The Rainbow after the Storm Ch 10-19 Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Week 10:
June 3	Rosenfeld and Thomas: Searching for a Mate: The Rise of the Internet as a Social Intermediary
June 5	Final Exam Review GSS paper due
Saturday, June 8	Scheduled in-class final exam 8:30A-11:30A