Dear Parents and Students,
I am thrilled and humbled to teach Sociology Honors this semester! I wanted to take this opportunity to not only welcome students to the class but also to provide you with an overview of the class.
Dual Credit
This course is in partnership with Loyola University Chicago which allows students to take a college class while still in high school. The student can transfer earned credit in this class from Loyola University Chicago to the college they attend. I will walk students through this during class, but in case you are interested, there is more info available from Loyola here. In brief, the details are as follows:
- Students register through the Loyola University website.
- Students pay a small fee ($195 or approximately 1/10th of a normal college fee).
- Students get college credit from Loyola for taking this class that can be transferred to whichever college they attend.
This is a terrific opportunity because this college credit can be earned in just one semester and without the pressure of an AP test; students simply earn a grade in this class and that translates to a a grade and credit in their college program. Additionally, when applying to college, the common app will ask if the student has ever taken a college course. Not only is this helpful for students competing for college acceptance, but research shows that students who participate in a college level class before entering undergraduate studies do much better when they eventually attend college.
Sociology as an Academic Discipline
Sociology, perhaps the most modern social science, began as a reaction to the profound changes in society that resulted because of the industrial revolution. These changes lead to scholars using data and the scientific method to analyze the way that society is structured and how those structures shape the individuals who are in them. Some of the most studied structures are family, education, and media - all of which influence individuals by creating and maintaining culture and social stability. But these institutions also create inequalities in how people are treated or see themselves. Sociology has a deep literature of study around the inequalities of social class, race and gender. Sociology is a social science and as such it uses scientific study to examine all of those above topics. It is not a debate class or a class centered around rhetorical arguments. The social institutions, along with the meanings and inequalities they create, are enumerated competencies in both the American Sociological Association's National Standards for High School Sociology , which I co-authored, and the competencies of Loyola University Chicago.
About Me and My Philosophy
This is my twenty-third year teaching sociology and over the years I have worked hard to make the class a really valuable experience for students. I am Co-Chair of the Chicago Area Sociology Teachers (CAST) and Assistant Director of the High School Program for the American Sociological Association (ASA). Besides meeting the standards explained above, my goal is to use these experiences to make sociology a meaningful and relevant class for your student. Even if the student does not intend to study sociology in the long run, this class will help to give students new insights about everyday life and increase student mindfulness about themselves as individuals, their interactions with others and their society in general.
As an introductory survey course in sociology, this class aims to provide students with an understanding of how sociologists do research and what the seminal pieces of research in their field reveal. This scientific analysis of society is useful in many academic disciplines and so sociology is often a prerequisite for other areas of study such as medicine (sociology is on the MCAT), law and criminal justice, nursing, education, and psychology, to name a few. Sociology is excellent preparation for working with diverse people and data.
If you would like more detailed information about either sociology as a discipline or my class in particular, feel free to request permission and read my course syllabus here which details the lessons and assessment. Please know that I look forward to teaching your student this semester and I am committed to making the class a rewarding experience for them!
Sincerely,
Chris Salituro
Sociology Team Leader, Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, IL
Adjunct Professor, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL
Co-Chair Chicago Area Sociology Teachers, Wheaton, IL
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