Saint John the Evangelist Seminary
A Commitment of the Evangelical Catholic Church for Academic Formation
Est. 2006
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Saint John the Evangelist Seminary
MT 503: Marriage, Family and Human Sexuality (3CH)
Course Syllabus
Instructor TBA
Course Description
This course focuses on current social changes affecting American families, with particular emphasis on the intersection of families and other social institutions, such as the economy, the law, and medicine. We will first explore common assumptions about the “traditional family,” comparing this image with a brief overview of historical facts about American family life over the past two centuries. We will then analyze the causes and effects of four radical transformations in contemporary American family life: the large-scale entrance of mothers into the paid labor force; welfare reform and its effects on poor families; changes in the laws affecting families, including intervention in violent families by legal authorities, and the revolution in divorce rates; and the rise of reproductive technologies and the possibilities of alternative family forms. In our discussions of all of these topics, we will explore the social and political implications of these changes for men, women, and children, for society and the Church.
Required Texts:
Andrew Cherlin, Public & Private Families: A Reader, 6th Edition
Recommended Text:
Andrew Cherlin: Public & Private Families: Textbook, 5th Edition
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Introduction: How Do Sociologists Understand Families?
2. The Nostalgia Trap
Readings: What’s Love Got to Do with It? Cherlin, pps 31-37
Recommended: Textbook, pps. 9-16, 36-46
Part 1: FAMILIES AND THE ECONOMY
FAMILIES AND ECONOMY: YESTERDAY AND TODAY
1. Family and Work in Agrarian Society
Recommended: Textbook 46-52
2. The Legacy of Slavery
Recommended: Textbook 52-55
3. The Invention of the “Companionate” Family
Readings: Cancian “From Role to Self,” Reader pps 16-30
Bengston “Beyond the Nuclear Family” Reader pps. 225-235
Recommended: Textbook pps. 58-68
4. Contemporary Marriage
Films: TBA
Readings: “Everything’s There Except the Money,” Reader, pps. 157-168
5. The New “Young Adulthood”
Readings: Furstenberg: “Growing Up is Harder to Do,” Reader pps. 38-46
Recommended: Textbook pps. 69-72
FAMILIES AND ECONOMY: THE RISE OF THE DUAL-EARNER FAMILY
6. The Rise of the Dual-Earner Family
Readings: Gerson & Jacobs, “The Work-Home Crunch,” Reader, pps. 176-185
7. Gender Ideology and Gender Strategy
Readings: West and Zimmerman “Doing Gender,” Reader, pps. 47-59
Hochschild, “Joey’s Problem: Nancy and Evan Holt,” Reader, pps. 186-199
Recommended: Textbook pps. 94-96
8. Parents and Sharing the Second Shift
Recommended: Textbook pps. 259-268
9. Economic Restructuring and New Fathers
Readings: Doucet, “Fathers and Emotional Responsibility,” Reader, pps. 59-69
FAMILIES AND THE ECONOMY: SOCIAL CLASS
10. Film: TBA
11. Social Class and Parenting Strategies
Readings: Lareau:, Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black
Families and White Families, reader, pps. 85-107
Recommended: Textbook, pps. 134-139
12. Welfare Reform and Families in Poverty
Recommended: Textbook, 479-485
13. Single Mothers in Poverty
Readings: Edin & Kefalis, Unmarried with Children ,Reader, pps. 169-175
Mid-Term
PART II: FAMILIES AND THE LAW
FAMILIES AND THE LAW: FAMILY VIOLENCE
1. Domestic Violence Today
Readings: Johnson, “Control and Violence In Intimate Relationships”
Reader, pps. 261-274
Recommended: Textbook, pps. 368-376
2. Theories of Domestic Violence
Film: "What's Love Got To Do With It?"
3. Domestic Violence Across Class
Film: “Terror at Home: Domestic Violence in America”
4. Child Abuse, Family Violence, Alcoholism
Readings TBA
5. Legal Responses to Domestic Violence
Readings: Leisenring, Amy “Controversies Surrounding Mandatory Arrest”
Reader, pps. 375-381, 386-387
Recommended: Textbook, 394- 396
FAMILIES AND THE LAW: THE DIVORCE REVOLUTION
6. Divorce Law Reform
Readings TBA
7. Divorce Myths and Facts
Recommended: Textbook 410-416
8. The Impact of Divorce: Children
Readings: McLanahan: “Life without Father,” Reader, pps. 283-287
Kely & Emery: “Children’s Adjustment” Reader, pps. 287-294
Recommended: Textbook 424-432
FAMILIES AND LAW: ALTERNATIVE FAMILY FORMS
9. Reproductive Technologies and the Law
Readings TBA
10. Stepfamilies in the Law
Readings: Mason, “The Modern American Stepfamily,” Reader, pps. 297-308
Recommended: Textbook 438-445
11. Gay and Lesbian Adoption
Readings: Meezan and Rauch, “Gay Marriage, Same-Sex Parenting, and America’s
Children.” Reader, pps. 327-338
PowerPoint Presentation: “Taking Sides: Should Lesbian and Gay Individuals Be Allowed to Adopt
Children?”
12. Gender-Common Marriage
Readings TBA
Final Exam
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