Jindal Global Business School

Course Outline

Course Title Sociology

Core course
Program and Batch BBA 2020
Semester & Academic Year Spring 2021
Credits 3
Discipline/Area Social Sciences & Humanities
Provide details, if this course is a -
Prerequisite for any course/specialization
Name of the Faculty Members/Course Prof. Parul Bhandari
Instructors Prof. Juhi Singh
Contact Details of the Faculty Member [email protected] (Sections A and
B)
[email protected] (Sections C and D)
Contact Details of Support Staff Pranati Dash [email protected]
Faculty Member’s Open Office Day/s & tbc
Time

Introduction to the Course

Businesses are embedded in society; they cater to society’s needs and are shaped
by collective identities (gender, religion, caste). Equally, it is important to be aware
of the uniqueness of local workings (of a culture, region, nation state) as well as
cognizant of global processes and interconnectedness that shapes social trends,
demands and responses of society at large. In order to be adept businesspeople,
with sharp management skills, then, it is imperative to understand both the
everyday workings of society and its structures and institutions. In this course,
students will be introduced to the basic pillars that constitute Indian society (caste,
class, family, gender) and key global processes and movements which have shaped
our understanding of work, society, and management. This course, therefore, will
provide a comprehensive understanding of the society and its various institutions,
rules, and transformations, so that individuals are able to achieve a nuanced
understanding of the social and cultural milieus they occupy. Another important aim
of this course is to question the common-sensical and critically analyse one’s own

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set opinions. The course encourages critical thought and deep engagement and
aims to enable students to develop an ability to positively engage with contrary
opinions. Finally, in every session students will be encouraged to think how the
social situation, structures, and processes may influence business, present
formidable opportunities for creatively think of business-ideas, and also help them
be better managers, managing different social, cultural backgrounds of their
employees and co-workers.

The course is divided into 4 parts: Part A: Introduction to Sociology which traces
the evolution of this discipline, with particular focus on classical theories of Karl
Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. Part B: Study of Indian society (Sociology
of India) specifically, caste, class and family. Part C: Study of Social Stratification
and Social Inequalities, particularly on gender and sexuality, debates on mobility,
and understanding lived inequalities through expressions and experiences of
humour and anxieties. Part D: Critical understanding of money as a means of
economic exchange, a brief introduction to the sociology of work and organisation.

Course Learning Objectives (CLOs):

1) Understand the significance of social institutions and processes (both local

and global).
2) Critically analyse immediate social settings and larger social transformations.
3) Sensitively approach issues and struggles relating to social identities and
other global challenges.
4) Effectively communicate their ideas, make persuasive arguments, using
sociological theories and concepts both individually and in a group.

Course Learning Objectives (CLOs) are what a student should be able to

demonstrate by the end of this course, if they participate fully in learning activities
and successfully complete the assessment items. CLOs also contribute to the
achievement of the Program Learning Objectives (PLOs), which are developed
across the duration of a program for all students in the Business School. PLOs are,
in turn, directly linked to Program Competency Goals (PCGs). More information on
PLGs and PLOs is available under Policies and Support.

Course Learning Program Program Course

Objectives Learning Competency Assessment
(CLOs) Objectives Goals (PCGs) Item
(PLOs)
On successful This course helps This course helps This learning
completion of the you to develop the you to develop the outcome will be
course, students following Program following Program assessed in the
should be able to: Learning Competency Goals: following items
Outcomes:
CLO1 PLO1, PLO2, CG1, CG3 A1, A2, A3,A4

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 PLO9, PLO10
CLO2 PLO4, PLO8, CG2, CG3 A2,A4
PLO9, PLO10
CLO3: PLO3, PLO4 CG1 A2, A3, A4
CLO4: PLO5, PLO6, CG2, CG4 A2, A3
PLO11, PLO12

Teaching Method
The primary teaching mode will comprise lectures through online medium. Since the
course is about unpacking our everyday realities and understanding social
institutions that build society, popular culture will form an important aspect of the
teaching. The instructor, therefore, will make use of audio and visual clips, and refer
to articles in popular outlets (newspaper, magazines) along with making use of key
readings (which will be sent as pdfs to students). The main focus will be on making
teaching engaging and impactful, and therefore the lectures will encourage
interaction and discussion.

Evaluation Schema
This course will comprise 4 assessment tasks (both for online and offline
instruction):

Assessment Weig Nature Week of PLOs to be Assessed

Task htage Assessme
nt
A1: Reflection 15% Individual Week 4 PLO3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12
Note
A2: Individual 20% Individual Week 7 PLO3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12
Project II (Mid-
term)
A3: Class 15% Individual Continuous PLO5,6,7,10,11,12
Participation
A4: End-term 50% Individual After Week PLO3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12
Exam 15

Description of Assessments:
A1: The purpose of the reflective note (500 words, 15 marks), is for students to
critically analyse a concept discussed during lectures. They will be encouraged to
think of the concept, its basic features, and how they might be able to apply it in
their everyday surrounding. The students will learn to amalgamate theory and their
own ideas in this short note.
A2: Students will be presented with a choice of topics for a short project (20
marks). There will be a short written component to this project as well as an
interactive round with the course instructor and their peers (in Week 12). The aim is

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that students develop skills to present an argument with rigour, using precise
sociological concepts, and are able to communicate their ideas effectively with their
peers.
A3: Students will be graded on their ability to participate and engage in classroom
discussions (15 marks). They will be encouraged to present their view to their
peers as well as engage with contrary viewpoints with dignity and respect, in the
chat box of MS Teams.
A4: This will be a take-home end-term assessment (50 marks) building on their
experiences with the internal assessments. Details will be shared closer to the date
of the examination.

Programme Competency Goals

BBA Pro

BBA Programme Competency Goals (PCGs)

S
1. Un
Responsible Global Citizenship: Ability to understand 2. Und
1 the interplay between local and global issues and to act 3. Demon
with sensitivity towards ethical and social issues
4. Demonstr
5. Pr
Effective communication: Ability to effectively exchange
2 ideas and information
6. W
7. Use
8. Identify
Critical Thinking: Ability to identify, analyze business
9. Examine
3 problems and propose effective solutions
10. D
11. Unders
Teamwork: Ability to work and contribute effectively in
4 group -settings
12. Co

Textbook / Course
Given the dynamic and varied nature of the Sociology course, there is no single
textbook which has been consulted. Instead, for each session, there are specific
short readings (from journal articles or books) which will be provided to the students
by the course instructors in e-format. One book that can be referred for a few

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sessions (Part A and Part D) is Anthony Giddens’ Sociology (2001: Cambridge:
Polity Press).

Session Plan
Session Details CLOs & PLOs
Met
Introduction lecture (Lecture 1) + Emile
Week 1 (A)
Durkheim (Lecture 2)
Introduce students to the discipline of Sociology: its
approaches and visions.
Objective of the
Introduction to Emile Durkheim’s works: Division of
session
Labour, Rules of Sociological Methods, and Suicide.

Select pages from:

1) Fulcher, James and John Scott 2003 Sociology
Oxford University Press: Oxford. CLO1
2) Ritzer, George and Doughlas Goodman. 2003.
Readings Sociological Theory. Mc-Graw Hill: New York

3) Morrison, Ken. 2006. Marx Durkheim Weber.

Sage: Delhi

Recommended
--
Films
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips.
Week 2 (A) Karl Marx (Lec. 3) and Max Weber (Lec. 4) CLO1
Key Marxian concepts: features of Capitalism,
Objective of the
Alienation.
session
Key Weberian concepts: Ideal Types and Social Action.
Select pages from:
1) Fulcher, James and John Scott 2003 Sociology
Oxford University Press: Oxford.

2) Ritzer, George and Doughlas Goodman. 2003.

Readings Sociological Theory. Mc-Graw Hill: New York

3) Morrison, Ken. 2006. Marx Durkheim Weber.

Sage: Delhi

Recommended Pyaasa (1957), Machines (2016)

film:

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 Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips
Week 3 (A) + Social Research Methods (lec. 5) and Caste
(B) (lec. 6)
Introduce students to the methods of conducting
qualitative research, issues of ethics and researcher’s
role.
Objective of the
session
The second lecture will shift attention to local
understandings of Indian society, beginning with the
caste system.
1) Select readings from Fulcher, James and John
Scott 2003 Sociology Oxford University Press:
Oxford.
2) Karve, Irawati. 2014. Caste as Status Group in
Satish Deshpande (eds) The Problem of Caste: CLO1, CLO2,
Essays from Economic and Political Weekly. CLO4
Orient Blackswan: Delhi. pp 25-33.
Readings 3) Srinivas, M.N. 2014. The Future of Indian Caste.
in Satish Deshpande (eds) The Problem of
Caste: Essays from Economic and Political
Weekly. Orient Blackswan: Delhi. pp 34-43.
4) Gupta, Dipankar. 2014.Continuous Hierarchies
and Discrete Castes in Satish Deshpande (eds)
The Problem of Caste: Essays from Economic

Recommended
Masaan (2015)
Film
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips
Week 4 (B) Caste (lec 7) and Class (lec 8) + Assignment 1 CLO1, CLO2,
Further discussion on the caste system, and its CLO4
Objective of the
relationship to ‘merit’
session
Introduction to class: its definition and articulations
Readings
1) Upadhya, Carol. 2014 Employment and Merit in the
Indian IT Industry. in Satish Deshpande (eds) The
Problem of Caste: Essays from Economic and Political
Weekly. Orient Blackswan: Delhi. Pp 141-151.
2) Omvedt, Gail. 2011. Understanding Caste. From
Buddha to Ambedkar and Beyond. Orient BlackSwan:
Delhi.
3) Giddens, Anthony. 2001. Sociology. Polity Press:
Cambridge.

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 Recommended Hindi Medium (2017), Parasite (2019)
Films
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips
Week 5 (B) Family (lectures 9 and 10)

• Understand and criticise the modernisation

theory of family
• Study the functionalist perspective of the family
and its critique as furthered by the feminist
perspective on the family.
Objective of the
• Trace debates between nuclear and joint
session
family.
• Distinguish between household and family.
• Understand the different functions/roles of the
family and the challenges to these functions.
• Critically appraise alternatives to ‘traditional’
family. CLO1, CLO2,
CLO3
1) Uberoi, Patricia. 2006. The Family in India. The
Oxford India Companion to Sociology and Social
Anthropology Vol 2, ed. Veena Das. Oxford
University Press: New Delhi, 275–307.
Readings
2) Bhandari, Parul and Titzmann, Fritzi-Marie. 2017.
Family Realities in South Asia: Adaptations and
Resilience in South Asian Multidisciplinary
Journal (SAMAJ), issue 16.

Recommended
Kapoor and Sons (2017)
Film
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips
Revision/ Essay Writing Skills (11) + Feedback CLO4
Week 6
on A1 (12)
Revise parts A and B of the syllabus.
Objective of the
Feedback on essay-writing.
session

Readings N/A
Recommended N/A
film

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 Pedagogy Discussion.

Social Stratification: Gender and Sexuality

Week 7 (C)
(lectures 13 and 14) + Assignment 2 (mid-term)
 Difference between sex and gender.
 Socialisation of gender roles.
 Family and household as a site of domination
Objective of the and patriarchy.
session  Violence against women.
 Construction of masculinity and its pressures.
 Discussion of LGBTQ movements.

1) Purewal, Navtej. K. 2010. Son Preference: Sex CLO1, CLO2

Selection, Gender and Culture in South Asia. Berg:
Oxford. Chapter 6.
2) Giddens, Anthony. 2001. Sociology. Polity Press:
Readings Cambridge. (Chpt 5: select pages)
3) Jain, Devaki and Nirmala Banerjee. 2008. The
Tyranny of the Household in Mary E. John (ed)
‘Women’s Studies in India: A Reader’. Penguin: New
Delhi. Pp 411-413

Recommended
Pink (2016), Thappad (2020)
films:
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips
Race, Ethnicity, Religion (lecture 15) + Mobility
Week 8 (C)
(lecture 16) + Submission of A2
 Understand the relationship between
categories and exploitation and discrimination.
Objective of the  Critically analyse if individuals can change the
session group identities they are assigned by birth.

1) Select pages from Fulcher and Scott, Sociology.

CLO1, CLO3
2) Srinivas, M.N. 1966 [1972] “Sanskritization” in
Social Change in Modern India. Orient
Longman: Delhi. Pp 1-48.
Readings 3) Dickey, Sara. 2002. “Anjali’s Prospects: Class
Mobility in Urban India” in Diana Mines and
Sara Lambs (eds) Everyday Life in South Asia.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Pp 214-
26.

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 Recommended
Shahid (2012)
films:
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips
Emotions: Humour and Anxieties. (lectures 17
Week 9 (C )
and 18).
Objective of the To understand how our emotions are prisms to
session understand divisions and inequalities in society.
1) Bhandari, Parul. 2019. Money, Culture, Class:
Elite Women as Modern Subjects. Routledge
London. (select chapters).
2) Seizer, Susan. “Jokes, gender and discursive CLO2
Readings
distance on the Tamil Popular stage”. American
Ethnologist 1997, 24 (1).

Recommended
Dil Dhadakne Do (2015)
Film:
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips
Week 10 Guest Lecture (19) + Feedback on A2 (20)
Revise part C of the course and explain how to
Objective of the
improve essay-writing skills.
session
Provide feedback on mid-term assignment.
Readings N/A CLO4

Case Title and

N/A
Number
Pedagogy Discussion.
Week 11 (D) Social Meanings of Money (lectures 21 and 22)
 Is money only a rational means of exchange?
 What are the different meanings attached to
Objective of the money?
session  Aim is to understand the social and cultural
embeddings of money
CLO1
1) Zelizer. Viviana. 2000. Monetization and Social
Readings
Life. Ethnofoor. 13 (2) 5-15.
Recommended
Film:
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips
Week 12 Group Project Presentations (lectures 23 and CLO4

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 24)
To present sociological works/research proposals
Objective of the To work in groups.
session To engage with peers and compellingly present an
argument.
Readings N/A
Case Title and
N/A
Number
Pedagogy Discussions
Week 13 (D) Sociology of Organisations: (lectures 25 and 26)
 In-depth discussion on Max Weber’s
Bureaucracy and rationality
Objective of the
 Informal and Formal communications/channels
session
in an organisation
CLO2, CLO3
Readings Max Weber’s Bureaucracy
Recommended
Films
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips
Sociology of Work (lectures= 27) + Guest
Week 14 (D)
Lecture 2.
 To recognize social organization of Work
 Changing nature of Work
Objective of the  Emerging Issues: Job insecurity, unemployment
session and deskilling
 Issues to be addressed with sensitivity at work.

Select readings from: CLO2, CLO3

1) Fulcher and Scott, Sociology
Readings 2) Giddens, Sociology

Recommended
Guru (2007), 3 Idiots (2009).
Films
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips
Sociology of Work contd… (lecture 29) +
Week 15 (D)
Revision (Lecture 30)
 A basic understanding of globalization. CLO1, CLO3
Objective of the
 Reflections, reactions and impacts of social
session
crises.

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  Revision of a course.

Select readings from:

Readings 1) Fulcher and Scott, Sociology
2) Giddens, Sociology

Recommended
N/A
films
Pedagogy Online lecture and discussion, audio and visual clips

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