Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/556

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

536

The purpose of this course is to define the present relations of the ecclesiastical insti- tutes to the other institutes of American society; the state, the government, marriage, family, education, and public wealth. An analysis is made of the guarantees of reli- gious liberty contained in the federal and commonwealth constitutions; of the civil status of churches in terms of constitutional and statute law ; of the methods of incor- poration; of the functions of trustees; of legislative and judicial control; of denomina- tional polity according to its type ; of the functional activity of churches in their departments of legislation, administration, adjudication, discipline, and mission ; of the influence of churches on ethical standards ; of the distribution of nationalities among the denominations ; of the territorial distribution of denominational strength; of the relation of polity to density of population ; and of the current movements in and between various organizations tending toward changes of function and structure.

Sociology 29. Laboratory work in statistics. In connection with Courses 17, 18, and 19. The object of the laboratory is to train the student in methods of statis- tical analysis and computation. Each student will pursue a course of laboratory practice dealing with the general statistics of population, the relation of classes, the distribution of wealth, and the statistics of crime, vice, and misfortune. He will be taught how to judge current statistics and to detect statistical fallacies ; in short, to become an expert in judging of the value of sociological evidence. Each year some practical piece of work on an extensive scale is undertaken by the class.

Sociology 30. Seminar in sociology. Professor Giddings. Discussion and papers, theses, and dissertations presented in the seminar may be upon any of the following topics :

1. Population : The distribution, density, and growth of population in the United States ; including studies of birth-rates and death-rates, of immigration into the United States, of the migration of population within the United States, and of the composition of the population by age, sex, nationality, and color.

2. The social mind : Studies of like response to stimulus, e. g., to a call for volunteers, or an awakening to some common interest ; studies of mental and practi- cal resemblance, including types of mind and of character, and their geographical distribution ; studies of the consciousness of kind ; studies of conflict, imitation, and the progress of assimilation ; and studies of concerted volition, including examples of spontaneous co-operation, of panics, crazes, mob violence, and insurrection ; examples of deference to tradition and to authority; examples of the growth of public opinion, of the formation of social values, and of deliberate social action.

3. Social organization : Historical or statistical studies of family organization, and descriptive or historical studies of peculiar, exceptional, or otherwise noteworthy communities or sections, especially essays in the sociological treatment of local his- tory. Studies of voluntary organization, including religious and other cultural asso- ciations, business associations and trades unions, juristic organizations and political parties.

4. Social welfare : Studies of the growth of public security and of social order ; of the development of liberty and equality, of the formation and the distribution of social economic classes, and of the social life and organization of the self-supporting poor ; of the distribution of culture ; historical studies of the origin, growth, and forms of pauperism ; statistical studies of the extent and causes of pauperism ; historical and comparative studies of poor-laws and public relief; historical and comparative studies of the methods of private charity; historical studies of the origin, increase, and forms