FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Department of Sociology

SOCIAL MEDIA

GENS 207 | Course Introduction and Application Information

Course Name
Scientific Thinking and Society
Code
Semester
Theory
(hour/week)
Application/Lab
(hour/week)
Local Credits
ECTS
GENS 207
Fall/Spring
3
0
3
4

Prerequisites
None
Course Language
English
Course Type
Service Course
Course Level
First Cycle
Mode of Delivery -
Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course -
Course Coordinator -
Course Lecturer(s)
Assistant(s) -
Course Objectives The aim of this course is to help the students to develop a critical perspective about science and its relationship with society. In the first part of the course, the period during which modern science was born will be discussed in a broader fashion. In the second part, the focus will be on a series of issues taken from more recent periods of history of science. This course is for students that are interested in popular science.
Learning Outcomes The students who succeeded in this course;
  • to grasp science as a social activity and
  • to discuss how it is related with the society that generates it
  • to formulate an opinion on why modern science was born in Europe in 17th century, and not in another place and time
  • to express in what ways scientists’ understanding of the World and the Universe has changed after the “Scientific Revolution”
  • to recognize the examples of pseudoscience
  • to understand why the examples of pseudoscience are qualified as such
Course Description This course is designed to discuss the relationship between science and the society that generates it.

 



Course Category

Core Courses
Major Area Courses
Supportive Courses
Media and Management Skills Courses
Transferable Skill Courses

 

WEEKLY SUBJECTS AND RELATED PREPARATION STUDIES

Week Subjects Related Preparation
1 Introduction; presentation of the course and related questions; The Three Revolutions Course syllabus
2 Types of Societies and their technologies Machionis, J. (2017) “Society and Technology”
3 Sapiens and the Cognitive Revolution Harari, Y. (2015), Sapiens. A Brief History of Humankind, Part One: The Cognitive Revolution
4 Guns, Germs, and Steel I: Yali’s Question Diamond, J. (1997), Guns, Germs and Steel, Prologue: “Yali’s Question”; Part I “From Eden to Cajamarca”
5 Guns, Germs and Steel II: Agricultural Revolution Diamond, J. (1997), Guns, Germs and Steel, Part 2: “The Rise and The Spread of Food Production”
6 Dawn of Civilizations, Birth of Natural Philosophy and the Aristotelian Worldview Lecture Notes
7 Ptolemy and the Geocentric Model Lecture Notes
8 Nicholaus Copernicus and the Heliocentric Model Gribbin, J. (2002), Science: A History Chapter 1, “Renaissance Men” pp. 21-32
9 Tycho Brahe and his observations & Johannes Kepler and the movement of planets Gribbin, J. (2002), Science: A History Chapter 2, “The Last Mystics”
10 First Scientists: Galileo and others, Part I Gribbin, J. (2002), Science: A History Chapter 3, “The First Scientists”
11 First Scientists: Galileo and others, Part II Gribbin, J. (2002), Science: A History Chapter 3, “The First Scientists”
12 René Descartes, Christiaan Huygens, Robert Boyle and first steps of science Gribbin, J. (2002), Science: A History Chapter 4, “Renaissance Men” (Descartes: pp. 118-126; Boyle pp.
13 Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton Gribbin, J. (2002) Science: A History Chapter 5, “Newtonian Revolution” (Hooke: pp. 151-164; Newton pp. 172-188)
14 Semester Review Lecture Notes
15 Review of the Semester
16 Final examination

 

Course Notes/Textbooks

Reading 1: Machionis, J. (2017) “Society and Technology”, in Machionis, J. (2017) Sociology, 16th Edition, pp. 118-123, Pearson: Hoboken

Reading 2: Harari, Y. (2015), Sapiens. A Brief History of Humankind, HarperCollins: New York

Reading 3: Diamond, J. (1997), Guns, Germs and Steel. The Fates of Human Societies, W. W. Norton: New York

Reading 4: Gribbin, J. (2002), Science: A History 1543–2001, Penguin: London

Suggested Readings/Materials

 

EVALUATION SYSTEM

Semester Activities Number Weigthing
Participation
Laboratory / Application
Field Work
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
Portfolio
Homework / Assignments
Presentation / Jury
Project
Seminar / Workshop
Oral Exams
Midterm
2
60
Final Exam
1
40
Total

Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade
3
60
Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade
1
40
Total

ECTS / WORKLOAD TABLE

Semester Activities Number Duration (Hours) Workload
Theoretical Course Hours
(Including exam week: 16 x total hours)
16
3
48
Laboratory / Application Hours
(Including exam week: '.16.' x total hours)
16
0
Study Hours Out of Class
16
1
16
Field Work
0
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
0
Portfolio
0
Homework / Assignments
0
Presentation / Jury
0
Project
0
Seminar / Workshop
0
Oral Exam
0
Midterms
2
15
30
Final Exam
1
20
20
    Total
114

 

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES AND PROGRAM QUALIFICATIONS RELATIONSHIP

#
Program Competencies/Outcomes
* Contribution Level
1
2
3
4
5
1

To have the knowledge of classical and contemporary theories in sociology, and be able to comparatively analyze these theories.

2

To have the knowledge of main methodological approaches in sociology as well as social research and data analysis methods.

3

To have knowledge in the fields of general sociology, sociology of institutions, social structure and change, and applied sociology.

4

To be able to determine the appropriate methods in the design of the planning stage and conclusion of a sociological project, individually or as part of a team.

5

To be able to diagnose the social dynamics behind personal problems by using sociological imagination.

6

To be able to define social problems at local, national, and global level, and offer new policies for solutions.

7

To be able to apply commonly-used computer programs for data collection and analysis in sociological research.

8

To be able to develop a socially responsible, scientific and ethical perspective regarding the collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data.

9

To be able to analyze different aspects of the social world by drawing on the knowledge produced by other disciplines of the social sciences.

10

To be able to constantly renew herself/himself professionally by following scientific and technological developments in sociology and social research.

11

To be able to collect sociological data and communicate with sociologists and other social scientists in a foreign language ("European Language Portfolio Global Scale", Level B1).

12

To be able to speak a second foreign at a medium level of fluency efficiently.

13

To be able to relate the knowledge accumulated throughout the human history to their field of expertise.

*1 Lowest, 2 Low, 3 Average, 4 High, 5 Highest

 


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