Faculty of Arts

Department of Sociology

SOC 902: Hollywood and Society

Fall 2018, Section 1
Lectures: Mon 11am-1pm in KHE117
Tutorial/Discussion Sessions: Thurs 9am-10am in TRS1099

Instructor’s Name: Michael Thorn, Ph.D. Instructor’s email: mthorn@ryerson.ca

Office Location: JOR-322 Course Web Site (via D2L): my.ryerson.ca
Office Hours: Mon: 3-5pm; Wed: 2-4pm Lecture Schedule: pgs 6-10 here and on D2L

Email Communication: Official Ryerson email accounts must be used for all electronic
correspondence. Please review Ryerson University’s email communication policy (Policy 157):
http://www.ryerson.ca/senate/policies/pol157.pdf
NOTE: Please include ‘SOC 902, Sec 1’ in the subject line of all emails to the instructor.

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This course will explore ideas and issues related to Hollywood as both a centre of cultural
production and a general cultural idea and ideal. The history, structure and organization of the
motion picture industry and its relationship to prevailing cultural, ideological and institutional
forces will be examined. The Hollywood "system" with its emphasis on celebrity, globalization,
film images, audience responses, and production itself are just some of the topics to be
considered.

IMPORTANT GENERAL REMINDERS

This is an Upper Liberal Studies course: Please note that certain liberal studies courses, due to
their close relation to the professional fields, cannot be taken for Liberal Studies credit by
students in some programs. A list of these programs and the restricted courses is provided in
Table B Upper Level Restrictions in the Ryerson calendar:
http://www.ryerson.ca/calendar/2016-2017/liberal-studies/table_b.html#table_b_restrictions

Please note that Liberal Studies courses always have the designation (LL) or (UL) in their course
description in the Ryerson Calendar. Courses not identified as either (LL) or (UL) are NOT
Liberal Studies courses and will not be used towards the fulfillment of a Liberal Studies
Requirement for graduation purposes. Students are responsible for making appropriate course
selections. Refer to Table A (Lower Level) and Table B (Upper Level) in Ryerson's calendar for
a complete list of liberal studies courses:
http://www.ryerson.ca/calendar/2016-2017/liberal-studies.html

Code of Conduct: Students are required to adhere to all relevant Ryerson University policies
(i.e., Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct – Policy 61 and the Academic Integrity Policy –
Policy 60). These and other policies are discussed below.

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Land Acknowledgement: Toronto is in the 'Dish With One Spoon Territory’. The Dish With
One Spoon is a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound
them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and peoples,
Europeans, and all newcomers have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship
and respect.

COURSE DETAILS
Required and Recommended Readings
All required and most recommended readings are available on the course website (D2L). They are
posted as PDFs under copyright fair dealing and linked to via the library’s online system or One-
Stop Course Readings. There are no textbooks or reading packs to purchase for this course.
For information on fair dealing see: http://www.univcan.ca/fair-dealing-policy-for-universities/
The following recommended reading is available at the library reserve desk and can be taken out
for two-hour loan periods:

Sklar, Robert. 1994. Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies. New York:
Vintage Books. (This is a recommended text on reserve. You do not need to buy it.)

Course Objectives
SOC 902 invites students to better understand the role Hollywood plays as a centre of cultural
production not just for North America but for the world. Hollywood produces more than just
entertainment. It produces social institutions, forms of labour and creativity, economic revenue,
cultural and artistic texts, ideological positions, social and cultural representations, modes of
social hegemony and resistance, and forms of subjectivity and identity. SOC 902 aims to
elucidate these relations, focusing on: the history of Hollywood as a cultural industry and
economic institution; its political-economic structure and governmental functions; and issues
related to ideological control, cultural representation, and identity formation. SOC 902 also aims
to strengthen and improve one’s critical and evaluative abilities. Course readings, discussions,
assignments, and group work will help develop analytic, verbal, written, and collaborative skills.
In this class controversial subjects will be addressed and controversial film clips screened.
Some deeply held beliefs and attitudes may be challenged. The course aims to facilitate a
better understanding of how one reads and understands Hollywood entertainment, and that often
requires investigating difficult and potentially triggering issues. We will examine and question
conventional assumptions about society, many of which are deeply entrenched in our thinking.
Students may be exposed to materials or points of view they find offensive or upsetting.

Teaching Methods
This course uses readings, lectures, audio-visual presentations, group discussions, and various
forms of assignments and assessment.
Readings: It is the student’s responsibility to complete each week’s required readings.
This syllabus is a required reading. Recommended readings are not required unless
associated with specific assignments. Some recommended readings may be referenced in
lecture but unless used in an assignment, students are only responsible for what is said
about them in class. However, choosing to read recommended readings, even a few, will
enrich your understanding of the course and may facilitate your achieving a higher grade.

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 Lectures: Lectures will be based on readings themes, including from recommended
readings, but will also include information and themes not explicitly outlined therein.
They are not designed to summarize readings but to provide context, clarification, and
new information.
Audio-Visual Presentations: Lectures will include PowerPoint presentations and
screenings of relevant media (i.e. clips from Hollywood films or documentary films about
Hollywood) so as to facilitate a deeper understanding of concepts and themes. Each
week’s PowerPoint will be made available on D2L for study purposes after the lecture is
finished. PowerPoints are NOT reading summaries and should never be treated as such.
Students may be tested on any material from the readings, lectures, or presentations. Film
and other media clips are not organized by the instructor to be available outside of class,
but most can be found in the library, as rentals, on YouTube, or online in other capacities.
Tutorial/Discussion Sessions and Chat Boards: Tutorials will include group
presentations. Students are expected to attend every week having completed the readings
and prepared to actively participate. Students are expected to attend all tutorials, even
those in which they are not presenting, as most of the participation grade will come from
participation in tutorials. Group discussion chat boards will periodically be opened on
D2L which students will be encouraged to post in as a form of participation.
Assignments: Descriptions, instructions, and grading scheme for assignments are
provided below. Always consult assignment instructions before beginning work. All
written assignments need to be submitted both electronically and in hardcopy but only
hardcopies will be graded. Assignment folders will be opened on D2L for electronic
submission, which will serve as date-stamped proof of submission and allow for
turnitin.com verification. Hardcopies of written assignments must be submitted in class
and stapled if more than one page. Unstapled assignments will not be accepted. Students
must notify the professor in advance when submitting assignments through the Sociology
drop box. Please see the course policy for late assignments below (pg. 10). Grades for
written assignments will first be provided to students in writing on the assignment itself. It
is the student’s responsibility to pick up their graded assignments in class or from the
professor during office hours. Students should not expect to see grades posted to D2L until
after they pick up their assignments.
Use of Turnitin: Written assignments may be submitted to turnitin.com. Students who do
not want their work submitted to this plagiarism detection service must, by the end of the
second week of class, consult with their instructor to make alternate arrangements. See
page 12 for a more detailed description of how turnitin.com operates.

Evaluation
Attendance/Participation 15% Ongoing
Readings Summary (1 pg) 5% Due Sep 24 in lecture
Group Presentation (15-20 min) 10% Date TBD based on your group’s sign up date
Proposal/Annotated Bib (1+2 pgs) 10% Due Oct 25 in tutorial
Thesis Essay (1500-2000 words) 30% Due Nov 26 in lecture
Final Exam (3 hrs) 30% Date to be scheduled by the University

Note: There is no midterm test in this course

Attendance/Participation – (Ongoing)
Attendance will be recorded at the beginning of each class with a sign-in sheet and it is the
student’s responsibility to ensure that their attendance is recorded. Participation will be assessed

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based on class activity; however, online discussions, making well informed comments and asking
well informed questions online and via email, and coming to see the professor during office hours
can also count. If you have a learning disability or other issues that make participation in class a
problem, please inform the instructor of this early in the term. Attendance and participation
together count for 15% of your final grade. The grade ratio between the two can be relatively
flexible for the benefit of the student provided the student meets with the instructor to discuss the
ratio. Otherwise the ratio will approximate 10% for attendance and 5% for participation.

Readings Summary – (Due in lecture, Mon Sept 24)

1 full page, double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one inch margins. Must not
exceed one page by more than a line or two. Name, student number, course code, and assignment
title should be included on a cover page, which must be stapled to your assignment. No unstapled
assignments will be accepted.
This is a one page summary of two related key points made in two required readings (one point
for each reading). You are not required to summarize the readings in their entirety, just the key
points you choose. In one or two sentences at the end, you will briefly evaluate the relationship
between these points. This assignment assesses your ability to choose only what you consider the
most important points and to summarize and evaluate their relationship concisely. You may
choose to summarize one recommended reading in place of a required reading if you wish. The
summary is worth 5% of your final grade and will be assessed based on the following criteria:
1. Clarity, accuracy, and succinctness of summary (2/5)
2. Quality of insight drawn between readings (1/5)
3. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure (1/5)
4. Following assignment and formatting instructions (1/5)

Group Presentation – (Date to be determined based on your group)

Students will be responsible for forming into groups of 4-5 and delivering a 15-20 min oral
presentation based on at least two of the readings for the chosen week, one of which should be a
recommended reading. The presentation should reference at least one Hollywood film and should
be both descriptive and evaluative. Students are expected to focus on one or two key aspects of
the readings and consider them in relation to an issue and film (or films) instead of just
summarizing the readings. Depth is more important than breadth. Do not summarize every point
in the readings. A PowerPoint presentation and a short film clip or clips of no more than 2
minutes total should be included. Each group will present only once. This will be worth 10% of
your final grade and all students in the group will share the same grade. Students will form into
groups and sign up for a date via D2L and email on a first come/first serve basis within the first
two weeks of term. The group’s PowerPoint should be submitted to a D2L submission folder
prior to beginning their presentation. Students will be graded using the following criteria:
1. Clarity, quality, and depth of comprehension and evaluation (5/10)
2. Structure, organization, and style of presentation (3/10)
3. Group cooperation (1/10)
4. Following assignment instructions (1/10%)

Proposal/Annotated Bibliography – (Due in tutorial, Thurs Oct 25)

A standard one-page proposal (double-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font, one inch
margins) and two page annotated bibliography (single-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font,
APA or MLA style). Name, student number, course code, and assignment title should be included
on a cover page, which must be stapled to your assignment. No unstapled assignments will be
accepted.

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IMPORTANT: You must hand in a proposal/bibliography and have it graded and returned before
you hand in your essay. Your graded proposal/bibliography will need to be attached to your essay.
This assignment is designed to lead into and prepare you for your final essay. Please see Thesis
Essay instructions below before beginning this assignment as they are connected. Your proposal
should include a topic, a thesis statement, and a brief outline of how you will argue your case in
your essay. It must be written in paragraph form and complete sentences and should not exceed
one page. The choice of topic is yours but must fall within the parameters of the course. The
annotated bibliography should list four (or more) properly formatted academic sources (MLA or
APA style) only three of which can be required and recommended course readings. At least one
source must be researched outside the course readings. You must also include at least one
Hollywood film as a source in addition to your academic sources. Each source, including your
film or films, must include a four-to-five sentence annotation (single-spaced) explaining what the
source is, what it demonstrates, argues, or represents, and how it will be used in your essay.
Worth 10% of your final grade and will be graded using the following criteria:
1. Relevance of topic and clarity and quality of working thesis and plan of action (4/10)
2. Quality and depth of annotations (4/10)
3. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation (1/10)
4. Following assignment and formatting instructions (1/10%)

Thesis Essay – (Due in lecture, Mon Nov 26)

1500-2000 words not including long quotes, the cover page or the References page (5-7 pages).
Double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, one inch margins, page numbers, and word
count. Must include a References Page using MLA or APA style. Name, student number, course
code, and assignment title should be included on a cover page, which must be stapled to your
assignment. No unstapled assignments will be accepted.
IMPORTANT: You must have handed in a proposal/bibliography and have had it returned to you
with comments before you can hand in your essay. Your graded proposal must be stabled to the
back of your essay. Note: NO annotations are required for the essay bibliography, only for the
annotated bibliography, which you will have already submitted and have had returned.
You are expected to consider a theme, issue, debate, controversy, or problem associated with the
study of Hollywood and society, take a position on your topic, and argue your point of view using
evidence from course readings and researched sources. This is a thesis essay with a small research
component that will require a bibliography of at least four academic sources (but preferably
more). You can draw on required and recommended course readings as sources but at least one of
your sources (preferably more) must be researched outside the course readings. Your essay will
also need to discuss at least one Hollywood film (preferably two) in some way. How you discuss
your chosen film or films will depend on your choice of topic, but regardless of topic your
analysis will need to consider your film(s) in relation to society. This paper is not an analysis of
film as art but as a product of society. In your essay you will need to make a critically astute and
provocative claim and argue your case. The choice of topic is your own but it must fall within the
parameters of the course. The essay is worth 30% of your final grade. You will be graded based
on the following criteria:
1. Clarity, depth, and quality of thesis statement and argument (15/30)
2. Quality and depth of organization and research (10/30)
4. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure (2.5/30)
5. Following assignment and formatting instructions (2.5/30)

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Final Exam – The exam will be scheduled by the university during the December exam period
(Tuesday December 4 – Saturday December 15). It will be based on all course content (lectures,
readings, screenings, and discussions) and will be comprised of some combination of the
following although it may not include all of the following: short-answer questions, long-form
essay questions, and multiple choice and true or false questions. There will be some choice of
questions built into the exam. Grading will match the type of question asked. More information
will be provided in the exam review in the final class. You will know the structure of the exam
and type of questions on it before the exam period begins provided you attend the final class. The
exam is worth 30% of your final grade. For further information on the university’s official final
exam policy see: http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/senate/pol135.pdf.
IMPORTANT: Students are reminded that vacation plans will not be accommodated and are not
sufficient justification for final exam absences. Do not schedule such events during the exam
period. Students should also not ask to write the final exam before it is scheduled to be written.

Lecture, Reading, & Assignment Schedule

Important Notes:
** Lectures are on Mondays. Tutorials/Discussion Sessions are on Thursdays.
** Readings are posted through copyright fair dealing, linked to through the library’s online
system, or posted under One-Stop Course Readings via D2L. Some recommended readings will
be available on reserve at the library and other will be posted to the course website. All readings
posted to the course website comply with Canadian copyright law. All linked readings are freely
available through the library for registered students or online through open access. Full
bibliographic information for each posted and linked reading is available on the course website.
The syllabus is a required reading.
** Please include ‘SOC 902, Sec 1’ in the subject line of all email correspondence.
Introduction to the Course
Week 1 (Sep 6 & 10): Hollywood and Society and Early American Cinema
Required Readings:
1. Thorn. “SOC902: Hollywood and Society Syllabus.” (i.e. this document, the one
you’re reading right now – it’s a required reading)
2. Kellner. “Hollywood Film and Society.” (Posted PDF)
Recommended Readings:
1. Baker. “The Quality Race: Feature Films and Market Dominance in the US and Europe
in the 1910s.” (One-Stop Course Readings PDF)
2. Gomery. “The Coming of Sound: Technological Change in the American Film
Industry.” (One-Stop Course Readings PDF)
Week 2 (Sep 13 & 17) – The Rise and Fall of the Classical Studio System
Required Readings:
1. Schatz. “Hollywood: The Triumph of the Studio System.” (Library ebook link)
2. Balio. “Selling Stars: The Economic Imperative.” (One-Stop Course Readings
PDF)
3. Staiger. “Individualism Versus Collectivism: The Shift to Independent Production in the
US Film Industry.” (Library ebook link)
Recommended Readings:
1. Belton. “Glorious Technicolor, Breathtaking Cinemascope and the Stereophonic
Sound.” (Library ebook link)

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 2. Sklar. Ch. 9 “The House That Adolph Zukor Built” and Ch. 17 “Hollywood’s
Collapse” (On reserve)
Assignment Due:
1. Group Presentations may begin this week (**if you haven’t joined a group or
signed up for a presentation date, please do so ASAP)
Week 3 (Sep 20 & 24) – Censorship and Politics: From the Production Code to HUAC
Required Readings:
1. Doherty. “God’s Work.” (Posted PDF)
2. The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. “The Motion Picture Production
Code.” (Posted PDF)
3. Neve. “Hollywood and Politics in the 1940s and 50s.” (Library ebook link)
4. Schatz. “HUAC, the Hollywood Ten, and the Birth of the Blacklist.” (Posted
PDF)
Recommended Readings:
1. Maltby. “The Production Code and the Mythologies of ‘Pre-code’ Hollywood.” (Library
ebook link)
2. Sklar. Ch. 10 “The Moguls at Bay and the Censors’ Triumph” and Ch. 15
“Hollywood at War for America and at War with Itself.” (On reserve)
Assignments Due:
1. Readings Summary due in lecture
2. Group Presentations continue (**if you haven’t joined a group or signed up for a
presentation date, please do so immediately)

Week 4 (Sep 27 & Oct 1) – Representation I: Race and Class in Classical Hollywood
Required Readings:
1. Benshoff and Griffin. “Chapter 5: Native Americans and American Film.” (Library
ebook link)
 Note: This is an American reading. In Canada it is preferable to refer to
North America’s Indigenous peoples as (depending on group or context)
First Nations, Inuit, or Metis; or Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples.
2. Benshoff and Griffin. “Chapter 8: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Class” (Library
ebook link)
Recommended Readings:
1. Benshoff and Griffin. “Introduction to Part II: What is Race?” (Library ebook link)
2. Benshoff and Griffin. “Introduction to Part III: What is Class?” (Library ebook link)
3. Benshoff and Griffin. “Chapter 3: The Concept of Whiteness and American Film.”
(Library ebook link)
4. Cassano. “Radical Critique and Progressive Traditionalism in John Ford’s The Grapes of
Wrath (Library ejournal link)
Assignment Due:
1. Group Presentations begin or continue (**if you haven’t joined a group or signed up for
a presentation date, please do so immediately)
Week 5 (Oct 4 & 15): Representation II: Gender and Sexuality in Classical Hollywood
Required Readings:
1. Benshoff and Griffin. “Chapter 10: Women in Classical American Filmmaking.”
(Library ebook link)
2. Benshoff and Griffin. “Chapter 14: Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, and Classical
Hollywood” (Library ebook link)

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 Recommended Readings:
1. Benshoff and Griffin. “Introduction to Part IV: What is Gender?” (Library ebook link)
2. Benshoff and Griffin. “Introduction to Part V: What is Sexuality?” (Library ebook link)
3. Benshoff and Griffin. Chapter 11 “Exploring the Visual Parameters of Women in Film.”
(Library ebook link)
4. Mahar. “‘Doing a ‘Man’s Work’’: The Rise of the Studio System and the
Remasculinization of Filmmaking.” (One-Stop Course Readings PDF)
Assignments Due:
1. Group Presentations continue (**you are required to have already signed up for a
presentation date. No new presentations will be scheduled at this point)
Fall Study Week: October 7 - 13 (NO CLASSES October 8 & 11)
Note: Fall Study Week is breaking up “Week 5” so the tutorial will take place before
the break and the lecture after.

Week 6 (Oct 18 & 22) – Genres I: Classic Westerns, Romances, and Melodramas
Required Readings:
1. Nolley. “John Ford and the Hollywood Indian.” (Library ejournal link)
 Note: This is an American reading. In Canada it is preferable to refer to
North America’s Indigenous peoples as (depending on group or context)
First Nations, Inuit, or Metis; or Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples.
2. Neale. “Melodrama and the Woman’s Film.” (Library ebook link)
Recommended Readings:
1. Schatz. “Film Genre and the Genre of Film.” (Posted PDF)
Assignments Due:
1. Group Presentations continue
Week 7 (Oct 25 & Oct 29) – Hollywood in the 1960s and 70s: From New Hollywood to the
Blockbuster Mentality
Required Readings:
1. Grant. “Introduction: Movies and the 1960s.” (Library ebook link)
2. Friedman. “Introduction: Movies and the 1970s.” (Library ebook link)
Recommended Readings:
1. Any additional readings from Grant’s edited book American Cinema of the 1960s or
Friedman’s edited book American Cinema of the 1970s (Library ebook links)
2. Sklar. Ch. 18 “The Promise of Personal Film” and Ch. 19 “Nadir and Revival.” (On
reserve)
Assignments Due:
1. Prop/Bibliography due in tutorial
2. Group Presentations continue
Week 8 (Nov 1 & Nov 5) – Hollywood in the 1980s and 90s: From the Age of Reagan to the
Digital Revolution
Required Readings:
1. Prince. “Introduction: Movies and the 1980s.” (Library ebook link)
2. Holmlund. “Introduction: Movies and the 1990s.” (Library ebook link)
Recommended Readings:
1. Any additional readings from Prince’s edited book American Cinema of the 1980s or
Holmlund’s edited book American Cinema of the 1990s (Library ebook links)

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 2. Sklar. “Ch. 20 “Hollywood and the Age of Reagan” and Ch. 21 “From Myth to
Memory.” (On reserve)
Assignments Due:
1. Group Presentations continue
Week 9 (Nov 8 & Nov 12): Representation III: Race and Class in “New” Hollywood
Required Readings:
1. Benshoff and Griffin. “Chapter 4: African Americans and American Film.” (Library
ebook link)
2. Benshoff and Griffin. “Chapter 9: Cinematic Class Struggle After the Depression”
(Library ebook link)
Recommended Readings:
1. Benshoff and Griffin. “Chapter 6: Asian Americans and American Film.” (Library
ebook link)
2. Shaheen. “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People.” (Library ejournal link)
3. Broe. “Class, Crime, and Film Noir” (Library ejournal link)
Assignments Due:
1. Group Presentations continue
Week 10 (Nov 15 & 19): Representation IV: Gender and Sexuality in “New” Hollywood
Required Readings:
1. Benshoff and Griffin. “Chapter 13: Gender in American Film Since the 1960s.” (Library
ebook link)
2. Benshoff and Griffin. “Chapter 15: Sexualities on Film Since the Sexual Revolution.”
(Library ebook link)
Recommended Readings:
1. Bielby & Bielby. “Women and Men in Film: Gender Inequality among Writers in a
Culture Industry.” (Library ejournal link)
2. Erigha. “Race, Gender, Hollywood: Representation in Cultural Production and Digital
Media’s Potential for Change.” (Library ejournal link)
3. Bronski. “From The Celluloid Closet to Brokeback Mountain: The Changing Nature of
Queer Film Criticism.” (Library ejournal link)
Assignments Due:
1. Group Presentations continue
Week 11 (Nov 22 & Nov 26): Genres II: Fear and Social Anxiety in Horror and Sci Fi
Required Readings:
1. Robinson. “Immanent Attack: An Existential Take on The Invasion of the Body
Snatchers Films” (Posted PDF)
2. Newton. “Feminism and Anxiety in Alien.” (Posted PDF)
Recommended Reading:
1. Scales. “‘Something is Trying to Get Inside My Body’: A Gay Reception and Narrative
Analysis of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge.” (Posted PDF)
2. Platts. “Locating Zombies in the Sociology of Popular Culture” (Library ejournal link)
Assignments Due:
1. Thesis Essay due in lecture
2. Group Presentations continue
Week 12 (Nov 29 & Dec 3): Digital Hollywood and Globalization
Required Readings:

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 1. Manovich. “What is Digital Cinema?” (Open source link)
2. Lorenzen. “On the Globalization of the Film Industry.” (Posted PDF)
Recommended Reading:
1. Jenkins. “Searching For the Origami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling.”
(Library ejournal link)
2. Su. “Resisting cultural imperialism, or welcoming cultural globalization? China's
extensive debate on Hollywood cinema from 1994 to 2007.” (Library ejournal link)
Assignments Due:
1. Group Presentations continue if necessary

Additional Course Information

A Note On Grades
The following represents Ryerson’s official allocation of numerical and letter grades:
A+ 90-100 A 85-89 A- 80-84 B+ 77-79
B 73-76 B- 70-72 C+ 67-69 C 63-66
C- 60-62 D+ 57-59 D 53-56 D- 50-52
F 49-0
Here is how each grade can be understood in one or two words:
A+ = Outstanding A = Excellent A- = Great B+ = Very Good B = Quite Good
B- = Good C+ = Average C = Satisfactory C- = Adequate
D+ = Below Average D = Marginal D- = Poor F = Unsatisfactory

Your final grade for the course will appear on RAMSS in letter form. Tutorial presentation grades
will be assessed and posted in D2L or sent via email to everyone in the group within two weeks of
the date of presentation. Attendance and participation grades will be determined and posted to
D2L at the end of the term. All written work, which will have been submitted both electronically
and in hardcopy form, will be assessed via the hardcopy and returned to the student within two
weeks. Please note: grades for hardcopy assignments will not be posted to D2L until after the
student has picked up their graded hardcopy.

Late assignments
All assignments must be completed and submitted in class by their due date or a 5% per day
penalty will be applied to the assignment grade (Saturday and Sunday total 5%). You must also
submit an electronic copy of each assignment on D2L to create a date-stamp and for turnitin.com
assessment, but this only counts as proof of submission. Only assignments submitted in hardcopy
will be graded. A grade of zero will be recorded if you choose not to complete an assignment.
Students who know in advance they will not be able to hand in an assignment on time may book
an appointment to request an extension. Extensions will be granted only if requested before the
due date and a good reason is provided. Only under compassionate circumstances (death in the
family, serious illness, etc.) that can be supported by official documentation will students be
permitted to submit an assignment one week past the due date or be granted a make-up test
request if they did not request an extension or make-up date in advance. If you are unable to
submit an assignment during class time but submit it to D2L on the due date, late marks will not
be deducted provided you submit a hardcopy in the next class or in the Sociology drop box. If you

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submit your assignment via the dropbox, you must notify the instructor in advance. Assignments
submitted to D2L that are not later submitted in hardcopy will not be graded.

Missed Classes or Evaluations

If you miss a test/exam or submit an assignment late for documented medical or other reasons,
you must submit an Academic Consideration Document Submission Form AND a Ryerson
Medical Certificate within 3 business days of the missed work. Both forms can be found here and
are to be submitted to your home/program department (i.e. the office of the program that you
are enrolled in): http://www.ryerson.ca/senate/forms/medical.pdf
http://www.ryerson.ca/senate/policies/pol134.pdf

If you miss an assignment, you can request to write a make-up or have your grades allocated to
another portion of the course assessment but you must consult with the professor and receive
permission in advance. Make-up exams cover the same material as originals but may have
different formats and questions. Please see the following Ryerson policy on Undergraduate
Course Management (Policy 145) for further details:
http://www.ryerson.ca/senate/policies/pol145.pdf

After your documentation has been verified, you will be asked to visit the Test Centre website and
register to write a make-up test if an appropriate time cannot be scheduled otherwise:
http://www.ryerson.ca/studentlearningsupport/test-centre/index.html

Religious and Spiritual Observance

If you wish to request religious and/or spiritual observance accommodation, you must submit a
Request for Accommodation of Student Religious, Aboriginal and Spiritual Observance AND an
Academic Consideration form within the first 2 weeks of the class or, for a final examination,
within 2 weeks of the posting of the examination schedule. These forms can be found here:
http://www.ryerson.ca/senate/forms/relobservforminstr.pdf

If you are a full-time or part-time degree student, then you submit the forms to your own
program department or school. If you are a certificate or non-certificate student, then you
submit the forms to the staff at the front desk of the Chang School.

Student Learning Support Centre

If you require learning support or have accommodation needs please visit the Student Learning
Support Centre. Students who require accommodation are encouraged to register with the Centre
and must decide for themselves whether to seek out this help. You can locate more information on
the Centre here: http://www.ryerson.ca/studentlearningsupport/index.html

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Ryerson’s Policy 60 (now called the Academic Integrity policy) applies to all students at the
University. The policy and its procedures are triggered in the event that the there is a suspicion
that a student has engaged in a form of academic misconduct.

Forms of academic misconduct include plagiarism, cheating, supplying false information to the
University, and other acts. The most common form of academic misconduct is plagiarism.
Plagiarism is a serious academic offence and penalties can be severe. In any academic exercise,
plagiarism occurs when one offers as one’s own work the words, data, ideas, arguments,

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calculations, designs or productions of another without appropriate attribution or when one allows
one’s work to be copied.

All academic work must be submitted using the citation style approved by the instructor. Students
may refer to the Ryerson Library’s list of Citations and Style Guides for more information.

It is assumed that all examinations and work submitted for evaluation and course credit will
be the product of individual effort, except in the case of group projects arranged for and
approved by the course instructor. Submitting the same work to more than one course,
without instructor approval, is also considered a form of plagiarism.

Students are advised that suspicions of academic misconduct may be referred to the Academic
Integrity Office (AIO). Students who are found to have committed academic misconduct will
have a Disciplinary Notation (DN) placed on their academic record (not on their transcript) and
will be assigned one or more of the following penalties:

A grade reduction for the work, include a grade of zero for the work.
A grade reduction in the course greater than a zero on the work. (Note that this penalty
can only be applied to course components worth 10% or less, that any additional penalty
cannot exceed 10% of the final course grade, and that information explaining that such a
penalty will be assigned must be included on the course outline.)
An F in the course
More serious penalties up to and including expulsion from the University

For more detailed information on these issues, please refer to the full online text for the Academic
Integrity policy and to the Academic Integrity website.

Turnitin.com
Turnitin.com is a plagiarism prevention and detection service to which Ryerson subscribes. It is a
tool to assist instructors in determining the similarity between students’ work and the work of
other students who have submitted papers to the site (at any university), internet sources, and a
wide range of books, journals and other publications. While it does not contain all possible
sources, it gives instructors some assurance that students’ work is their own. No decisions are
made by the service; it generates an “originality report,” which instructors must evaluate to judge
if something is plagiarized.

Students agree by taking this course that their written work will be subject to submission for
textual similarity review to Turnitin.com. All submitted papers will be included as source
documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of comparing the
similarity of such papers. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the terms-of-use
agreement posted on the Turnitin.com website. Students who do not want their work submitted to
this plagiarism detection service must, by the end of the second week of class, consult with their
instructor to make alternate arrangements.

Even when an instructor has not indicated that a plagiarism detection service will be used, or
when a student has opted out of the plagiarism detection service, if the instructor has reason to
suspect that an individual piece of work has been plagiarized, the instructor is permitted to submit
that work in a non-identifying way to any plagiarism detection service.

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Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct
During lecture and discussion sessions students are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful
and collegial manner. This also means adhering to class rules about using laptops, mobile and
other electrical devices that can be disruptive to colleagues and the lecture. Laptops/tablets may
be used to take notes and should not be used to conduct instant message conversations, watching
videos, or engaging in activities other than note-taking with laptops. Your mobile phone should
also remain turned off during lectures and discussion sessions. Please refrain from texting and
disruptive chatter. These behaviours are disrespectful and unprofessional. Students are required to
adhere to the principles outlined in Policy 61 detailing the expectations of respect for the rights,
dignity, and well-being of all university members. Please review Policy 60 here
http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/senate/policies/pol61.pdf

Important Resources Available at Ryerson

o The Library provides research workshops and individual assistance. Inquire at
the Reference Desk on the second floor of the library, or go to
www.ryerson.ca/library/info/workshops.html
o Student Learning Support offers group-based and individual help with writing,
math, study skills and transition support, and other issues.

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