The Sociology of Everyday Life 

Instructors: Ruhail Andrabi
Instructor Email: ruhailandrabi@gmail.com 
Prerequisites: none 
Schedule: TBD

Course Description

If you are curious about these questions, why do humans perform rituals ? How do we articulate our emotions through different forms of communication such as emoji’s, humor, laughing and handshake? Why do some people follow religion while others do not? How does religion, class, and race define our social honor, and social status in society? then this course will definitely fascinate you, and provide an exposure to a strong theoretical foundation of fundamental questions about how social life manifests in everyday actions.

As sociologists, we're adept at examining major societal constructs like religion, marriage, education, and technology. Yet, the influence of social forces on the more subtle, everyday aspects of life—self-presentation, interaction with others, self-conception, emotional experience, and the interpretation of daily events—often escapes our scrutiny. This course probes these dimensions, applying sociological lenses to understand how the personal and psychological are invariably shaped by social forces.

The curriculum ventures into the interplay between individuals and social groups, employing a blend of theoretical and empirical frameworks to decode the everyday social experience. Students will be introduced to key sociological theories with a focus on interactional, social, and cultural processes. These theories provide insight into how the private, individual self is constructed through social structures. They aim to demystify how individuals develop self-awareness and understanding of their social worlds, particularly how their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are formed and how these, in turn, influence their political spheres.

The course underscores how, through daily interactions, individuals adopt and internalize specific modes of thinking, feeling, and acting. Moreover, it sheds light on how individuals, through their habitual behaviors, either uphold or challenge the existing social order.

Course Goals / Learning Objective

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Identify quotidian aspects of everyday social life.
• Recognize how one’s social position may shape our understandings and interpretations of ourselves and others.
• Understand the range of approaches and theories that apply to the study of quotidian topics in everyday life.
• Critically assess and identify complex interactional and cognitive phenomena.
• Identify, explain, and evaluate central concepts and theories.
• Apply terminology used in the course correctly and compare how approaches use terminology differently in explaining sociological phenomena.
• Apply central concepts and theories to case studies and other empirical examples.
• Critique perspectives and theories used in researching everyday life.
• Formulate and assess recommendations on how to study topics from different perspectives.
• Draw on academic sources to research objects and to write critically and creatively.
• Exercise initiative, personal responsibility, and accountability in the class setting. • Engage in constructive and collegial academic discussions.

Topical Outline

INTRODUCTION: SOCIOLOGY OF THEORY

Fuhse, J. A. (2022). How Can Theories Represent Social Phenomena? Sociological Theory, Volume 40 issue (2), 99-123.

Lecture 2 - THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY

Emile Durkheim, [1893] 1984. Selections from “Mechanical Solidarity, or Solidarity by  Similarities,” and “Solidarity Arising from the Division of Labour, or Organic Solidarity,” in  The Division of Labor in Society. New York: Free Press (pp. 31-43, 60-64, 83-86). 

Emile Durkheim, [1912] 1995. Selection from “Definition of Religious Phenomena and of  Religion,” in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York: Free Press (pp. 33-39).

Lecture 3 - SHAPING THE SELF THROUGH SOCIAL INTERACTION

George H. Mead, [1934] 1967. Selections from “The Self,” in Mind, Self, and Society. Chicago:  The University of Chicago Press (pp. 135-144, 152-178, 192-200).

Lecture 4 -SYMBOLIC INTERACTION

Herbert Blumer, 1969. Selection from “The Methodological Position of Symbolic  Interactionism,” in Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Berkeley: University of  California Press (pp. 1-21).

Gary Alan Fine and Iddo Tavory, 2019. “Interactionism in the Twenty-First Century: A Letter  on Being-in-a-Meaningful World.” Symbolic Interactionism 42(3): 457-467. 

Lecture 5 - THE PRESENTATION OF SELF IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Erving Goffman, 1959. “Introduction,” in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.  New York:  Anchor Books (pp. 1-16). 

Erving Goffman, 1967. “Embarrassment and Social Organization,” in Interaction Ritual: Essays  on Face-to-Face Behavior. New York: Pantheon Books (pp. 97-112).

Lecture 6 -THE SELF AND SOCIAL ORDER IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Erving Goffman, 1974. Selection from “Introduction” in Frame Analysis: An Essay on the  Organization of Experience. New York: Harper Colophon Books (pp. 1-12). 

Jack Katz, 1999. Selection from “Shameful Moments,” in How Emotions Work. Chicago: The  University of Chicago Press (pp. 142-152, 161-167).

Lecture 7 – CREATING MEANING IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Howard Becker, 1953. “Becoming a Marihuana User,” American Journal of Sociology 59: 235-242. 

Harold Garfinkel, 1963. Selection from “A Conception of and Experiments with ‘Trust’ as a  Condition of Concerted Stable Actions,” in Motivation and Social Interaction. Cognitive  Determinants, edited by O. J. Harvey. New York: The Ronald Press Company (pp. 220-238). 

Lecture 8 - THE SOCIAL MIND

Eviatar Zerubavel, 1997. “The Sociology of the Mind,” and “Social Optics,” in Social  Mindscapes: An Invitation to Cognitive Sociology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (pp. 1- 22, 23-34). 

Lecture 9 -COGNITION IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Karen Cerulo, 2006. “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?,” and selection from “Practicing  Positive Asymmetry,” in Never Saw it Coming: Cultural Challenges to Envisioning the Worst. Chicago:  The University of Chicago Press (pp. 1-16, 95-121).

Lecture 10 – EMOTIONS IN SOCIAL INTERACTION

Arlie R. Hochschild, “Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure,” American Journal  of Sociology 85 (1979): 551-575.

*Courses vary by experience and exposure to content. Instructors have the ability to change content and pace to serve the needs of students. Courses have been modified for online teaching.