Society: The Basics (Color version)

Macionis empowers students to understand the world around them through a sociological lens, so they can better understand sociology and their own lives.

Society: The Basics, 12th edition is written to help students find and use sociology in everyday life. With a complete theoretical framework and a global perspective, Society: The Basics offers students an accessible and relevant introduction to sociology.

The new edition continues to grow to meet readers' changing needs. With a newly integrated pedagogical framework, readers are guided through both the text - and optional new MySocLab - to build their critical thinking skills while learning the fundamentals of sociology.

Teaching and Learning Experience
This program will provide a better teaching and learning experience – for you and your students. Here’s how:

Note: MySocLab does not come automatically packaged with this text. To purchase MySocLab, please visit:

www.mysoclab.com or you can purchase a valuepack of the text + MySocLab (at no additional cost).

John J. Macionis was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.

John Macionis' publications are wide-ranging, focusing on community life in the United States, interpersonal intimacy in families, effective teaching, humor, new information technology, and the importance of global education.

In addition, John Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis have edited the best-selling anthology Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology. Macionis and Vincent Parrillo have written the leading urban studies text, Cities and Urban Life (Pearson). Macionis’ most recent textbook is Social Problems (Pearson).

John Macionis is Professor and Distinguished Scholar of Sociology at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he has taught for almost thirty years. During that time, he has chaired the Sociology Department, directed the college’s multidisciplinary program in humane studies, presided over the campus senate and the college’s faculty, and taught sociology to thousands of students.

In 2002, the American Sociological Association presented Macionis with the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching, citing his innovative use of global material as well as the introduction of new teaching technology in his textbooks.

Professor Macionis has been active in academic programs in other countries, having traveled to some fifty nations. He writes, “I am an ambitious traveler, eager to learn and, through the texts, to share much of what I discover with students, many of whom know little about the rest of the world. For me, traveling and writing are all dimensions of teaching. First, and foremost, I am a teacher–a passion for teaching animates everything I do.”

At Kenyon, Macionis teaches a number of courses, but his favorite class is Introduction to Sociology, which he offers every semester. He enjoys extensive contact with students and invites everyone enrolled in each of his classes to enjoy a home-cooked meal.

The Macionis family–John, Amy, and children McLean and Whitney–live on a farm in rural Ohio. In his free time, Macionis enjoys tennis, swimming, hiking, and playing oldies rock-and-roll (he recently released his first CD). Macionis is as an environmental activist in the Lake George region of New York’s Adirondack Mountains, working with a number of organizations, including the Lake George Land Conservancy, where he serves as president of the board of trustees.