Sociologists talk a lot about wealth, poverty, social class, upward and downward mobility, social status…we are quite fixated on these topics, they are at the core of our discipline to some extent.
Prior to this class, how did you view social class and how has that changed over time and recently after reading the course materials? How did you view social class and how has that changed over time and recently after reading the course materials?
Share your thoughts about symbols or rituals that we sometimes participate in without even thinking much about them. How are these moments made special through emotions and memories?
As thought about this, enjoy being around holiday or festive events from all religions/cultures without ever feeling obligated to celebrate or not celebrate. been fortunate to travel to some interesting places in late December like France, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, England, Jamaica, Mexico but I’m happy at home too.
C. Wright Mills coined the phase “the Sociolocal Imagination” and discussed it as helping us understand “the Intersection of Biography and History”. This is powerful stuff! The understanding of our individual lives within the context of large historical, social and economic factors. Here we are in 2021/22, in the midst of the first pandemic in 100 years, an economy characterized by inflation, low unemployment and labor shortages.
How does your life, career, choices, obligations compare to those of your parents or grandparents? How can sociology help you understand such big questions and issues?
While the United States is a wealthy nation and spends vast resources on healthcare services, Americans overall are not so healthy and in fact, our life expectancy is decreasing. Chapter 18 in the text discusses Health, Healthcare and Disability. While the covid crisis has created a health crisis, we have to understand that we are also experiencing a record number of drug overdose deaths and very high rates of suicide.
What insights does sociology have to offer about what is happening in America relative to these issues? Can sociology make us healthier?
The Importance of Academic Honesty-Discuss?
WATCH: Documentary — Frontline: Sick Around the World (2008)
Answer the following:
While keeping in mind that “Sick Around the World” was filmed prior to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which country’s health care system should be used to reform the U.S.’s current health care system? You may use a mixture of different countries’ systems. Make sure to explain your reasoning/opinion and use the CH 15 & 16 PowerPoint for information on the current health care system with the Affordable Care Act in effect.
What can we do as individuals to address and achieve social change?
In your essay, you should also answer the following three questions:
Hill Collins (see readings) argues that we often fail to see how our own ideas and behaviors perpetuate some else’s oppression. Can you think of some ideas or behaviors (your own or your friends’ or family’s) that perpetuate the inequality of others? Describe and provide an example.
What makes it difficult for us to see the ways that we participate in transforming difference into inequality? discuss.
How can recognizing the ways we participate in perpetuating inequality move us toward a more equal society? Describe and provide an example.
Structure your essay with an introduction, main body, and conclusion.
Your similarity should be below 15% (including quotes).
Provide your sources in a bibliography at the end of your essay. You should include at least two academic sources. (Published materials written by academics and/or published in academic journals).
READINGS (Hill Collins )
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vh0gU5k0cdkVhKOB8L6AdBYmo0-Mf8zE/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ML-qsUvnYEb0btdRmG4NCgu9ACBVFH91/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1URduy70XiQKT6c-kXXvl8PyOVNvgIEK1/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dp2Dn5Ku8dHE0ZASlcDSwWeVNMWxconQ/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Fxu7L83m1qDUM84fvsrQN3iwEjaxeRLEy/view?usp=sharing
Prepare a position paper on a controversial issue in the news. Explain how the controversial issue has been impacted by the advancement of technology in the media. Select one of the topics addressed in this class: Race in the media, body image, treatment of women in the workplace (including equal pay and online harassment), public trust in the media, and free speech and hate speech.
General topics — a few examples of related social issues are in brackets
1. Climate Change and the Environment [sustainability, biodiversity, consumption, environmental justice, environmental justice]
2. The Social Contract and Civic Engagement [citizenship, immigration, DACA, gerrymandering, immigration, LGBTQ+, meritocracy, policing, pluralism, political action committees, schooling/systems, special interest groups, voting rights, women’s rights]
3. Infrastructure and Urban/Suburban Development [bridges and tunnels, gentrification, malls, migration, public works, urban renewal, urban sprawl]
4. Media and Social Change [social change, cultural values, social media, leisure class, media industries, popular culture]
5. Social and Economic Inequality [affordable housing, cost of living and minimum wage, living wage, meritocracy, race/ethnicity, social class]
Write an essay in which you demonstrate your understanding of how sociologists identify and explore social issues. Use the following guidelines to complete your essay.
a) Explain why the general topic interests you and why other people might also find it important.
b) Is there a specific social issue related to your topic that you would like to understand better? Apply your developing sociological imagination to explain why this is an important social issue. (Hint-How would Mills’ concept help you identify or clarify your topic as an important social phenomenon?).
c) If you were able to conduct a research study to learn more about your specific social issue, which research method/design would you use? Why this approach? (Hint-Would you use a quantitative approach, if so, which one, why? Would you use a qualitative approach, if so, which one, why?)
Identify a sociologically relevant topic or problem of your choosing. For your final project, you must link that topic/problem to the wide range of tools of sociological thought you have learned this semester in a presentation (e.g., PowerPoint) or written review. Your project must substantially fulfill the following requirements:
Give a background of the topic or problem you have chosen and discuss why it would benefit from being understood through a sociological lens. What assumptions do people make about it that sociology can inform (or change)? What does sociology bring to the table that differs from people’s everyday social and cultural assumptions?
Discuss how two sociological theories can be applied. In doing so, you should make clear that you understand how the core perspectives of the theory can connect to and offer insight into the real-world example you have chosen. In other words, how would this theory interpret your topic?
It may be easiest to choose from the major theories (Structural-Functionalism, Symbolic Interactionism, and Conflict Theory), but recall that there are some other theories presented in your readings.
Discuss how two sociological concepts can be applied. In doing so, you should show how these concepts can be seen at work inside the topic/problem you’ve identified. Use them to zero in on aspects of your example and interpret them. You may choose from the following list of concepts:
Social Structure
Culture
Socialization
Social inequality
Social identity
Including groups and categories
Power and authority (counts as one)
Deviance
Social change
