Crash on Jan 1!

Hey socio folks, we will complete our Race unit with your Crash written report/blog. The assignment sheet can be found by clicking here: CRASH It is due by 9pm on Jan. 1. Have a wonderful break!
Smith

Following up on Skin Deep

Those of you who want to take a look at some of the Anthropological explanations of race we were discussing in class can go to the Skin Deep site.

Also....if you liked the rap/poem about Race/Gender today here it is: Slip of the Tongue It is the first video you can click on on the side.

Last Social Class Blog and Service Date

Hey socio-folk,

Last Social Class blog! If you didn't do a blog for this week already, one is due by 9pm on Sunday night. You can do the following topic if you like: after the 3penny game, monopoly REAL American style, the never-ending People Like US video.....what privileges does Wealth give someone in the US? Cite 3 examples, and explain them. How did something we learned from class demonstrate/prove these privileges? Do you think anything could or should be done to adjust the societal "rules" that set up these privileges? If so what?

Finally, your social service project paper and journals due date is Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010.

Have a nice weekend,
Smith

Class and People Like Us....

Socio-folk,

Been an intense week of documentary evidence of class situations in the documentary, "People like Us" and some reflective thoughts from Ms. Ehrenreich and her own field research/experience. With your sociological knowledge and this week's activities please examine this quote from George Bernard Shaw:
"What a man is depends on his character; but what he does, and what
we think of what he does, depends on his circumstances. The characteristics that
ruin a man in one class made him eminent in another."

Please spend some time blogging this weekend (POST PRIOR TO SUNDAY NIGHT AT 9PM), while blogging please respond to the following; what is your interpretation of this quote? What does Shaw mean? Cite an example of behavior that is considered a virtue in one class and a vice in another.
For example, compare the idea of an aggressive real estate developer with an
aggressive sanitation worker. Both are in business, but their qualities may be
judged differently.

Have a great weekend! Don't be surprised if we have a quiz on Ehrenreich's article on Monday!

Class and Deviance

Hey socio-folks, hope you are enjoying "People Like Us". Now that we have seen that most sociologists find deviance to be a value neutral activity (ie it is neither good or bad, society determines what is good or bad about deviant behaviors.) but that society deems some bad by some people to be worse than when others do it we are going to examine the idea of Social/Economic Class. This week you will want to identify just what exactly social/economic class is. Second you will want to try and identify what role it plays in both your life and a larger society. Finally you will be examining what impact class and deviance have together in society.

Feel free to write about your pondering or investigations!

SocioSmith is back!

Sorry for being incommunicado this weekend. My own sociological experiment of using communal (ie my neighbor's) email sometimes causes my inability to get on-line at times.

Anyway, we are being Deviant now! I guess my internet provider at home is my own form of deviance. As we continue our discussion looking at deviance/punishment/social class these weeks please reflect on how you as a SOCIOLOGIST can view your society and think of different ways for addressing issues of class and deviance than you ever have before. Not saying you will come up with different answers but for success in this course you should be at least able to see things in a new and different light.

On this topic, think about the Saints and Roughnecks article, courtroom 302, and the Morgan Spurlock video on 30 Days in Jail. Is punishable deviance a societal construct? Is this avoidable in a society? How then do we regulate punishable deviance in the US? What does our punishment/penitentiary system tell us as sociologists? What issues are evident by looking at our court and jail system when you look at what deviance is criminal - who is usually arrested and then convicted - who is usually sentenced to jail - what do we do with deviants once they are in jail???????

Be thankful this Thanksgiving that you are not in the jail system of the US or any other country as you reflect upon the society you live in! Gobble gobble.

Final blog for 2nd six weeks and socialization

You will have time to work on this in the Library Computer Classroom on Friday, Nov 13. Please have it finished ASAP but no later than Sunday, November 15. Have a great weekend!

Final Blog for the 2nd 6 weeks: Please blog your responses by the end of the day, Sunday, November 15.

Socialization/Adolescence Reflection…demonstrate what you have learned about both!

1. Nature vs Nurture: Think about what you have chosen to wear today, what your future professions or plans are, what type of sports/activities you enjoy; how much of this is determined by “Nature” and how much “Nurture”, and if/how do they balance eachother?




2. Why is adolescent social status power so important and consuming to most adolescents?



3. How is the socialization process for children different today than in most previous generations? What concerns are raised by this change? How valid do you think these concerns are?




4. Identify some examples of the gender differences in socialization. What impact do you think these have had in your life or in the lives of others you know?