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?

Adolescence and Status!

Welcome all adolescents! What is adolescence and why does our society treat this ambiguously defined age grouping the way it does???

All societies/cultures socialize in their own ways. Our Western/American culture really puts folks your age in an awkward predicament, part kid, part adult, and no clear definitions by anyone!!!

So spend some time this weekend thinking about one or another of these things.
1. Conflict/Confusion created by being defined as an adolescent. The first two articles you read about Adolescence presented the idea that your society puts you in a very chaotic state of being because you are not given adult status yet you are an adult biologically in many ways. On top of that there are some things you are given the opportunity to have adult status (driving) yet not many others (drinking). Contemplate the struggles this creates for teenagers and other examples of the same thing.
2. Status Power. Read the article in the packet, Freeks, Geeks,....etc. Think about and then blog about examples of how Status Power consumes the lives of teenagers/adolescents around you on a daily basis. What impact does this have on the development of teens into adults? Does it have to be this way?

Have a great Halloween!

Socialization Blog 1 (3rd blog of the 2nd 6 weeks)

Hey socio-ers,

Here are some good first blog topics with socialization:
After our discussion about Nature and Nurture and the growing man metaphor, I hope we are comfortable with the idea that Nature provides us with an aptitude, and nature either reinforces those aptitudes or leads us away from them. (Just think about that poor feral girl Danielle from the Oprah show and how far nurture took her away from whatever human/social aptitudes she might have!)
As for you go ahead and address these topics -
How are you like your family? Long time friends?
When did your parents first realize you had a unique personality and what were the "signs" they saw? (Go ahead ask them!)
What are some habits/attitudes/etc that you do not want to be like your P's? Do you think it will be possible to work against both nature and nurture and to be different???

After the in-class reading on Thursday about AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION please identify what have been the most significant people or groups (besides family) that have affected your self-concept, attitudes, behaviors, or other orientations toward life. Once you identify one or more groups, besides Family, explain how/what influences they have had.

Have fun and be good with your substitute!

Blog #2: See the Water!

We are wrapping up our culture unit and it is time for you to do a blog on it! Remember the water metaphor and our goal of being able to see our culture and the influence it has on others and ourselves. The metaphor was that culture is like water to a fish, it is absolutely essential and it permeates every single moment and action of a fish, but it is probably something a fish never ever sees or thinks about. Just as your culture permeates your thoughts and actions without you or others realizing it! Well our goal was to identify our culture and recognize how it impacts you. Go ahead and do the following blog and show me what you have learned!

SEE THE WATER & LEARN HOW TO SWIM HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

Unit 2, Culture Blog:
Special Blog worth 20 points due end of day Friday, 10/16. You may turn it in typed or post as a blog.


Please write on all of the following topics utilizing the information and concepts we learned from our readings, presentations, and the Tuesday’s with Morrie video.

1. Give a new and unique example of “Water” in your life. In other words, water is our culture and the way it affects your behaviors. Please identify a way we have not already discussed or read about that your culture is influencing you.

2. How do you navigate the water all around you? How do you behaviorally adjust to the cultural forces going on around you? An example with description.

3. Values – what American values do you embrace and what values do/might you creatively adjust to find your own happiness? (2 examples each) Describe how you “creatively” adjust values (or think you might in the future) of society to find your own happiness in life now or in the future.

New Blog for a New 6 Weeks!

Blog one for this six weeks!!!

You have a couple of options.....
1. Is the infatilization of adults (and even teens) in society....see the blog below. Please look at how either our macro culture infantilizes or even look at our more immediate cultural world of Stevenson society infantilizes. Give some real-life examples and let your sociological imagination explain how they are examples of infantilization!
****If you did that as your 5th and last journal for last 6 weeks then go ahead and give this other one a shot!
2. 5 Examples of how our Stevenson subculture interacts with the larger cultural values of America. You pick how you distribute your 5 examples, they can be how Stevenson conforms to the larger values, rebels against the larger values, or actually has created unique independent values. Regardless of that, make sure you identify the example and the value it correlates to, and why you think it exists in our local cutlure the way it does!!!

Have fun....and great job on the "nothing" activities!

Infantilization Culture

Today was a day centered around the culture of treating adults like children and inconsistencies between expressed and practiced values. Our word of the day is a relatively new word to our lexicon, infantilization, and it has been used by Benjamin Barber to describe how our culture will treat adults like children and as a result adults may make decisions like children...particularly in the field of consumer purchasing, but with far ranging effects. An idea for a blog is infantilization...can you find real examples of it in your everyday world? If so, what effect does this have on an individual and how they behave in micro and macro sociological environments? Do you think infantilization is consistent, inconsistent, or both with US macro cultural values?

Here is the remainder of the video from class today. file:///Users/bsmith/Desktop/barber.flv

If you still need the "do nothing" activity sheet, click here.

Culture Culture Culture

Hey Sociologists in training. While I am busy trying to catch up reading all of your Unit 1 reflections I hope you enjoy starting your first blogs on CULTURE.

Taking some of the information we have worked on so far, and keeping in mind the fish/water metaphor, look at some of the material and non-material (symbolic) forms of culture that we see so clearly as "different" in other cultures and identify some that exist here in US Culture. What are some words/phrases/sayings, behaviors, customs, etc that we do in the USA that would be really hard to explain/translate/understand if you were from another culture????? Go a step further and try to explain why we do those things the way we do and how that might shape the way an individual (not you necessarily) would think about the world around them!!!

Don't forget the pump-fake nose flinch if you are going to Honduras anytime soon.....ps, not a good time to go as they are in the middle of curfews and violent protests due to a several month long Coup-de-etat right now. (Kind of weird having friends, living where I used to live and breath everyday just like here, living with such chaos and disorder!)

Unit 1 Sociological Discussion

We have had the opportunity to look at quite a few different sociological ideas, see some experiments, do some activities, and read about a number of sociological concepts in action. While many of you have already reflected on the themes we have been examining so far it is time to really show-off what you have learned in a discussion piece about one of the four larger themes we looked at: Macro-Micro Sociology, Groups, Sociological Imagination, Social Construct of Reality. Please focus your discussion around ONE of these concepts and use the movie, A Bronx Tale, as your source of information. Additionally please look at some of your classmates blogs and make a comment on ONE of their blogs. Here are some guidelines to use when examining the movie and writing the discussion piece.

Micro-Macro Dynamics
The racism throughout the film is obvious. What is often taken for granted is where the racism comes from. What are the micro and macro sociological forces that create this racism? Think in terms of the Abandon Ship exercise. How did micro and macro forces come together to influence who was saved and who was tossed? Apply this to the racism in the movie.

Groups
What are all the groups that Collogero belongs to? (Think in terms of the circles exercise we did in class.) Would you put him in Sonny’s crew, or would you put him and Sonny in their own group? What is Collogero’s Master Status? Why do you think so? Do you think his master status changes throughout the movie?

Social Construction of Reality
How is their reality in the neighborhood socially constructed? What are the unwritten rules that govern how you can or can’t act? How do you think this construction came about? Can you see their racist attitudes as a social construction?

Sociological Imagination
Use your imagination to think about the dynamics and social forces that created Collogero’s “world”. How did the neighborhood come to exist? How did the different groups within the neighborhood come together there? Clue: the movie doesn’t show this, you have to think about what the movie doesn’t show. Another way to put it is how are Collogero’s personal troubles (his biography) part of the bigger picture (his history and society)?

9/11 and Weekend Posts!

A pair of 9/11 articles here for you to look at. One is from 2008 and one is an editorial from today.

Besides Categorizing/Stereotyping, Groups, Macro and Micro Sociology, feel free to also write about the last 2 questions we had in-class today about 9/11 and the impact on US Stereotypes or US Construction of Reality.

I look forward to reading a bunch of blogs and COMMENTS on others blogs on Saturday.

Please, too many folks have lost their lives, 9/11 is the most famous historical event of your lifetimes, you are citizens of a nation at war, this government is supposed to listen to the public, make sure you are well informed about 9/11, because your decisions and choices (even inaction) direct the activities of your government!

Macro vs Micro Sociology and a video!

Macro and Micro Sociology are really not in a fight against one another, they get along just fine if you are able to be flexible and embrace multiple perspective about any given issue. Of course as sociologists in training we are all able to do that with our sociological imagination.

We have had a few different chances to look at Macro or Micro Sociology in action recently....
One was the Abandon Ship activity. Think about how and why our classmates chose to kick different people off of the boat.

A MACRO-SOCIOLOGICAL approach is going to see larger societal and big group dynamics at play....you are teenagers in the USA (so age group and national society group....both very big) and are going to get rid of the overweight millionaire b/c you are at an age that is very body conscious in a society that glamorizes physical fitness instead of seeing a person who is probably very creative (self-made millionaire). We also got rid of the older couple being American youth, you prize youthfulness and vitality instead of having a high regard for your elders and their wisdom (like you might find in many Asian societies).

A MICRO-SOCIOLOGICAL approach is going to look at our specific smaller group or even one on one individual dynamics that took place. Instead of thinking about age group, US society, not even Stevenson or Suburban society, we would examine why Jeff the millionaire was pressured to and chose to abandon ship, why did the couples both choose to abandon ship together rather than separate (instead of the Western Society belief in romantic love) it was because closer friends in real life chose to be those individuals during our activity. There are many things to look at here, who were the leaders in the group and why did this happen (did it have to do with individual personalities, our class dynamic, the way it was introduced by me the teacher???). These are all looking at micro-sociological dynamics.

Mr. Venkatesh's research is another place to look for Micro and Macro Sociology. Lots of us like to look at Macro reasons for why certain groups in a society are prone to be in gangs thanks to the larger societal issues (poverty, education levels, job opportunities, etc) and it is usually much easier to use these methods of analysis because it is so hard for sociologists to engage on micro level sociology (it is rare, risky, and hard for someone like the author to be allowed into a gang to look at any micro level interactions). Think about the micro level things that are discovered, J.T. had attended college, some of the economic/organizational structures that rely on micro sociological interactions (individual respect, 'bling', etc).

Gangs also leads us to our next topic of Grouping and how we look at others. Sociologists look at all kinds of groups and are categorizing people as a regular part of their work, in fact we humans seem to be naturaly wired to find common and uncommon patterns and identify people (or anything else) we encounter into categories. But we don't have to stereotype! Placing values or socially constructed meanings to the groups or categories begins to get us into stereotyping. What sort of things did you learn or see from Mr. Venkatesh's writing about Gangs or the video discussion about his work on gangs that alters your views and understanding about "gang" members, their motivations, their life choices, their lifestyle? Did you have stereotypes that were changed or altered? (to see the video click here)

Take these topics and blog on one or many of them......
Micro or Macro sociology and the Abandon Ship (boat) activity
Micro or Macro sociology and the Gang Sociological research
Groups and Stereotyping and the Gang sociological research

I look forward to reading about your observations and thoughts....please check out some of your peers blogs as well!

Welcome to my Gang!

To my sociology class, I really apologize for not being at school for you today. I hope you enjoy(ed) reading about Mr. Venkatesh and his sociological research into gangs on the streets of Chicago. I find it one of the more compelling looks at what sociologists (Ethnographers specifically) have to do and go through in modern urban societies to try and do legitimate field work. Think of not only the personal challenges and risks but the additional struggles of getting people to support you and accept your work as a professional when so many other sociologists just believe in examining abstract data and macro-trends that Mr. Venkatesh had to face.

In Gang Leader for a Day you see the recent challenges faced by Mr. Venkatesh. If you would like to read more about him, his work, and hear him read from his book go to this link at NPR.
Additionally there is a discussion regarding and involving Mr. Venkatesh and this book about how much credit and $$$$$ he deserves versus J.T. the gang leader who helped him. Go here to read this piece in Slate magazine.

Possible topics for this weeks blog can be about this reading.....differences and thoughts about Macro sociology versus micro sociology? Challenges of doing field research? Who deserves the $$$ for research/books J.T. (the subjects) or the authors (Mr. Venkatesh)? I look forward to your thoughts.

Social Constructs

Now that you all know how to shake hands lefty, and that some of us aren't so ambidextrous as we thought, we can begin to look at how society constructs our realities from handshakes to cannibalism.

After reading about the survivors of the F-227 crash in the Andes and the ways they had to adjust their concepts of reality to allow themselves to eat the bodies of the dead and experiencing how odd it feels to violate your societal rules on handshaking, I am sure you can think of many other "realities" in everyday life that you and others never question. Many of these unquestioned realities are constructed by our society for us and with little or no thought given to it by us. Sometimes learning these beliefs and activities are considered part of the acculturation, growing up, fitting in, or being socialized.

What other activities do we do that are not scientifically essential for our survival but we do them practically all the time??? Blog about some examples. Why do we do these things? How does society teach us to do them? What happens if we violate these constructs? Why?

Freaks and Geeks

You have all been introduced to 1980's Michigan HS students as portrayed in Freaks and Geeks. A lot of funny scenes and some all too familiar scenarios (for me) but more importantly, a really nice piece of sociological entertainment. Clearly the writers were using their sociological imagination, as were the actors making the shows in 1999. I have to say looking at their closing homecoming scene it reminded me a lot of the Stevenson Prom I chaperoned last year and the different perspective I have as a teacher and as a person from a different generation. Two different "groups" that I belong in. What do you think your groups would be at Stevenson if they were filming a show here today? Who and what have "power" in the Stevenson world here? What are the important symbols for the school society you live in today in 2009?

Has US Society changed in the last 10 years?

A compelling read today in the newspaper about US Society and War. Is this author accurate in his assessment of US Society? And if so what would one's sociological imagination find as reasons why the US is becoming like he suggests we might? Check it out.....link to NY Times.

Another day, another classroom!

What a non-traditional way to start a school year....3 days, 3 different classrooms! I wonder what impact this is having on my students?!?! Seems to be nothing bad so far.

Our discussion on Sociological Imagination and the reading "Outliers" today was rather interesting. When confronted with the health statistics that Steven Wolf found in Roseto, PA in the 1950's he and others were dumbfounded and tried everything they could to explain it.....they looked at the natural sciences and some of the other social sciences, but no matter what they investigated; genetics, geology, medical science, etc, nothing was giving them an answer. Finally when all the other sciences were stuck with this anomaly, this 'outlier', they turned to sociology. And by examining everything sociologists could look at, the broader sub-societies people operated in, how individuals lived their lives, etc, they began to recognize patterns that we now know today are very helpful at reducing/managing stress.....strong extended family ties (grandparents, parents, kids, aunts and uncles living together or nearby), many communal associations and connections (including religious activities), a very egalitarian (suppressed demonstrations of wealth differences) society, etc. ONLY By using their sociological imaginations could sociologists begin to see the factors that were creating this medical outlier society.

As you consider some ideas for your first official blog entry you could consider what kinds of outliers you have noticed in the world around you already and how you might explain these outliers!!!

***Another thing that you could focus your sociological imagination on is the 20th anniversary of one of the most highly regarded movies in modern US History, "Do The Right Thing" by Spike Lee. I mentioned reading the linked article about this movie that discussed how most white members of US society responded one way to this movie while most racial minorities responded quite differently. Several different experts discussed the movie in this article from, The Nation online. Do The Right Thing link.

Blogging by an old person!

Pardon my construction, I am still working on creating a more exciting site for you to visit. I hope to pick from many of the ideas and formats my students will use, so thank you for helping me out today! I look forward to reviewing your first blogs and posts.

Welcome to a new type of class...Sociology!

I hope the initial silent treatment during class day one didn't offend anyone into not taking Sociology! The point is, or was, that we are engaging in not just a class about sociology, but a study of sociology and, more important, becoming a sociologist. To become a sociologist you have to examine a lot about yourself and about the world around you in ways you may never have before. This is called a sociological imagination, the ability to ask why you (and others) think or behave the way you do, and to look for answers from how society has impacted you (or others).

For your first blog it would be great to read your thoughts about the first day of class, what you expected, what happened, and how/why you and others reacted the way you did. If you want to go a little bit further, what impact do you think my shaking hands with students has and why?

We also discussed the Stanley Milgram experiment from the 1960's about obedience and authority (also known as electrocuting strangers). I have to say that your honesty about being willing to inflict some pain on others was interesting to me....on one hand some of you were very realistic and honest about the fact that you would do so, on the other hand it scares me that the idea of electrocuting strangers was not seen as a very bad thing to do!?!? This experiment was recently reviewed and re-done by ABC news....you can see it here:


You could also post your thoughts on how the USA society creates people that are so obedient to authority? Are we doing that here at Stevenson in any ways?