SOCS185 Culture and Society
Week 1 Assignment Sociological Imagination Essay
Required
Resources
Read/review
the following resources for this activity:
Textbook:
Chapter 1
Lesson
Minimum of
3 outside scholarly sources
Instructions
The textbook
reading for the week explores social forces that can affect the seemingly
private act of suicide. For this assignment, conduct scholarly research on a
different private or individualistic act that could be regarded as a broader
social problem or social issue, something other than suicide. You may choose
one of the following or a topic of your own:
Homelessness
Veteran
homelessness
Domestic
violence
Addiction
Obesity
In an
essay, address the following:
Determine
how the sociological imagination can help understand that problem.
Compare and
contrast that research with the textbook's explanation of ways sociologists
apply the sociological imagination to understand a problem.
Your paper
must contain scholarly support in the form of quotes or paraphrases with
respective citations from assigned reading (the textbook/lesson) and the
outside scholarly sources that you identify on your own.
Writing
Requirements (APA format)
Length: 2-3
pages (not including references page)
1-inch
margins
Double
spaced
12-point
Times New Roman font
Running
header in the upper left of all pages
Page number
in the upper right of all pages
Parenthetical
in-text citations included and formatted in APA style
References
page (minimum of 3 outside scholarly sources plus the textbook/lesson)
SOCS185 Culture and Society
Week 2 Assignment 1: Sociological Imagination & Socialization
Required
Resources
Read/review
the following resources for this activity:
Textbook:
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
Lesson: Week
1, 2
Instructions
Choose one
question from each of the question sets below (2 sets total). In other words,
you will be answering two questions total (1 from each set).
Question
Set 1
Arty
Fischel is a veteran and just found himself homeless. Examine and explain some
of the broad social forces that may have contributed to his homelessness. How
will the sociological imagination help understand his situation?
Arty
Fischel is a college student. He was a good student in high school and received
a sizable scholarship to go to college. That scholarship, however, does not
cover all of Arty’s expenses. Arty now must take out a sizeable loan each year
of college for his school expenses. Is this only a personal problem for Arty?
Apply the sociological imagination and explain some possible broad social
forces that could be contributing to Arty’s struggles.
Little Arty
Fischel is a child in an urban school in a major city in the United States. He
is struggling to learn to read and is failing all his classes. Apply the
sociological imagination and explain some possible broad social forces that
could be contributing to Arty’s struggles.
Question
Set 2
What are
key differences between ways structural-functional theorists, social-conflict
theorists, and symbolic-Interactionist theorists examine and explain society?
Explain the
importance of the concepts of culture shock, ethnocentrism, and cultural
relativism, and give an example of each.
What are
the two main stages of socialization and why is the process of socialization
important in each stage of the entire life course?
Writing
Requirements (APA format)
Length: 1-2
pages (not including References page)
1-inch
margins
Double
spaced
12-point
Times New Roman font
Running
header in the upper left of all pages
Page number
in the upper right of all pages
Parenthetical
in-text citations included and formatted in APA style
References
page (at the very least the textbook and/or online lessons should be cited)
SOCS185 Culture and Society
Week 3 Assignment Socioautobiography / Sociobiography – Personal Case
Study
Required
Resources
Read/review
the following resources for this activity:
Textbook:
Chapters 1-6
Lesson:
Week 1, 2, 3
Minimum of
3 outside scholarly sources
One
personal interview of another person
Introduction
There is a
strong tradition of writing both sociologically-informed biographies and
sociologically-informed autobiographies in the discipline of sociology. For
this assignment, you will be doing a bit of both of those. You will both
reflect on your own life story, making connections between your everyday life
or your life story and broad sociocultural structures within which you live,
and you will also compare and contrast those with someone you interview.
The
socioautobiography is a "disciplined, systematic exploration of one's life
from a sociological point of view" (Hill, 2009, p. 3). Also, the
sociobiography is the systematic exploration of another person's life from a
sociological point of view.
Instructions
To begin
this assignment, consider your own life as you review all the textbook readings
and online weekly lessons and decide which sociological concepts you wish to
explain in connection to a part or parts of your own life story. Click on the
following link for questions to consider as you reflect on your life:
Link:
Questions to Consider
Interview
Locate
someone willing to be interviewed regarding sociological perspectives on a part
or parts of that person's life story. The person can be anyone you choose,
whether in your family or outside your family. Be sure to inform that person
that you will be writing up your observations from the interview in an
assignment for your Society and Culture course.
Write
In a paper,
compare and contrast your sociological observations about yourself with your
sociological observations of the person you interview. Address the following 3
important sections:
Explore the
interconnections between your life story and the larger social structure or
culture.
Explore the
interconnections between the life story of a person you interview and the
larger social structure or culture.
Compare and
contrast the sociological themes and concepts related to your own personal
story with the sociological themes and concepts related to the story of the
person you interviewed. Apply the sociological imagination in the analysis.
Include the
following in your analysis:
Quotes or
paraphrases and citations from both outside scholarly sources and assigned
readings (online Lessons or textbook readings), to support your observations in
all 3 required sections.
6 different
concepts, key words, or vocabulary words from Chapters 1-6 in your analysis and
observations, formatted in boldface and underlined in the main text of your
paper
You may
repeat these 6 terms throughout the assignment.
Click on
the following link for a socioautobiography/sociobiography writing tip:
Link:
Writing Tip
Include
headings for each of the three main sections of the paper:
Socioautobiography
Sociobiography
Comparison/Contrast
Each of the
three main sections of your paper must contain scholarly support in the form of
quotes or paraphrases with respective citations from assigned reading (the
textbook and/or the lessons from Weeks 1-3) and the outside scholarly sources
that you identify on your own.
Writing
Requirements (APA format)
Length: 3-4
pages (not including references page)
1-inch
margins
Double
spaced
12-point
Times New Roman font
Running
header in the upper left of all pages
Page number
in the upper right of all pages
Minimum of
3 headings (centered, bold, & title case)
Parenthetical
in-text citations included and formatted in APA style
References
page (minimum of 3 outside scholarly sources plus the textbook/lesson and
interview)
Title page
not required
SOCS185 Culture and Society
Week 4 Assignment Social Class & Inequality
Required
Resources
Read/review
the following resources for this activity:
Textbook:
Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8
Lesson:
Week 3, 4
Instructions
Choose one
question from each of the question sets below (2 sets total). In other words,
you will be answering two questions total (1 from each set).
Question
Set 1
Explain the
difference between income inequality and wealth inequality in the United
States. Explain the racial wealth gap.
What is
social stratification? Examine four common ways or systems in which groups have
become stratified. How does race or ethnicity play a role in the
stratification?
Briefly
compare and contrast a Weberian approach and a Marxian approach to characterize
the social classes in the United States. In a Weberian approach, what are
social classes based on or how are they understood? In a Marxian approach, how
is class understood? In a Weberian approach, how is the racial wealth gap
understood? In a Marxian approach, how is the racial wealth gap understood?
Question
Set 2
Explain
some characteristics of the U.S. poor based on age, gender, and race or
ethnicity. Predicts people’s relative chances of being poor based on age,
gender, or race, for example.
Explain the
Gini index and its relationship to global inequality. Compare the Gini
coefficient for the United States with that of other nations.
What is
global stratification? Examine global stratification’s relationship to economic
inequality.
Writing
Requirements (APA format)
Length: 1-2
pages (not including References page)
1-inch
margins
Double
spaced
12-point
Times New Roman font
Running
header in the upper left of all pages
Page number
in the upper right of all pages
Parenthetical
in-text citations included and formatted in APA style
References
page (at the very least the textbook and/or online lessons should be cited)
SOCS185 Culture and Society
Week 5 Assignment Essay - You Decide
Required
Resources
Read/review
the following resources for this activity:
Textbook:
Chapter 9
Lesson
Link
(website): Pew Research Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external
site.
Click on
the Social Trends tab.
Click on
the Interactives tab.
Locate the
following link: How Census Race Categories Have Changed Over Time
Click on
"1790" to see two columns comparing the 1790 Census categories with
the 2010 Census categories.
Minimum of
4 outside scholarly sources
Instructions
In this
week's lesson, you learned about the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent racial
and ethnic categories. For this assignment, consider the racial and ethnic
categories used in the 2010 Census with the four racial, ethnic, and gender
categories used in the 1790 Census: Free white males, free white females, all
other free persons, slaves (Pew Research Center, 2015). Analyze the concepts of
race, ethnicity, and gender as social constructs, just as sociologists do, by
addressing the following:
Explain how
you might have been categorized by the 1790 Census and how you would have been
categorized by the 2010 Census.
Compare and
contrast the two potential categorizations and explain how this exercise shows
that the concepts of race, ethnicity, and even gender change over time. Most importantly,
explain how this exercise shows that the concepts of race, ethnicity, and
gender are social constructs.
Determine
and describe what ethnic, racial, and/or gender categories, if any, would be
best, in your view, for the 2020 Census or the 2030 Census, to most accurately
show the diversity of the U.S. population. What categories would be best to
reveal the segments of the U.S. population most vulnerable to racial, ethnic,
and/or gender inequalities or discrimination? What categories could be listed
in the 2020 Census or the 2030 Census that might best educate the U.S.
population on differences between race and ethnicity? Explain your decisions.
Include
headings for each of the three main sections of the paper:
What the
Census Might Have Called Me
Social
Constructs
Better
Future Census Categories
Each of the
three main sections of your paper must contain scholarly support in the form of
quotes or paraphrases with respective citations from assigned reading (the
textbook/lesson) and the outside scholarly source that you identify on your
own.
*This
assignment is adapted from Glaser (2018).
Writing
Requirements (APA format)
Length: 3-4
pages (not including references page)
1-inch
margins
Double
spaced
12-point
Times New Roman font
Running
header in the upper left of all pages
Page number
in the upper right of all pages
Minimum of
3 headings (centered, bold, & title case)
Parenthetical
in-text citations included and formatted in APA style
References
page (minimum of 4 outside scholarly sources plus the textbook/lesson)
Title page
not required
SOCS185 Culture and Society
Week 6 Assignment Sociological Theory & Trends in Family Life
Required
Resources
Read/review
the following resources for this activity:
Textbook:
Chapters 10, 14
Lesson:
Week 5, 6
Instructions
Choose one
question from each of the question sets below (2 sets total). In other words,
you will be answering two questions total (1 from each set).
Question
Set 1
Briefly
compare and contrast structural-functionalist, social-conflict, and
symbolic-interactionist approaches in their analyses of health and health care,
generally, and, in particular in their analyses of disability. How do concepts
such as the sick-role model, role ambiguity, and subordinate groups help
sociologists understand health, health care, and disability?
Briefly
compare and contrast structural-functionalist, social-conflict, and
symbolic-interactionist approaches to racial and ethnic relations. How do
concepts such as assimilation, stereotyping, and economic stratification help
different types of sociological theorists understand race and ethnicity?
Briefly
compare and contrast structural-functionalist, social-conflict, and
symbolic-interactionist approaches in their analyses of gender stratification.
Question
Set 2
Examine
divorce trends in the United States over the past several decades and discuss
ways they shape family life. Also, explain factors contributing to the divorce
rate in the U.S. Compare and contrast at least two U.S. subgroups in your
answer.
Define
cohabitation and examine trends in cohabitation in the United States over the
past several decades, and ways these trends shape family life. Also, explain
factors contributing to the cohabitation rate in the U.S. Compare and contrast at least two U.S.
subgroups in your answer.
Examine
single parent trends in the United States over the past several decades and
ways they shape family life. Analyze and describe most single-parent-households
with children in the U.S. Compare and contrast at least two U.S. subgroups in
your answer.
Writing
Requirements (APA format)
Length: 1-2
pages (not including References page)
1-inch
margins
Double
spaced
12-point
Times New Roman font
Running
header in the upper left of all pages
Page number
in the upper right of all pages
Parenthetical
in-text citations included and formatted in APA style
References
page (at the very least the textbook and/or online lessons should be cited)
SOCS185 Culture and Society
Week 7 Assignment Team Project
Required
Resources
Read/review
the following resources for this activity:
Textbook:
Chapter 1-16
Lesson:
Week 1-7
Minimum of
4 outside scholarly sources
Instructions
For the
team project, you are required to create a narrated PowerPoint presentation
with audio and/or video within the PowerPoint. The goal of this activity is for
the team members to discover and to present what they have in common with each
other in a sociological context.
The
presentation must include the following:
Introductions:
One member can introduce the others, or each member can introduce
himself/herself.
Introduce
each team member as a sociologist might, detailing family, culture, and
background.
Consider
what types of categories a sociologist might use to describe each member and to
compare and contrast each member.
Audio
Narration: At least one member must narrate. The team can decide if one member,
more than one member, or all members contribute to the narration.
Engagement:
Be sure to deliver the presentation in a professional and engaging manner.
Citations:
Include parenthetical in-text citations in the slide presentation citing at
least 4 outside scholarly sources and assigned textbook/lesson reading to
support observations made in the presentation.
Only one
team member needs to submit the PowerPoint file into the assignment dropbox for
each team. Each member is responsible to double check and make sure the
selected submitter did, in fact, submit the assignment by the deadline.
Presentation
Requirements (APA format)
Narration
Length: 5 to 10 minutes
Slide
Length: Minimum of 1 slide per team member; minimum of 1 slide comparing and
contrasting socio-cultural factors of team members (not including title slide
and references slide)
Title Slide
References
slide (minimum of 4 outside scholarly sources plus the textbook/lesson)
SOCS185 Culture and Society
Week 8 Assignment Population & Social Change
Required
Resources
Read/review
the following resources for this activity:
Textbook:
Chapters 15, 16
Lesson:
Week 7
Instructions
Choose one
question from each of the question sets below (2 sets total). In other words,
you will be answering two questions total (1 from each set).
Question
Set 1
Compare and
contrast how structural-functionalists, symbolic-interactionists, and social-conflict
theorists examine urban growth.
Propose and
analyze some potential best-case scenarios and worst-case scenarios for
population and urban growth in the United States and globally over the next
hundred years.
Compare and
contrast how immigration affects the United States with how immigration is
affecting other nations. Also, compare and contrast how the United States is
responding to immigration with ways other nations are responding to migration
to their respective countries.
Question
Set 2
How do
deprivation theory and resource mobilization theory explain social movements?
Define
collective behavior from a sociological perspective and explain the difference
between collective behavior and mass behavior, specifically. Share examples of
mass behavior.
Define
collective behavior from a sociological perspective and explain the
relationship between collective behavior and social change.
Writing
Requirements (APA format)
Length: 1-2
pages (not including References page)
1-inch
margins
Double
spaced
12-point
Times New Roman font
Running
header in the upper left of all pages
Page number
in the upper right of all pages
Parenthetical
in-text citations included and formatted in APA style
References
page (at the very least the textbook and/or online lessons should be cited)
