Category: Sociology

Students will be expected to write 4 analytical reaction papers designed to have students synthesize the main ideas of each week’s reading. Reaction papers (2-3 pages, typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12) based on the week’s readings should be submitted on Blackboard. These papers should analyze critically one or two important issues in the reading assignment, issues which you find thought-provoking or problematical. Analyze in some detail an important issue of interest. Stay focused on that issue and present your analysis logically. (Outlining is recommended.) Some suggested approaches: 1) Develop a logical critique of the arguments you analyze (e.g., Does the evidence support the arguments?); 2) Compare and contrast material in one reading assignment with that in another; 3) Compare material in readings with theoretical or research material presented in class; or 4) Use material in reading assignment to assess other significant research or issues you have studied, including your own. The point of the papers is to demonstrate that you’ve thought through and analyzed one or two important issues in the reading assignment. Your papers also provide a basis to support your participation in class discussions. reading attached below
https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465135047
https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igx002

Animal liberation is the movement.
FIRST:
what social movement are you researching?
what is the research question?
Statement of the Problem–Why is this an important social movement?
What theoretical position might you use to help explain your social movement and its activities?
SECOND:
thesis statement.
THIRD:
SOURCES: APA FORMATED IN-TEXT CITATION.
Pellow, D.N., 2014. Total liberation: The power and promise of animal rights and the radical earth movement. U of Minnesota Press.
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/25/1178287217/animal-liberation-now-and-the-case-for-more-humane-treatment-of-animals
https://aldf.org/article/laws-that-protect-animals/
https://www.nal.usda.gov/animal-health-and-welfare/animal-welfare-act

The steps for this module including writing an original (non AI-generated) post that answers Question 1 and then either Question 2a or 2b. Then, you should write your original (non AI-generated) response to another student. Please note that you need to post your complete first post before you will be able to see other students’ posts–that is the only way you can be eligible for full credit. Original Post (7 possible points)
Write a two-paragraph original discussion post (min 275-word min.) that uses learning theories and concepts to analyze three specific observations you made about the American Juggalo ( https://vimeo.com/29589320) documentary by replying to my question thread.As always, explicitly cite course materials such as lecture and your assigned reading for Module 3 in your analysis. For example, you might write, As outlined in the chapter by Inderbitzen, Bates and Gainey (2019), “…quote…” (page number) or you could paraphrase ideas and you will not need a page number.If you cite the lecture you can write something like, As discussed in Lecture Module 3 “add quote…” or paraphrase (Swan 2024). Finish your analysis with a sentence or two reflecting on why it is important to withhold judgment on the people we are observing in the documentary if we are coming to our work with an ethical, social justice perspective.
Answer either the questions listed in the first paragraph of the Deviance in Popular Culture textbox (the questions about your own learned “deviance”) in Chapter 6 of your textbook (100-word min.),
OR
Share a recent (first released in last 2 years–after Jan. 1, 2022) song, film, tv show, or post/video on social media that you think could be analyzed in terms of concepts from any of the theories we have covered in the class so far. Link your classmates to your example online if possible (i.e., a video or website related to your choice). Explain the reasoning behind your choice (100-minimum)
Response (3 possible points)
Respond to someone in your group who does not yet have any responses to their original post. Compare and contrast your analysis of Question 1 (the Juggalo documentary). Did you have similar analyses or did they differ and how? Explain why. Then address Question 2 (either their response to the learning chapter textbox questions or the relevance of the theory they linked to a song, film, tv show, or social media post/video). Be sure to bring at least one new point from the reading or lecture into your response and cite it fully so I know you did it e.g. (Inderbitzen, Bates and Gainey 2019: 4). This response should be a minimum of 150-words long.

Go back and review the last 6 modules.
Select at least 2 key concepts from each module that you believe are important.
It might be helpful to review your 3-2-1 Reflection Journal when selecting your concepts.
Second
Choose your favorite pre-writing activity. This could be a Thinking Map, a Ven Diagram, or any other method of analyzing the concepts that you have selected as important.
Analyze the relationships between the concepts that you have selected.
Example: Domestic Abuse is often times made worse when a parent uses substances because substance use is known to lower inhibitions. If a parent′s inhibitions are lower, they are more likely to behave violently and may be less concerned about whether or not the children witness their violent behavior against the other parent. Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence have the following risk factors in common: …
Write an outline which organizes your thinking and the points that you want to make in your presentation. You must include at least 1 concepts from each module in your presentation for a total of 6 concepts.
If you are doing the Vlog with the Powerpoint you must have a minimum of 12 slides including 1 title page, 1 reference page and 10 slides with content.
Vlog Format – Required
Introduction to your concepts and how they relate to each other
Briefly tell us:
What 5 concepts did you choose?
Why are they important in child welfare?
What are the main points of the Unit?
How do they help us understand child welfare better/more deeply?
Important information in the from the Unit
5 important points of important information from the unit which you will discuss in your synthesis.
Here you want to discuss what the concepts are, what they mean, provide a context, demonstrate you mastery of the concepts
Synthesize the the information above, discussing how the concepts when understood together, extend and deepen our understanding of Child Welfare
Consider other how the concepts relate to each other and differ from each other
Discuss how these concepts relate to those relationships and increases our understanding of the material
Conclusion
Summarize what you have told us in the introduction and body of your presentation
Summarize your synthesis

1 – Write a column with a list of personal events that you consider to be defining and important in your life. Develop another column with a list of historical events that you have experienced in your life or past events that you consider relevant in the way they have affected you.
2 – Describe how you would do research on one of the topics you have identified. What is your research question? Who is your population/sample? What would be your hypothesis? and what research methods would you use for your research? What would be your contribution to the field of sociology?

Between Biography and History
1- Read C. Wright Mills Essay,(1959) Appendix On Intellectual craftsmanship from his book: “The Sociological Imagination.” NY: Oxford University Press. [*PDF Included*]
2- Write a short two-page summary of the main ideas from the essay. Discuss what C. Wright Mills means when he discusses biography and history. What is, in your own words, the sociological imagination?

Overview
The purpose of the fandom assignment is to provide a critical analysis of a fandom that you are a part of. You will be required to provide a minimum of two (2) pages analyzing such things as the background of the subject that you are a fan of, your biography tied to the fandom, what it means to be a fan, and what it means to be a fan of this subject, excentric fandoms of this subject, etc. Within this project, you should utilize sociological understandings and terminology to discuss the topic. Your paper should also include an overview of your topic and explain the theories you are utilizing in depth. Remember that this is a formal paper that requires correct punctuation, grammar, citations, thesis statement, etc.
Requirements
Title page with appropriate APA formatting
***Three (3) academically sound sources
APA in-text citations
References Page
Two (2) FULL pages of content
Double-spaced
1-Inch Margins
Times New Roman
12-point font
Page numbers
Headers (not required but can be utilized and might be helpful)
You do not need an abstract
*Please utilize the attached documents for the paper
The paper should include how hip hop challenges racism, authority and theories that go along with it (please review attached documents)

In writing this paper, use Functionalism, Symbolic Interactionism, Conflict Theory, Critical Theory, Intersectionality, Social Construction of Reality, and/or the Sociological Imagination as a “lens” for thinking about the fissured economy (Weil https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-disappearing-co…), housing insecurity (The Push), or plagiarism (Rudd & Hodges). **I provided link for conflict theory and document for fissured economy, if other topics is better tell me I’ll send them**. To help in writing this paper, review this guidance for “Writing a ‘Lens’ Essay” from Pomona College: https://www.pomona.edu/administration/writing-center/student-resources/general-writing-resources/writing-lens-essay
When reading this guidance, remember that the term “text” applies to audiovisual materials (which you may draw upon) as well as written materials. **i have lecture notes and document notes i can send them**
Formatting Instructions:
Submissions must include correct APA citations and reference list. Other aspects of APA formatting (e.g., font, running headers, title page format, margin size) are not required. See Week 1 materials for information on APA.
750-1250 words, including references.
External sources are not permitted.
Cite at least two assigned course materials.

After watching/reading listening to Lecture Module 2 module videos, please do the following by posting a paper or uploading an audio message or video of up to 5 minutes long. This assignment should take approximately 2 hours to complete after doing the preparation for the module. Try to work on it gradually if possible. Complete one of the following textbox activities from Chapter 1: (Be Careful Who You are Calling Deviant: Body Rituals Among the Nacirema, How Do You define Deviance? or Now You Use your Sociological Imagination). Write up (or record) your answers to the questions related to each activity (100-word minimum–worth 3 points) Elaborate upon how you have seen at least one of the three non-sociological theories discussed in Module 2’s Part 1 or 2 lecture being used in the last year to either define a person/group/or behavior as deviant (or criminal or inferior–many words can be used) or to socially control (change, restrict) a person or group’s behavior (100-word minimum–3 points) When you analyze how each has been used, be sure to integrate ideas from my video lecture into your analysis and cite any news sources you might be using in your response (last name of author year: page number or weblink); examples: (Swan 2024: Lecture Module 2 Part 1) or (Lopez 2023)
For news articles also reference them at the end with the title of the article and the name of the newspaper. For (made-up) example: Lopez, Steve. 2023. “The problems with the court system in Los Angeles.” The Los Angeles Times, May 21: web address).
3. Write an original paragraph that uses the either anomie’s or strain theory’s concepts to analyze the article/audio story/video on factors related to deaths by suicide in the military (Walsh 2024) or Disneybounding (Refinery 29 2019). Draw upon specific ideas from the lecture and/or the assigned reading from your textbook chapter in your paragraph (100-word minimum) (4 points). See ASA Style GuidelinesLinks to an external site. for additional help on how to cite and reference and the examples in the course schedule on your syllabus. Note if your browser requires you to use keyboard shortcuts to cut and paste your assignment draft from a file on your word processing program onto the Cougar Course textbox, these are the instructions. If you have a PC, hold Control & C to copy and Control& V you can paste. If you have a Mac, hold Command & C to copy and Command & V to paste. Or you can upload a file or record an audio or video file.
https://americanhomefront.wunc.org/news/2024-01-09/a-pentagon-report-finds-that-troops-suicides-are-often-preceded-by-legal-or-administrative-troubles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyZlAfuJE-k&list=PLs6CcQphfieKNMhNmzEM9_3rM0UNAGb1k&index=6

Greater global economic integration and neoliberalization processes, characterized by privatization (of roads, public services, etc, private sector led development, deregulation, etc.), have produced urbanization trends that we can observe in different contexts across the globe. One of these trends has been the increasing development of gated communities in countries across the Americas, for example. While gated or walled communities have always existed in one form or another, rapid urbanization, economic instability and a generalized sense of heightened insecurity in conjunction with a distrust of the state and its capacity to provide certain public services have contributed to the rapid proliferation of new gated developments. Yet, in each context (Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles) the types of gated communities that are created depend on the existence of local antecedents and on the local social, political and economic context. The humanities provide a window into the complexities of gating communities. Literature and film can delve deeply into the mental, social, political, cultural – individual and collective – constructs that gating represents and produces. What can we learn from fictionalized accounts of Gated Communities about the gating phenomenon and its consequences? The film La Zona, for example, expresses the sense that the society in which the action takes place is putrefying. Gated communities here seem to function as a metaphor for social (and political) decay. What does the film tell us about the society and political order in which the gated community is embedded? What is the basis of urban citizenship in these places? In your examination of the film La Zona, think of the underlying motivations of the characters. Why do they take “refuge” in or seek “recognition” in gated communities? What role do Miguel and Alejandro play in the narratives? What might their characters represent in terms of the future? Here are some other questions you might keep in mind:
How does the film suggest that the characters might feel a sense of dislocation or a sense of belonging? How is “belonging” in the gated community constructed? How do the relationships among the characters highlight / intensify experiences of isolation and / or belonging? As you watch the film: How does the medium of the film create (or not) a sense of shared consciousness with the characters and the audience (you)?
How does the film use music to heighten a sense of identification or dislocation?
Is music used to set up juxtapositions, to highlight contradictions, or to reinforce a feeling of shared understanding/experience?
Your assignment:
Make sure your essays has a thesis / argument and that you illustrate your thesis through specific references to the film (you are analyzing the film). You may want to take a look at the Burke (2001) article, which we read at the beginning of the semester, again to see what kind of metaphors he discusses – e.g. gated communities as “fascist min-states” (Burke 2001, 120). You can develop and argument around this theme, for example. You may also want find a different kind of theme. • Write your initial post in a word document (2 pages single-spaced), save it with your name in the document name (_La Zona). Upload the word document to Assignments. Find the appropriate assignment name, click view complete and browse for your document). • Copy and paste your post your text from your word document into the dialogue box for the discussion board thread. (Discussion Board / La Zona / Create Thread).
• Main Post due Saturday night 10/21, (at least 2 pages single spaced). Some film terminology and strategies you might look for (Film studies: an introduction By Ed Sikov):
Mise-en scene is “the totality of expressive content within the image” it is like the stage set, and the assumption is that everything has meaning and was chosen to speak to, engage, shock, manipulate the audience.
The shots – the first shot of a character tells you a lot. How are the different characters introduced to the audience?
Can you identify some of the following shots? How do they relate to the development of the narrative or of particular characters? Extreme close-up shot – might be a person’s mouth, eye, hand, etc. – any element isolated.
Medium shot – might be a shot of a person from the waist up.
Long shot – places a human, for example, in the surrounding by creating the illusion that the image was taken from a far distance. Point of View (POV) shot – creates the impression that the viewer is seeing the scene through a particular character’s eyes. At the edge shots – might be framed by windows, doors, etc., which create a sense of division – the sense of being on the other side.
Shots that frame some characters as being “on the same side.” References
Burke, M. (2001). Fortress dystopia: Representations of gated communities in contemporary fiction. The Journal of American Culture, 24(1/2), 115–122.
Pla, Rodrigo, director. La Zona. Morena Films, 2007.