Agenda for 9/30

Culture Terms Review

• Material culture
• Nonmaterial culture 
• ethnocentrism
• cultural relativity

1. The influence of culture on our lives - Social Location

• The groups people belong to because of their place or position in history and society. All people have a social location that is defined by their gender, race, social class, age, ability, religion, sexual orientation, and geographic location.

2. How does one's social location effect our life experiences? Watch this video. 

3. Presentations

HW - Assignment #6 - Social Location, due 10/2

• Click here for the reading and questions for this assignment.
• The materials are also attached to the eBackpack assignment.
• Submit your answers to eBackpack

Agenda for 9/29

1. "They and We" from Rudyard Kipling   
2. What is Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism?

• Ethnocentrism: the idea that your own group or culture is better or more important than others
• Cultural Relativism: the principle that an individual person's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture.

Read the following passage:

In 1997, Annette Sorensen, 30, an actress from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Exavier Wardlaw, 49, a movie production assistant from Brooklyn, NY, were arrested for leaving their 14-month-old daughter outside a Manhattan restaurant on a chilly day while they ate inside the restaurant. They left the child in her baby carriage on the sidewalk. Many passersby called 911 to alert the police. New York authorities took the child away from her parents and temporarily placed her in foster care.

In an ensuing article in the New York Times, one Danish commentator observed that leaving a baby outside of a restaurant is a very common practice in Denmark. The commentator wrote, “Often, Danish parents. . . leave their babies outside. For one thing, Danish baby carriages are enormous. Babies ride high above the world on horse-carriage-size wheels. It’s hard to get such a carriage into a cafe. . . . Besides, Danish cafes are very smoky places.” The commentator continued, “In Denmark, people have an almost religious conviction that fresh air, preferably cold air, is good for children. All Danish babies nap outside, even in freezing weather—tucked warmly under their plump goose-down comforters. . . . In Denmark all children own a sort of polar survival suit that they wear from October to April and they go out every day, even in winter.”

What would be an ethnocentric interpretation of the parents’ actions?

What would be a culturally relative interpretation of the parents’ actions?

3. An Idiot Abroad

• India: 2:30-15:30 (13 mins)

4. Project Presentations

• +5 points if YOU present

Agenda for 9/28

1. Racial Bias Affects How Children Are Treated For Pain


2. High School Dating Patterns

3. Presentations

• 10/100 points comes from sharing project with the class
• +5 points if YOU present it to the class
  

Agenda for 9/25

1. Some selfie sociology!


2. High School Dating Patterns

3. "They and We" from Rudyard Kipling   

4. What is Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism?

• Ethnocentrism: the idea that your own group or culture is better or more important than others
• Cultural Relativism: the principle that an individual person's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture.

Read the following passage:
 

In 1997, Annette Sorensen, 30, an actress from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Exavier Wardlaw, 49, a movie production assistant from Brooklyn, NY, were arrested for leaving their 14-month-old daughter outside a Manhattan restaurant on a chilly day while they ate inside the restaurant. They left the child in her baby carriage on the sidewalk. Many passersby called 911 to alert the police. New York authorities took the child away from her parents and temporarily placed her in foster care.

In an ensuing article in the New York Times, one Danish commentator observed that leaving a baby outside of a restaurant is a very common practice in Denmark. The commentator wrote, “Often, Danish parents. . . leave their babies outside. For one thing, Danish baby carriages are enormous. Babies ride high above the world on horse-carriage-size wheels. It’s hard to get such a carriage into a cafe. . . . Besides, Danish cafes are very smoky places.” The commentator continued, “In Denmark, people have an almost religious conviction that fresh air, preferably cold air, is good for children. All Danish babies nap outside, even in freezing weather—tucked warmly under their plump goose-down comforters. . . . In Denmark all children own a sort of polar survival suit that they wear from October to April and they go out every day, even in winter.”

What would be an ethnocentric interpretation of the parents’ actions?

What would be a culturally relative interpretation of the parents’ actions?

5. An Idiot Abroad

• India: 2:30-15:30 (13 mins)

6. Work on Social Label projects

Requirements

A. You now need to present what you wrote about your label in some sort of visual, creative way. I am open to different ways to present your work, but it must be a primarily visual medium than can be shared with the class (without you having to present it - it should speak for itself). Keynote and Powerpoint are NOT allowed.

Some suggestions would be:

• Adobe Voice (iPad app)
• Canva (iPad app)
• iMovie (Ipad app)
• Prezi (iPad app)
• Thinglink
• Other applications must be approved by Mr. Parise

B. Your presentation must include the information from letters A-D (not E) from assignment #4.

C. Grading Rubric

1. The presentation contains all necessary information (A-D), and is accurate - 50 pts
2. The information is presented in an aesthetically pleasing and creative way - 20 pts
3. The presentation is free of grammar and punctuation errors - 10
4. The presentation uses an approved presentation medium - 10
5. The presentation is shared with the class - 10

D. Due - 9/28 - counts as a TEST grade

E. Late Policy - 10 points deducted for each day late, up to one week. After one week, you may not turn in the assignment (you'll get a zero). 

Here is the info you need in your project
 
A. Choose ANY social label. Describe that label. When people use that label to describe someone, what are the unstated assumptions about the person are implied by the use of that label. Does the label carry a positive or negative connotation? Is the label one that a person would give themselves, or that someone would give someone else, or both?

B. Provide an image of what a "typical" person given that label might look like. It can be drawn, found on the web, or photo created by you. You are not allowed to use an photo of another TA student (you must be the subject of a photo).

C. Ask 5 people (only one may be a close friend, and no one from a sociology class) to describe what they think of when asked to imagine a person who is given the label you are investigating. Record their answers.

D. Analyze the possible social advantages or disadvantages of being given this label. Is it more likely to positively or negatively impact a person's life, self-esteem, or social status?

Agenda for 9/24

1. Selfies Are Killing More People Than Shark Attacks.

Some selfie sociology!

2. Study Says White Extremists Have Killed More Americans in the U.S. Than Jihadists Since 9/11

3. "They and We" from Rudyard Kipling   

4. What is Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism?

• Ethnocentrism: the idea that your own group or culture is better or more important than others
• Cultural Relativism: the principle that an individual person's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture.

Read the following passage:
 

In 1997, Annette Sorensen, 30, an actress from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Exavier Wardlaw, 49, a movie production assistant from Brooklyn, NY, were arrested for leaving their 14-month-old daughter outside a Manhattan restaurant on a chilly day while they ate inside the restaurant. They left the child in her baby carriage on the sidewalk. Many passersby called 911 to alert the police. New York authorities took the child away from her parents and temporarily placed her in foster care.

In an ensuing article in the New York Times, one Danish commentator observed that leaving a baby outside of a restaurant is a very common practice in Denmark. The commentator wrote, “Often, Danish parents. . . leave their babies outside. For one thing, Danish baby carriages are enormous. Babies ride high above the world on horse-carriage-size wheels. It’s hard to get such a carriage into a cafe. . . . Besides, Danish cafes are very smoky places.” The commentator continued, “In Denmark, people have an almost religious conviction that fresh air, preferably cold air, is good for children. All Danish babies nap outside, even in freezing weather—tucked warmly under their plump goose-down comforters. . . . In Denmark all children own a sort of polar survival suit that they wear from October to April and they go out every day, even in winter.”

What would be an ethnocentric interpretation of the parents’ actions?

What would be a culturally relative interpretation of the parents’ actions?

5. An Idiot Abroad

• India: 2:30-15:30 (13 mins)

6. Work on Social Label projects

Requirements

A. You now need to present what you wrote about your label in some sort of visual, creative way. I am open to different ways to present your work, but it must be a primarily visual medium than can be shared with the class (without you having to present it - it should speak for itself). Keynote and Powerpoint are NOT allowed.

Some suggestions would be:

• Adobe Voice (iPad app)
• Canva (iPad app)
• iMovie (Ipad app)
• Prezi (iPad app)
• Thinglink
• Other applications must be approved by Mr. Parise

B. Your presentation must include the information from letters A-D (not E) from assignment #4.

C. Grading Rubric

1. The presentation contains all necessary information (A-D), and is accurate - 50 pts
2. The information is presented in an aesthetically pleasing and creative way - 20 pts
3. The presentation is free of grammar and punctuation errors - 10
4. The presentation uses an approved presentation medium - 10
5. The presentation is shared with the class - 10

D. Due - 9/28 - counts as a TEST grade

E. Late Policy - 10 points deducted for each day late, up to one week. After one week, you may not turn in the assignment (you'll get a zero). 

Here is the info you need in your project
 
A. Choose ANY social label. Describe that label. When people use that label to describe someone, what are the unstated assumptions about the person are implied by the use of that label. Does the label carry a positive or negative connotation? Is the label one that a person would give themselves, or that someone would give someone else, or both?

B. Provide an image of what a "typical" person given that label might look like. It can be drawn, found on the web, or photo created by you. You are not allowed to use an photo of another TA student (you must be the subject of a photo).

C. Ask 5 people (only one may be a close friend, and no one from a sociology class) to describe what they think of when asked to imagine a person who is given the label you are investigating. Record their answers.

D. Analyze the possible social advantages or disadvantages of being given this label. Is it more likely to positively or negatively impact a person's life, self-esteem, or social status?

Agenda for 9/23

1. Selfies Are Killing More People Than Shark Attacks

2. Study Says White Extremists Have Killed More Americans in the U.S. Than Jihadists Since 9/11

3. Social Labels Project - see requirements below

A. You now need to present what you wrote about your label in some sort of visual, creative way. I am open to different ways to present your work, but it must be a primarily visual medium than can be shared with the class (without you having to present it - it should speak for itself). Keynote and Powerpoint are NOT allowed.

Some suggestions would be:

• Adobe Voice (iPad app)
• Canva (iPad app)
• iMovie (Ipad app)
• Prezi (iPad app)
• Other applications must be approved by Mr. Parise

B. Your presentation must include the information from letters A-D (not E) from assignment #4.

C. Grading Rubric

1. The presentation contains all necessary information (A-D), and is accurate - 50 pts
2. The information is presented in an aesthetically pleasing and creative way - 20 pts
3. The presentation is free of grammar and punctuation errors - 10
4. The presentation uses an approved presentation medium - 10
5. The presentation is shared with the class - 10

D. Due - 9/29 - counts as a TEST grade

E. Late Policy - 10 points deducted for each day late, up to one week. After one week, you may not turn in the assignment (you'll get a zero). 
Here the info you need in your project
 

A. Choose ANY social label. Describe that label. When people use that label to describe someone, what are the unstated assumptions about the person are implied by the use of that label. Does the label carry a positive or negative connotation? Is the label one that a person would give themselves, or that someone would give someone else, or both?

B. Provide an image of what a "typical" person given that label might look like. It can be drawn, found on the web, or photo created by you. You are not allowed to use an photo of another TA student (you must be the subject of a photo).

C. Ask 5 people (only one may be a close friend, and no one from a sociology class) to describe what they think of when asked to imagine a person who is given the label you are investigating. Record their answers.

D. Analyze the possible social advantages or disadvantages of being given this label. Is it more likely to positively or negatively impact a person's life, self-esteem, or social status?

Agenda for 9/22

1. More about the label "Muslim." Unfit to be president? Our societies greatest problem?  

Why do people "follow" others with these beliefs? Group think and conformity.

2. Read - Defined by Your Category

3. Social Labels Project - see requirements below

A. You now need to present what you wrote about your label in some sort of visual, creative way. I am open to different ways to present your work, but it must be a primarily visual medium than can be shared with the class (without you having to present it - it should speak for itself). Keynote and Powerpoint are NOT allowed.

Some suggestions would be:

• Adobe Voice (iPad app)
• Canva (iPad app)
• iMovie (Ipad app)
• Prezi (iPad app)
• Other applications must be approved by Mr. Parise

B. Your presentation must include the information from letters A-D (not E) from assignment #4.

C. Grading Rubric

1. The presentation contains all necessary information (A-D), and is accurate - 50 pts
2. The information is presented in an aesthetically pleasing and creative way - 20 pts
3. The presentation is free of grammar and punctuation errors - 10
4. The presentation uses an approved presentation medium - 10
5. The presentation is shared with the class - 10

D. Due - 9/28 - counts as a TEST grade

E. Late Policy - 10 points deducted for each day late, up to one week. After one week, you may not turn in the assignment (you'll get a zero.

Agenda for 9/21

Again...

1. The result of labels/categories? What does the label "Muslim" mean in our Society? Unfit to be president? Our societies greatest problem?  

Does it have to mean those things?

2. Read - Defined by Your Category

3. Assignment #4 - The Impact of Social Labels

A. Choose ANY social label. Describe that label. When people use that label to describe someone, what are the unstated assumptions about the person are implied by the use of that label. Does the label carry a positive or negative connotation? Is the label one that a person would give themselves, or that someone would give someone else, or both?

B. Provide an image of what a "typical" person given that label might look like. It can be drawn, found on the web, or photo created by you. You are not allowed to use an photo of another TA student (you must be the subject of a photo).

C. Ask 5 people (only one may be a close friend, and no one from a sociology class) to describe what they think of when asked to imagine a person who is given the label you are investigating. Record their answers.

D. Analyze the possible social advantages or disadvantages of being given this label. Is it more likely to positively or negatively impact a person's life, self-esteem, or social status?

E. Identify and analyze one label that others have placed on you? What impact has that label played in how you live your life? Have you ever done anything that you personally did not want to do in order to fulfill the expectations of your label? Explain.

Agenda for 9/18

1. The result of labels/categories? What does the labe "Muslim" mean in our Society? Does it have to mean those things?

2. Read - Defined by Your Category

3. Assignment #4 - The Impact of Social Labels

A. Choose ANY social label. Describe that label. When people use that label to describe someone, what are the unstated assumptions about the person are implied by the use of that label. Does the label carry a positive or negative connotation? Is the label one that a person would give themselves, or that someone would give someone else, or both?

B. Provide an image of what a "typical" person given that label might look like. It can be drawn, found on the web, or photo created by you. You are not allowed to use an photo of another TA student (you must be the subject of a photo).

C. Ask 5 people (only one may be a close friend, and no one from a sociology class) to describe what they think of when asked to imagine a person who is given the label you are investigating. Record their answers.

D. Analyze the possible social advantages or disadvantages of being given this label. Is it more likely to positively or negatively impact a person's life, self-esteem, or social status?

E. Identify and analyze one label that others have placed on you? What impact has that label played in how you live your life? Have you ever done anything that you personally did not want to do in order to fulfill the expectations of your label? Explain.

Open House

1. Essential Online Resources

• blog - tasociology.blogspot.com
• daily agendas, course resources, assignments
• eBackpack
• www.thorntonacademy.ebackpack.com
• mobile app (iPad, iPhone)
• all assignments are submitted via eBackpack
• see me for your parent code 

 2. The Sociological Imagination

• Seeing beneath the waterline of visibility
• See the strange in the familiar
• Seeing the general in the particular

3. The Sinking Ship - the impact of social labels/categories

• Your group must determine which four of the twelve people listed below get a seat on the life boat. You should have a clear reason for why you chose the four that you did.

4. Read - Defined by Your Category 

5. Email: brandon.parise@thorntonacademy.org

Agenda for 9/16 (Maroon), 9/17 (Gold)

Again...

1. The Sinking Ship.

• Your group must determine which four of the twelve people listed below get a seat on the life boat. You should have a clear reason for why you chose the four that you did.

Who did you save? 


2. Read - Defined by Your Category

3. The Impact of Social Labels


A. Choose ANY social label. Describe that label. When people use that label to describe someone, what are the unstated assumptions about the person are implied by the use of that label. Does the label carry a positive or negative connotation? Is the label one that a person would give themselves, or that someone would give someone else, or both?

B. Provide an image of what a "typical" person given that label might look like. It can be drawn, found on the web, or photo created by you. You are not allowed to use an photo of another TA student (you must be the subject of a photo).

C. Ask 5 people (only one may be a close friend, and no one from a sociology class) to describe what they think of when asked to imagine a person who is given the label you are investigating. Record their answers.

D. Analyze the possible social advantages or disadvantages of being given this label. Is it more likely to positively or negatively impact a person's life, self-esteem, or social status?

E. Identify and analyze one label that others have placed on you? What impact has that label played in how you live your life? Have you ever done anything that you personally did not want to do in order to fulfill the expectations of your label? Explain.