Agenda for 1/29 and 2/1

1. Practicing the Three Concepts of the Sociological Imagination

A. Seeing Beneath the Waterline of Visibility (the iceberg)

B. Seeing the General in the Particular (analyzing what a specific thing tells us about our society/culture in general)

Disney Ad Analysis

In your notability note answer the following questions as best as you can (write down whatever comes to mind:

A. What aspects of American culture are evident in this ad? What ideas does it support? How does it reflect the way Americans think about life, sex and gender, masculinity and femininity, body image, race, socio-economic class, childhood?

B. Think about which group in society this ad is meant to target? Do you have any concerns about companies designing ads to target this group?

C. Seeing the Strange in the Familiar (looking at your what is common/familiar in your culture/society as if you were an alien seeing for the first time)?

• Why do Americans value gun ownership?
• How many have been killed by guns since the 1960s?
• How does this value effect the lives of Americans?
• America's unqiue problem of mass shootings. 

4. The "Rat Experiment" - the effect of categories and expectations

• Listen to 0:00-7:17
• What does the rat example teach us about the influence of categories?

5. Read - "Defined by Your Category" 

HW - Sociological Imagination Quiz

• be able to explain/apply the three main concepts of the the Sociological Imagination 

Agenda for 1/27 and 1/28

1. Finish Intro to Sociology Key Note

2. Connecting the Sociological Imagination to your life!

• "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace 
• How do the ideas in this excerpt connect to the concept of the "Sociological Imagination." Think about the iceberg and the waterline of visibility?

HW - Assignment #2 - Due: 1/29

• Answer the two questions below in a paragraph each.
• Submit to eBackpack "Assignment #2 - This is Water"

1. What is the main point of Wallace's "This is Water" speech?

2. What is the connection between his words and the "Sociological Imagination?"

Respond in a paragraph each.

• Below are excerpts from "This is Water" speech by David Foster Wallace.
  

"The only thing that's capital 'T' True is that you get to decide how you're going to try to see it. This, I submit, is the freedom of real education, of how to be well-adjusted. You get to decide what has meaning and what doesn't. That is real freedom. That is being educated and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness."
“Learning how to think" really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot or will not exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed.”

 

Agenda for 1/26 - Maroon

1. Intro to Mr. Parise
 
2. Intro to YOU!
 
3. Values, Terms and Conditions.
 
4. Begin "Introduction to Sociology - Keynote"

Agenda for 1/25 - Gold

1. Intro to Mr. Parise
 
2. Intro to YOU!
 
3. Values, Terms and Conditions.
 
4. Begin "Introduction to Sociology - Keynote"

Agenda for 1/20 and 1/21

1. So what might be some of the effects of a media that regularly show women as passive, subordinate, powerless, dependent, sexualized (seen only as sexual objects), and sexually vulnerable?

2. Back to advertising...What is the hidden message of this ad for Axe body spray? Or this one?

3. And this music video?

• Here are the lyrics...

4. So should we be surprised this happens?

5. Or that some in the news media react this way?

6. Or when women are attacked we ask, "So why doesn't she just leave?"

7. Do we live in a "Domestic Violence" culture?

1/19 (Gold Block 4 Only)

1. Work on Final Essays - due NEXT CLASS (Thursday, 1/21)

• Click here for the assignment descriptor.
• Click here for the grading rubric.

Email me with any questions about the essay.
brandon.parise@thorntonacademy.org

Agenda for 1/19 (Gold Block 1)

1. Are girls closing the "Gender Gap?"

• Gender Gap - College Graduation Graph
• Gender Gap - High School Performance Article

2. Continue "Codes of Gender"

• Complete Gender Codes T-chart as we watch
• Turn in completed T-chart to eBackpack Assignment #20

HW - work on Final Essay - due NEXT CLASS 1/21

Due 1/20 (Maroon), 1/21 (Gold) - these are the correct due dates, not those listed on the assignment descriptor below.

• Click here to download the assignment descriptor 
• Click here to download the grading rubric 

Agenda for 1/15

1. Are girls closing the "Gender Gap?"

• Gender Gap - College Graduation Graph
• Gender Gap - High School Performance Article

2. Continue "Codes of Gender"

• Complete Gender Codes T-chart as we watch
• Turn in completed T-chart to eBackpack Assignment #20

HW - work on Final Essay - due NEXT CLASS 1/20

Due 1/20 (Maroon), 1/21 (Gold) - these are the correct due dates, not those listed on the assignment descriptor below.

• Click here to download the assignment descriptor 
• Click here to download the grading rubric 

Agenda for 1/13 and 1/14

1. Following up from last class:

"Raising Ryland" - When your young daughter says 'I'm a boy.' 

2. The story of Nicole Maines and transgender bathroom struggle

• If you're interested in reading more: An in-depth article from the Washington Post

3. Advertising and the Perpetuation of Gender Roles

• Dove Real Beauty Sketches
• Dockers Ad 

4. Begin "Codes of Gender"

• Complete the "Codes of Gender" T-Chart 

HW:

Begin work on FINAL EXAM ESSAY - Due 1/20 (Gold), 1/21 (Maroon) - these are the correct due dates, not those listed on the assignment descriptor below.

• Click here to download the assignment descriptor 
• Click here to download the grading rubric 

Agenda for 1/11 and 1/12

1. Gender Term Quiz  

Describe/define:

1. biological sex
2. gender identity
3. Gender Expression
4. Gender Roles


2. Follow gender stereotypes or...you can't go to school?

3. Sex and Gender - A binary? Or spectrum?

4. "This is What Intersex Means"

5. What are some examples of intersex conditions? 

6. How is anatomy "measured" at birth?

7. "Should we 'fix' Intersex Children?"

8. "Raising Ryland" - When your young daughter says 'I'm a boy.' And Paige's Story (7:00-17:00).

 

Agenda for 1/7 and 1/8

1. Leadership and Gender. The Leadership Gap - Statistics (report by The Center for American Progress). How long will it take to close the "wage gap"?

2. Discuss Defining Men and Women
A. Answer the following questions

• What does it mean to be a man?
• All men are/like/think?
• What does it mean to be a woman?
• All women are/like/think

B. Images

• Find 2-3 images that demonstrate ideal masculinity (manhood).
• Find 2-3 images that demonstrate femininity (womanhood).

C. Are the gender characteristics you've described more a result of nature (biological) or nuture (learned through socialization)?
3. Traditional Gender Stereotypes

4. Huggies Advertisement

• What does the advertisement suggest about differences between boys and girls?

5. Sex and Gender - A binary? Or spectrum? 
  
6. Gender Terminology 

Biological/Anatomical Sex: The physical structure of one’s reproductive organs that is used to assign sex at birth. Biological sex is determined by chromosomes (XX for females; XY for males); hormones (estrogen/progesterone for females, testosterone for males); and internal and external genitalia (vulva, clitoris, vagina for assigned females, penis and testicles for assigned males). Given the potential variation in all of these, biological sex must be seen as a spectrum or range of possibilities rather than a binary set of two options.

Gender Identity: One’s innermost concept of self as male or female or both or neither—how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One’s gender identity can be the same or different than the sex assigned at birth. Individuals are conscious of this between the ages 18 months and 3 years. Most people develop a gender identity that matches their biological sex. For some, however, their gender identity is different from their biological or assigned sex. Some of these individuals choose to socially, hormonally and/or surgically change their sex to more fully match their gender identity.

Gender Expression: Refers to the ways in which people externally communicate their gender identity to others through behavior, clothing, haircut, voice, and other forms of presentation. Gender expression also works the other way as people assign gender to others based on their appearance, mannerisms, and other gendered characteristics. Sometimes, transgender people seek to match their physical expression with their gender identity, rather than their birth-assigned sex. Gender expression should not be viewed as an indication of sexual orientation.
 
Gender Role: This is the set of roles, activities, expectations and behaviors assigned to females and males by society. Our culture recognizes two basic gender roles: Masculine (having the qualities attributed to males) and feminine (having the qualities attributed to females). People who step out of their socially assigned gender roles are sometimes referred to as transgender. Other cultures have three or more gender roles.

Transgender: Sometimes used as an umbrella to describe anyone whose identity or behavior falls outside of stereotypical gender norms. More narrowly defined, it refers to an individual whose gender identity does not match their assigned birth gender. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation (attraction to people of a specific gender.) Therefore, transgender people may additionally identify with a variety of other sexual identities as well.

Sexual Orientation: Term that refers to being romantically or sexually attracted to people of a specific gender. Our sexual orientation and our gender identity are separate, distinct parts of our overall identity. Although a child may not yet be aware of their sexual orientation, they usually have a strong sense of their gender identity.

7. Paige's Story (7:00-17:00)

HW - be ready for "Gender Terms" quiz

Agenda for 1/5 and 1/6

1. Leadership Characteristics Activity

• Complete page 1 by yourself
• Are your leadership traits generally considered masculine or feminine?
• Answer the questions below.

A. If, indeed, the qualities we define as “leadership” qualities correspond to the qualities that our society happens to define as “masculine,” you should discuss how that might impact women in the workplace.

B. How might that help to explain why women encounter an invisible ceiling (an unconscious or unwitting form of sexism)?

C. How might your findings from your survey indicate a pattern that leads to the statistics in the table titled “Income by Educational Level and Sex”?

D. Which statics from #2 below were most surprising to you? 

2. The Leadership Gap - Statistics (report by The Center for American Progress). How long will it take to close the "wage gap"?

3. Defining Men and Women - With your group:

A. Answer the following questions

• What does it mean to be a man?
• All men are/like/think?
• What does it mean to be a woman?
• All women are/like/think

B. Images

• Find 2-3 images that demonstrate ideal masculinity (manhood).
• Find 2-3 images that demonstrate femininity (womanhood).

C. Are the gender characteristics you've described more a result of nature (biological) or nuture (learned through socialization)?


HW: Assignment #18

Submit your answers to parts A, B, and C of the "Defining Men and Women" activity (#3 above).

Agenda for 1/4/16

1. What is civil asset forfeiture? Law enforcement took more stuff from people than burglars did last year.

2. For profit prisons: Click here to see which states pay more for prisons when there are fewer people in them.

3. Match the Crime with the Time. Average sentences for federal drug offenses?  

4. Incarceration in America - info graphic

5. When It Comes To Illegal Drug Use, White America Does The Crime, Black America Gets The Time.
 
6. FBI 2010 National Crime Statistics - who really commits the most crime?
 
7. The "Affluenza" defense?