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Watch his brief TED Talk and consider the sociological implications of the three myths they debunk. How do these myths relate to what DuBois pointed out about ‘race’ over 100 years ago?
1. What are the Three Myths About Race Watts Smith ‘debunks’?
2. What evidence does she present for each? Be specific.
3. What problems did Dubois identify that still seem relevant today considering this evidence?
#2Please read “I Hate White People” in Reclaiming Our Stories (pages 52-59).
Your task will be to write a response to the reading. It should be around 500 words.
-First, tell me what the narrative was about. (1-2 sentences is fine. I’ve read it.)
-Select THREE concepts from the course. At least one should come from he Race-Conflict Material in this module. Show how each is illustrated in the narrative. (This should be the bulk of your reaction.)
-Finally, include a personal reaction to the narrative. To what extent was it familiar? shocking? disturbing? Enlightening?
Your score will be based primarily on how well you are able to connect the narrative to course concepts.
Please read Chapter Three, Culture, in In Conflict and Order. It is only 20 pages and it’s an easy read. Let me know if you have any questions.
The questions follow along with the reading- they are pretty much in order of the text and direct you toward important concepts. Be sure you answer them completely.
1.Connect the author’s discussion about calendars in the opening of the chapter to the Social Construction of Reality. (Go back and look at the first few lines of the chapter if you are not sure about this question.)
2. Explain what the authors mean when they say U.S. schools are Ethnocentric? What are the potential problems with ethnocentrism? What is Cultural Relativity? Which perspective would better serve a sociologist?
3. Explain Linguistic Relativity. What does this say about how our culture influences our thoughts?
4. Explain the difference between a Folkway and a More. Provide an example of each, along with their punishment. How is the categorization of the deviant act determined, according to your textbook?
5. Explain the difference between Status and Role. Provide an example from your own life. Is the example you gave an ascribed status or an achieved #3status? Explain the difference.
6. What does it mean when we say we internalize cultural values? Provide an example of a value you have internalized. How does it direct your behavior?
7. How are U.S. values sources of both societal integration and social problems? Provide at least two examples from your textbook.
8. What does Reality Television teach its viewers and participants, according to your textbook? Name at least two values your textbook discusses. How do they correspond with or contradict the lesson taught?
9. How do Conflict Theorists and Structural-Functionalists differ in their understanding of cultural values?
10. Explain why the children who were taken from the Yearning for Zion Ranch would want to return.
#3/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLBw9nYI_Ks&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
Organize your responses and be complete. These questions will also help you on he quiz.
1. Specifically discuss the:
a) ideologies, b) values, c) norms
around language use in our society, as portrayed in the video.
Label and identify an example of each.
d) How does she intend to combat these ideas? Again, provide specific evidence from the video.
2. What symbols (words) have commonly been associated with the speaker as a deaf woman? Provide at least two examples.
How does she dispute these terms, as applied to her?
3. The speaker discusses a ‘phonocentric’ point of view and calls for the use of ‘cultural-linguistic’ experts. What does she mean by these terms?
How does her claim relate ethnocentrism and multi-culturalism?
4. Use specific evidence from her talk and the experiences she shared to demonstrate that the deaf community can be seen as a subculture (or is it a counter-culture?), and that subcultures in society are valued differently.
#4/Yaokwa: The Enawene Nawe People’s Ritual for the Maintenance of the Social and Cosmic Order
Carefully consider the title of the video. What is it’s explicit purpose? Think about how it meets these needs as you watch the video.
The Subtitles are in Portuguese- but if you turn the OFF you will be able to read the English translation embedded in the video. Please be sure to read the translation or the video will not be helpful to you.
Before you start watching, review the first 8 questions below.
Watch the video and apply the concepts from Chapter 3. Be concise but complete. Be sure you clearly answer the question.
1. Identify an important SYMBOL for the Enawene Nawe. Explain to me how it fits the definition. What does it allow the communities to do?
2. Identify an important MATERIAL TECHNOLOGY employed by the Enawene Nawe. Explain to me how it fits the definition (they don’t make the motor boats!). What does it allow the communities to do?
3. Identify an important SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY for the Enawene Nawe. Explain to me how it fits the definition. What does it allow the communities to do?
4. Identify an important IDEOLOGY for the Enawene Nawe. Explain to me how it fits the definition. What does it allow the communities to do?
5. Identify an important NORM for the Enawene Nawe. Explain to me how it fits the definition. What does it allow the communities to do?
6. Identify an important VALUE for the Enawene Nawe. Explain to me how it fits the definition. What does it allow the communities to do?
7. Identify an important ROLE for the Enawene Nawe. Explain to me how it fits the definition. What does it allow the communities to do?
8. How do the activities they are directed toward allow for the survival of the group? Identify at least 3 activities that provide for survival in the ritual and tell me what aspect of survival they provide for.
Consider the following video in the context of EHNOCENTRISM as discussed on page 39. This is a ritual that has faded over the last decade.
9. What was the crucial role it played in our culture? Has the role disappeared, or has it been taken over? By what new ritual?
10. When we look at the Enawene Nawe, we may see their behavior as inexplicable. Define ETHNOCENTRISM and show why it leads to misunderstanding using an example from the video.
11. Present at least TWO rituals in our own culture that may seem odd to the outside eye, but are actually survival strategies for our group.
#5/After you review this assignment, open the next link in the module which will take you to a reading by Marvin Harris. It is an excerpt from Seeing Ourselves. In it, Harris discusses ‘India’s Sacred Cow’.
I know it might seem long at first glance, but it should only take you 15-20 minutes to complete.
Be careful! You may think you know what this reading tells us, but unless you have encountered this specific reading before you probably don’t.
Harris shows how cultural ideologies and their associated norms and values direct the behavior of group members to provide for the survival needs of the group. Think about how his relates to the Enawene Nawe video above.
Review the following questions before you do your reading so you know what to look for,
1. What evidence does Harris offer to support his argument that defining the cow as sacred is a necessary strategy for human survival in India?
2. If survival strategies make sense when we take a close look at them, why do they become so “encased” in elaborate cultural explanations? (Why do we have to tell stories about why we do things- why can’t we just tell group members they need to do this to survive?)
3. Does India’s recognition of the sacred cow help or hurt that nation’s natural environment?
4. Following Harris’s logic, can you think of reasons that people in some parts of the world (the Middle East, for instance) do not eat pork?
#6/It will probably be easiest for you to write about the Presidential Election, since it has been so heavily covered, but you can select any State or Local race/proposition.
1. Tell me what race/proposition you are writing about.
– At what level was it contested? (Federal, State, Local)
– What are the two candidates or sides of the proposition?
2. Select THREE of the following to discuss. 1-2 sentences each. Tell me what you are answering. Select prompts that fit the race or proposition you have chosen to discuss.
– What are the Symbols associated with each candidate or position? How do they represent the world view of their proponents?
– What are the explicit Ideologies central to each candidate or position? How are they related to the candidates or proposition and the electorate they were trying to win over?
– What Norms are associated with each candidate or position? How do they challenge or validate the traditional norms associated with the office they are seeking or the social condition they address?
-What Values are promoted by each candidate or position? How do they challenge or validate the traditional values associated with the office they are seeking or the social condition they address?
– Identify the Status the candidates seeks to achieve. What Roles are traditionally associated with that Status? How does each candidate challenge or validate these roles? How does this relate to the electorate they are trying to win over?
– What Social Technologies are employed by each of the campaigns? How do they facilitate or inhibit the messages they intend to convey?
– What Material Technologies are associated with each campaign? How do they facilitate or inhibit the messages they intend to convey?
3. Answer each part of the following. About 4-6 sentences.
– Considering your answers in #2, what is the Social Construction of Reality associated with each candidate or position?
– How do they differ? How do they challenge or reinforce the dominant (traditional) construction of reality in our society?
– How does this relate to the positions they advocate for, and the electorate they seek to win over?
#7/
Please read “Foster Kid” in Reclaiming Our Stories (pages 122-128).
Your task will be to write a response to the reading. It should be around 500 words.
-First, tell me what the narrative was about. (1-2 sentences is fine. I’ve read it.)
-Select THREE concepts from the course. At least one should come from the material on the Micro Perspectives in this module. Show how each is illustrated in the narrative. (This should be the bulk of your reaction.)
-Finally, include a personal reaction to the narrative. To what extent was it familiar? shocking? disturbing? enlightening?
#8/
Weber is concerned with how we should understand Social Action- how we can analyze the behaviors of individuals.
Be sure to watch with both the sound and captions on. His accent and occasional use of German make the captions imperfect, but very helpful.
There are extra points available in this assignment. You will need the information for the quiz.
1. According to the lecturer, how does Weber understand the focus of society- the study of social action? How does he differ from the macro-theoretical perspectives we have covered? What makes an action a ‘social action’?
2. What two disciplines does Weber see as contributing to the study of social action? What does each contribute? How is Verstehen related?
3. According to the lecturer, what did Weber mean when he referred to an ‘Ideal Type’? How does it differ from ‘reality’? How can this lead to mistakes? Why make a model at all, according to Weber?
4. Toward the end of the video the lecturer discusses a literary work where Marco Polo and Kublai Khan engage regarding the structure of a bridge. Describe the discussion between the two and how it relates to the lecturer’s comparison of Weber to Durkheim with regard to the focus of sociological analysis.
5. Does the lecturer see Weber and Durkheim as completely at odds with one another with regard to their actual sociological analysis? Use examples from the video to support your point.
6. Present and define each of the Four Ideal Types of Social Action identified above. Provide an example of each. How is ‘rationality’ and ’emotion’ involved in each? What, from Weber’s perspective, is happening to each in modernity?
7. What, from Weber’s perspective, is the difference between ‘power’ and ‘authority’?
8. Present and define the Three Ideal Types of Authority presented above. How is each connected to the Four Ideal Types of Social Action? What happens to each type of authority in modernity? Be specific.
