WELCOMETO

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

“First of all,,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick,

Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of

folks. You never really understand a person until you

consider things from his point of view…”

“Sir?”

“…Until you climb into his skin and walk around in

it.” Lee Harper, To Kill a Mockingbird

HOW MANY OF YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE THE

US IS THE GREATEST NATION IN THE WORLD –

A COUNTRY THAT PROVIDES THE REST OF THE WORLD A “GOOD

MODEL”?

QUESTIONS

• How does the US rank in per-capita giving? (Are we the top “giver” in the world? 3rd? 10th?)

• What per cent of the US budget goes toward foreign aid?

ANSWERS• While the US gives the greatest

amount of money, it ranks 22nd out of the top 22 major foreign aid donor nations in per capita giving. Yet, we think of ourselves as “magnanimous,” yes?

• Most Americans think 24% of our budget goes to foreign aid – 24 times the actual amount!

FAMILY FEUD:

What do you think the top 100 answers were?

LIST THE EIGHT “HIPPEST” CITIES IN

THE WORLD

(Family Feud, Summer, 2006)

• New York• Los Angeles• Chicago• New Orleans• Atlantic City• Seattle• Las Vegas• Miami

SOCIAL INEQUALITY

POVERTY IN THE US

• Who’s most likely to experience poverty in the US?

• How does the “social structure” strengthen social class placement?

POVERTY IN THE US

• Why do other Most Industrialized Nations have lower poverty rates than the US?

• What does the “Welfare State” look like?

SOCIAL INEQUALITY

• View video “Holding Ground”:

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

Performance Assessment

Website Analysis:Social Justice

SHIFT FROM

U.S. STRATIFICATION

TO

GLOBAL STRATIFICATION

SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

• GLOBALIZATION OF THE WORLD’S CORPORATION S

“A CRIMINAL IS A PERSON WITH

PREDATORY INSTINCTS WHO HAS NOT

SUFFICIENT CAPITAL TO FORM A

CORPORATION.”

HOWARD SCOTT, 1920

GLOBAL INEQUALITY

Consider:

Why are food shortages growing if there’s enough food in the

world to feed everyone?

GLOBAL INEQUALITY

Why is there so much illegal immigration from Mexico and the “Global South”?

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Immigration Project

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

(p. 86)

WHY STUDY REMOTE COUNTRIES SUCH AS THOSE IN AFRICA?

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Develop “Creative” Activity to Teach about

Institutional Development in Southern Africa

HISTORICSOCIAL CHANGE

Historic Social ChangeDrawings:

Sociocultural Evolution

• Hunting and Gathering• Pastoral/Horticultural• Agricultural• Industrial• Post-Industrial

NORWAY

MODERN SOCIAL

CHANGES

MODERN SOCIAL CHANGES

• Population

• Urbanization

• Environment

• Technology

• Social Movements

                                        

Population Growth / Corporate Dominance / Urbanization

Increased Increased Needs Consumption

Environmental Declining Destruction Resources

Scarcity and Poverty

Discrimination / Migration / Conflict

STUFF

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Map the Consequences of Increased

Globalization, Population Growth and

Urbanization

CULTURE

A human being is a part of the whole called by us “universe,” a part limited in time and space. You experience yourself, your thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of your consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Albert Einstein

COMPARISONS: GERMANY, JAPAN

AND US

IMMIGRATION

• History of immigration to US

• Examine influx of newest immigrants to WI: Mexicans, Hmongs, Arabs, East Indians

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Develop

Immigrant

“Web

Quests”

CONFORMANCE OR DEVIANCE?

• Japanese Case Study

“First of all,,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick,

Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of

folks. You never really understand a person until you

consider things from his point of view…”

“Sir?”

“…Until you climb into his skin and walk around in

it.” Lee Harper, To Kill a Mockingbird

International Focus