Introduction to Sociology Soc. 101 Fall Semester 2010 Professor Jill Stein

Soc. 101: Introduction to Sociology n Course Basics: Enrollment Review syllabus Class website: n Introduction What is sociology? Study of society What is society? Range of topics The Digital Age –YouTube video: A Vision of Students Today

Introduction to Sociology Soc. 101 Chapter 1: Sociology and the Real World

5 Overview n Asking the Big Questions n The Origins of Sociology n Levels of Analysis n The Sociological Perspective n Starting Your Sociological Journey

Asking the Big Questions n Understanding social life The role of superstition, myth, religion and tradition 6

7 The Origins of Sociology n The emergence of social sciences (19 th Century) Borrow from natural sciences Apply scientific method to study the social world n A relatively modern discipline Overlap with other social sciences

9 What is Sociology? n The study of society n The systematic/scientific study of human society and social behavior from large institutions and mass culture to small groups and individual interactions n The study of “people doing things together” (Howard Becker)

Howard Becker

11 The fundamental premise of sociology: Humans are social animals

13 How Sociology is Organized LEVELS OF ANALYSIS n MACRO n Large-scale patterns Political, economic, cultural and other social institutions n “Top-Down” approach n MICRO n Small groups and interaction Everyday life, group membership and identity n “Bottom-Up” approach

17 Studies on Power and Gender n MACRO n Christine Williams Women in male- dominated occupations Glass ceiling Men in female- dominated occupations Glass escalator n MICRO n Pam Fishman Male – female relationships through conversation women ask 3x as many questions Because they do not expect to get a response by simply making a statement

18 The Sociological Perspective

19 “Invitation to Sociology” by Peter Berger What makes a good social thinker? n Passionate interest in the world of human affairs n Intense, curious and daring in the pursuit of knowledge n Cares about issues of ultimate importance to humanity As well as the most mundane occurrences of everyday life

20 CULTURE SHOCK n We are like “fish in water” How to see the world in which we are immersed n A sense of disorientation that occurs when one enters a radically new social or cultural environment The impact of a new place on outsiders or foreigners Make the familiar strange n Example from the movie “Cast Away”

24 “BEGINNER’S MIND” n From Zen Buddhist tradition Adapted to sociology by Bernard McGrane n Contrast with “expert’s mind” Filled with facts, assumptions, preconceptions, projections and opinions n “Discovery is not the seeing of a new thing, but rather a new way of seeing things”

“I see no more than you, but I have trained myself to notice what I see” Sherlock Holmes 25

LOUIS CK: EVERYTHING’S AMAZING YouTube Video: 26

“The Sociological Imagination” C. Wright Mills

28 The Sociological Imagination n Link between personal experience and broader social forces n Mutual influence How society shapes individuals How individuals shape society

29 What is the connection between: the “personal troubles of milieu” and the “public issues of social structure.”

30 The intersection between biography and history n Personal n Individual n Private n Social n Collective n Public

31 SOCIOLOGICAL VARIABLES Which of these helps to define you? nHnHistory nNnNationality nCnCulture nPnPolitics nEnEconomics nSnSocial Class nRnReligion nRnRace/Ethnicity nSnSex/Gender nEnEducation nFnFamily

Starting Your Sociological Journey

Famous Sociology Majors

34 Why sociology is so radical Sociologists must: n uncover assumptions and beliefs n focus on the overlooked n question everything n reinterpret understandings

35 Focus Throughout Textbook n Sociology and Everyday Life n Contemporary American Society n The U.S. in Global Perspective n The Mass Media and Popular Culture