Download UNIT 1

Exploring the 1960s:
An Interdisciplinary Approach
Prof. Erica Arnold-Wyche
1.
Introduce Ourselves
2.
Seminar Ground Rules
3.
Course Overview
4.
Social Science?
5.
Unit 1 Key Concepts:

Three Sociological Concepts



Functionalism
Conflict Theory
Symbolic Interactionism
6.
Unit 1 Discussion
7.
Unit 1 Assignments
8.
Q&A
Please tell us a little
bit about yourself …
• Where is one place
you would like to
visit and why?
1. Focus on Topic
2. Arrival time
3. Respect
4. Question: “//”
5. Participate

This course will take an in-depth look at the 1960s
as a significant era in American history.

Adopting multiple perspectives, we will explore
the societal impact of such issues as the
assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War,
the Countercultural, Civil Rights and Feminist
Movements, the advent of the birth control pill,
and many others.

Through exploring the music, political climate,
and advancements in technology and medicine of
this historical era, we will discover how our
individual lives and society as a whole were
forever changed.
 UNIT
1: Setting the Stage
 UNIT 2: The Cold War and Vietnam
 UNIT 3: The Camelot Years: Creation of a
National Culture
 UNIT 4: The Civil Rights Movement
 UNIT 5: The Counter Culture Movement
 UNIT 6: Gender Movements
 UNIT 7: Science and Technology
 UNIT 8: The Face of Government
 UNIT 9: Loss of Leaders
 UNIT 10: Wrap Up
Assessments
Number
Total Points
Seminars
9
Ungraded
Discussions
9
360
Unit 1 Quiz
1
30
1
120
1
120
1
100
1
120
1
150
Unit 2 Assignment
(essay)
Unit 4 Assignment
(photo essay in PPT)
Unit 5 Quiz
Unit 6 Assignment
(timeline)
Unit 9 Final Project
(essay)
Total Points
1000 Points
//What does social science mean to you?
 Social
science – the intellectual and
academic disciplines designed to
understand the social world objectively
by means of controlled and repeated
observations.
 The
use of theory, methods, and findings
from more than one social science.
Anthropology
 Archaeology
 Economics
 History
 Political Science
 Psychology
 Sociology

Anthropology : The study of people and their ways of
life
 Archaeology : The study of the physical and cultural
characteristics of peoples and societies that existed
prior to recorded history
 Economics : The study of the production and
distribution of scarce goods and services
 History: The recording, narrating, and interpreting of
human experience
 Political science : The study of government and
politics
 Psychology: The study of the behavior of people and
animals
 Sociology: The scientific study of society and human
behavior

 //What
do you want to do at “Place”
you want to visit (mentioned in our
introduction)?
 //How
can the “Place” that you
mentioned in our introduction actual
be a “Social Science” learning
opportunity?
The “big three”
 Functionalism
 Conflict
Theory
 Symbolic Interactionism
 Sociologists
today employ three primary
theoretical perspectives: the symbolic
interactionist perspective, the functionalist
perspective, and the conflict perspective.
 These
perspectives offer sociologists
theoretical paradigms for explaining how
society influences people, and vice versa.
 Each
perspective uniquely conceptualizes
society, social forces, and human behavior
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Three-Major-Perspectives-in-Sociology.topicArticleId-26957,articleId26837.html#ixzz0ogLWtEc1
Sociological Perspective Level of Analysis
Focus
1. Symbolic
Interactionism
Micro
Use of symbols; Faceto-face interactions
2. Functionalism
Macro
Relationship between
the parts of society;
How aspects of
society are functional
(adaptive)
3. Conflict Theory
Macro
Competition for
scarce resources; How
the elite control the
poor and weak
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Three-Major-Perspectives-in-Sociology.topicArticleId-26957,articleId26837.html#ixzz0ogLWtEc1
Emile Durkheim
Talcott Parsons
Robert Merton
 Just
as a human body has many parts which
function together, so does the society have
many parts
 These institutions work together to promote
the stability of the society
Economy
Family
Education
Religion
 Each
Institution has FUNCTIONS: the
consequences of people’s actions which
have benefits to the system


Manifest function: the action is intended
Latent function: the action is unintended
 DYSFUNCTIONS:
consequences of people’s
actions with hurt the system

Latent dysfunction
Manifest function
Education
 Socialization
 Primary schooling
 Basic language and
mathematical skills
 Secondary schooling
 Expansion of basic skills to
include the transmission of
cultural values and norms
 Cultural innovation



 Educational systems
create as well as transmit
culture
 Social
integration
 Brings a
together
 Social
 The

diverse nation
placement
enhancement of
meritocracy

Latent Functions
Schools as child-care
providers
Schools consume
considerable time &
energy- activity thus
fostering conformity
Engages young people
at a time in their lives
when jobs are not
plentiful
Sets the stage for
establishing
relationships &
networks
Link between
particular schools and
career opportunities
Karl Marx
Max Weber
Georg Simmel
Conflict can be viewed as
a continuum
War on the one side
Indifference on the other
 Institutions
in conflict over power and
resources
 Conflict between institutions as well as
within institutions
 Main question is “who benefits?”
 Determine the dominant and subordinate
groups and the ways in which the dominant
group maintains their dominance
George Herbert Mead
Herbert Blumer
 Focuses



on how people use “symbols”
Establish meaning
Develop their views of the world
Communicate with one another
 Micro
verses Macro view
 Just as money is the currency of our
economic system, symbols are the currency
of our social system.


They are those things in our society that we give
names, meanings, and values.
We use those symbols (words, gestures, etc) to
establish a system of meaning that helps us
develop our own cultural ways of looking at the
world and communicate with each other.
 //Example?
One of the ideas of symbolic interactionism is the idea
that our world is socially constructed.
Just as the scaffolding and cranes are equipment are
putting this building together piece by piece by piece, so
do our words and communications with each other build
those institutions that make up our social world.
Using the perspectives
If we are going to look at the car from a
functionalist perspective, we need to focus
on the purpose the car provides in
maintaining the stability of the larger
society.
Those functions it performs, both the obvious
and less obvious.
//What is the obvious (manifest) function of the car?
Latent function of the car—determining social class
 What
inequalities are present when we look
at the car?
 Which
would be the dominant group? The
subordinate group?
 Does
any dominant group use the car to keep
the subordinate group in its place?
What are your options if you have no car?
Americans spend nearly 20 percent of their income
on transportation – second only to housing as an
overall portion of income – and are punished heavily
by volatile swings in the oil market.
For many working households, the goal of affordable
living is becoming less attainable as fuel prices and
trip lengths increase due to a lack of transportation
options and worsening sprawl.
If you have no car, what are your options for employment? For
education? For transportation to and from the grocery store?
Data courtesy of Transportation for America
 What
larger social meanings can be
ascertained by looking at:
//What do we do with our cars?
//What do our cars say about us?
 Symbolic
interactionist perspective
 Functionalist perspective
 Conflict perspective
//Based upon your readings, what was the
cultural mindset of the 1950’s that set the
stage for the tremendous changes that
were to come during the 1960’s?
//What were the “seeds of discontent” that
were taking root during the 50s. What
were some of the elements that
contributed to the 50s being labeled “The
Wonder Years”?
 What
were some of the elements that
contributed to the 50s being labeled “The
Wonder Years”?
 Readings
 Web
Resources
 Introductions
 Discussion
 Seminar
 Quiz
Board