Download Part 1 - Intro to Soc & Soc Imag

The Sociological Imagination
Part One: Intro to Sociology and Development of the
Sociological Imagination
Agenda
Objective:
1. To develop an
understanding of the
sociological imagination.
2. To develop and apply your
own sociological
imagination.
Schedule:
1. “Sociological Imagination”
discussion
2. Viewing: Country Boys
3. Discussion
Homework
1. After class on
Wednesday continue
watching Country
Boys through chapter
6 (link available on
course website) - Due
Thursday 9/13
2. Reaction Paper - Due
Thursday 9/20
Thinking Like a Sociologist
• Last class we talked about how sociology is
the project of “making the familiar strange.”
What does this mean?
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Thinking Like a Sociologist
• “Making the familiar strange”requires you to
reconsider your assumptions about society and
question what you have assumed to be “normal”
and “the way things are.”
• It means applying analytical tools to taken-forgranted everyday life and seeing that what we
think is normal, isn’t.
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Thinking Like a Sociologist: The
Sociological Imagination
• Today, we want to go deeper into what it
means to do sociology by discussing the
unique approach sociologists bring to
their work as they seek to make the
familiar strange.
• The Sociological Imagination
– In order to think critically about the world
around us -- to make the familiar strange - we need to see the connection between
individuals and the larger society.
– The ability is called “The Sociological
Imagination”
– Term coined by C. Wright Mills in 1959.
Developing our Sociological
Imagination
• Imagine in your mind,
the average
unemployed person.
Let’s generate a list of
some characteristics
the American public
might associate with
that person…
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Developing our Sociological
Imagination
• Watch the following geographic
representation of unemployment in the
United States between 2007 and 2011
– Pay attention to what happens to the
purple sections of the map…
Developing our Sociological
Imagination
• So…is laziness contagious?
• What is going on here?
What is a Sociological
Imagination?
• What does this exercise tell us about
thinking like a sociologist? How does a
sociologist think?
• If we call the way sociologists think “the
sociological imagination,” what is a
“sociological imagination”?
The Sociological Imagination Is…
• Awareness that society exists
and exerts influence the life of
the individual.
• Recognition that in order to
understand the individual, we
must understand his/her place
in society.
• Recognition that many of the
problems we think are
personal, actually are the
products of social forces.
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EXAMPLE ONE
Eating Disorders
• Cause of Eating Disorders
– When viewed as “personal
trouble”
• Cause of Eating Disorders
– When viewed as “public issue”
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Once we adopt a sociological
imagination we…
• Accept that social forces--institutions, norms,
demographics, policies, rituals, groups, and
interactions--are at least partial causes of human
experiences
• Never argue that “that is just the way things are”
in human life.
• Ask whether human experiences vary by the kind
of person in question--for instance by race,
ethnicity, age, gender, religions, sexuality, or
political ideology
Developing Your Sociological Imagination
• To develop your sociological imagination we will watch and
analyze the documentary Country Boys.
– Tracks the dramatic
stories of Chris and
Cody from ages 15 to 18
as they struggle to
overcome poverty and
family dysfunction in a
quest for a brighter future.
– In so doing the film shows
the intersection between
the individual and society
that the sociological
imagination calls us to
recognize.
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Country Boys
• As you watch, use the sociological imagination to explain
the link between the individuals featured in the
documentary and the society in which they live (Take
Notes!)
– What personal problems do the boys face?
– What social forces and social structures are at work in the boys
lives?
• Think about: government, family,
education, religion, media, technology,
the economy, etc.
– What connections do you see between
the individual and society in the
documentary?
– How might the troubles and triumphs
of the boys be explained by the society
in which they live/social forces in their
lives?
• Reaction Paper!
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Country Boys
Personal Troubles
Society
Country Boys
• Using your sociological imagination,
how can we explain Chris and Cody’s
lives?