Thinking Critically About Society: An Introduction to Sociology Teaching Resource Guide Russell Westhaver Chapter 2 Sociological Paradigms Learning Outcomes Sociological Paradigms: students should be able to identify the 4 major sociological paradigms and associate them with sociology’s founding figures. Students should be able to describe the key features of each of the four paradigms. The Sociological Paradigms and Mills Sociological Imagination: students should be able to compare and contrast these paradigms in terms of how they describe the social context and how this social context shapes the human experience. 1. Sociological Paradigms A challenge for introductory students encountering classical thinkers like Durkheim, Marx, and Weber for the first time is understanding their contemporary relevance. Backman (1992) describes an assignment for illustrating the impact these thinkers have on contemporary work. Using the Social Sciences Citation Index, students are asked to identify contemporary articles drawing on Durkheim, Marx, and Weber and then assess how their ideas are used. While Backman (1992) developed the assignment as part of a junior theory course, it is easily modified for introductory purposes—particularly in terms of illustrating the degree to which contemporary sociology relies on these classical thinkers. The added strength of this assignment is the exposure students are given to developing library skills. 2. Key Features of Sociological Paradigms Hale (1995) describes an assignment in which students are asked to outline and describe one of the central sociological paradigms, develop interview questions that would follow from the assumptions of each paradigm, and then conduct interviews seeking evidence in relation to particular topics discussed in class (i.e: stratification, education). More substantive engagements with particular paradigms can be found in Lackey (1994) and Holtzman (2005). Lackey (1994) describes an assignment in which students are asked to write sociological short stories, using guidelines derived from the symbolic interactionism paradigm. Holtzman (2005) introduces an active learning exercise for exposing students to the structural functionalist and conflict paradigms (suitable for large classes). Students are asked to negotiate, in groups, a work contract between different occupational groups (designers, workers, the government) in a way that does not jeopardize the project. Following Hale (1995), Holtzman (2005) chooses a project somewhat removed from students everyday experiences (a Sumerian irrigation canal) in order to pull students outside their own experiences. As a follow up, students are asked to write a short reaction paper and a longer take home assignment. One of the strengths of Holtzman’s (2005) discussion is her reflections on the logistics needed for a large class exercise and a comparison of group responses, afforded by large classes. As students work their way through the four paradigms, they necessarily encounter a number of important themes (history, social change, and the tension between agency and structure). Laz (1996) offers some reflections on using Margret Attwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale as a means of thinking about these themes—along with gender relations and a lesser extent institutions and social control. Laz (1996) asks students to think about the novel in the last two weeks of class by producing essay responses to a series of questions. As part of her discussion Laz (1996) also uses general orienting questions that may be used in larger classes where the film (released in 1990) might be more appropriate. The strength of Laz’s (1996) discussion is the detail and depth of her commentary about the novel. 3. The Sociological Paradigms and Mills Sociological Imagination The learning goals associated with the final section of this chapter are both summative and synthetic. Students should be able to summarize each of the paradigms as well as link their understanding of these paradigms with the general aim of the sociological imagination. Trepagnier’ (2002) concept mapping exercise can be used in group discussion to help students assess how well they understand the paradigms as well as how the paradigms express Mills general sentiment about the relationship between private troubles and public issues. Trapagnier’s (2002) discussion is particularly suited for the final section of this chapter because of her specific focus on integrating reflections about Mills’ sociological imagination into the mapping exercise. See also Jacobs-Lawson and Hershey (2002). Students might be presented with key concepts (or asked to generate key concepts) relevant to the two questions organizing this section (What is the nature of the social atmosphere? What is the relationship between the human experience and this social atmosphere?) and then be asked to work out how they are related to each other during group discussion. References Backman, Carl B. 1992. "Life after Death: An Empirical Project in the Classical Theory Course." Teaching Sociology 20 (2):104-113. Hale, Sylvia. 1995. "First-Year Sociology: The Importance of Theory." Teaching Sociology 23 (1):48-52. Holtzman, Mellisa. 2005. "Teaching Sociological Theory through Active Learning: The Irrigation Exercise." Teaching Sociology 33 (2):206-212. Jacobs-Lawson, Joy M. and Hershey, Douglas A. 2002. "Concept Maps as an Assessment Tool in Psychology Courses." Teaching of Psychology 29 (1):25-29. Lackey, Chad. 1994. "Social Science Fiction: Writing Sociological Short Stories to Learn about Social Issues." Teaching Sociology 22 (2):166-173. Laz, Cheryl. 1996. "Science Fiction and Introductory Sociology: The Handmaid in the Classroom." Teaching Sociology 24 (1):54-63. Trepagnier, Barbara. 2002. "Mapping Sociological Concepts." Teaching Sociology 30 (1):108-119. Thinking Critically About Society: An Introduction to Sociology Teaching Resource Guide Russell Westhaver Chapter 3 Sociology and Critical Thinking Learning Outcomes Sociology, the Higher Education Experience, and Critical Thinking: students should be able to describe what critical thinking means. Sociology as a Form of Critical Thinking: Intellectual Deliberations: students should be able to describe different methods of gathering relevant background information and describe how sociological concepts differ from those used in other disciplines. 1. Sociology, the Higher Education Experience, and Critical Thinking Following the scholarship on teaching and learning, this book is premised on a particular understanding of critical thinking: a pan-disciplinary way of answering or addressing questions or problems that relies on a range of intellectual habits, a reflexive disposition, and intellectual deliberations about relevant background information and concepts. The benefit to critical thinking is relatively obvious: it is more likely to lead to desired outcomes. In order to act as critical thinkers research tells us that students must first know what critical thinking means. Instructors can begin to facilitate students’ explicit understanding of their own capacity to think critically if they see it at work in their everyday experiences. Consider asking them to identify moments from their own life in which they did and did not exercise critical thinking. Ask students to be specific, identifying how their own thinking did or did not entail intellectual deliberation, the use of intellectual habits, or reflection. Giving students an opportunity to link their own thinking activity with that outlined in the textbook not only provides an opportunity for consolidating their understanding of critical thinking but also of self-correcting their everyday thinking. 2. Sociology as a Form of Critical Thinking: Intellectual Deliberations A major idea in this chapter is that while a collection of intellectual habits and a reflexive disposition are common to all disciplines, each discipline varies in its approach to making intellectual deliberations. In particular, disciplines differ in terms of what constitutes relevant background information, in terms of how this background information is gathered, and in terms of the ideas brought to bear on this background information. This section aims to support this observation in two ways. First, it introduces students to the observation that sociologists rely on a range of methods or approaches to collecting background information. To some extent, this is a technical challenge that involves introducing students to the full range of methods employed by sociologists. If students were asked to identify moments from their own lives in which they did or did not exercise critical thinking, as described above, they can be asked to compare their own efforts to collect background information to those methods employed by sociologists. This comparison could serve not only to illustrate an example of sociological method, but also be used to differentiate how sociology aims to improve everyday methods of collecting background information through research rigour. Importantly, however, introducing students to the ways sociologists collect background information must also address forms of naïve empiricism and sensitize students to sociological “ways of seeing”. Stevens and VanNatta (2002) describe a “critical observation exercise” in which vignettes are used to help students identify the assumptions they bring to their observations. In particular, the assignment can help guide students to see the distinction between their observation and an analysis of that observation; the role assumptions and stereotypes have in shaping what they observe; and to see the difference between an observation and the context in which their observation is situated. Tan and Ko (2004) describe a collaborative project which achieves similar results. By asking students to observe and describe age and gender relationships in film, instructors can illustrate how everyday experience and stereotypes inform and interfere with what and how students make observations. Ziner’s (1994) graphical method for illustrating the relationship between theory and research has some significance for the learning outcomes associated with this chapter. His method focuses on the relationships between paradigms, theories, and the elements of theory—illustrating how paradigms have particular conceptual consequences. If Hale’s (1995) assignment was adopted (described in chapter 2) students might be asked to revisit how their own search for evidence, explaining how the interview questions they developed were shaped by paradigmatic assumptions. The strength of Ziner’s (1994) graphical approach relative to suggestions described in chapter 2 is that it resonates strongly with Trepagnier’s (2002) concept mapping exercise. Geertsen’s (1993) “Queen Anne” game can be used for a similar purpose in larger classes. The Queen Anne game involves asking students to play a short word game in which a series of assumptions become taken for granted over the course of a few minutes, leading to poor observation on the part of the students. Busch (1978) describes two similar exercises also suitable for larger classes. The first involves the use of playing cards to illustrate the way observations and perception are shaped by broader expectations. The second involves providing students with a list of statements and asking them to distinguish facts from assumptions. Subsequent discussion can be directed to illustrate that while facts are often observable, they are decided upon or verified through social interaction. Second, this section introduces students to the general process of applying sociolgical ideas to background information. While the application of sociolgoical concepts to relvant background information is part of the broader project of any introductory course, Ito (1996) describes an exercise, suitable for larger classes, for illustrating how sociolgocial concepts can be applied to observations in order to make sociolgocial sense out of them. In the activity, the instructor acts as an “advice columnist” to students, providing them answers with the aid of sociolgoical concepts (using, for example, the concept of role strain to explain why a student feels tired). Pedersen (2010) describes an assignment in which students are directed to make observations of others in public locations and then apply sociological concepts to these observations. While this assignment is structured as a course-long activity for an undergraduate theory course, it can be shortened and adapted to focus on more basic concepts. 3. “A Sociological Example of Critical Thinking: Men, Women, and Dating To support students in understanding the example provided in the text, O'Brien and Foley (1999) “Dating Game” in-class activity can be used. In general the activity is useful for illustrating the role a broader social context plays on mate selection. Bredemeier (1978) provides a mate selection activity that achieves similar results, suitable for larger classrooms. Both activities can be used to support students’ understanding of what is involved in identifying and collecting relevant background information as well as the application of sociological concepts to this background information. References Bredemeier, Mary E. 1978. "Providing Referents for Sociological Concepts: Simulation Gaming." Teaching Sociology 5 (4):409-422. Busch, Lawrence. 1978. "The Social Nature of Perception and Knowledge: Two Teaching Aids." Teaching Sociology 5 (4):445-450. Geertsen, Reed. 1993. "Simulating the Blind Spot of Everyday Experience." Teaching Sociology 21 (4):392-396. Hale, Sylvia. 1995. "First-Year Sociology: The Importance of Theory." Teaching Sociology 23 (1):48-52. Ito, Kinko. 1996. "Advertising Sociology: Writing Columns in School Newspapers." Teaching Sociology 24 (1):108-110. O'Brien, Eileen and Foley, Lara. 1999. "The Dating Game: An Exercise Illustrating the Concepts of Homogamy, Heterogamy, Hyperogamy, and Hypogamy." Teaching Sociology 27 (2):145-149. Pedersen, Daphne E. 2010. "Active and Collaborative Learning in an Undergraduate Sociological Theory Course." Teaching Sociology 38 (3):197-206. Stevens, David and VanNatta, Michelle. 2002. "Teaching Critical Observation as a Sociological Tool." Teaching Sociology 30 (2):243-253. Tan, JooEan and Ko, Yiu-Chung. 2004. "Using Feature Films to Teach Observation in Undergraduate Research Methods." Teaching Sociology 32 (1):109-118. Trepagnier, B. 2002. "Mapping Sociological Concepts." Teaching Sociology 30 (1):108-119. Ziner, Andrew Scott. 1994. "Theory and Research across the Sociology Curriculum: A Graphical Approach." Teaching Sociology 22 (1):47-51. Thinking Critically About Society: An Introduction to Sociology Teaching Resource Guide Russell Westhaver Chapter 4 Becoming Mindful of Social Context Learning Outcomes Weber’s Concept of Social Action: students should be able to define social action and be able to distinguish between social action and non-social action. Mutual Social Action and Social Relationships: students should be able to use the notion of social action to define mutual social action and social relationships. Students should also be able to explain how the concepts of mutual social action and social relationships are related to each other. Social Relationships and the Human Experience: students should be able to explain how the concept of a social relationship contributes to explaining the human experience in terms of a social context. Weber, the Sociological Imagination, and Critical Thinking: students should be able to explain how the idea of a social relationship furthers our understanding of the sociological imagination. Students should be able to explain how Weber’s argument about the relationship between social action, mutual social action, and social relationships is an example of critical thinking. 1. Weber’s Concept of Social Action The overarching goal of this chapter is to sensitize students to the existence of a broader social context. In section one, Weber’s concept of social action (behaviour that is subjectively meaningful and conducted in relation to others) is introduced as a first step in doing so. Breaching activities are helpful for illustrating the complexity around subjectively meaningful behaviour conducted in relation to others. Rafalovich (2006) describes general guidelines for assigning breaching exercises along with a particular breaching exercise (in which students “hold up” a line a public setting). McGrane (1993) asks students to stand in a public space for ten minutes doing nothing while Jones (1998) asks students to engage in random acts of kindness. In all cases, the breaching activities present an opportunity for students to reflect on the subjective meaning associated with their behaviour, how this meaning is related to the presence of others, and how others understand this behaviour. This can be used to help students understand that almost everything humans do and think can be understood in terms of social action. 2. Mutual Social Action and Social Relationships In section two, the text introduces the notion of mutual social action in order to set up one of the overarching concepts for the text: social relationships. An effective means for illustrating the concepts of mutual social action and social relationships (suitable for large classes) can be found in Winston’s (2007) introduction exercise. Winston (2007) asks students to introduce themselves to each other, one after another, without providing direction on how to do so beyond the request to introduce themselves. The unfolding nature of nature of the introduction can be used to illustrate the way an introduction is a form of mutual social action while the norms that emerge in who students introduce themselves (usually focusing on their year of study, their major, their hometown) provide an opportunity to illustrate how an introduction is also a kind of social relationship. This exercise works just as effectively if students are asked to pair up to conduct their introduction and then report back after five minutes. 3. Social Relationships and the Human Experience At the centre of section three are two related observations. The first is that we are almost always embedded in some kind of social relationship. The second is that we think and act on the basis of the subjective meanings associated with those social relationships. Together, these observations provide students with an opportunity for understanding how a broader social context can inform thought and action. Related to this discussion is the observation that different social relationships can be characterized in terms of their size and power. Talley and Timmer (1992) describe an active learning exercise for introducing students to qualitative research methods. This exercise is also useful for illustrating how different “complexes of meaning” are associated with different social relationships. Talley and Timmer (1992) ask students to interview other students about their understanding of student evaluation of teaching forms (SETs). These interpretations are then compared to faculty understandings, revealing differences in how teaching and its evaluation are understood by both groups. By pointing out how these differences stem from the different social words of students and faculty Talley and Timmer’s (1992) activity helps illustrate how students live in a social world in which pragmatic realities (i.e: the organization of a syllabus) take priority while faculty live in a social world in which abstractions are valued. These differences offer an opportunity for students to examine the different/overlapping social relationships in which students and faculty are embedded. In terms of this section of the text, the particular strength of Talley and Timmer’s (1992) activity is the opportunity it opens up for discussing how differences in meaning are connected to real social and political problems. 4. Weber, the Sociological Imagination, and Critical Thinking Section four is both a review of how Weber’s ideas “add up” to the concept of a social relationship as well as the first example in the text of the process of critical thinking. To help consolidate students understanding of these key concepts, students can be invited to conduct a close reading of key pages from Weber’s (1979) Economy and Society (the most relevant concepts and discussions, from the perspective of this chapter, are found on pages 2 to 24). Asking introductory students to engage in a deep reading of a primary text is likely to require developing careful instruction, but for those instructors interested in doing so Roberts and Roberts (2008) discuss various models of deep reading as well as provide an assignment designed to foster deep reading. References Jones, A. L. (1998). Random Acts of Kindness: A Teaching Tool for Positive Deviance. Teaching Sociology, 26(3), 179-189. McGrane, B. (1993). Zen Sociology: Don't Just Do Something, Stand There! Teaching Sociology, 21(1), 79-84. Rafalovich, A. (2006). Making Sociology Relevant: The Assignment and Application of Breaching Experiments. Teaching Sociology, 34(2), 156-163. Roberts, J. C., & Roberts, K. A. (2008). Deep Reading, Cost/benefit, and the Construction of Meaning: Enhancing Reading Comprehension and Deep Learning in Sociology Courses. Teaching Sociology, 36(2), 125-140. Talley, K. D., & Timmer, D. A. (1992). A Qualitative Methods Exercise: Student and Faculty Interpretations of Classroom Teaching. Teaching Sociology, 20(1), 75-79. Weber, M. (1979). Economy and Society. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Winston, F. (2007). First Day Sociology: Using Student Introductions to Illustrate the Concept of Norms. Teaching Sociology, 35(2), 161-165. Thinking Critically About Society: An Introduction to Sociology Teaching Resource Guide Russell Westhaver Chapter 5 Social Relationships and Social Status Positions Learning Outcomes Social Relationships and Social Status Positions: students should be able to define what a social status position is as well as describe some of the features of a social status position (achieved, ascribed, and master). Social Status Positions, Norms, and Roles: students should be able to define what social norms and social roles are, describe their relationship to social status positions, and explain how they influence action and thought. The Ambiguity and Contradiction of Social Norms and Social Roles: students should be able to understand what it means to say that social norms and social roles are ambiguous and contradictory. Students should also be able to use this understanding to explain why social norms and roles guide, rather than determine, thought and behaviour. The Strength of Social Status Positions: students should be able to use the work of Milgram to understand the enormous influence social norms and social roles have on the human experience. Social Status Positions, the Sociological Imagination, and Critical Thinking: students should be able to explain how the idea of a social relationship furthers our understanding of the sociological imagination and how this idea can be connected to the practice of critical thinking. 1. Social Relationships and Social Status Positions This section introduces students to the notion of social status position and a range of related concepts to help them develop consolidated understanding of what “social relationship” means. Adams (1993) describes an exercise, suitable for larger classes, in which students are asked to work through an extended kinship diagram. The exercise is designed to illustrate the meaning of social status position. The strength of Adams’ (1993) exercise is that as students can be introduced to the concepts of social norms and social roles as their attention is drawn to the appropriate relationship between various kinship categories. Kinship categories can also be used to illustrate the distinction between ascribed and achieved social status positions. Marciano (1986) describes a discussion exercise in which students are asked to explain how they know the sex and gender of their instructor. While the activity is useful for making explicit the implicit assumptions students have about sex and gender, it can also support students’ understanding of the notion of master status. 2. Social Status Positions, Norms, and Roles To support students’ understanding of how social relationships influence action and thought, this section draws on the concepts of social norm and social role. Breaching exercises are relatively straightforward means to help students to develop concrete understandings of the nature and impact of social norms. Rafalovich (2006) provides both a set of general guidelines for breaching exercises as well as particular breaching exercise. He asks students to “hold up” a line by not moving forward in a public setting like a coffee shop or store. An strength of Rafalovich’s (2006) discussion is his use of the breaching exercise to speak to particular sociological concepts (in this case, anomie) in addition to the general notion of social norms. In Schneider (2002) breaching exercise in which students are given the option of imagining rather than actively breaching a norm. A further refinement of general guidelines for breaching exercises can be found in McGrane’s (1993) Zen inspired reflections (in which he asks students to stand in a public space for ten minutes, doing nothing). Unlike Schneider (2002) McGrane (1993) provides compelling sociological and pedagogical reasoning for demanding that students actually do the breaching activity. Miserandino (1992) describes a means for studying social norms that does not relying on breaching activities. Students are asked to conduct a short survey measuring attitudes to the amount of time students spend doing homework during a typical week. Students are then provided guiding questions for help identify the ideal behaviour, the range of tolerable behaviour, and the intensity of the norm. A subsequent discussion involves collating the entire class’ data to illustrate the extent of the norm. While Miserandino (1992) activity focuses on attitudes to homework, she also provides ideas for exploring other norms or comparing the same norm among different groups. Winston (2007), in another non-breaching activity, asks students to introduce themselves to each other during the first day of class in order to identify and understand social norms. Discussion guides students to see a common pattern to introductions (in terms of content) and identify a common set of norms that guide this interaction. In all of these exercises, discussion can be used to help students identify the way a range of social norms cluster together as social roles and the social status positions to which these social roles are connected. 3./4. The Ambiguity and Contradiction of Social Norms and Social Roles and The Strength of Social Status Positions Sections 3 and 4 of this chapter provide students with an opportunity to understand that while social status positions, social norms, and social roles do not perfectly determine what we do and think, they do exert considerable influence over the human experience. Section three uses the ambiguity and contradiction of social norms and social roles, along with the example of doctors who torture, to explain why norms and roles do not perfectly determine how we act and think. The documentary Doctors of the Dark Side (Davis, 2011) reviews evidence of medically supervised torture by the US military and may be used as a support for this discussion. Section 3 reflects on the Jewish Holocaust and Stanley Milgram’s studies on obedience to support students’ appreciation of the role social status positions, social norms, and social play in determining what we do and think. Milgram’s film Obedience, in which he documents some of his experimental work, provides an excellent opportunity to illustrate some of the general principles of this section. Zimbardo’s film Quiet Rage, with its emphasis on how the students involved in his famous study, became their roles, can be used for similar purposes. Abowitz (2002) and Friedman (1985) provide general insights for introducing students to a discussion of the Holocaust. Abowitz’s (2002) discussion of the role bureaucratic rationalization played in the Holocaust is particularly relevant for this section. 5. Social Status Positions, the Sociological Imagination, and Critical Thinking This section asks students to reflect on grading in order to illustrate how the practice of critical thinking, in conjunction with sociological concepts, can be used to account for action and thought. Central to this discussion is encouraging students to interpret relevant background information/data through the concepts of social status position, social norms, and social roles. Two exercises from the pages of Teaching Sociology can be used to ask students to generate and understand background information in a similar way. Crone (1997) describes a panel debate activity, in which students are asked to debate from particular political stances while Grauerholz and Scuteri (1989) ask students to take on the identity of a member of a group to which they do not belong and write journals from this other perspective. Both activities present students with an opportunity to generate and gather background information about what we do and think and apply social status position, social norms, and social roles to that information in order to account for it. References Abowitz, D. A. (2002). Bringing the Sociological into the Discussion: Teaching the Sociology of Genocide and the Holocaust. Teaching Sociology, 30(1), 26-38. Adams, D. S. (1993). "Who Are Your Second Cousins?" A Lecture/Discussion Technique for Introducing "Status," "Norm," and "Role" in the First Year Sociology Course. Teaching Sociology, 21(1), 105-108. Crone, J. A. (1997). Using Panel Debates to Increase Student Involvement in the Introductory Sociology Class. Teaching Sociology, 25(3), 214-218. Davis, M. (Writer). (2011). Doctors of the Dark Side. Iraq/USA. Friedman, N. L. (1985). Teaching about the Holocaust. Teaching Sociology, 12(4), 449-461. Grauerholz, E., & Scuteri, G. M. (1989). Learning to Role-Take: A Teaching Technique to Enhance Awareness of the "Other". Teaching Sociology, 17(4), 480-483. Marciano, T. D. (1986). "How Do You Know I'm a Woman?": Freeing Up Role Constraints in Sexual Diversity. Teaching Sociology, 14(3), 191-192. McGrane, B. (1993). Zen Sociology: Don't Just Do Something, Stand There! Teaching Sociology, 21(1), 79-84. Miserandino, M. (1992). Studying a Social Norm. [Article]. Teaching of Psychology, 19(2), 103. Rafalovich, A. (2006). Making Sociology Relevant: The Assignment and Application of Breaching Experiments. Teaching Sociology, 34(2), 156-163. Schneider, F. W. (2002). Applying Social Psychological Concepts to a Norm-Violation Experience. [Article]. Teaching of Psychology, 29(1), 36-38. Winston, F. (2007). First Day Sociology: Using Student Introductions to Illustrate the Concept of Norms. Teaching Sociology, 35(2), 161-165. Thinking Critically About Society: An Introduction to Sociology Teaching Resource Guide Russell Westhaver Chapter 6 Social Relationships and Social Institutions Learning Outcomes “Social Value and the Human Experience”: students should be able to describe the term “value” and provide examples of value debates that are central to what we do and think. “Values, Universal Problems, and Collective Needs”: students should be able to describe and illustrate universal problems or collective needs. “Social Institutions as Enduring Social Relationships” should be able to define the term “social institution”. Students should also be able to explain how the concepts “social relationship” and “social institution” are related. “Social Institutions, the Sociological Imagination, and Critical Thinking:” Students should be able to explain how the notion of a social institution contributes to the sociological imagination and how the practice of critical thinking can support the use of the sociological imagination. 1. Social Value and the Human Experience A challenge for introductory students is to understand that values are contingent and located. The example provided in the text will provide one opportunity for students to understand how values both direct what we do and think and conflict with each other, opportunities to actively engage with the idea of values will consolidate this understanding. Tiemann, Badahdah, & Pedersen (2009) offer an in-class exercise in which sex-based seating preferences for driving derived from student discussion can be compared to sex-based seating preferences from male sociology students in Saudi Arabia. The comparative assignment illustrates how social norms influence practices of sex segregation as well as the broader importance values play in day-to-day thought and action. Crone (1997) describes an in-class debate exercise, in which students are asked to debate motions to their class. Like Tiemann, Badahdah, & Pedersen’s (2009) activity, Crone (1997) uses the debate as a platform for helping students identify the different value commitments motivating student’s positions. A strength of Crone’s model is that he offers guidelines for student evaluation. Given that the text relies on examples that focus on religion and the state to illustrate values, activities from the American Sociological Association’s introsocsite lesson plan on religion as a social institution (www.asanet.org/introtosociology/Documents/ActivitiesForExploringReligionBobGreene.html) will be helpful. Large Class Suggestion: Both Tiemann, Badahdah, & Pedersen (2009) and Crone (1997)’s activities are either suitable for larger classes or can be modified to account for a larger number of students. 2. Values, Universal Problems, and Collective Needs A key point in this discussion is that value debates are limited to a small range of relatively universal problems or collective needs. By and large, value debates cluster around questions of internal order, ways of managing the physical world, creating meaningful existence, and reproducing the individual and the collective. A challenge new undergraduates face is seeing that the valued ways any community goes about addressing these universal problems are contingent and local—despite the often deep-seated sense that they are correct or normal. Funeral and burial rights offer an interesting platform for introducing students to the range of valued ways that humans respond to a universal problem or collective. Asking students to reflect on the death of a loved one and/or travelling to a cemetery can be used to reveal a range of the nearly universal problems dying creates: What do with a body that will begin to decompose? How do make the death of a loved one a meaningful event? How to create closure in the face of a loss? Asking students to reflect on what they and their families do or have done at the death of a family member or a friend can be used to chart out the contours of the social institution of a funeral and burial and a discussion of how this institution responds to the universal needs associated with death. As members of a nominally Christian society, Canadian students are very likely to speak about turning to a mortician to help bury—or cremate and then bury—their dead and then visit the burial site with some degree of regularity (on anniversaries of the person’s death, for example). A cross-cultural or historical comparison of other funerary practices can illustrate alternative practices and valued ways of responding to this universal need. Harriett Marintineau’s reflections on death on page 21 of the text might be a starting point for this comparison. A more detailed engagement with cross-cultural funerary practices can continue with a discussion of Tibetan Buddhist sky burials, in which the remains of a loved one are left out in the open to be eaten by vultures (Bryant, 2003; Martin, 1996; Wylie, 1965). While videos depicting sky burials can be found on YouTube and a short film—Sky Burial by (Bruno, 2000)—is available, a less graphic discussion appears in Faison’s (1999) New York Times article. Students might also be asked to reflect on the events after an earthquake in 2010, where traditional sky burials were impossible due to the number of bodies. Rather than sky burials, bodies of quake victims were mass cremated. How might students react if they were faced with a similar set of circumstances? Careful reflection will help place this way of responding to death in context, illustrate key similarities and differences to North American funeral practices. 3. Social Institutions as Enduring Social Relationships The central theme of this section of the text is the argument that the process of institutionalization contributes to the formation of a social institution by shifting a transient social relationship to an enduring social relationship. Key to this understanding is the observation that social institutions are frequently taken for granted and become normative. Geertsen (1993) presents an effective in-class exercise for showing students how a social relationship (between students and the instructor) can quickly become normative and taken for granted, thus illustrating in a concrete way the processes of institutionalization. Geertsen’s (1993) exercise involves asking students to play a short word game in which a series of assumptions become taken for granted over the course of a few minutes. A similar experience can be derived from Aminoff (1995) family history assignment. By sharing family histories, students are given an opportunity to question their own taken-for-granted assumptions about families. For thinking more generally about the relationship between universal needs and social institutions, the American Sociological Association’s introsocsite website (www.asanet.org/introtosociology/TeacherResources/IMForUnitVIIIInstitutions.html) offers a range of useful resources. In addition to an in-class exercise, called “The Cultural Dig”, which offers a concrete introduction to social institutions, introsocsite also provides a wider range of activities and resources for introducing more detailed discussions of the family, education, religion, politics, the economy, and health care. 4. Social Institutions, the Sociological Imagination, and Critical Thinking While the enduring nature of social institutions is a central lesson in this section, it also introduces students to the observation that social institutions are open to change. The text introduces a brief comparison of Canadian and American health care to illustrate these issues and then turns to a discussion of changes to the institutions of marriage and the family in Canada to further illustrate these points. A problem based learning exercise, in which students are asked to engage with the legalization of same sex civil unions in Vermont in 2004 can, with modification, be used to ask students to engage with similar matters in a Canadian context (Susan & Janet McNeil, 2004). References Aminoff, S. M. (1995). The Family History Exercise: Developing Positive Awareness in Culturally Diverse College Classrooms. Teaching Sociology, 23(2), 155-158. Bruno, E. (Writer). (2000). Sky Burial. United States. Bryant, C., D. (2003). Handbook of Death & Dying. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Burkart, J. (1991). Teaching Sociology from Everyday Life. Teaching Sociology, 19(2), 260-263. Crone, J. A. (1997). Using Panel Debates to Increase Student Involvement in the Introductory Sociology Class. Teaching Sociology, 25(3), 214-218. Faison, S. (1999). Lirong Journal; Tibetans, and Vultures, Keep Ancient Burial Rite. New York times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/03/world/lirong-journal-tibetans-and-vultures-keep-ancient-burial-rite.html?src=pm Geertsen, R. (1993). Simulating the Blind Spot of Everyday Experience. Teaching Sociology, 21(4), 392-396. Martin, D. P. (1996). On the Cultural Ecology of Sky Burial on the Himalayan Plateau. East and West, 46(3-4), 353–370. Misra, J. (2000). Integrating "The Real World" into Introduction to Sociology: Making Sociological Concepts Real. Teaching Sociology, 28(4), 346-363. Snyder, E. E. (1997). Teaching the Sociology of Sport: Using a Comic Strip in the Classroom. Teaching Sociology, 25(3), 239-243. Susan, M. R., & Janet McNeil, H. (2004). PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING: AN EXERCISE ON VERMONT'S LEGALIZATION OF CIVIL UNIONS*. Teaching Sociology, 32(1), 79-93. Tiemann, K. A., Badahdah, A. M., & Pedersen, D. E. (2009). Driving a Car in Saudi: An Illustration of the Power of Norms and Values Using Multicultural Data. Teaching Sociology, 37(2), 188-193. Wylie, T. V. (1965). Mortuary Customs at Sa-Skya, Tibet. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 25(229-242). Instructor Manual for Thinking Critically About Society: An Introduction to Sociology Russell Westhaver 9781259066993
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