August 21

• On August 19 in 1946, Bill Clinton, our 42nd President, was born.

• What do you think would be the most challenging part of being President of the United States?

August 15

• If you had a chance to spend a million dollars on anything but yourself, how would you spend it?

`• If you had the power to drop any course from

your curriculum, what would it be? Explain

August 14• Why are you taking Sociology?

(Ex: I am interested in sociology; heard it was an easy class; need an A; heard the teacher is awesome :)…)

August 15• In the supermarket, you hit the paper towel

display with your cart and send a dozen packages tumbling into the aisle. No one sees you. Do you walk away? Explain…

An Introduction to Sociology• Whenever two people meet, there are really six

people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.”

• William James

What is Sociology?• Sociology studies human social behavior.

• It assumes a group, rather than an individual, perspective.

• Sociologists look for the patterns in social relationships.

• Focus on the patterns of behavior shared by members of groups or society. (not singular, but plural)

• Individuals can benefit by using their Sociological Imaginations to look at events in their personal lives.

Sociological Imagination• The ability to see the link between society and

self.

• helps us to understand the effects of events on our daily lives.

• In general, how does society tend to view families who have more than 5 children?

What is gained by using our sociological imagination?

• Understand effects of events

• Awareness permits to learn and get a fuller understanding of the events

• Questions common interpretations of human social behavior.

Sociological Perspective• Perspective is a particular point of view.

• We all see what is happening around us through our own perspectives—our own point of view.

Theoretical Perspectives• Theoretical perspective- a set of assumptions

accepted as true

• Functionalism

• Conflict

• Symbolic Interactionism

• Functionalism (pg 25)- Views society as a system of interrelated parts. It studies how social structures affect how a society works.

• Examples: Family, Economy, Religion

• Values and norms provide foundation for laws and rules. Norms regulate relationships between social institutions.

• Society may change over time but functionalists believe that it will return to a stable state.

• Latent functions-unintended & unrecognized

• Manifest functions-intended & recognized

• Dysfunctions-negative consequences of an aspect of society

• Consensus on values, high degree of cooperation

• Conflict Perspective (pg 26)- emphasizes conflict, competition, and constraint within a society. Society is in a struggle for scarce resources.

• Studies race, gender, social class, criminal justice and international relations.

• Main Concerns: Power and Economic Wealth

• Focuses on disagreements among various groups in society.

• Competition, society is a contest. Society is always changing.

• Who gets what? Power-the ability to control the behavior of others. As the balance of power among groups shift, change occurs.

• Discrimination, ageism, sexism, racism, and classism occur in society because some people have the power to promote their desires over others.

• Symbolic interactionism (pg 30)— focuses on how communication influences the way people’s interactions with each other create the social world in which we live.

• Symbol-anything that stands for something else and has an agreed upon meaning. Arbitrary, vary from culture to culture.

1. we learn the meaning of symbols from observing the behaviors of others;

2. once we learn the meaning we base our interaction on them;

3. we use the meanings to imagine how others will respond

Very American way of looking at the world. a

• According to Symbolic Interactionism, you couldn’t have a self without symbols or without someone to pass those symbols to you

• You learn who you are through others.

• People are constantly “acting” in order to convince people of the character they which to portray to the outside world.

• Not that people are faking it, but that they are concerned about what the rest of the world will think of them and they adjusts their social interactions accordingly.

Origins of Sociology• French Revolution

• Enlightenment

• Positive Science to Society

• Auguste Comte-Father of Sociology

Auguste Comte-Functionalist• Positivism Belief that

knowledge should be derived from scientific observation

• Social statics

• Social dynamics

• Positive Philosophy

Harriet Martineau Conflict Theorist• First Female Sociologist

• Translation of Comte’s work

• Believed that women lacked

economic power, which kept

them dependent on men

Herbert Spencer

• Social Darwinism: Thought that evolutionary social change led to progress

• Some societies “more fit”

Karl Marx-Conflict• Bourgeoisie: Class owning the

means for producing wealth

• Capitalist: Person who owns or controls the means for producing wealth

• Proletariat Working class; those who labor for the bourgeoisie

• Class conflict: Ongoing struggle between the bourgeoisie (owners) and the proletariat (working) class

• Communist Manifesto

Emile Durkheim Functionalist• First to use statistical methods

• Mechanical solidarity-social dependency based on a widespread consensus of values and beliefs enforced by conformity and dependence on tradition and family

• Organic solidarity-social interdependency based on a high degree of specialization in roles

Max Weber• Verstehen-Understanding social behavior by

putting yourself in the place of others

• Rationalization-Mindset emphasizing knowledge, reason, and planning

Jane Addams-Conflict• Established the Hull House,

settlement house in Chicago

• “Mother of Social Work”

• Second female to receive the Nobel Peace Prize

W.E.B DuBois-Conflict• Used Science and Sociology

to disprove racist assumptions about African Americans.

• Social Reformer; created NAACP

Conflict/Functionalist• Societies are in relative balance

• Power is one of the most important elements in social life.

• Religion helps hold a society together morally

• Many elements of a society exist to benefit the powerful

• Different segments of a society compete to achieve their own self interest rather than cooperate to benefit others.

• Social change is constantly occurring

• Conflict is harmful and disruptive to society

• Symbols are crucial to social life

• Social life should be understood from the viewpoint of the individuals involved.

August 17

• If someone you like asked you on a date but your best friend had a crush on this person, what would you do?