1.03MWF Imagine Where or When; C. Wright Mills' Sociological Imagination

Before we begin the lesson, as students arrive, please review this excerpt from Outliers.

(If you are absent, please be sure to do the Google Form for today's lesson)

(If you are in class please answer these questions)

Meditation

Attendance sign in and seat map.

Today's Lesson: C Wright Mills' Sociological Imagination

After reading the excerpt from Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, answer the questions:

Big Group Discussion:

1. Describe life in Roseto, PA.

2. What did Dr. Wolf set out to study at first?

3. What did the sociologist Bruhn help him conclude?

4. Were the people of Roseto, PA aware of that they were being affected in the way that Bruhn concluded? Explain.

In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes about extreme success stories (aka Outliers). In the introduction (the excerpt linked above),  we learn that the people who lived in Roseto at that time were affected by the social life there even though they did not realize it. In other words, they were affected by where and when they live. Understanding this helps us why the people living there were so healthy. This is the promise of sociology; to understand how people are affected by where and when they live. Sociology helps us understand how personal difficulties and successes can be part of larger public/social issues. And, if we are sociologically mindful, we can see how we personally contribute to that and we can take agency in our lives to affect those public issues in ways that we value.

What is C. Wright Mills Sociological Imagination?

The understanding that people are affected by when and where they live is what an important sociologist, C. Wright Mills, calls having a "sociological imagination".   Mills explains that a "sociological imagination" is seeing the connection between history and biography. That is, who we are (our biography) is determined by where and when we live (our history).  

As an example of this idea, the people of Roseto were affected by where and when they lived. Because they lived in the town of Roseto at that time, they lived in a way that affected them (without even knowing it) so that they had a much lower chance of getting heart disease and living longer than the rest of the country.  This idea might seem simple, but C. Wright Mills, an important sociologist, wrote in 1959, that people often forget this in both their daily life and their research.  Mills also adds that using a sociological imagination it is possible to see the private troubles as public issues.  In other words, often times a person's struggle in daily life is really part of a larger structural issue that individuals can't always see.

The rest of Gladwell's book, Outliers, uses a sociological imagination to explain extreme success stories; for example, Bill Gates' and Steve Jobs' tremendous success and wealth stemming from where and when they lived: 

Gladwell describes how being born in the mid 1950s was particularly fortuitous for those interested in computer programming development (think Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, both born in 1955). It also helped to be geographically near what were then called supercomputers, the gigantic predecessors to the thing on which you’re reading this post. Back in the 1960s, when Gates and Jobs were coming of age, a supercomputer took up a whole room and was not something most youngsters would have had a chance to see, let alone work on. But because of their proximity to actual computers, both Gates and Jobs had a leg up on others their age and had the chance to spend hours and hours (10,000 of them in Gladwell’s estimation) learning about programming.

For more info/examples of the sociological imagination, see this post from the Everyday Sociology site that explains how a sociological imagination can be used to analyze how individuals are affected by when and where they live.

Imagine Where...

John Felice Rome Center Campus

See it on Youtube here

Rome Center Campus

One way to think with a sociological imagination is to think about how you would think and act differently if you were living in a different place. What if you applied to Loyola just like you did and you attended it during the same years that you are now, but you attended ONLY the John Felice Rome Center Campus? Imagine how you might be different, act differently, think differently, just because you went to Loyola Rome for four years.

Here is a comparison website for living in countries around the world.

 If you lived in Italy, you would: 

• be more likely to live 2 years longer
• be 76% LESS likely to die during childbirth 
• be 45% LESS likely to be obese
• be 38% LESS likely to die as an infant
• be 18% less likely to have an internet connection 

STEFL describes Italy v. the US; sense of time and food 

• Expect appointments to be late 
• Most shops close for 2 hours during the middle of the day 
• At restaurants expects three courses, dessert, then coffee

From Business insider, I moved from the US to Rome but I'll never fully adjust to some Italian ways

• Life is slower paced
• In person is more reliable than phone or internet 
• Italians spend much less time in their home
• Life in Italy is more social and less isolating
• People eat more meals out
• Staring is more acceptable  

For Discussion:

5. Take a minute and explain to some classmates near you how you have been shaped by where you grew up.  What was life like in the city or neighborhood where you grew up - how did places where you live shape you differently than others here at Loyola or residents from Rogers Park? 

Imagine When...

The sociological imagination also applies to when a person lives.

Now we will use our sociological imagination to examine how people might be affected by when they live.  Using archives from the LUC's library, examine the pictures of our school from years past.

Find some examples how, even if you were the same person at Loyola, you would be different if you went here during a different time. 

The yearbooks are also available online here:

https://archive.org/details/loyolachicago?tab=collection

Choose one of the yearbooks called "The Loyolan" because that is the undergraduate college (Caduceus is the Stritch School of Medicine and Dentos is the Dental School)

In small groups, do a qualitative content analysis of the yearbooks from LUC past.  Look for differences between LUC now and then.  Answer the following questions:

6. What are the differences between that year and now?

7. Thinking about the differences that you noticed, how might you be different if you had been attending LUC during that time?  In other words, how might you think differently, act differently, and have different expectations if you lived at the time you examined?  Another way to think about this question is, how might you feel differently about yourself/school/etc if you attended LUC then?

Private troubles and public issues

8. What are the different obstacles that you might've faced then instead of now?

After you try to find your own examples, here is a sample of some of the photos that I found  that illustrate a sociological imagination.

Other Examples:

Another example of being affected by when you are born is this video of a child who is trying to use a magazine like an ipad:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aXV-yaFmQNk" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Pull up for another low key example -  no cap! 

From Buzzfeed and  Language Nerds, sociology teacher James Callahan has been recording the slang his students use on a public pdf document.  Here is a sample of the list:

This slang changes from generation to generation.  In other words, how you talk and the slang you use can reveal your generation.  Stephen Colbert joked about how just when one generation thinks that they are cool, their slang becomes outdated and new slang emerges.  

Here is a Parade article about the slang from generation Alpha.

9. What are some slang words or phrases that your generation uses that other gens might not understand?

Generational Attitudes 

This research from the Pew Research Center in the graphics below shows numerous differences in how Americans born in different generations think about social and political issues.  Remember that when people joke around about different generations (like saying "Ok Boomer"), we are acknowledging that being born in a different generation means being more likely to think a certain way.

When you were born affects your beliefs about:

Racial Equality        Immigrants            Gay Marriage            Marijuana

Conclusion
Today's lesson was focused on C. Wright Mills' Sociological Imagination.

• Explain what C. Wright Mills means by having a sociological imagination?
• What does Mills mean by "private troubles and public issues" and how are they related?
• Can you connect it to your own life?  What are some specific examples to your life - how might you be the person you are because of when and where you are living, or conversely, how might you be a different person based on when and where you live?

Further Reading:

Open Stax: What Is Sociology?

1.02 How To Think Like a Sociologist: Peter Berger's Social Construction of Reality

 Action Item:  For our next class, please read this excerpt from Outliers.

If you are absent, the Google Form is here.

Meditation

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I need 1 volunteer to personally help with this lesson.

Spit vial or vile spit?

Note:  (This is a lesson first published in Teaching Sociology (2003) by Brouillette and Turner and updated in ASA's Trails.) 

Imagine that the school was still surveillance testing for Covid.   

Place some of your saliva in a spoon or a vial. Then, read about all the ways all of the ways that saliva is beneficial (For more on the health benefits of saliva, see WedMD, the NIH Library of Medicine and the ADA):

Saliva continuously moistens the linings of the mouth, throat, and general bronchial area. Saliva aids in the prevention of infection in these areas. Some cold remedies, for example, so dry out the linings that the microscopic cracks in the linings often bleed and are very susceptible to infection. Also, the admonitions of parents to their children to eat slowly and chew well is not just to prevent choking on large pieces of food. The leisurely eating of food mixes saliva with the food, which shortly thereafter is blended with the gastric acids in the stomach. This compound now sets the stage for a catalytic combination of saliva, food, and gastric juices, which produces optimal digestion. The addition of an adequate amount of saliva allows the body to extract needed nutrients throughout the digestive tract. Finally, saliva offsets the possibility of too much acid in the stomach, and therefore lessens the possibility of heartburn or ulcers. 

Now, after reading about all the ways that saliva is useful, imagine that you arrived at school and student health services told you that your vial is not needed.

Big Group Discussion

Would you open the vial and take your saliva back? 

Why or Why not? 

Is that gross? 

Why?

Simply put, the average American will be repulsed by the idea of spitting into a spoon and then swallowing it back again.  However, we are constantly swallowing our own saliva all day long and there is no biological difference between the saliva in your mouth and the saliva on the spoon.  However, we have learned from our society (parents, friends, media) that there is a difference between "saliva" and "spit";  Saliva is in our mouth and is not gross, whereas spit has left our mouths and is gross even if it has not changed at all biologically.  This makes us feel gross; we are repulsed by spit.

In other words, the way that we have learned (from society) to think about the saliva affects how we feel about it.  In his 1966 book with Thomas Luckman, Peter Berger called this idea the "Social Construction of Reality".  To break the idea down:

 

Social - society/other people

Construction - create

Reality - our feelings/experiences

 

In other words, our experiences or how we feel (our reality) is created (constructed) by others (society).  This is called the social construction of reality. 

Social Construction of Spitting in the US

In the US most of us would consider spitting gross. However, we have learned that in some cases spitting is acceptable. For example:

• Many of us have been to baseball games and watched players spit all throughout the game. We didn't get repulsed by that.

In fact, during one World Series, Reggie Jackson averaged 19 spits per at-bat!  (see this 1985 article from LA Times about baseball spitters)

 

• Another example is when parents or siblings use their saliva to wipe off a baby's face. We don't find that repulsive, but if a teacher even accidentally drops saliva onto a desk it becomes gross. Can you imagine a teacher who spits like a baseball player?  We have been conditioned to accept spitting on the baseball field but not in a classroom.  Watching a teacher spit in a classroom would feel gross and disgusting because we have learned to think that this is unacceptable/gross behavior.  This can be true for many of our experiences; feelings of happiness, sorrow, stress, worry can often be created for us by our of the society.

Cross-cultural Examples of the Social Construction of Reality

Because our reaction to spitting is a creation of our society, the reaction to spitting in other societies is sometimes different - because it is a creation of a different society.  

 

Asia

For example, different types of spitting are so common that a British sociology professor, Ross Coomber and his team spent time studying the various types of spitting and he published this paper (2013).  From the BBC,

Ross Coomber, who is a professor of sociology at Plymouth University, will spend about a month visiting six Asian countries.
He said people should take historical and cultural influences into account before forming opinions about those who spit.
He added, in many nations it was an accepted part of their lifestyle.

Africa

In Africa, a study in the British Journal of Cancer identified many different spitting practices especially the ways that spit/saliva is used for healing!  From the journal, there are examples of:

(1) the use of saliva in healing and medical practices, 

(2) the use of saliva in initiation or ritual practices and 

(3) the use of saliva in feeding practices. 

Among some ethnic groups...it has been observed that part of the healing and treatment process involves using saliva to treat different ailments: 

Among the Somali, saliva is used in the treatment of all forms of disease (Helander, 1988, p 111)... 

In Tanzania, among the Bena, for the treatment of a boil, the traditional healer chews traditional herbs (mhefefa and munepa) and subsequently uses the chewed and softened herbs to treat wounds (Culwick, 1935, p. 395)... 

Among the Masai of East Africa, the juice of the plant ol giloriti (Acacia abyssinica) is chewed and spit onto the wound by a healer as an astringent (Merker, 1910, p. 247)... 

Among the Azande of Sudan the patient's body is sucked vigorously by the traditional healer (Rattray, 1923, pp 248–250)... 

Also among the Igbo of Nigeria, it is observed that a traditional healer (dibia) will suck the arms, head or abdomen of a new-born baby...

Among the Wolof of West Africa, when a baby is born, it is reported that an elderly woman will visit the mother and infant and subsequently give the infant a blessing by spitting on its face and kissing it....

Among the Nuer of Southern Sudan, it is noted that men spit on the heads of their children on returning from trips and young girls who have not seen each other for some time spit on each other as a form of greeting (Huffman, 1931, p 87)....

South America

In Peru, shamen may use spitting to purify a person with a spiritual bath like the way this shaman did to Anthony Bordain:

The point is that people have learned what to expect from their social groups and those expectations shape how individuals react to situations.  Related to this is the Thomas Theorum which was published by the University of Chicago Professors William Thomas and Dorothy Swaine Thomas.  The Thomas Theorum says, 

"If people define situations as real, then they are real in their consequences."

3. Which example of saliva being used around the world is most striking? 

4. Explain Berger's idea of the social construction of reality.  

Other Examples of the Social Construction of Reality:

"Bath Rooms" as a Social Construction

Please do not let the example of spit/saliva make you think that the rest of the world is gross while our culture is normal.  Instead, there is no objective normal, there is only the way that each society has affected it's people to feel.   For example, here is an example that you might not realize about how another culture would be grossed out by American culture.  

The Japanese would be grossed out by the typical American bathroom. In Japan, toilets are located in a different room than the shower and bath. Instead, the Japanese "bathroom" is literally a room for bathing.  And not only is the toilet separate from the bathroom, but within the bathroom the shower is always separate from the bath. They see the shower for cleaning and the bath for soaking after you have cleaned.  Instead, Americans freely bath their children in bathtubs and it is seen as a pleasant and cute experience. But many Japanese would feel repulsed by the idea of bathing in one's own filth.

"Food" as a social construction

Other examples of the social construction of food are:

these recipes from Time Magazine or these from AtThirstForFirst.  

How would you feel about eating mountain chicken or closer to home is this recipe for Rocky Mountain oysters.

5. Can you explain, in your own words, how one of the examples above is a social construction?  Just choose one:  spitting, bathing, bathrooms, food.  

Social Construction of Reality and Mindfulness

These cultural examples of the social construction of reality are particularly striking and, perhaps, amusing.  But the social construction of reality is a perspective that can help us understand so much about our own thoughts and feelings in everyday life, and it can help us understand others who might perplex us as we think how could those people do/think/feel that? 

Arlie Russell Hoschild explains that regardless of what the facts are, sociology can help us understand how other groups of people feel and perhaps, why they feel that way.  This is one of the ways that sociology is so valuable in understanding our social world. The ability to understand how and why others feel the way they do can help us, at the very least - understand the different ways that people feel but also, perhaps, address the most pressing polarized ideas plaguing our society. Regardless of whether we believe people are justified in their feelings, the social construction of reality can help us understand what those feelings are, how they experience the world and perhaps why they have those feelings.

In Conclusion

What is Berger's Social Construction of Reality?  

Can you apply it to your own life?

6. Think about something from your own life; your religion, sports, fashion, college (or being a college student), or something else.  What are some feelings you have about this that you might share with other people/especially strangers? How are your feelings/experiences shaped by what you have learned from people/society?  

One example of the social construction of reality is how we feel about our experience in the classroom and in the stadium; academically and athletically.  We might be around the same students on the same campus but we have constructed a way of acting and feeling that is very different in these situations.  

What the expectations of behavior are for the classroom?

What if the classroom was more like the basketball stadium?  Here are some ideas from Loyola basketball games:

• What if when students were answering questions, I put distractions up on the data projector?

• What if when students got a question wrong, the whole class shouted, "You let the whole class down!"?

• Or what if we took a break with 4 minutes left in class and did the swag surf?

• Other ideas might include: clapping for each other and high-fiving, talking smack, holding up signs in class, etc...

Here are some humorous takes on this idea:

Communications Arcadia's What if We Treated Teachers Like Pro Athletes?

Key and Peele's Teaching Center

As/Is If Teachers Were Football Players

Additional Reading:

Open Stax: Social Constructions of Reality

Action Item:  For our next class, please read this excerpt from Outliers.

1.01 A Sociological Introduction

 

WELCOME SOCIOLOGY SCHOLARS!

If you did not have a chance yet, please complete these two tasks:

Student Demographics Survey 

I want to get to know each of you better as an individual, so please answer this demographic survey.  Please share as much info as you are comfortable sharing, but please know that all of the information is private and only for me to see.

Syllabus

After you finish the demographic survey above, please begin reading the syllabus.

Attendance Sign In

Start of class meditation - meditation number one

Introducing...The Class

 

Syllabus 

Importance of college syllabus in general

Our syllabus 

Schedule notes - Feb 21, Mar 14, Mar 24-31

What questions do you need answered to be confident that you can do well in the class?

Fired Up? [Ready to Go!] come to class each day fired up and ready to go. 

Be Present: Mindfulness

Mindfulness is an awareness of yourself.  To start each class, I use a mindfulness meditation.  I will ring a bell to signal that we are starting class. This is a reminder to center your thoughts and limit distractions.  This present moment is a gift (that's why it's called the present!) I want you to be in this moment.  I will also give you a thought to meditate on and help you develop your own personal mindfulness.

Mindfulness and Learning

Being mindful means having an appreciation and a focus for the present moment. In this case, we are in class, together. Be present. I value your presence and I feel that each of you can be a teacher for all of us - we are all students and teachers of each other! There is a lot of evidence that electronic devices and social media are a distraction for not only you but for those around you. One study calls social media the second-hand smoke of learning. So, please be mindful of your presence in class.

Today's lesson:

I had you fill out the survey above because I wanted to get to know you as an individual.  My question now is, are you, in fact, an individual?  What makes you an individual? 

Introducing You...

Introduce yourself to one or two of your peers.  Please say your name and where you are from and then share:

1.  Do you think you are an individual?  Why or why not?  What makes you unique?

2.  What do you think it means to be an individual?

If you are absent from class, the Google Form for this lesson is here.  Absent students must fill out the Google form to even be considered for participation credit.  If you are present in class, you do not have to do the Google Form.

Big Group Discussion:  Are you an individual?  

At first glance, it might seem like you are unique.  In my case, I am a Loyola University graduate, a professor and a Chicagoan;  I like basketball, the Cubs, skiing, mountain biking, golfing, gardening, and cooking.  I am a husband and I have three daughters.  All of this might make me sound unique, but all of it also is a result of my connection to others and at the same time, it connects me to others.  We are intimately shaped by other people and society at large, but our culture's fascination with individuality often hides this connection.  Sociology will help us explore this reality.

3.  Now think about how you arrived at this moment in this class.  How did you get here?  Who are all the people that helped you get here today?

3.2 After you answer that, think even more creatively about who those people are that have made it possible for you to be here today.

Introduce yourself to one or two different peers.  Please say your name and where you are from and then share:

Small groups:  Share the people that you came up with. What was one answer that someone said that you had not thought of?

Mindfulness and Sociology

How many different people did you come up with? Did you think of your parents? Probably.  How about your grandparents or great-grandparents?  How about the people who built the roads or the engineers who designed them? The architects who built the building you are sitting in?  The doctors who helped you stay healthy until you reached this age or the dozens of teachers who have taught you over the years. There are so many people who have affected your ability to be here and now.  Sociology will make us aware of our connections to other people.  Michael Schwalbe called this awareness of our connection to others "Sociological Mindfulness."  Throughout our class, you will see that sociological mindfulness is woven into the lessons and assessments.  

Sociological Mindfulness is also all of the people that we influence in society. We are both products and agents of society.

4. Think about the people who you may have had an impact on in your journey to Loyola. Who have you influenced? In what ways?

Small Group Discussion

Find 2 or 3 people who you did NOT discuss with earlier. Share your answers with them. Tell them how you arrived at Loyola and ask them how they think that YOU may have influenced people along the way.

Conclusion (What you should be able to do/explain after this lesson and what the final assignment will ask you to do):

• Why is the syllabus important?
• What do sociologists study?
• What is sociological mindfulness?
• Why does sociological mindfulness matter?