Soc mindfulness and the service project

As you enter today, look over you answers from yesterday's questions:
How is a sociological imagination different from being sociologically mindful?
How can the Touchscreen video be an example of a sociological imagination? 
How can the Touchscreen video be used by YOU to be more sociologically mindful?


Bell & Notes for Next Week:
Post 1 - be sure it is up and be sure your blog is on my feedly and my blogpage.
Hand in the movie permission slip.
Reading for next week

Explanation of The Service Project - turn to page 21 of your packet.


Examine the following videoes.  How are they an example of sociological mindfulness?

Here is a Thai commercial that promotes the idea of sociological mindfulness.

"Fired up? Ready to go!" This is a phrase I like to use with my class. It is a way that I like to check in with students and remind them that they are in my class and I want them to feel fired up about it. Sometimes, if you are not feeling fired up, all it takes is repeating this and it can make you fired up. But the phrase is also a fleeting reminder that we all have an influence on our world. Maybe that influence is just the room we are in, but that influence ripples out. So that phrase is a reminder to be sociologically mindful. It is a reminder that we are a participant in society. Society doesn't just happen to us; we are participants in the process. That awareness is what Schwalbe talks about as sociological mindfulness. It can change how we think and act and therefore how we influence the world. "One voice can change a room. And if it can change a room, it can change a city; and if it can change a city it can change a state and if it can change a state, it can change a nation and if it can change a nation, it can change the world." (see the whole story by clicking on this link) Regardless of your political affiliation, I think the sentiment here is true. You can change a room and that can change a much larger group. There's no telling where your influence stops. So, what do you want your voice to be? How do you you want to change the world? Think with sociological mindfulness about the impact you have on the world even though it is small.

Extending your sociological imagination

As you enter class today, please answer these questions:

1. What is a sociological imagination?



2.  Why is the reading Outliers an example of having a sociological imagination?




Here is a moving and inspiring slam poetry performance by Marshall Soulful Jones called Touchscreen:

 

Here is some interesting research to follow up with Marshall Jones' poem:

From Psychology Today:

...the emergence of reading encouraged our brains to be focused and imaginative. In contrast, the rise of the Internet is strengthening our ability to scan information rapidly and efficiently ...

From The Independent:

A Wisconsin paediatrician, Dr Sharon Rink, told local news channel WBAY2 she has seen a surge of teenagers coming to see her for treatment [because of selfies], something which was unheard of five years ago.

Please Answer:

3)How is Marshall Jones' poem an example of having a sociological imagination?

4)What are some ways you are influenced by when and where you live?

Finally, for a bit of humor, watch this Louis CK video called Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy.    He provides a funny look at how not having a sociological imagination can makes us really annoyed with our problems but really we should be thankful. Also the twitter feed #FirstWorldPains is a humorous example of this.

Fired up and ready to go!

"Fired up? Ready to go!"

This is a phrase I like to use with my class.  It is a way that I like to check in with students and remind them that they are in my class and I want them to feel fired up about it.  Sometimes, if you are not feeling fired up, all it takes is repeating this and it can make you fired up.

But the phrase is also a fleeting reminder that we all have an influence on our world.  Maybe that influence is just the room we are in, but that influence ripples out.  So that phrase is a reminder to be sociologically mindful.  It is a reminder that we are a participant in society.  Society doesn't just happen to us; we are participants in the process.  That awareness is what Schwalbe talks about as sociological mindfulness.  It can change how we think and act and therefore how we influence the world.

"One voice can change a room. And if it can change a room, it can change a city; and if it can change a city it can change a state and if it can change a state, it can change a nation and if it can change a nation, it can change the world." (see the whole story by clicking on this link)
Regardless of your political affiliation, I think the sentiment here is true. You can change a room and that can change a much larger group. There's no telling where your influence stops. So, what do you want your voice to be? How do you you want to change the world? Think with sociological mindfulness about the impact you have on the world even though it is small.

Your Sociological Imagination

The "sociological imagination" is an important theme throughout our semester. The idea of the sociological imagination was developed by C. Wright Mills who said that having a sociological imagination helps one to see the connection between history and biography. That is, who we are (our biography) is determined by where and when we live (history).

The Outliers reading provides an example of how the people of Roseto were affected by where and when they live. 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.

Think about your plans for the weekend or what you brought for lunch.  How is it affected by where and when you live?  What are the influences shaping your plans and what you eat?  Do you see how it is not simply your choice?

Another way to examine the connection of biography to history is through the Beloit Mindset list. Every year, Beloit College publishes a list of how the current year's freshmen will experience and have experienced the world differently. A couple examples of this are from the NY Times: Here is an article about students not writing in cursive. And, this link is about the changing role of the wristwatch.  Both show that being born in a different time means students will experience the world differently.  This might sound obvious, but there is a tendency for people to think that they are simply who they are regardless of time or place.  Something you can write about is how kids being born today might experience the world differently than you have.  Or, how might kids being born in 2013 be influenced differently than you have?  And yet another way to think about this is, how might you have been different if you grew up somewhere else?  Especially for those of you who have moved, try to imagine what your life would be if you still lived somewhere else.

Another example of the sociological imagination might be reflected in how different generations think differently about the world. You might remember this pepsi ad that shows the way different generations might think about the world differently.