e-learning day 2 - Quarantine Tips

Hi Everyone!

I am getting a lot of feedback from you all about the difficulty, uncertainty and boredom from quarantining.  I think this can be a valuable learning opportunity and I also want to give you some suggestions.

First, we have been talking about social structure and how it creates stability and continuity for us.  This structure leads to culture and shared meaning between people, even strangers.  This quarantine is a great example of that.  Think about how much you notice all of the structure that daily life used to provide:  Going to school and jobs, meeting with friends, clubs and sports.  We tend to go about our daily lives not noticing these patterns - like a fish swimming in water and not noticing the water.  All of these groups provide both a structure and a "self" identity.

Hopefully, this quarantine helps you see all the ways that we take for granted our interaction with each other.  Are there connections that you previously did not realize?

Second, here are some suggestions for weathering the quarantine.  I would recommend making a schedule so that you make time to do these regularly:

1.  Get outside.  You are not quarantining from fresh air; you are quarantining from large groups of people, especially aggregates.  Make this part of your regular schedule.  Walk around the block.  Or, go for a long walk.  See how far you can go.  Take a bike ride.  Explore different routes and areas.  Finally, drive to a hike.  Buffalo Creek is a nice 3 mile loop.  Independence Grove is beautiful.  If you are willing to go farther - Lakewood Forest Preserve in Wauconda is really nice too.  Some things to do outside:  look for signs of spring.  I saw my first crocuses in the garden today.  I also see lots of buds of flowers to come; a reminder of hope and of good things to come.

Crocuses

Crocuses are one of the first flowers around here to bloom.  Hellebores are also blooming soon.  I also heard robins and cardinals singing today and baby hawks sqwawking high up in their nests.  What can you see and hear?  One idea to focus your attention is to make a photo album of what you see each time you go out.  Here are 19 ways to get outside.  Do you have a favorite place outside?  Tell us in the comments section.








2.  Stimulate your mind.  Don't use your classes as a task to get done.  Instead, see them as an escape.  Lose yourself in the learning.  Explore, ask questions and then research and learn.  You have so much at your fingertips.  If you don't find your classes engaging, then look for topics/subjects you like.  Feel inspired learning about something that you didn't know about.  Some books that I have read lately that I have really enjoyed:

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is an amazing but true story about a Harvard Law Grad who decided to work at a non-profit law firm defending people on death row who did not have enough money to defend themselves.  It is really an amazing book that is now a movie starring Michael B. Jordan.  I was planning to read this at the end of our semester.  Many colleges are reading it as part of their curriculum.

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is a great book about how to change habits.  Some of the book is sociological, like how societies can change habits of their people and how organizations like businesses or schools can change their habits.  And it is also psychological, like how individuals can make changes in their own habits.  It is a great book for you to change anything you want whether it is get heaty, or study better or anything like that.  But it may also be a good resource if you are in a leadership position.  It will help you think about how to make small changes in your organization that have a big impact.

 The Years That Matter Most by Paul Tough.  It's a sociological analysis of college and it is a scathing indictment of the college board (you might enjoy that part :-)

 Mindset by Carol Dweck is a book we will talk about in our lessons to come, but the book is worth reading fully.  It changed the way I think about myself learning but also it changed how I parent and how I teach.  It would be a great book to read before college.

This Book Is Not Required by Inge Bell and Bernard McGrane is a sociology book written for freshmen in college.  It covers a number of subjects that will confront you in college like: choosing a major, dating, moving away from home, returning back home, etc...  The book has both sociological insights as well as practical advice for transitioning to college.


Are there books that you would recommend?  Tell us in the comment section.





3. Be creative.  Find some outlets for you to be creative.  This might mean writing your own poetry, choreographing your own tik tok videos, making humorous videos (saw some great ones here), painting (I am painting my kid's bedroom), learn a musical instrument, make music playlists, take creative pics, start blogging, make a website that reviews something - movies/restaurants/books/sports teams/players.  Shakespeare likely wrote King Lear and others while the London theater was shut down because of bubonic plague.  Even if you are not into arts, be creative about making a new workout routine, rearrange your bedroom, re-organize something - closet/backpack/desk.  Learn to cook something.  Whatever you do, it doesn't have to be good - just stimulating.  It can be an opportunity to learn something new.

4.  Exercise.  This can be built into some of the ideas above (1-3).  Make time to get some exercise in.  Whether it is cardio or weight training it relieves stress and sharpens your mind.  It will help you sleep better, have more energy and boost your mood.  You can be creative too - shoot hoops in your driveway, dribble and do ball handling in the basement, do yoga using youtube, or make up a crossfit routine like pushups, situps, burpees, lunges and then record your progress.

5.  Socialize.  The quarantine is about people being in groups, but not about communicating with each other.  Call someone each day who you haven't talked to in a while - old friend/relative.  Facetime friends.  Talk to family members in a way that you haven't before - ask questions like what was your first job?  What what was your favorite childhood memory?  Humans are storytellers.  I think technology has gotten us away from that a bit and made us more visual - instagram, tik toc, etc... But stories tell us who we are and where we came from.  They help us connect and relate.  Interview a grandparent, a parent, or someone else and have a deep, sustained meaningful conversation.

6.  Occupy your hands.  There are therapeutic reasons for using our fingers - like people who knit or crochet, (Rainbow Loom anyone?).  You can also do puzzles, sudoku, or coloring books, stress balls, or fidget spinners.  Here is a list things to do to help occupy your hands.  From Psychology Today, Working With Your Hands Does Wonders For Your Brain and from CBS news, How Busy Hands Can Alter Your Brain Chemistry.

7.  Find a way to help.  Don't feel powerless or meaningless. You can help people.  Find a friend that needs help on school work or even a younger sibling.  Tutor them.  Do a chore around the house - dishes, laundry, clean the bathroom, sweep, vacuum.  Donate blood - there is a nationwide shortage of blood.  It is safe to donate.  Search Lifesource locations near you to donate blood.  Clean out a closet and donate what you do not need.  Go to the grocery store for an elderly neighbor or an at-risk person.

8. Make moments of peacefulness.  Carve out moments - even just a minute or two to be peaceful.  No media, no distractions.  Try to focus on yourself - acknowledge your feelings then relax.  Feel your tension loosen.  If you pray, this is a good time to do that, or you can meditate.  Do the bell meditations that we have done in class - even if only in your head. Ring the bell. Quiet the noise inside of you. Breath out your stress and worries.  Listen for the constant change. Every moment is different. Every moment is a step closer to getting past this outbreak. Listen for how far the noise travels. There is no telling how far your noise travels; you influence the world and you matter.  Create a home retreat.


Students - Comment and fill out form

Please comment at the bottom of this post about what you are doing from this list that has helped you get through the quarantine, or what do you plan to do?  Then  fill out the form embedded below.

If you can't see the questions below, try this link.
Students - don't forget to post your comment below.  

NOTE: Some students are trying to post comments and they are not showing up.  Not sure why.  I will look into it.  But if it does not work, don't worry about it - the last thing I want to do is stress you out!

Sociology and Coronavirus

General Information

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people, and others that circulate among animals, including camels, cats, and bats. Rarely animal coronaviruses can evolve and infect people and then spread between people.

Human coronaviruses are common throughout the world and commonly cause mild to moderate illness in people worldwide. However, the emergence of novel (new) coronaviruses, such as SARS and MERS, have been associated with more severe respiratory illness.  The current outbreak of coronavirus has specifically been named as SARS-CoV-2.  The health condition resulting from the virus is known as Covid-19.

For the latest national information, see the CDC covid-19 page here.  One link on that CDC page is specifically for families and schools, here.

For the latest local information, see the Illinois Department of Public Health here.  IDPH also has a page specifically for families and schools here.

Sociology and Social Changes
From St. Louis Today,
The concepts of sociology, such as institutions, interdependence, deviance, roles and inequalities, can help us better understand what is happening and how we might best react to stresses in our communities and shifting social expectations ...A sociological perspective helps us see that institutions are made, maintained and reinforced by humans. Institutions can be edited, improved, degraded or destroyed by humans as well...Sociology helps us understand that institutions have manifest functions, the goals formally assigned by society, and latent functions, myriad other goals that are implicitly assigned...sociology helps us be attentive to inequality. Rash decisions can exacerbate disparities in power, health, opportunities and more...

Sociology of Public Health: Managing Disease Spread

Interview with Nicholas Christakis, sociologist and medical doctor at Yale University

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/does-closing-schools-slow-spread-novel-coronavirus

Does closing schools slow the spread of coronavirus?  Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist and physician at Yale University, thinks it does, but he recognizes that questions around closing schools are difficult. Christakis studies social networks and is developing software and statistical methods to forecast an epidemic’s spread before it happens.

The graph below shows the variable ways that the virus can spread in depending on the policies and structure of each country.  Graphs are available here.  Will the U.S. be able to mitigate the spread like Japan or will it spike like Italy?  Note how South Korea had an initial spike but then was able to contain the spread.

Epidemiologists suggest a measured response to how widespread the virus is.  Here is one chart illustrated in the San Jose Times:

With careful monitoring, the hope is that our country can minimize disruption while mitigating the spread of the virus.  That is the purpose of the chart above.  This is sometimes called "flattening the curve".  The goal is to keep the peak of the curve below the maximum capability of the healthcare system.  See this Vox article and the graph below:

Medium explains flattening the curve and shares this graphic:



via GIPHY





Unfortunately, it appears that the US has not handled the crisis well:

Singapore Wins Praise For Its COVID-19 Strategy. The U.S. Does Not

Structural Challenges facing the U.S.
From the Financial Times, Why the U.S. is So Vulnerable to Coronavirus Outbreak
As the number of coronavirus cases mount in the US, experts are warning that the country is unusually vulnerable to the spread of the disease.... Public health officials and academics are concerned that a mix of high numbers of uninsured people, a lack of paid sick leave and a political class that has downplayed the threat could mean it spreads more quickly than in other countries.

From PEW research center, the data below shows that paid leave varies substantially, but the lowest earning workers are most at risk.

Interactive Map for Covid-19 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/coronavirus-maps.html#us

Sociology of pandemics from Society Pages
https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/05/04/flu-pandemics/

Sociology of Media and Spread of Fear

Sociology shows how public health epidemics can become panic based on how news covers the story.

https://thesocietypages.org/trot/2020/02/27/contagion-and-panic-in-the-media/

Sociology and Discrimination

Disease exposes discrimination

https://thesocietypages.org/trot/2020/03/10/disease-exposes-discrimination/

Fears about the current coronavirus, or COVID-19, have revealed rampant racism and xenophobia against Asians. Anti-Asian discrimination ranges from avoiding Chinese businesses to direct bullying and assaults of people perceived to be Asian. This discriminatory behavior is nothing new. The United States has a long history of blaming marginalized groups when it comes to infectious disease, from Irish immigrants blamed for carrying typhus to “promiscuous women” for spreading sexually transmitted infections.

Coronavirus on college campuses: Fight fear and racism along with the outbreak

If anyone can give you a disease, everyone is potentially a threat and your enemy. Crises such as coronavirus test social trust as well as science.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/03/01/coronavirus-fight-fear-racism-anti-chinese-sentiment-campus-column/4913481002/
From Stacy Torres is an assistant professor of sociology in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UC San Francisco. Xuemei Cao is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Coronavirus fears show how 'model minority' Asian Americans become the 'yellow peril'
While viruses and other pathogens do not discriminate between hosts based on race, ethnicity, nationality or immigration status — stigma and misinformation certainly do.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/coronavirus-fears-show-how-model-minority-asian-americans-become-yellow-ncna1151671

When Xenophobia Spreads Like A Virus

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/02/811363404/when-xenophobia-spreads-like-a-virus?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews

GOP minority leader in the House called the virus "the Chinese virus":

 


From Time Magazine, Trump's 'Chinese' Virus Is Part of a Long History of Blaming Other Countries for Disease (March 20, 2020)

...one part of President Donald Trump’s reaction to coronavirus has remained consistent. More than a week after he prompted outcry by retweeting a supporter who called the novel coronavirus the “China virus,” photos from Trump’s Thursday press briefing about the virus showed that “corona” had been crossed out and replaced with “Chinese.” The President and his team have defended the use of that language—despite the World Health Organization making a point of not naming the disease after the place where the outbreak began, and despite advocates arguing that such terminology fuels the risk of hate crimes against people of Asian descent, who have already reported a surge in discrimination.

While Trump may have his own political reasons for describing the virus as foreign, he’s also part of a long history of associating diseases with certain countries—a tradition that experts say has led to ethnic and racial discrimination, stymied efforts to effectively handle public health crises, and distorted public historical memory.

From Northwestern University's Daily Northwestern, Yunkyo Kim posted (2020)
Graffiti, handshakes and the “perpetual foreigner”: Asian Americans at Northwestern report alienation amid COVID-19.

From a 2018 article in the American Journal of Public Health, “Spanish Flu”: When Infectious Disease Names Blur Origins and Stigmatize Those Infected"  also available here.

Despite not originating in Spain, the 1918 influenza pandemic is commonly known as the “Spanish flu”—a name that reflects a tendency in public health history to associate new infectious diseases with foreign nationals and foreign countries. Intentional or not, an effect of this naming convention is to communicate a causal relationship between foreign populations and the spread of infectious disease, potentially promoting irrational fear and stigma. I address two relevant issues to help contextualize these naming practices. First is whether, in an age of global hyperinterconnectedness, fear of the other is truly irrational or has a rational basis. The empirical literature assessing whether restricting global airline travel can mitigate the global spread of modern epidemics suggests that the role of travel may be overemphasized. Second is the persistence of xenophobic responses to infectious disease in the face of contrary evidence.  To help explain this, I turn to the health communication literature. Scholars argue that promoting an association between foreigners and a particular epidemic can be a rhetorical strategy for either promoting fear or, alternatively, imparting a sense of safety to the public. (Am J Public Health. 2018;108:1462–1464. doi:10. 2105/AJPH.2018.304645)

Irony and hypocrisy

GOP Representaive Matt Gaetz made fun of the virus by tweeting the picture below.  In a turn of sweet justice, Gaetz had to self-quarantine because he himself was exposed to the virus.  And shortly after that, Gaetz had to acknowledge the seriousness of the virus when someone from his own district died.

From NPR,
Reps. Mark Meadows, Doug Collins, and Matt Gaetz said Monday that they are self-quarantining after learning they came in contact with a person infected with coronavirus while attending a conservative conference in the Washington area last month.Bobby Rush v. Matt Gaetz
However, the disparate treatment of Bobby Rush reveals racial inequality and the institutionalized racism that prevents some Americans from seriously drawing attention to racial inequalities while allowing other Americans to freely joke around about deadly outcomes.

ABC News:  

Asians facing discrimination, violence amid coronavirus outbreak

https://youtu.be/ljIuWWLHNlA

Wikipedia:

In the past, many diseases have been named after geographical locations, such as the Spanish flu (a misnomer, as it is generally agreed that the influenza did not begin in Spain^[1]), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Zika virus, but in 2015 the World Health Organization introduced recommendations to avoid this practice, in order to reduce stigma. In accordance with this policy, the WHO recommended the official name "COVID-19" in February 2020.^[2]

In early coverage of the outbreak, some news sources associated the virus with China in a way that contributed to stigma. The journal Nature later published an apology for this type of coverage.^[2][3] However, even after the majority of politicians had switched to avoiding stigmatizing language when referring to the virus, a minority continued.^[2]  

^{List of racist incidents around the world here:}

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_incidents_of_xenophobia_and_racism_related_to_the_2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic

NY Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/us/chinese-coronavirus-racist-attacks.html

Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked: Chinese-Americans Fear for Their Safety

As bigots blame them for the coronavirus and President Trump labels it the “Chinese virus,” many Chinese-Americans say they are terrified of what could come next.

NPR:

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/27/822187627/new-site-collects-reports-of-anti-asian-american-sentiment-amid-coronavirus-pand

New Site Collects Reports Of Racism Against Asian Americans Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Last week Russell Jeung, a professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, started tracking these attacks on a new website he helped launch called Stop AAPI Hate. In the site's first eight days, it received more than 650 reports of discrimination — largely against the Asian American community.

The Hill:

https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/490373-attacks-on-asian-americans-at-about-100-per-day-due-to

Attacks on Asian Americans skyrocket to 100 per day during coronavirus pandemic.
Representative Judy Chu said that reports of bigotry and hate crimes against Asian Americans have surged during the coronavirus crisis.


LA Times:

Op-Ed: Trump’s racist comments are fueling hate crimes against Asian Americans. Time for state leaders to step in

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-04-01/coronavirus-anti-asian-discrimination-threats

After news of the coronavirus broke in January, Asian Americans almost immediately experienced racial taunts on school campuses, shunning on public transit and cyber-bullying on social media. When President Trump insisted on labeling the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” in early March, these attacks became more virulent and common.

The FBI now warns of an increase of hate crimes against Asian Americans, but we’ve already experienced a surge. Since the Stop-AAPI-Hate website, a project of the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action, launched on March 19 to track anti-Asian harassment, it has received more than 1,000 reports from people in 32 states detailing verbal abuse, denial of services, discrimination on the job or physical assaults.

Buzzfeed:
A Man Who Allegedly Tried To Kill An Asian American Family Because Of The Coronavirus Could Face Hate Crime Charges.
The incident is just one in a surge of racist attacks that Asian-Americans have faced during the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/man-attempted-murder-asian-american-family

Newsweek:

https://www.newsweek.com/chinese-coronavirus-officials-accuse-trump-stoking-xenophobia-violence-against-asian-americans-1493546

A 'CHINESE CORONAVIRUS'? OFFICIALS ACCUSE TRUMP OF STOKING XENOPHOBIA AND VIOLENCE AGAINST ASIAN-AMERICANS

Thriving in American Culture?

Thrive

Please take out your reading and answer the following questions:

1.  What 2 sections did you find most interesting or applicable to your life? In other words, what 2 sections do you want to remember as you get older? (look over your reading and circle two)

Community    Workplace    Social Life    Financial Life      Home         Self

2.  Please answer the following 3 questions from the first section that you circled:

a)What suggestions from this section do find insightful/valuable?  How might you incorporate these suggestions into your life in the future?

3.  Please answer the following 3 questions from the second section that you answered:

a)What suggestions from this section do find insightful/valuable?  How might you incorporate these suggestions into your life in the future?

For more on Thrive:

Here is the Thrive website. 

Here is a review of the book.  

You can read an excerpt here and also take a happiness test- it will measure your satisfaction and make recommendations. 

Here is link to an interview with the author.

American Values

Examine the values that Americans hold:

My previous post on Amer-I-can Values

In 1970, sociologist Robin Williams published his examination of American cultural values.  In 1985, L. Robert Kohl published a similar examination of values written for refugees like the Lost Boys so that they could adjust to American culture.  Below is a chart that merges the two values lists.

American Values                        vs.        Other Cultures’ Values

Personal control/responsibility                Fate/destiny

Change seen as natural/positive/Progress                Stability/tradition

Time and its control                                  Human Interaction

Equality/fairness                                       Hierarchy/rank/status

Individualism/independence/freedom                      Group welfare/dependence

Self-Help/initiative                                    Birthright/inheritance

Competition                                               Cooperation

Future orientation                                     Past orientation

Action/work                                               “Being”

Informality                                                 Formality

Directness/openness/Honesty                    Indirectness/ritual/”face”

Practicality/efficiency                                Idealism/theory

Materialism/Acquisitiveness                      Spiritualism/detachment

Achievement/Success                                 Acceptance/Status Quo

Morality/judgement                                   Consequentialism/situational ethics

What cultural values from the Kohl reading might conflict with that you wrote about above? (use the list of values)

Comparing Values

In your notes packet, answer these:

Compare the values of Thrive to American Values and those from the movie.

Identify values that are contradictory to U.S. values from the film God Grew Tired of Us.

US Value        How does it contradict with the Lost Boys?

Look at the list of values that Americans hold.  Identify American values that might complement each other.  These are called value clusters.  List them here:

Value Cluster: ­­­­­­­­­­­

Now look for American values that might contradict the other American values.  These are called value contradictions.  List them here:

Value Contradiction:

Special Guest: Olivia Mancuso

Reporter Barbie?













Iowa days  - political reporting

Sexism, misogyny. 

Video reel here.

Ron?!

Oh Sh*t.  The unglamorous life of a reporter here.