Forum 3

Book : Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life

TED Talks: https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley#t-229379

Sociology of Gossip : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFDWOXV6iEM

Tiger Mom Fox News  : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2LnCSZfL0

Genie-Feral Child : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E

 

 

 

 

Watch the video clips about the “Tiger Mom” and “Genie-Feral Child” found in Module 3. 1) What does the video “Feral Children” tell you about the power of a child’s family environment in his/her socialization process? 2) Contrast this with “Tiger Mom” Chua, who “pushes” her children to excel and comments on Chinese vs. Western parenting styles. Do we tend to think that there is a single “right” way of parenting children?

Watch the TED talk entitled “How to Escape Education’s Death Valley” found in Module 3. Respond to the following: 1) What is Sir Ken Robinson saying about schools as agents of socialization and how they fail in this process? 2) What does he mean by ‘education’s death valley’, and why is this something that we should be concerned about as a society? When answering this question, use as many terms from Chapter 5 in Newman as you can.

Describe a situation in which people’s first impressions of you were important, and in which you wanted to make a good impression. How did you manage their impressions of you? How was this experience linked to and important for the larger goals of institutions and society in general? Have you had to “code switch,” or alter how you presented yourself—through speech, non-verbal gestures, posture, and so forth—during interactions (what Goffman would call “performances”) with different types of people (“audiences”)?

Watch the video “Sociology of Gossip” found under Module 3. Answer the following: 1) Comment on how Lui invokes the concepts of impression formation, impression management, embarrassment and stigma. Give one of her “gossip” examples using some of these key Chapter 6 terms. 2) Then, comment specifically on her focus on how gender roles and expectations are configured through the vehicle of tabloid news and celebrity gossip.