We have been trying to "fix" our large Introductory Sociology class. One new innovation we tried this year was to require a book analysis assignment - because we remember falling in love with some of Sociology's great books such as Blaming the Victim, Regulating the Poor etc.
We started off with Joel Bakan's "The Corporation" in one section of the course and for the second section used Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber's "Trust Us We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future." We were very happy with the results: the assignment served to identify the non-sociologically-oriented thinkers and gave a great opportunity for the talented young sociologists to shine. I have included our assignment questions to make life easier for anyone who wants to try these books . _______________________________ Read the book "Trust Us We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future" . Prepare thoughtful and comprehensive answers for the questions listed below. Provide detailed examples from the book. Be sure to use sociological concepts in your writing. 1. Define each of the following sociological concepts and provide an example from the book Trust Us We're Experts: Commonsense Knowledge, Positivism, Dominant Ideology, Legitimacy. 2. What assumptions about human nature do the PR companies make as they plan their campaigns? 3. Explain what is meant by the following statements. "Put your words in someone else's mouth." "The best PR looks like news." 4. What are the implications of the case study of Dr. Pusztai for the development of public policy on GMOs? 5. Discuss and provide three examples from the book of the way in which "knowledge is power". ______________________ Read the book The Corporation by Joel Bakan. Prepare thoughtful and comprehensive answers for the questions listed below. Be sure to use sociological concepts in your writing. 1. Define each of the following sociological concepts and provide an example from the book The Corporation for each: Culture, Ideology, Socialization, Reification. 2. How does the power of corporations in the economic sphere extend to political and ideological spheres as well? 3. What is the nag factor? Do you think it is ethical to do such research and use it to influence children's desires and in turn their parents' spending habits? 4. If Corporations generally employ good people, how come they can cause so much harm? Include in your answer a discussion of the way sociologists understand the role of agency and structure within a social institution. 5. Is corporate social responsibility an oxymoron? Outline the pros and cons of the solutions to corporate exploitation that are discussed in the book. ______________ Erin Steuter, Mount Allison University --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
