TEACHSOC: Re: Sociological insights

[Michael Francis Johnston]

Hi, John, You’ve got me thinking – I’ve taken it for granted that my students recognize that race, class, and gender are social constructs.  What do you do to make this point at a deep level?  And, what are the lessons that you think your students should draw from this teaching?  Do you think that they should ignore these social constructs in their own lives?  Or, do you think they should take them less seriously in their own lives?  IF so, in what ways do you advocate that students do so?  Do you think that students who are at the bottom of the hierarchy should devote their lives to combating these unfair social constructs? I’m looking forward to your thoughts, Michael            From: teachsoc@googlegroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Glass Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 1:04 PM To: teachsoc@googlegroups.com Subject: TEACHSOC: Re: Sociological insights   hi, Anne   this is more along the lines of what i was thinking, hence my initial response. guess Michael is the one who can tell us if we are on the right track or not.   i subtitle my Intro class, "Things are not as they seem" as much of what i do is "correct" students' understanding of themselves and the world that they inhabit. i think the fact that race, gender, and self are constructs is pretty earth-shaking. link that with notions of what humans would look like sans socialization and students definitely seem interested.   earlier in the week we talked about how "Texas" doesn't exist on an empirical level, despite the fact that those living here, are surrounded by Texans and all are subject to the "laws" of the state of Texas. quite an interesting proposition, IMO. and does "Texas" have an impact on social behavior? hmmm, just ask anyone on death row.   Texas trivia...did you know that it is illegal for the state to execute someone who is mentally unstable? few years back, we had an inmate who attempted suicide while on death row. they had to halt his execution until he was stabilized on anti-depressants, then they killed him.   i think that we need testable and cumulative propositions about social behavior; of course, Homans argued this in The Nature of Social Science. but then again, who reads Homans today?   :)   john --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to teachsoc@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---