Category: Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change

What is Decolonization?

On By econnellIn Alyssa Lyons, Class and Stratification, Race and Ethnicity, Social Institutions: Work, Education, and Medicine, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change1 Comment

Alyssa Lyons author photoBy Alyssa Lyons

The word “decolonization” is a word frequently mentioned on college campuses. As administrators and professors attempt to decolonize their institutions, their teaching, their curriculum, and their very classrooms—at least in the metaphorical sense. Courses at City College of CUNY promise to teach students to “decolonize mental health” while the University of Portland looks for ways to “decolonize the curriculum.” In addition to course offerings, foundations have incentivized decolonization efforts at the university level by offering competitive grants to decolonize course content or teaching practices.

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Rural Living and the Decluttering Movement

On By econnellIn Cities and Urbanization, Popular Culture and Consumption, Social Problems, Politics, and Social ChangeLeave a comment

Michelle janning author photo Michelle janning author photoBy Michelle Janning, Professor of Sociology and co-designer of Human-Centered Design at Whitman College, and Elena Harris, professional declutterer based in Walla Walla, Washington

Does living in a rural area impact someone’s likelihood to declutter a home? Or even their desire to do so? The short answer is yes, and people have already written thoughtfully about this.

The longer—and more sociologically interesting—answer requires diving into ways that rural living may not fit into the typical categories of experiences related to how people deal with household stuff. And it also requires thinking about how a universal approach to decluttering can be limiting. In other words, it is useful to think about how decluttering is not just a project for an individual household; it calls to mind patterns that show differences between large groups of people. Decluttering is thus sociologically interesting.

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Structural Mobility and the American Dream: Push and Pull Factors

On By econnellIn Class and Stratification, Karen Sternheimer, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change2 Comments

Karen sternheimer 72523By Karen Sternheimer

You are probably familiar with the concept of the “American Dream,” the idea that anyone who works hard in the United States has the chance to experience upward mobility. What factors make this more or less possible?

First, some history (which I write about in my book Celebrity Culture and the American Dream: Stardom and Social Mobility). The phrase “American Dream” was first used—ironically enough—during the Great Depression, when the dream was largely out of reach for most Americans (more on this in a moment).

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Jail and Prison Education Programs

On By econnellIn Behind the Headlines, Crime and Deviance, Jonathan Wynn, Social Institutions: Work, Education, and Medicine, Social Problems, Politics, and Social ChangeLeave a comment

Jonathan Wynn author photoBy Jonathan Wynn

In sociology, we read a lot about the criminal justice system, deviance, and policing. We also learn about education, the hidden curriculum, tracking, and similar topics. It’s a challenge to talk about the interconnections between the criminal justice and education systems in our Introduction to Sociology classes.

There has been some good research on policing in schools—what some call the school-to-prison pipeline. Aaron Kupchik’s Homeroom Security, for example, focused his work on “school resource officers” as a failed policy on preventing or limiting student crime, while increasing the chances that students will enter the criminal justice system. Yet we still need to expand opportunities for education for incarcerated citizens.

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The Changing Status of Phone Calls

On By econnellIn Karen Sternheimer, Popular Culture and Consumption, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change2 Comments

Karen sternheimer 72523By Karen Sternheimer

I recently disconnected my landline. I feel the need to explain why I had a landline for so long: when I first moved to my home,  cell reception was unreliable in my location. I also had the same phone number for nearly 20 years, so it seemed like keeping a landline made sense for a while.

In recent years, cell towers were installed on my street and the landline became more of a nuisance, mostly used by robo-callers and scammers, until I set it to only ring if a number from an approved list was calling. When the phone would ring throughout the house, it became jarring, even intrusive. So, when the price doubled for the landline, it was time to cut the cord.

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How the Moynihan Report Birthed Parental Engagement Policy in Schools

On By econnellIn Alyssa Lyons, Class and Stratification, Race and Ethnicity, Sex and Gender, Social Institutions: Work, Education, and Medicine, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change1 Comment

Alyssa Lyons author photoBy Alyssa Lyons

While parental engagement has become a popular buzzword in political circles in recent years, the language of “parental involvement” didn’t appear in U.S. federal educational policy until 1965 with the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. 

Not without coincidence, this was the same year that academic and social scientist Daniel Patrick Moynihan published the Moynihan Report: The Negro Family, the Case for National Action. An incendiary racist, classist, homophobic, and sexist document, the Moynihan Report claimed that racial inequalities in wealth and education between Blacks and whites were the result of a broken and fractured Black family structure where Black matriarchs managed the household. Moynihan further suggested that establishing a stable Black family structure was central in alleviating poverty and inequalities.

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Professor Period to the Rescue!

On By econnellIn Class and Stratification, Sex and Gender, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change1 Comment

Thumbnail_Picture - Lisa SmithBy Lisa Smith, Douglas College, Department of Sociology and Menstrual Cycle Research Group

“Does anyone have a pad? A tampon!? 50 cents?”

I was sitting in the stall of a women’s restroom during the intermission for a concert, when I heard the familiar refrain. As a menstruator (because not all people who have periods are women and not all women have periods), I could relate to the urgency in my fellow menstruators’ voice.

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Community Development Studies in Sociology, and What Sociology Offers Students

On By econnellIn Behind the Headlines, Cities and Urbanization, Class and Stratification, Colby King, Social Institutions: Work, Education, and Medicine, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change3 Comments

CKing headshot 1 4.3 Calvin-odhiambo IMG_5518

By Colby King, Calvin Odhiambo, Associate Professor of Sociology, and Lizabeth Zack, Professor of Sociology and Department Chair, University of South Carolina Upstate

The recent decision by the Florida Board of Governors to exclude Introductory sociology from the list of courses that fulfill the social science general education requirements for Florida public college students has sparked discussions highlighting the vital role of sociology in academic curriculum. Stacy Torres wrote here about the life-changing role sociology course can play in students’ lives.

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AI and Sociology

On By econnellIn Behind the Headlines, Jonathan Wynn, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change, Social Psychology3 Comments

Jonathan Wynn author photoBy Jonathan Wynn

My inbox received two very kind and curious emails from students this semester. One was to our listserv, expressing remorse and solidarity for someone who had a death in the family. The second was a note of gratitude for my teaching this semester. The instincts behind were kind. Both students wanted to share meaningful feelings with our community in the first case, and with me in the second. They were interesting because they were both written entirely by AI.

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Florida, Don’t Deprive Public College Students of the Opportunity to Develop their Sociological Imaginations

On By econnellIn Behind the Headlines, Social Institutions: Work, Education, and Medicine, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change, Stacy Torres2 Comments

Stacy Torres author photoBy Stacy Torres

Even though I’m a professor, sometimes I fantasize about going back to college. Everyone should have the chance to experience that electric feeling of discovery. General education requirements exposed me to worlds I scarcely imagined as the first person in my family to go to college. I remember the thrill of encountering new subjects such as philosophy, theology, Spanish literature, art history, ancient Greek and Roman history. Like many high school students, I’d never had the opportunity to take classes in the social sciences, including anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology.

I could have never predicted an introductory sociology course would change my life.

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