Mindhunter as Social Research

On By econnellIn Jonathan Wynn, Popular Culture and Consumption, Statistics and Methods, Theory5 Comments

Jonathan Wynn (1)By Jonathan Wynn

I recently watched a Netflix show called Mindhunter. The show—based on a non-fiction book—is about the beginnings of a crime division in the FBI that attempts to tackle serial killers.

If you’ve ever taken a sociology class, the first and most obvious thing about the show are the explicit references to our discipline! One of the main characters, Debbie, played by Hannah Gross, is a graduate student in sociology, studying deviance. In the first episode Debbie explains the sociological approach to deviance to her date, a somewhat listless young FBI agent named Holden (played by Jonathan Groff of Hamilton and Glee fame). In a bar she admonishes Holden: “You teach about criminality but you’ve never heard of Labeling Theory?” (Although, granted, Debbie doesn’t get Durkheim right.)

Continue reading “Mindhunter as Social Research” →

2018 Oscar Watch: Diversity in Hollywood

On By econnellIn Angelique Harris, Behind the Headlines, Popular Culture and Consumption, Race and Ethnicity1 Comment

12_01446By Angelique Harris

The Academy Awards are one of the most revered of the award shows in Hollywood. Although the lack of diversity in who receives nominations and awards has been called into question various times in the past, there was little traction until 2015, when the #OscarsSoWhite movement was born.

The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was created on Twitter by April Reign, the managing editor of BroadwayBlack.com, when the Oscar announcements were made and there were no contenders of color for best acting categories. In fact, adding fuel to the fire, even in films with Black leads, such as Creed and Straight Outta Compton, those nominated for Oscars (Sylvester Stallone for best supporting actor and Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff for screenwriting, respectively) were White. After this glaring lack of diversity, the same thing happened the following year, with no best actor nominees of color. As a result, many celebrities boycotted the event, such as Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Will Smith, who refused to attend while many others, including President Obama, spoke publically about this issue.

Continue reading “2018 Oscar Watch: Diversity in Hollywood” →

What Would You Do?

On By econnellIn Behind the Headlines, Peter Kaufman, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change, Theory3 Comments

Peter kaufman 2014By Peter Kaufman

Consider the following scenario: You are in a clothing store shopping for a new outfit. As you are browsing through the selections you notice that a black female customer is being targeted unfairly by a sales clerk. Instead of allowing this customer to shop freely as you are, the sales clerk is following her around, constantly asking her what she wants, making obnoxious comments to her, and eventually telling her that she should leave the store.

What would you do? Would you say something to the sales clerk or seek out a manager to complain? Would you say something to support the customer and voice your concern over the way she is being treated? Or would you continue on with your business and pretend to ignore the interaction you just witnessed?

Continue reading “What Would You Do?” →

The Body as Social: Roxane Gay’s Hunger

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

Headshot 3.13 cropcompressBy Karen Sternheimer

Our bodies are not just biological, but the way we make sense of our bodies and the bodies of others exists in both a personal and social context. While our bodies are also private, they are (mostly) visible to the public, and as such, often judged and evaluated by those around us and of course, by ourselves. In addition, the physical aspects of our bodies are shaped by events that are sometimes beyond our control, whether it be based on economics, our geographic location, or traumatic events.

Author Roxane Gay demonstrates this in her book Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body. The title, and the book’s contents, reminds us that our bodies, like ourselves, have stories of how they came to be as they are. In Gay’s case, she recounts how being sexually assaulted by a group of boys at the age of twelve changed her relationship to her body from that moment forward.

Continue reading “The Body as Social: Roxane Gay’s Hunger” →

The Big Rig and the Sociology of Work

On By econnellIn Class and Stratification, Colby King, Social Institutions: Work, Education, and MedicineLeave a comment

Colby (1)By Colby King

I teach a Sociology of Work course at Bridgewater State University that meets in the evening each fall. At BSU, about half of our students come from working class backgrounds and/or are among the first generation in their family to go to college. One of the reasons I have really enjoyed teaching evening sections of this class is that many of the students typically work off campus and the class is often infused with their work experiences. These students also express a practical interest in the dynamics of labor markets, the shape of organizations, and the quality of jobs in addition to their interest in sociological concepts related to work.

This fall, I added Steve Viscelli’s book The Big Rig to the material we used in this class. I was motivated in part because it is a large and dynamic industry that illustrates many of the concepts and concerns we cover in this class. About 3 million people work as truck drivers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. NPR’s Planet Money has created this interactive map showing how truck driver has been the most common job in many states since at least the 1970s. The American Trucking Associations found that in 2014 more than 7 million people were employed in jobs related to the trucking industry, even after excluding those who were self-employed. They also report that registered trucks drove 279.1 billion miles in 2014.

Continue reading “The Big Rig and the Sociology of Work” →

Food: From Micro to Macro

On By econnellIn Karen Sternheimer, Popular Culture and Consumption, Social Institutions: Work, Education, and Medicine, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change3 Comments

By Karen Sternheimer

What we eat is deeply personal. It is also connected to our cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. We may seldom think about it, but what we eat has global ramifications.

Sociology teaches us that very few choices we make are only personal. Food literally shapes your personal biology, but the choices we have access to make are shaped by where we live, the groups we are part of, and the policies our lawmakers have made. And all of this cumulatively impacts our environment, locally and globally.

Continue reading “Food: From Micro to Macro” →

The Malfunction Heard Around the World: Cultural Appropriation, White Privilege, and Misogynoir

On By econnellIn Angelique Harris, Behind the Headlines, Popular Culture and Consumption, Race and Ethnicity, Sex and Gender2 Comments

12_01446By Angelique Harris

Many college-aged students are too young to remember Super Bowl XXXIX. In fact, I doubt few people even remember the fact that the New England Patriots played the Carolina Panthers in this game (actually, no, maybe a lot of people know this). Nevertheless, it’s likely that this was one of the few Super Bowl games where the halftime show drew attention away from the game.

This was the game where the terms “wardrobe malfunction” and “nipplegate” entered into our popular cultural lexicon. I am not a huge sports fan, so back in grad school, when I was invited to my friend's Super Bowl party, I only went for the free food and to see Janet Jackson perform at the halftime show (these were the days before YouTube and readily available DVRs). Also, having grown up in a family that didn’t watch sports, I was actually looking forward to attending my first Super Bowl party and partaking in this uniquely American tradition.

Continue reading “The Malfunction Heard Around the World: Cultural Appropriation, White Privilege, and Misogynoir” →

Joining the Conversation: Why Study Theory?

On By econnellIn Karen Sternheimer, Theory6 Comments

Headshot 3.13 cropcompressBy Karen Sternheimer

If you are a student of sociology, one of the first things you learn is about theory. You are probably also required to take an entire course in sociological theory, which is not always students’ favorite course in the major. In our program, many students try and put it off, are told by others that it is “hard” or don’t see why they need it anyway.

When you become a student of sociology—or any other discipline, for that matter—you are joining a conversation already in progress. In the case of sociology, a conversation that has been taking place for more than a century and a half. In order to understand the conversation, and hopefully add to it yourself, it is important to know what everyone has been talking about.

Continue reading “Joining the Conversation: Why Study Theory?” →

The Sociology of Knowledge and Textbooks

On By econnellIn Karen Sternheimer, Social Institutions: Work, Education, and Medicine, Theory4 Comments

Headshot 3.13 cropcompressBy Karen Sternheimer

Sociologists are interested in all things social, even how we come to know what we know. The sociology of knowledge is a fundamental question in sociological thought: how is knowledge produced? We also think critically about the social contexts in which we create what humans define as “knowledge.”

So how do you know what you know? Beyond your personal experience, what you learn as a student informs your depth and breadth of knowledge. As you prepare for exams, there are typically two sources of knowledge that you need to master to earn a good grade: things that your professor said in lectures in conjunction with ideas you read about in your assigned texts.

We often take for granted that these are main sources of knowledge without thinking about how ideas become part of your course work, and your textbooks specifically. The production of textbooks is a good example of how knowledge is produced in a social context.

Continue reading “The Sociology of Knowledge and Textbooks” →

New Semester Rulin’s

On By econnellIn Class and Stratification, Colby King, Popular Culture and Consumption3 Comments

Colby (1)By Colby King

What are your resolutions for the New Year? How about for the new semester?

I was thinking about these questions myself after a friend shared with me Woody Guthrie’s “New Years Rulin’s,” which he wrote in his journal in 1943.

If you’re not sure who Woody Guthrie is, you’d likely recognize his most famous song “This Land is Your Land.” Known as the “People’s Bard,” Guthrie is something of a hero among working people and labor activists. He has had a substantial musical legacy, influencing artists from The Byrds and Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, and Tom Morello. If you’re not familiar with his music, you may want to listen to his song about the dust bowl, “Pastures of Plenty,” or his punchy song about union solidarity “Union Maid,” which is covered here by Old Crow Medicine Show live at the Kennedy Center.

Continue reading “New Semester Rulin’s” →