SOC101 – Red, White, and Blue: Defining American Culture

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Abstract

In this episode, we tackle the concept of culture. ‘Culture’ is one of the most complex words in the English language, and every field has its own way of defining it, including sociology. We break down the various elements that make up culture from a sociological perspective, and focus on American culture– which is broad, yet rigid– as our main context. Then, we take a more personal look at how the three hosts have experienced American culture growing up. What do you think it takes to be an ‘American’? Join us as we search for an answer!

Keywords

Culture, America, sociology

Resources:

  1. American Sociological Association’s definition of culture
  2. The number of languages (and maybe cultures?) in the world
  3. United States of America’s Declaration of Independence
  4. Alexis de Tocqueville’s (1840) Democracy in America
  5. Ideal culture VS Real culture
  6. If you’re interested in how culture affects emotions, Jonathan H Turner and Jan E. Stets’ (2005) The Sociology of Emotions is a good, academic place to start!
  7. Ta-Nehisi Coates on Barack Obama – My President Was Black (The Atlantic)
  8. Jennifer Love Hewitt’s 1998 movie, Can’t Hardly Wait
  9. Louis C.K.’s bit on Time Travel is Exclusively a White Privilege

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DEBUT episode! SOC100 – “You’re all sociologists!”

Our podcast begins TODAY! Our debut episode is live!! You can listen below. Today’s episode is SOC100 – “You’re all sociologists!”

A note on how our podcast is structured. We’re going to be operating on a semester schedule, just as any class at any university. Essentially, the semesters will be our ‘seasons’. Our first season that we’re doing is the Fall 2017 semester, and we will continue into Spring 2018 and so forth. This means that we’ll be following the college schedule and taking the same holidays, etc. since we are students and teachers ourselves.

For each episode, we will be providing an abstract (a short summary), a list of keywords, and resources (readings, scholars, websites, etc. that we discuss in the episode). This is is similar to what an academic journal article provides the reader for additional information. Now, onto the debut episode!

Abstract

We are all part of the social world, but what does that mean and, wait, what is sociology? This week’s episode includes personal perspectives from Dr. Penn Pantumsinchai and 2 Dr’s in training, Ellen Meiser and Omar Bird defining sociology – what it is and what it isn’t, as well as explaining the goals of public sociology. If you’re concerned with the human condition and examining the social world, this is the podcast for you! We’re all sociologist one way or another – want to know how? Tune in by streaming or downloading the episode below!

Keywords

Sociological imagination, public sociology, the sociological perspective, sociology, society

Resources:

    1. Murray Edelman’s Constructing the Political Spectacle (1988): “Meaning springs from interactions with others, not from inside an isolated individual’s head” (p. 107) 
    2. Herbert Gans (2015) “Public Sociology and its Publics”(PDF file):
        1. “Any sociological writing or other product created by sociologists that obtains the attention of some of the publics that make up the general public. The writing can be a book, or an article, or even a few paragraphs reporting a new idea or finding. The other products may be created in any of the ever increasing number of communication outlets, from radio and television to the latest websites, search engines and social media. A podcast lecture, and even a summary of a lecture may already reach more of the public than anything we write.”
    3. Dr. Karen Kelsky’s website TheProfessorIsIn.com 
    4. Neil deGrasse Tyson’s tweet about sociology and physics
    5. A quick bio on Auguste Comte, the creator of the word, “sociology”
    6. Examples of Public Sociology:

Comment down below what you thought of the episode! What would you like to hear about in the future? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates!

Listen to the podcast teaser!

The teaser to our podcast is now live! 

Introducing a brand new podcast – The Social Breakdown! The sociology podcast that nobody wants, but everybody needs! Our goal for this podcast is to breakdown the complex world one topic at a time using our sociological imagination. Check out our short teaser today and tune in for our grand debut on September 20th! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates!

Leave a comment down below and let us know what you think! Are there any topics you’d like us to discuss? What about the world or society has puzzled you? We’re here to help!

A new podcast to shake your world!

Coming soon! The sociology podcast that nobody wants but everybody needs – THE SOCIAL BREAKDOWN run by two graduate students and one former graduate student, now doctor!? We aim to break down the complex social world one topic at a time using our sociological imagination.