Welcome to senior year! It’s Fall 2020 and we are off to a great start with part 3 of our “You’re all sociologists!” series. For this premiere episode, we catch up on what the gang has been up to after summer vacation and we discuss how to take sociology to the next level. What does being a sociologist mean during this time of social unrest and political turmoil? How can we use the sociological imagination to help us understand the current social issues? Grab your thinking hat and join us for a new semester of advanced sociology!
Keywords: sociology, society, sociological imagination, public sociology
Sources
Ellen is reading Isabelle Wilkerson’s Warmth of Other Suns, because Wilkerson just came out with a new book, Caste.
Penn loved Naomi Novik’s fantasy romance, Uprooted
Omar is reading Nandita Sharma’s (2020) Home Rule, and Anne Case and Angus Deaton’s (2020) Deaths of Despair
If you haven’t heard our previous two episodes of the “You’re All Sociologists” series, check them out:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is rapidly developing around the world and so are our thoughts, emotions, and of course, our sociological perspectives! We have an unplanned, talk story episode on this topic for you today. Join us as we try to put the hysteria and facts into sociological context. We discuss infectious diseases, quarantining, politics, stress, and public health. Share with us your thoughts, comments, and concerns. Be safe out there and wash your hands!
Keywords
Sociological imagination, public health, politics, epidemics
We continue our PhD’s guide series with a broad overview of sociological research methodology. WAIT! Don’t fall asleep! We talk a ton about concepts and theories, but how do sociologists come up with the evidence to back them up? How do we do our research? This episode will give you a little insight into how. We cover the basics of qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as discuss the ethics of human research. Whether you like numbers or words, statistics or stories, there’s a method to suit your mode of thinking! Join in as we discuss the Nuremberg trials, the Stanford Prison Experiment, and a run down of the basics of sociological research.
Part 2 of our series on how to be a sociologist! (Listen to part 1 here). Did you know that sociology makes you a better person? Even if you’ve never taken a sociology class, you can still use the sociological perspective to understand the social world. Regardless of where you are in the world and what position you have in society, you do not live in a vacuum. We are all interrelated somehow. Join us this week to learn about how to employ the sociological imagination to see the connections between your personal problems and public issues. Think, don’t accept! Question your assumptions! See the world critically! And don’t be a dumbass.
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:
Murray Edelman’s Constructing the Political Spectacle (1988): “Meaning springs from interactions with others, not from inside an isolated individual’s head” (p. 107)
Herbert Gans (2015) “Public Sociology and its Publics”(PDF file):
“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.”
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!
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!
(1988):
