Over the semester you have learned about some of the basic sociological perspectives that can enhance our understanding of the world and how you and other people fit (and sometimes experience disconnection or exclusion) within it. We started by considering our individual social location/position and how that compares with people who inhabit the world in very different conditions. Furthermore, we learned about how to employ the sociological imagination to understand ways to distinguish between public and personal problems, as well as how varying social circumstances can affect people in different ways. In that process you were introduced to key features of culture and socialization that allow you to interact in meaningful ways with the social world around you. From there we also covered how inequalities emerge and persist along economic, gender, and racial lines; both providing opportunities for some, but limiting them for others. In the final section of the course we have assessed larger structural forces (macrosociology) that have transformed our social world and continue to cause large changes today. It is more important than ever to grasp how industrialization, technology, globalization, and our destruction of the environment impact social life more than ever.
In this final project, I would like you to weave together many of these elements we have covered throughout the semester and map out a detailed portrait of your social position in the context of the world we inhabit today.
Part 1
First, define your social position in the following categories:
Class
Race/Ethnicity
Sex
Gender Identity or Expression
Nationality and Country of Residence
Religion
Ability/Disability and Health
Age
Language and Communication Skills
Education
Work Experience and Status
Family Structure and Background
Part 2
Next, expand upon what you have listed for each category and discuss some details about the types of social roles, experiences, expectations, and various ways of describing your social position in each particular domain. After that, consider some of the advantages or disadvantages afforded to you in each of these categories. Make specific connections and references to various assigned texts for this course.
To complete this final project, create slides in PowerPoint or Prezi for each of these categories with the additional information about yourself. In other words, you will develop a unique slide for class, race, sex, religion, etc. that contains the definitions you provide for the category as well as the details about your social position in each (perhaps about 1 paragraph).
Part 3
After you have assembled these details about yourself in each slide (12 total), you will develop a few more slides that address the following questions:
How might some of the advantages and disadvantages you noted for each category overlap or interact in ways that expand or complicate your opportunities and connections to the world? Depending on where you are located in and across all of these categories, how might they combine in ways that positively or negatively affect your life chances? Stated differently, what features of your social position increase or decrease the likelihood that you (or other people in similar positions as you) will experience advantages or disadvantages in society? In contrast, how might the life chances vary for people who inhabit different social positions from you? By life chances, I am referring to things like (but not limited to) future educational or job opportunities (including promotions, pay, and financial stability), social networks (friends, acquaintances, references), potential partners or spouses, encounters with authorities, health and wellness, travel and cultural experiences, skills and hobbies, and more (you can be creative here). For Part 3 you need to write approximately 500 words that can be spaced out in 3-5 slides as you discuss different topics or issues.
When you have constructed your PowerPoint or Prezi slides and completed your writing, submit your project file in Canvas.
