Class Projects (Spring 2013) Sociology of Minority Groups
Assignment 1 . Five periodic brief reaction and comment essays (1 – 2 paragraphs) will be assigned on a topic either drawn from the readings or from discussions in class.
Assignment 2 . This assignment requires going into a social setting where everyday behavior takes shape to observe race, class, ethnic, and/or gendered interactions. You should spend at least an hour at this research site recording these interactions using rich and highly detailed descriptions, including verbal and bodily forms of communication, spatial and temporal dimensions of the interaction, facial expressions, emotions, and other forms of social cues. Your paper will have four parts: a. Part one is your introduction explaining why you chose this research site as a place of interest and best for observing the types of interactions required for this assignment. b. Part two transcribes your fieldnotes taken from your research site.
c. Part three interprets the meanings behind the social interactions recorded in your fieldnotes taken while at the research site.
d. Part four offers a conclusion about the relevancy of the assignment, what you learned, and how this assignment helps understand everyday race, class, ethnic, and/or gendered interactions.
Assignment 3 . This assignment requires you to enter a familiar place to observe – with “new” eyes – a place you frequent often like your house, church, university, bar, coffee shop, etcetera where you record these interactions. This paper will have three parts. a. Part one begins prior to your research where you explain the reason for choosing this place of familiarity and your expected findings. b. Part two records the social behaviors observed using both “thin” and “thick” description.
c. Part three discuss how your observations compare to your expectations explained in part one.
Assignment 4 . Enter a research site (school, workplace, office setting, restaurant, bar, music venue, sidewalk, church, school youth group, members of a sports team, university campus, etcetera) to interview five people about their experiences of race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religious belonging within that setting/organization. You will write a four page paper using the data obtained from these interviews to develop ideas that lead to a better understanding of how minority groups understand their own experiences within these organizations/settings.
Assignment 5 . Using the ideas of reflexivity discussed in class, explain how your structurally located biography shapes how you understand others and how the others' structurally located positions shape their understanding of you. How does this impact your social interactions with others? How does this influence how we perceive one another, often resulting in misinterpretations and false judgments. What consequences can result from this? Please use specific examples from your own experiences to substantiate your point.
This should be a two to three page paper.
Assignment 6. Conduct a life biography of a member of a racial, ethnic, or gendered group. You will conduct a long interview or series of interviews asking questions about their life experiences concerning issues of race, class, and gender. Your purpose is to engage your respondent in such a way to facilitate storytelling. In other words, get your respondents life story explaining his/her experiences of the stated issues and how these experiences changed (or not) throughout the life-cycle.