Explore

Final Assignment – Due at the time of the final exam for the course – Fri, Dec. 9th by 11 a.m.

Be Thorough.

Sociologists often engage in a debate over the relative impact of structure vs. agency.  Put simply, a sociologist might ask whether someone’s behavior is determined by the social structures she inhabits or by her own choices (there’s even a Wikipedia primer on the subject).  Now nearing the close of this course, you can <let’s hope> count yourselves among the ranks of armchair sociologists and weigh in on the debate as well.  Specifically, I’d like you to think about the relative impact of structure and agency with respect to your marriage-and-family choices and trajectory.  Here are some areas to think about:

• Why do you want to get married?
• What is the purpose of marriage?
• Who (what kind of person) are you likely to marry?
• What kind of family structure do you expect to have?  How many children?
• How will your family compare with the family you have come out of?  (e.g. if your parents divorced, how will this affect your chances of divorce)
• How likely are you to divorce?
• How important is love in the context of the stability of your future romantic relationships/marriage?
• Assuming this a general goal of long-term relationships, how will you remain satisfied in your relationship/marriage across the marital life cycle?

As you think about the relative impact of social structure vs. personal autonomy in decision-making in these areas, you might find it helpful to think back to the beginning of the course.  How would you have answered these questions at that time?  How can you answer them based on the sociological understanding of marriage and family you have garnered from our time together in SOC3354?

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Explore #6 – The Pecking Order – Due Mon., Nov. 28th by Midnight.

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EMERGING ADULTHOOD – Due Fri., Nov. 11

Over the first half of this course, we read about and intermittently discussed emerging adulthood as a new developmental phase in the life course of individuals in post-industrial societies.   In order to conclude our work on this topic, this assignment asks that you comprehensively address the question, “What does it mean to become an adult?” drawing on the material from Arnett’sEmerging Adulthood.

Assignment instructions:

Use the concept of “narrative” as discussed in class to explain what is means to become an adult.  Draw on either your own life or an example from popular culture (e.g. song lyrics or a movie, such as The Last Kiss) to explain the narrative of emerging adulthood.  What are its characteristics?  How does the narrative of emerging adulthood guide the behaviors of the individuals in this age category?  How does one exit emerging adulthood to become an adult?  In responding to these questions you should discuss 4 of the 6 substantive areas Arnett details in his book: relationship with parents, love & sex, marriage, college, work,  and religion.

Regardless of whether you choose to discuss emerging adulthood in relation to your own life or as evidenced in popular culture, your written response should include the following elements:

• Explanation of emerging adulthood and its characteristics
• Explanation of the concept of narrative
• Application of the concept of narrative to emerging adulthood: How does the cultural narrative of emerging adulthood influence how 20-somethings experience or expect to experience this life stage?
• Discussion of any 4 of the 6 areas and emerging adulthood (For example, if you chose to talk about the depiction of emerging adulthood in pop culture through a film like The Last Kiss, you would explain how marriage is depicted for emerging adults in that film as it corresponds to Arnett’s observations on emerging adulthood and marriage.)

Reflect thoroughly and write clearly.  It should be clear from your written response that you have been engaged with the reading and with class discussion on the topics germane to this project.

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Explore #5 – The Feminine Mystique – Due Mon., Nov. 7

Assignment instructions:

This week, we have read a chapter from The Feminine Mystique. On Wednesday, we’ll watch an episode of Mad Men depicting this phenomenon.  In response, reflect on the following questions in blogging about the feminine mystique and its significance.

• What is the feminine mystique?
• How is the feminine mystique illustrated in the episode viewed in class?  Be specific.
• What is the broader cultural significance of this phenomenon?
• Do you think that the feminine mystique still affects women today?  Why or why not?

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Explore #4 – Gender, Religion, & Domestic Work – Due Wed., Oct. 19

How does religiosity affect gender dynamics in a family (specifically for a married couple)?

Many religious traditions proffer a particular view of gender, often as it relates to family/domestic life.  Choose a married couple that you can interview about religion, gender, and gender roles in the home.  Try to interview the male and female member of the couple separately.  Ask the following:

• Background:
  • How long have you been married?
  • Do you have children?
  • Do you work?
  • What is your occupation?
• Religion
  • What is your religious background?
  • In what religious tradition were you raised?
  • Do you consider yourself to be religious? Why?
  • How often to you attend church/synagogue/place of worship?
  • What other sorts of religious activities do you do (e.g. bible study, pray, etc.)?  How often?
• Gender
  • Do you believe that there are inherent differences between men and women?
  • Why do you hold this belief?
  • If you believe that there are differences, describe these.  Why do they exist?
  • Do you believe in submission in the context of marriage?  If so, what does this mean to you?
• Domestic Life
  • What kinds of chores or work are you responsible with respect to running the family/household?
  • How much time would you say you spend on domestic work each week?
  • What determines who does which chores or work in the home or with respect to the family?
  • Do your religious beliefs dictate the delegation of various household tasks?  How so?

Although you will not need to record the interview, you should take notes so that you can reflect on the  interview after it is completed.  Note that, although you will be asking questions about religion, it is not necessary to interview a religious couple.  For the purposes of the exercise and discussing it in class, it will be helpful to have a mixture of interviews with religious and non-religious couples.  Following the interview, reflect on the relationship between gender and religion in the context of the marriage of the couple you have interviewed?  What observations can you draw about the impact of religion on the life of the couple?  How does the religiosity of the couple appear to influence domestic life?

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Explore #3 – Defining Marriage –  Due Tuesday, Oct. 11th by midnight.

Assignment instructions:

• How do we define marriage?  Who gets to define marriage?  When has a marriage occurred?  Choose one of the following assignment options, each of which addresses these questions.  You may work together to research the answers to the questions.  However, each person must complete complete an original blog post in response to the assignment.

A. Report on the legal rights and obligations associated with marriage.  Here are some questions to consider, though your response does not need to be limited to these questions.

• How is marriage defined in the state of TX?
• How is marriage defined federally?
• Is there a waiting period for getting married?
• What are the legal restrictions on who can marry?
• Is it easier to get married or divorced?  Explain.
• What social values about marriage and family are suggested by the laws on marriage?
• Do you think that most Americans are well informed about the legal rights and obligations associated with marriage?  Why or why not?
• Which legal aspects of marriage were you surprised to learn about when doing this assignment?

B. Throughout history, different cultures have marked the occurrence of a marriage in different ways.  For each of the following cultures, explain: (1) how the culture determined when a marriage had occurred and (2) what this suggests about how marriage was viewed in that culture.  In other words, what does the way in which a marriage occurs say about what marriage means?

• Early Christians
• Ancient Judaism
• Ancient Roman

Note: If you have difficulty finding information for one of these, you may substitute another ancient western culture.  Alternately, I will accept an African culture as a substitute for one. Make use of our librarians if you have trouble finding information.  They are a wonderful resource!

CITE YOUR SOURCES.  WIKIPEDIA IS A STARTING POINT, BUT SHOULD NOT CONSTITUTE YOUR PRIMARY AND SOLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION.

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Explore # 2 – Love Attitudes and Romanticism – Due Wednesday, Sept

Assignment instructions:

Survey 6 people (3 male, 3 female) using the Love Attitudes Survey (available here).  Don’t forget the demographic portion.

Report your results here.

After the survey, look for patterns in your results.  Do you notice a difference between male and female responses?  Is this what you expected? Why or why not?  Write a blog post including your reaction.

Finally, read the article (under the read tab) that uses this scale to gauge differences in romanticism between men and women cross-culturally.  What conclusions do you draw?  Include this in your post.

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Explore #1 – Adventure in Marriage & Family – Due Friday, Sept 21

Assignment instructions:
In your groups, find 2-3 people for a brief interview using the questions below. This may be a small group of people or individuals. Please do not interview freshman. Be sure to tell them that you’d like to record their comments and get their permission to do so. You may let them know that the video will not be shared outside of our class. After you have completed the interviews, the videos should be uploaded to the motherblog. You may find it easiest to upload to youtube and then put the video from that onto the blog.

Ask:
Do you consider yourself to be an adult? Why or why not?
Do you live at home with your parents? How has your relationship with your parents changed since you came to college?
Do you plan to get married? If so, when do you see yourself getting married? Why?
Would you marry your first serious girlfriend/boyfriend? Why or why not?

Reflect:
Do the people you spoke with fit the criteria that Arnett describes for emerging adulthood? Why or why not?
What patterns do you notice with respect to responses about relationships with parents?
Are there similarities in plans for marriage? What are they?
Are there similarities in responses to marrying first girlfriend/boyfriend? What are they?