CSN ANNOUNCEMENTS PAGE

I created a new page on this website for announcements pertinent to the courses I am teaching at CSN, called CSN ANNOUNCEMENTS (in the tab above). In the future all announcements will be there instead of on the main blog page.

SOC 101, SEC 2017, 6P TO 8:30P: Room Change -- New Room #1443

ATTENTION: STUDENTS IN SOC 101, SEC 2017, 6P TO 8:30P

We are moving to a new room for the semester. Room 1443.

It is in the Horn Theatre building. Follow the signs once you are in the building and you should be able to find it no problem. This is a permanent change for the semester.

Please come early enough on Thursday to find the room.

SOC 101 CLASS CANCELLED THIS EVENING, TUESDAY, NOV 22

SOC 101 -- 2017, ROOM 1060, 6:00P TO 7:20P is cancelled.

Happy Thanksgiving
See you next Tuesday.

Spring 2012 CSN Schedule

I will be teaching the following 16 WEEK classes in the Spring:

CLASS    SECTION  CALL #   ROOM #        DAY & TIME

SOC 102    2001      27762    CY1068    Th 9:30AM-12:20PM

SOC 101    2021      33964    CY1684    T 6:00PM-8:50PM

SOC 101    2017      27713    CY1068    Th 6:00PM-8:50PM

(NOTE: Room #s are subject to change--I will post changes here)

All of Dr. Pattie's Classes Cancelled Tuesday, October 25

I'm sorry to do this again, but something has come up that will prevent me from being at class on Tuesday. I will announce on Angel changes to schedule due to this unexpected absence. Thank you for your patience. Cheers, Dr. Pattie

SOC 101 CANCELLED THURSDAY Sep 29, 6p

SOC 102 AND ANTH/SOC 205 will meet on Sept 29 as usual.

SOC 101 -- 2017, ROOM 1060, 6:00P TO 7:20P is cancelled.
I'm feeling a little better though still under the weather some. I think I can do half day tomorrow, so morning classes will meet as usual, but my evening class is cancelled.

Some deadlines will be pushed out to accommodate the missed class. It will probably be tomorrow or Friday before I put new deadlines up on Angel.

Thank you for your patience.

DR THOMAS CLASSES ARE CANCELLED TUESDAY Sep 27

SOC 102 -- 2001, ROOM 1218, 9:30A TO 10:50A
ANTH/SOC 205 -- 2001, ROOM 1218, 11:00A TO 12:20P
SOC 101 -- 2017, ROOM 1060, 6:00P TO 7:20P

Classes will be cancelled for Tuesday, Sept 27due to illness. I have a nasty case of bronchitis and do not want to spread contagion. I believe I will be better by Thursday, but look for an announcement here if I am not. Assume we are having class on Thursday unless I post an announcement.

Some deadlines will be pushed out to accommodate the missed class. I will put new deadlines up on Angel when I am well enough to do so.

Thank you for your patience.

CSN SERVES VOLUNTEER FAIR

Reminder to my 102 students -- here's your chance to meet some of the organizations with whom you might considering doing your community service work. Free food too!

Using a Portfolio Approach in Sociology

I have been exploring portfolio approaches to teaching, so this semester I am using this approach with my Contemporary Social Issues class. I can't seem to find a good definitive, but simple explanation of the elements of this approach that students can understand, so I'm writing my own here. I decided to do this more publicly because I think it is something other teachers might like to see.






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The Basics

A portfolio is simply a collection of items that have something in common. So it can be artwork you've done or papers you've written or pictures of your family or pets. It can also be documents that demonstrate your abilities and skills. The basic concept of a portfolio approach to learning is that when you address a particular subject, you can collect what you learn in one place (nowadays, that is usually an electronic "place") where you can review it as a whole and see the commonalities in what you have done.

There are numerous ways to do learning portfolios, but they almost all have the following in common:

1. Process Oriented: an effort is made to build upon previous work and connect that work in a coherent form.
   
   
2. Revision and Correction as Learning Process: instead of a "testing" recall and penalizing for lack of recall, the portfolio is built, in part, as appropriate on the ability to take feedback or further research and incorporate that into improving previous work.
   
   
3. Reflecting upon Learning: milestones are built in that allow the student to review previous work and consider questions like: What did I learn? What did I do well? Where did I improve? How has my thinking been changed? What would I like to explore next? How do I feel about these efforts?

Other Considerations
There are, of course, other elements that can be added. The context does change things. For example, some departments have portfolio approaches so a student might be seeking their best work from each course to add to a larger portfolio that will be presented as part of either a comprehensive review before graduation or some sort of capstone experience. A single course approach is much less ambitious.

The subject of the course also give context. A portfolio experience in Sociology is much different from one in English or Biology.

There is also debate on how such things can be graded. Some approaches have feedback throughout the course and a single grade of the portfolio at the end. Others grade individual pieces within the portfolio, but allow for revision or correction and re-grading.


Conclusion

My goal in writing this is not to be comprehensive but to give both student and colleagues a taste of what this approach entails. I plan to use this approach in examining social problems through three lenses. One is a theoretical framework, which provides methodology to consider what is and is not a social problem and how some claims evolve into social policies and programs where others fall flat. The second area which builds upon the theoretical framework is community involvement. Students will be volunteering for 9 hours at a local charity or organization. They will be writing about these experiences using the theoretical framework as a guideline for understanding the organization and its purpose in light of what problem it hopes to address. Then finally, working with a group, we will address specific social problems and debate issues in various topical areas. The analysis of the problem, the construction of the in-class debates and the assessment of different approaches will build on the theoretical framework.

If you teach and you have used a portfolio approach, I'd love to hear about your experience(s). If you are a student and have been in classes or programs that use this approach, I also love to hear about your experience(s). I will write more at the end of the semester about how this goes.

My Fall 2011 Schedule -- Tell Your Friends!

Fall Class Schedule is out - here's what I'm teaching:

SOC 102 Contemporary Social Issues
Sec 2001 Call # 83296 CHEYENNE Campus Room 1681 1218 T/Th 9:30AM - 10:50AM

SOC 205 Ethnic Groups in Contemporary Society
Sec 2001 Call # 83301 CHEYENNE Campus Room 1218 T/Th 11:00AM - 12:20PM

SOC 101 Principles of Sociology
Sec 2017 Call # 83245 CHEYENNE Campus Room 1060 T/Th 6:00PM - 7:20PM

Tell your friends and neighbors :)

The American Ruling Class: View of the Power Elite

Last week I showed two of my classes a delightful film called The American Ruling Class, which bills itself as a "documentary, drama, musical." It lives up to the billing.

The drama part is the storyline of two recent Yale graduates who are trying to figure out what to do with their lives now that they are ready for the "real world." Other fictional parts include classmates, workers, a Pentagon press corps, and musical entertainers, including some wonderful kids.

The documentary part involves the film's creator, Lewis Lampham, long-time editor of Harper's Magaine and self-identified member of America's Ruling Class. Lampham coaches the fictional Yalees by introducing them to a wide range of real life members of various sectors of media, literary, Hollywood and political elites. There is little indication of how many of these well-known persons are "in" on the fictional aspects. In this way, the film reminds me of Sacha Baron Cohen's work where the lines between fiction and reality are blurred. Highlights include Walter Kronkite, Kurt Vonnegut, Barbara Ehrenreich, James Baker, Hodding Carter, and Bill Bradley.

The musical part involves several times in the film when the point is driven by workers, press corps and kids breaking out in song. Of course, there is also a magical bus ride with Howard Zinn, who conducts a tour of an alternative American history that sought to set up a ruling class and suppress dissent, accompanied by a Phillip Glass composition from Koyaanisqatsi. And rounding out the musical aspects of the film, is a wonderful encounter with Pete Seeger, who is strumming a banjo on a country road and providing sage wisdom about social change.

If you are looking for cut and dry answers to the questions of whether the ruling class controls the rest of us, whether holding power means the opportunity to do great good or whether power corrupts absolutely, you will be dissatisfied with this film. It is highly ambiguous, reflecting, I believe Lampham's own mixed feelings about the privileges that he has enjoyed.

One of the more interesting aspects of the film is the obvious role that two prominent private organizations play in providing a gateway to becoming a part of the class: the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission.

One of the graduates is introduced to the Council on Foreign Relations as the doorway he must pass through in order to become part of The American Ruling Class. The other graduate, a little more reluctant to become a member, is sent to a wide range of political, military and philanthropic leaders, each of whom is a member of one or both of these organizations.

When I teach about C. Wright Mills's Power Elite, I point out that one of the features of an elite is that they are simply acting within their social circles, no evil cartel needed. Because these powerful persons share social spaces, they often make decisions like most of us, thinking of their own interests and those of their social circles, acting along the norms that they have been taught and viewing the world in ways they have been socialized. The difference is that when these elites act, other people's lives outside their circles are affected. The effects can be unintentional, but they are real, nonetheless.

Only after watching this film did I learn more about the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. I was amazed. These organizations are the centers of power on both sides of the political spectrum. These are where the elite meet and do business. These are where power is brokered, expanded and solidified.

When I teach about Mills's point that no evil cartel is necessary, I also point out that doesn't rule out conspiracies. Conspiracies are not necessary, but they certainly are more efficient. After learning more about these two organizations, I am now worried that I was more right about this than I want to be.

Add to this, another aspect of world elitism of which I've only recently become aware, the annual Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum. While the news media loves to show G-fill-in-the-number-this-year summits of political leaders and financial advisors supposedly setting trade policy, little media coverage is given to Davos outside of business news. Yet this is where elites from around the world meet to set policy not only for governments, but for developing countries, social agendas, multi-national corporations, academic grants and media production.


If you are concerned about the fact that 1% of the world's population now owns over 40% of the world's wealth, then these three organizations should be on your radar. If you are concerned about the growing poverty the world is experiencing the wake of the events of 2008 and the so-called financial meltdown, these three organizations should be on your radar. If you want to understand why political power is much more complex than the news channels want you to believe (like much more complex that what the current president is doing today and how are the two-sides of one coin political parties are dividing their time), then these three organizations should be on your radar.

This is the power elite and as predicted they are getting more powerful in many ways.

I have a lot more to say about power and I do not believe the power elite is the only power game. But I do think it is important to know about this if you want to give the correct context to media. Because, currently in the United States, the media are acting as smoke and mirrors.

Toto is looking behind the curtain. We should probably follow suit if we want to find our way to our brains, our hearts, our courage and our homes.

SYLLABUS CHANGE FOR ANTH/SOC 205

NOTE SYLLABUS CHANGE:

EXAM #1 DUE DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO FEBRUARY 19.

You should see the exam by February 10th and will have until the 19th at 11p to submit 3 times.

ROOM CHANGE FOR SPRING SEMESTER--ANTH/SOC 205 -SECTION 001

The wandering tribe of Anth/Soc 205, Section 001 has found their home (and it isn't a storage closet):

We will be meeting in Room 1681, just down the hall from our original room.

See you again on Thursday!

ROOM CHANGE FOR SPRING SEMESTER--SOC 101 -SECTION 817

Sociology 101, Section 817, meeting 12:30p to 1:50p every Tuesday/Thursday, January 24 to May 22 will now be in Building K, Room 241 on West Charleston Campus.

I Take Up Space: New Blog on Psychology Today

I'm excited about kicking off a new blog at the Psychology Today website. The blog is called "I Take Up Space" and is about the consequences of fatism. The site has millions of visitors each month, so I'm hopeful that it will become an outlet for discussing Fat Studies as an emerging field and promoting sociological perspectives on these issues as well.

I write about the failure of New Year's Resolutions and the Moral Panic of the War on Obesity in my first effort.

(Please forgive my cross-posting if you read me in more than one place.)

ROOM CHANGE FOR SPRING SEMESTER--SOC 101 -SECTION 824

Sociology 101, Section 824, meeting 9:30a to 12:20p every Tuesday, January 24 to May 22 will now be in Building K, Room 248 on West Charleston Campus.

New York times Article about Banking Oversight

A Secretive Banking Elite Rules Trading in Derivatives


Thought this might be of interest after watching Capitalism: A Love Story and discussing Power Elites.

BOTH SOC 101 CLASSES CANCELLED TODAY, THURSDAY DEC 2

THE NELLIS (SEC N21) AND LATE NIGHT (SEC 829) CLASSES ARE CANCELLED TODAY, DEC 2


I have lost my voice and not feeling well. Please go to Angel and read more extensive information.

See you next week. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Wendell Potter and Michael Moore on Keith Olbermann's Countdown

Since we discuss both the role of whistle blowers and the health care debate in class, I thought this might be of interest.

CSN SCHEDULE SPRING 2011--TELL YOUR FRIENDS :)

I just confirmed my teaching schedule for Spring 2011:

SOC 205 001 30438 6:00PM-8:50PM R CY1684 CY 24-Jan 22-May

SOC 101 817 30400 12:30PM-1:50PM TR WCHI302 WC 24-Jan 22-May

SOC 101 824 30414 9:30AM-12:20PM T WCHC222 WC 24-Jan 22-May


Former 101 students -- note I'm teaching an upper level class, SOC 205, Ethnic Groups in Contemporary Societies (which is also an Anthropology class). So I hope to see you again.

Cheers,
Dr Pattie