By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
- Competency 3: Explain the significance of social stratification and social inequality for the individual and society.
- Evaluate one’s own educational experience from a sociological perspective.
- Explain sociological issues that affect one’s own field of study.
- Competency 4: Analyze the influence of culture and socialization on both the individual and society.
- Examine the impact of culture and socialization on one’s own life.
- Competency 5: Evaluate the impact of social change on society and social institutions.
- Evaluate the impact of social structure and groups on one’s own life.
- Evaluate the role of technology and media in one’s own life.
- Competency 6: Demonstrate written and verbal communication skills for effectively presenting sociological concepts, ideas, and analyses.
- Write in a professional style using APA 6th edition referencing and format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Mills tells us of the intersection between public issues and private troubles. Throughout the course we have learned to use our sociological imagination to understand this difference—especially in terms of our own lives.
For your final project you will reflect on the question, “Who am I?” using the sociological imagination to understand and explain your everyday experiences. In doing so, you will look at the impact of social forces on your individual life. This requires you to apply the concepts, theories, and applicable sociological understandings that you have encountered in the course.
To successfully complete this assignment, you will write a paper with these components:
- Introduction: Introduce yourself and what you plan on discussing in your paper.
- Culture and Socialization: Examine the impact culture and socialization has had on your life. Consider the following when creating this section:
- How did you develop a sense of self?
- What agents of socialization had the biggest impact on you? How?
- How has culture influenced your life?
- Social Structure and Groups:Discuss the impact social structure and groups have had on your life. Considering the following:
- How have various groups (primary, secondary, reference, etc.) guided your behavior?
- What statuses have you held? What roles have you played?
- How have social hierarchies shaped your life choices?
- Education: Discuss how a sociologist would explain your experience with education. In doing so, consider the following:
- What major functions have education had for you?
- How has education been related to your life outcomes?
- What experiences with inequality have you had in education?
- Professional Field: Discuss the main sociological issues that affect your field of study or the field you intend to study at this point in your education. Be sure to include any social changes that may impact your field.
- Technology and Media: Analyze the role technology and media have in your everyday life.
- What impact have new communication technologies and social media had on your life?
- What messages have the media and popular culture communicated to you?
- What role has globalization played in your life?
- Summary: Briefly summarize the issues you discussed in the paper.
- Bibliography: Your analysis in each section should be supported by sociological concepts and course materials. You may also seek outside materials to support your analysis. A bibliography or works-cited page is required, in APA format. It should contain all the references that you used in the project. Your bibliography should include all materials you directly quote, all materials you paraphrase, and any materials you might refer to. Remember that using information created by other people without properly crediting them constitutes plagiarism. This includes Internet materials. Do not forget to include a full citation for any Web site you have used.
- Be sure to address any issues related to inequality or stratification as they apply to the various sections.
- Your paper should be a minimum of five pages in length, excluding the cover page and the references page.