As I travel around the country this summer, I am teaching an online, asynchronous “Introduction to Sociology” course at Wake Forest University. For the first module, we are considering Peter Berger’s famous idea in Invitation to Sociology, “It can be said that the first wisdom of sociology is this–things are not what they seem.” OneContinueContinue reading ““New Glaze” by Zali Lawrence”
Tag Archives: Introduction to Sociology
Battling the Cell Phone Menace in Class for a Decade Now
Facebook’s wayback machine (“On this Day” app) reminded me this morning that I have been battling students using their cell phones in class for a long time now. I know some professors don’t care if students use their phones in class. Fine by me; their class, their rules. And some are just unaware. Many WakeContinueContinue reading “Battling the Cell Phone Menace in Class for a Decade Now”
Data on Gender Segregation in Occupations (2012)
Teaching Arlie Hochschild’s The Managed Heart in my sociological theory class recently, I was looking for data on the percentage of flight attendants today who are male. I found a nice post on the issue by Mona Chalabi (“Dear Mona”) on the FiveThirtyEight blog. Answer: In 1980, 14.3 percent of flight attendants were male; inContinueContinue reading “Data on Gender Segregation in Occupations (2012)”
Gun Digest Magazine Shows How NOT to Create a Pie Chart
Thumbing through the February 13, 2014 issue of Gun Digest magazine, I was excited to see data on a recent survey of first-time gun buyers, attributed to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the shooting, hunting and firearms industry. Two pie charts, shown below, describe (1) the percentage of new shootersContinueContinue reading “Gun Digest Magazine Shows How NOT to Create a Pie Chart”
Ten Essential Observations on Guns in America by James D. Wright
In my introduction to sociology class this week, I am discussing sociologist James D. Wright’s classic essay, “Ten Essential Observations on Guns in America” (from Society March/April 1995, reprinted in Guns in America: A Reader). Among his points: “There are 200 million guns already in circulation in the United States. . . . firearms areContinueContinue reading “Ten Essential Observations on Guns in America by James D. Wright”
Questions and Answers
Yesterday was the first day of classes for the semester, and my first day of classes ever, at Wake Forest University. Which raises a number of questions that I’ll try to answer quickly. Further observations will no doubt be posted as I make them. How’s the weather? It depends on what you like. You probablyContinueContinue reading “Questions and Answers”