EXAMS, ASSIGNMENTS, resources & DUE DATES

Sociology 2500 – Deviance, Conformity & Social Control 

Exams

There are 4 exams for this course. Exam questions come from texbook content and application.  Each exam is worth a total of 25% of your final mark. Exams will consist of 100 multiple choice questions each; questions will be worth 1 mark each. You will have 120 minutes to complete each exam.

Students will not have the exact same exam as each other because the questions will be pulled randomly for each student from a larger bank of questions.

Exams will be done on Moodle from your own home, NOT in the testing centre.

In addition to using your textbook to study, PowerPoint slides for each chapter are on Moodle for your reference.

Click HERE for access to the PowerPoint slides.

Click HERE  for access to an online study guide.

 

Exam dates:

Exam 1 (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4): September 30 (available from 4am – 11:59pm)

Exam 2 (Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8): October 21 (available from 4am – 11:59pm)

Exam 3 (Chapters 9, 10, 11): November 18 (available from 4am – 11:59pm)

Exam 4 (Chapters 12, 13, 14): December 15 – December 17th (available from 4am – 11:59pm) ** You can take the exam anytime between 4am on December 15th and 11:49pm on December 17.  This will allow you some extra flexibility during final exam week.  Though you have a choice of day to do the exam, please remember that once you start the exam, you will only have 110 minutes to complete it. You cannot start the exam one day and come back to it the next. 

You must complete the exam within the timeframe indicated on each exam date. Students will not be permitted to write the exam on any day other than as indicated above.

Individual Assignment - Magic Wand

This assignment is worth 20% of your overall mark.

The assignment must be submitted to Moodle, on or before the due date. Emailed or late assignments will not be accepted.

Assignmnet must be submitted in either Word (preferred) or PDF format.

Assignment due date: November 25, 2020

The intention of this assignment is for you to think critically about what you are learning from this course. The objective is for you to be able to identify social problems, to think seriously about (and possibly challenge) your personal views regarding social problems, to consider the steps required for change, and to consider how interrelated social problems are.

INSTRUCTIONS

Using one of the main theoretical perspectives covered this semester to guide your responses, please answer the following questions.

Please note: While the social problem and sociological perspective you choose for this assignment may be a reflection of your own views, please remember that this is NOT an opinion paper.  You must support your responses with theory that you have learned from the textbook and/or other resources used to aid in your learning. Please answer all of the questions from one theoretical perspective only.

Assignment should be well written (easy to follow, free of spelling errors, grammar issues, run-on sentences etc).  It should be easy for the instructor to see that all questions have been thoroughly answered, so please label each question. There is no page limit for this assignment, but please consider the fact that it is worth 20% of your overall mark. You want to ensure that you thoroughly address all questions, but do not ramble on. Approximately 5-7 double-spaced pages should do the trick. 

QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED

Suppose you were given a magic wand (the economic resources and political influence) to reduce a major social problem:

1. Which social problem would you choose? (Identify the social problem and explain why it is considered a social problem.) /3

2. What steps would you take to alleviate this problem? Indicate why you think this problem should be alleviated. /3

3. How would you measure your success or failure in reducing or eliminating the problem? /3

4. Identify and explain some possible side effects, both positive and negative, that could occur if this problem was reduced or eliminated. /5

Hint: think of the effect that eliminating this social problem may have on other social problems. 

5. Indicate the sociological perspective used to guide your responses /1

Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation, ease of reading: /3

Consistency with theory application /2

TOTAL: /20 (x 5 = 100)

Group Presentation

The group presentation is worth 20% of your final mark.  

Click HERE to see the marking rubric.

All students will be assigned to a group. You will work as a group to prepare and deliver a presentation via Zoom. 

Presentation due dates:  All presentations will take place on December 7 & 8, 2020

The instructor will host a presentation info session via Zoom on October 7th at 1pm to provide more info about what is expected for the presentations & the technology required. All students need to attend this info session. If you cannot attend, a recording of the session will be made available. 

    Meeting ID: 778 7055 7262
    Passcode: 6iSnEW

After the info session, the instructor will assign groups & you can sign up via Google Docs (link below). There are multiple time options & sign up will be on a first-come, first-served basis. 

All presentations will be recorded by the instructor and may be watched by other students.

    Meeting ID: 778 7055 7262
    Passcode: 6iSnEW

 All presentations will be recorded by the instructor and may be watched by other students.

The purpose of the group presentation is to provide the opportunity to learn from each other. It also gives students the opportunity to connect with others remotely and work together towards a common goal (Due to COVID 19 concerns, you are NOT permitted to meet in person to work on this)

Presentation Topic:

For your group presentation, choose a question from the ‘Questions for Critical Thought’ section at the end of one of the chapters (any chapter you choose).  You have the freedom to choose the topic, but your presentation must teach us through a sociological lens. Be sure to research outside of the textbook in order to expand your content. The goal is NOT to simply repeat info from the text. In fact, please do not do that. 

Presentation Length: Presentations should be 15-20 minutes in length. Anything shorter or longer will lose marks. 

Presentation Format: All members of the group will meet the instructor online via Zoom to do a live presentation. You may wish to use PowerPoint but it is not mandatory. Please note that video or audio clips within a PowerPoint will not be accepted. The instructor will record the presentation. 

 

OPTIONAL ZOOM CHECK-IN SESSIONS

Please join me & your classmates for these optional Zoom check-in sessions. 

These sessions will NOT be lectures. Rather, they offer a chance for the class to connect, discuss various topics, and ask any questions you may have about the structure of the course. Online classes may be new to many of you, and for some, they can be lonely. These sessions will give everyone a chance to connect. They will be approximately 30 minutes in length.

ZOOM CHECK-IN SESSION: please click HERE a few minutes prior to the session starting. 

Meeting ID: 778 7055 7262
Passcode: 6iSnEW

September 9 @ 1pm

September 23 @ 1pm

October 7 @ 1pm – Presentation Info Session (see info above in the presentation section)

November 19 @ 1pm 

 

OPTIONAL: FOR YOUR OWN LEARNING...

The following are recommendations to enhance your learning, but are NOT requirements of the course

TED TALK: Poverty Isn’t a Lack of Character; it’s a Lack of Cash – Rutger Bregman

  1. What sociological perspective/theory does this Ted Talk resonate with? Explain & provide examples to support your explanation.
  2. From the sociological perspective that you indicate in question 1, explain why the proposed solution to poverty would work?
  3. From a sociological perspective different from the one used in questions 1 & 2 above, explain why the proposed solution to poverty would not work.

 

LGBTQ YOUTH HOMELESSNESS 101 Online Course

Click HERE for access to the True Colors United free online course. 

HIGHWAY OF TEARS

Click the title above to rent the Highway of Tears documentary for $1.99

Click HERE to access the free ’48 Hours’ coverage of the infamous Highway of Tears. 

1. How does what this video explains relate to what you are learning in your textbook? 

2. In the film, Indigenous women spoke of their feeling of insecurity simply because they are Indigenous women. What would your life be like if you constantly lived in a state of fear for yourself or a loved one?

3. Film narrator Nathan Fillion said “The Highway of Tears isn’t just about a
number—it’s about humanity, and it’s about erasing our history with
discrimination and forging a new future with impartial eyes.” What actions can
you take to help forge this new future?

Learn more about the No More Stolen Sisters campaign HERE

TED TALK: The Hidden Influence of Social Networks – Nicholas Christakis

1. How does this Ted Talk relate to what you have learned in your textbook? Explain and provide examples to support your explanation.

2. The presenter says “Our experience of the world depends on the actual structure of the networks in which we are residing and on all the kinds of things that ripple and flow through the network.

  • Explain what he means by this.
  • In a couple of sentences for each, apply this meaning (explain & provide examples) to the experience of:
    • A criminal
    • A stay at home father
    • A single, unmarried 35 year old female
    • A NYC resident who was a teenager on 9/11

 

HOUSING FIRST MODEL to END HOMELESSNESS

Chapter 10 in your textbook talks about the importance of the Housing First model and how it is linked to reducing poverty and crime.

Watch the following YouTube video to see how Calgary is implementing the Housing First Model to end homelessness in your own backyard.