Goal 8- Social Sciences
Sociology, or the study of society and the interactions within them, have always been a keen interest of mine, which is probably due to the fact that it heavily intertwines with my major. I like to think of myself as an optimist, and I often find myself saying “it could be much worse”, but Sociology 102 opened my eyes to the different problems we have not only in the United States, but in the world as a whole. Dr. Bidwell showed different problems in society, such as crime, gender inequality, and poverty, to name a few. The class also explored different approaches on how to interpret social problems, and the different ways in which the approaches use to solve these problems. Dr. Bidwell not only taught us this material, but tried to apply it to various news articles that connected to our class. We were assigned journal entries each week, in which we had to research current problems and come up with different approaches to fix them. She even let us debate openly in class, and was both respectful and understanding of our different viewpoints. Before this class, I liked the notion of never questioning society and accepting every aspect of American life, but after taking this class I think more and more about the ones who are being excluded from society due to different viewpoints, economic standpoints, and situations beyond an individual’s control.
Enclosed is one of my journal entries, in which I talk about the effects or war and terrorism on children, and different solutions to combat the consequences.