Problem: Introduction to Sociology Course Reflection
Sociology is the science of society and human behaviour and it provides much insight on how people mingle within the social systems. During this course, I have received valuable theories, concepts, and views that describe the way society works and how individuals are affected by social forces. This reflection will talk about what I found to be the most valuable lessons I developed, what I liked most about the course and what I feel can be done to improve. On the whole, the course made me even stronger in the application of the sociological imagination and I began to understand most significant sociological perspectives, and even made me more conscious of cultural differences existing in the society.
The idea of the sociological imagination developed by C. Wright Mills was one of the most important lessons that I have made. This theory describes the relationship between individual lives and greater social systems. It makes people understand that social circumstances can always play a role in personal problems and not personal failures. As an illustration, the problems like unemployment or poverty might be related to the economic system and social inequality or political policy rather than individual decisions only (OpenStax, 2015). I found that the discovery of this concept transformed my approach to the social problems and made me view issues more critically in the context of global social forces.
The other significant thing I learnt during this course was the major sociological perspectives, such as functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Both views represent alternative approaches to the question of how the society and human behavior can be studied. Functionalism is concerned with the interplay of various components in the society in order to establish order and stability. The Conflict theory focuses on inequalities and power struggles that exist among the various groups of people within the society. Symbolic interactionism is the study of the role played by everyday interactions in the creation of meanings and social reality (OpenStax, 2015). The knowledge of these views taught me that society is subject to various approaches and that the social behavior is predetermined by a great number of factors.
The part of the course which I liked the most was culture and its influence on the human behavior. The material and non-material culture, norms, values, and beliefs were some of the topics that assisted me in learning the development of society towards common expectations of behavior (OpenStax, 2015). Particularly interesting were such concepts as ethnocentrism and cultural relativism since they describe how the cultural standards of people tend to judge the other cultures. The study of these concepts contributed to my becoming better open-minded and understanding of cultural diversity. Such subjects were interesting as they are directly concerned with the life interactions in more diverse societies.
There is one aspect I would desire to see changed in the course: there were no interactive learning activities. Although the course was very theoretical in nature, discussions, case studies and real world examples could be used to make the material less cumbersome and more palatable (OpenStax, 2015). Examples of activities would involve linking the concepts in sociology to contemporary societal problems to enable the students to apply the theories to actual scenarios. Additional engagement might be a factor that fosters engagement and better comprehension of sociological concepts, too.
In conclusion, this course has been an important background in learning about the society and human behavior. The sociological imagination allowed me to relate my personal experiences to the larger social systems, whereas the study of sociological perspectives gave me the opportunity to examine the society in its new perspectives. Moreover, I learned about culture, which gave me more consciousness about diversity and social conventions. The course has been informative and interesting though incorporation of more interactive learning activities would enhance the overall learning process. In general, this course enhanced my critical thinking abilities and allowed me to have a deeper insight into the role of society on people.
Change what i would add to the course and add more in-text and references from Google scholar I would change the amount of presentation we had to do. Need Assignment Help?