Tuesday, August 31, 2010

While you were writing, I was writing too...

The noisy clicking in the front of the room while you were doing your writing sample was me writing this post.  (Sorry.) 

I wanted to say in class but didn't have time...whenever I see a schema like we see in the Brooks article, I always think how it is only partly true.  I mean can Roman, Greek and British notions of sport really be reduced to just the concepts of spectator entertainment, individual achievement and reward, and teamwork respectively.  One could analyze these sports culture through a good sociological lens and show how all of these societies have allof these elements of sports.  Schema (fitting things into categories) help us think and define the way the world works and are therefore helpful.  A mammal is a....  A CUNY student is...  But schema always have exceptions and conditions.  There are mammals who swim and CUNY students who don't live in the five boroughs.  When we think of schema as permanent and natural (not slippery and human creations) we can make errors in evaluation and judgment (all mammals walk on land all White people can't jump).  Schema can be dangerous if taken too literally and exclusively--and especially if violence is done to enforce the schema.  Take race for example.  Categorizing people into racial groups is a form of schema behavior.  But just what exactly makes someone White, Black, Asian etc.  Certainly we can point to some things, but it is very rarely clear cut.  Yet when enforced rigidly, racial schema can cause some very harsh consequences, even death.  So take these Roman, Greek and British sports culture definitions only so far. 

So be careful when you are reading something where the theory involves categories or schema, and be careful when you make that move in your own writing. 

Blog Credit for ENG 101

Professor Martin posted that you can get extra credit in her course for posting to the blog.  For the writing course, you can get extra credit too.  So you could post once and get extra credit twice.  It's two for one. You don't get that too often in life.  At the midterm and again at the end of the semester, I will look over the blog posts and award 1-4 points based on your participation in the blog.

I should also say though that there are times where I will ask you to post to the blog as one of your writing assignments.  In other words, it will not be for extra credit but for actual class points.  blogging is an ever-more-present form of writing that you will certainly encounter (many of you probably already participate in the blogosphere.) So, I will ask you a few times this semester to post your piece of writing for the day on the blog. I will make it clear when this is required.

Tim

(You should all sign your posts, so we know who it is from.)

Additional opportunities to earn extra credit

In addition to the 10 points for the book review, you may earn extra credit by posting to the class blog and/or for volunteering with a youth athletic program.  Here are the details. 


1 point
Receive one point extra credit for each reply to a post at sportsandsocietylc.blogspot.com.  The post must be at least two paragraphs long.  Each paragraph should contain at least five sentences. 
Maximum:  10 points

1 point
Receive one point extra credit for each hour of service to a youth athletic program. 
Maximum:  10 points

*You must provide verification of your service and write a two-page paper connecting your experience with one or more concepts discussed in class.  You must indicate your interest in service to the community by week three by submitting a signed agreement form to Dr. Martin.  You are strongly encouraged to complete a pre- and post-service questionnaire.  You can obtain the questions from Dr. Martin. 

Total allowable extra credit points:  15

* You may mix and match. 

Final Exam Schedule

The final exam is December 15, 2010, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A Sporting Mind and the Sociological Imagination

Hi All!

Here are links to the readings for the first week of class!  Enjoy!

The Sporting Mind by David Brooks
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/opinion/05brooks.html

Excerpt from Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills
http://legacy.lclark.edu/~goldman/socimagination.html


Dr. Martin