Assignments

15 pts Attendance and participation
15 pts Weekly annotations (credit/no credit)
5 pts Photo illustration of concept (1 week; no credit/1/2 credit/full credit)
- No credit if don’t do it on your week
- ½ credit if only post photo with no explanation, or misunderstand concept
- Full credit if post photo and explanation that correctly links to concept
10 pts 3 in-class quizzes (short essay questions, 5 pts each, drop lowest grade)
25 pts Sociological autobiography
30 pts Photovoice final project (illustrate 5 concepts, NOT including weekly photo)

Attendance and participation (15 points total)

Students are expected to attend all classes, to arrive on time, and be actively engaged throughout the class period. Students can miss 2 class periods without a documented excuse, but missed class periods beyond that will result in loss of attendance credit unless a doctor’s note or other appropriate documentation is provided. If you are ill, please get a note from a medical provider. If you know you will need to miss a class period, the let the professor know in advance. I understand that life is unpredictable at time, and timely communication is central to managing how life’s ups and downs affect your engagement with the class.

Weekly annotations (15 points total)

Students are required to post questions and comments on the readings every week using the Annotate function. We will review the use of this function in class, and students can get tech support as needed. Annotations are credit/no credit: if you post a question or comment on the reading, then you receive credit, and if you don’t post then you will not receive credit. These weekly comments/questions will be used to shape class on Tuesdays, so they cannot be made up later. Students must post their comment/question BEFORE the class begins on Tuesday in order to receive credit.

How to Use the Annotation Tool (Hypothesis)

Photo illustration of concept (5 points)

Every Thursday, starting 9/14, a few students will each post a photo to illustrate a concept from the reading along with a paragraph explaining what the photo is about, what concept the photo illustrates and how it illustrates that concept. On 9/7, Students will choose what week they will be responsible for the photo illustration. The photo plus paragraph of description will be posted on a weekly blog and will be used to shape discussion in class on the day it is due; it must be posted BEFORE class on Thursday to receive credit. Photo illustrations are graded in the following way:

full credit (photo + paragraph posted on time, paragraph correct understanding of concept)
½ credit (photo + paragraph posted on time, but problems with understanding of concept)
No credit (photo + paragraph NOT posted on time)

How to Use the Class Group for Posting Photos

Registering for the CUNY Academic Commons
Joining a Group or Site (PDF)
Creating a Post on a Site or Group Forum (PDF, scroll to last page)
Main Commons support page for student groups
Join the class Commons group

In-class quizzes (10 points)

There will be 3 short, in-class quizzes during the semester. Each quiz will consist of 1 or 2 short-answer questions and will be worth 5 points. At the end of the semester, the lowest quiz grade will be dropped. Students who receive 5 points on all 3 quizzes will receive 10 points for the quizzes plus 2 extra credit points for excellent understanding of material.

Sociological autobiography (5-6 pages, 25 points)

A central aspect of Sociological Curiosity is learning to think about the intersection of our personal lives with societal histories and systems, and the relationship between personal troubles and social issues. The sociological autobiography requires you to turn a critical eye on your own personal life and experiences, things many of us take for granted, and look at them through a sociological lens. To do this, you will need to step back from your ordinary world and day to day life to place those in larger contexts and “make the familiar strange.”

Students are required to hand in a draft, received feedback, and then revise to create the final autobiography that will be graded. The sociological autobiography will function as a midterm exam for the class.

Sociological autobiography assignment

You can email the autobiography to nbraine@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Photovoice final project (30 points, 5 photos and 7-9 pages)

The final project is an expanded version of the weekly photo assignment: students will use 5 photos to illustrate 5 different sociological concepts, and write 3-4 paragraphs about each photo with a definition of the concept and an analysis of how the photo illustrates the concept. The photos and concepts MUST BE DIFFERENT from the ones you used for your weekly photo assignment, and both the definition of concept and analysis will be more in-depth than the weekly assignment, reflecting your greater knowledge and understanding achieved by the end of the semester. A more detailed assignment will be handed out in class.

The final project will develop in 3 stages: 1) students are REQUIRED to hand in a DRAFT of the project on 11/21, before Thanksgiving; 2) in the last week of class, students will do a presentation of their photos and analysis to the class; and 3) the final version will be due during exam week, on the day assigned for the final exam for the class. There is no final exam, and the final project will function as a substitute for an exam.

Photovoice assignment

Core concepts for use in Photovoice Project