Welcome to the course blog! I am truly excited about teaching this course, and I hope that you find it to be an enlightening and enjoyable educational experience. As mentioned in class, we will be confronting some challenging issues, many of which might generate strong intellectual and emotional reactions. This blog serves as a mechanism for everyone to process these responses and to learn through engagement with others. Since none of us is as smart as all of us, we can gain further insights by taking in the ideas of our learning community members. While we may disagree on here, it is essential that we always demonstrate respect and maintain an open mind.
In order to participate, you will need to have an active Google or gmail account. You can obtain a free account by going to either website and signing up. Once you have accomplished that task, return to this page and click on the heading "Welcome to the Blog -- Topic 1" above. If you scroll down, you can read my instructions and enter your comments in the box. Come back a little while later, click on the same link, and read your colleagues' posts. It would also be great if everyone could at least publish their photo in the "Followers" section on the right-hand side of the page. That way, we can learn each other's names and connect faces with ideas.
I will post a blog topic for almost every week during the term. For each topic, I would like for you to produce a 1-2 paragraph thoughtful comment that shows your honest reflections and includes some type of contribution to our understanding of the issues at hand. (I will hand out examples of a good blog in class.) Then, after reading the posts of your classmates, I'd like for you to jump back into the conversation -- either by critically responding to someone else or by adding to your previous post with further insights. Feel free to continue the dialogue if you wish. You will be graded on the value-added nature of your overall posts over the course of the term. Although I am certain that you will get the hang of this blog thing soon, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
TOPIC ONE: Based on your understanding of "Social Science" so far, how do you feel that this course can be beneficial for you personally and/or professionally? The original posts are due by Tuesday August 25th, with follow up posts expected by Saturday August 29.
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Dr. Greenfield, I am looking forward to this course. I feel that this course will benefit me most in my professional career. Currently I am in the Food & Beverage Industry and I deal with people from all walks of life, both customers and my employees. With my customers it is important to know their likes and dislikes, what drives them, and how to serve them better. With my employees, they are younger than me and college students as well. What was important for me during my first attempt at college, is very diffferent from what is important to them. I really have noticed a generation gap.
ReplyDeleteHaving grown up in the New York, I have realized a definite difference to what was around me then to what is around me now. It is funny how one country has many different "societies" for lack of a better word.
I feel by taking this course i would learn lots of new things about life and about my classmates or about Dr.Greenfield and the plans that he have on teaching the class. This course will help me with my career field am trying to suceed in. So far i see it has to do with the everyday life that we live in. Taking social science i think would help me better myself in ways with others people around me.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletei like this course this is something i can stay awake for would not mind coming back to that class... social science is the class to take...
ReplyDeleteDear Scholars --
ReplyDeletePlease be certain that your answers reflect your best thinking and provide detail/depth. Make sure that you check out the questions that I posed and take the time to formulate thoughtful comments. Show your best at all times!
I feel this course will mostly be beneficial to my personal life. I found out today that a doll given to a young boy cannot harm him, it can teach him how to care for his own child one day. As a young boy I played with dolls but kept it a secret, I believe it helped me know some of the parts on a female and helped me discover what a female was to wear and what a male was to wear. This course is going to make me think outside the box of what I do. I think I am going to observe everybody's action and the reason behind their action.
ReplyDeletejames harris
ReplyDeleteI feel that this course will give me two ways to look at thing not just one and it will open up my eyes to alot of things i didnt know.
I feel that this course can be beneficial to me by helping me not be so timid to communicate with people. With me I always stayed to myself because I am a very shy individual that always tries to find the best way to get out of a conversation and that's why i took this class so I can step out of my box and better my communication skills for the profesional world
ReplyDeleteI've learned that the greatest separation between man is not distance, but culture. I believe that this course will help open my mind on several topics and expand my views while liberating my thought process. What we've discussed during the first two class periods challenged the way I think more than any other class that I've had before, honestly speaking. I look foward to the rest of the semester.
ReplyDeleteSo far as I have experienced this great class, it hasbeen very intersting. We talk about issues such as should males play with baby dolls at nthe age of 5? some people gave their opinions and others may have disagreed. when it all boards down to it everyone gets to share their views without being critcized.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSo far with me being in your class, you have pointed out some situations to me already that I would have never thought about in a certain way. You touched on the subject about a baby doll today and it really interested me how you made the point about boys getting there ears pierced. I just really think that this class is going to be beneficial in so many different aspects.So i plan on learning more about peoples different views on things and other types on culture. definetly looking forward to be in this class and learning more.
ReplyDeleteI think this class will help me in both my personal and professional life. I am looking for a career in International Business specifically importing and exporting. I believe this class will help me understand people in general as well as different cultures. In my personal life I think this class will help me to not be shy when I am around my peers. This class will help me to discover why behavior or react to a situation the way we do.
ReplyDeleteDr. Greenfield,
ReplyDeleteIf I wasn't sick the last year I was supposed to take this class..I'm pretty sure I would've enjoyed it then just like I am enjoying it now!! You are a wise and deep instructor, helping us get to the social dilemmas and looking deeper into each issue makes class so enjoyable. I believe this class will help me look into issues and problems as well as looking outside the Box. It will help me gain the inside look at social behavior and the reasons why people act the way they do. I am so grateful for the level of respect we have for each other, how everyone says their peace without harsh feedback, so if this class doesn't help me do anything else, it will help me grow!!
hey i know that we're suppose to respond to someone elses post but i dont know how. can someone please tell me
ReplyDeleteI think if you click on the date and time at the bottom of a comment it should post your comment in connection to the one you are commenting on.
ReplyDeleteNo never mind that didn't work!
ReplyDeleteMr. Baldwin III said...
ReplyDeletehey i know that we're suppose to respond to someone elses post but i dont know how. can someone please tell me
You can always cut and paste in the comment box and respond under it.
Dr.Greenfield Whatssup!, I storngly believe that this class will benefit me personally as well as professionally. This class will teach how to better interact wit my classmates and people outside of class. As im sure you already know I am a physic's major and i'vee got off to a rough start with my first year but with your help I know I can make it to the top!
ReplyDeleteDominique Denney
ReplyDeleteThis course can benefit me personally and professionally because it will teach me the value of being my own individual. In my personally life it can instill in me to be opinionated and be able to accept constructive criticism. Based on class discussions I've learned that everything we adapt to, For example, the way we dress, talk, and listen to different genre's of music is not something we construct it's things we follow. But in my field of profession it can allow me no to be so judgemental and look beyond others culture, their thoughts and personal opinions. I'm allowed to thimk outside the box rather than keeping the mentality of what I am as a black individual.
Jocelyn Jenkins
ReplyDeleteWhen I first signed up for this course, I looked at this class as just an elective for more credits, but when i saw ur name as the teacher, I realized that I was in for a life changing experience. Dr. Greenfeild, I am so happy to be apart of this course, Professionally, I belive this course will help me to branch out and speak with the knowlege of a prfessional woman. In my feild of music, this course will help me by understanding ethnicities and different genres of music, not just what im use to. Personally, I see myself being able to really express my feelings and thoughts and being my own woman and having my own true personality and sticking with it. I enjoy social science, I have learned so much in the pass two days about myself as a woman and about life, the stereotypes of women and men, that i never really looked into. I respect you so much as a professor, you have opened up my eyes so much to life and where I really want to go and never give up.
When I first entered your class and you passed out the pre-test I was like omg this class is going to be really boring, but then you started reciting poetry and it really made me think wow i was wrong can't judge a book by its cover. This class will be benifit me in many ways because I tend to judge people before getting to know them and that is very immature on my part and it must change if I plan to own my own business in the future. Dr. Greenfeild, i'm glad your my teacher and hope to have a successful semester with you and my class mates & also shake off this lazy bone in my body.lol :]
ReplyDeleteI am very excited about what this class has to offer. All the topics that have been discussed so far have related to me in some way. I am glad that this course is not a boring lecture that only requires you to take notes, memorize them, and come take the test which is just a copy of the notes handed out in class. Anyone can memorize a set of notes. This class will allow me to think hard about why I feel a certain way about a particular cause. This course will also teach me to ask questions; I shouldn't just settle for an answer because my mom said it, or my professor said it, or even my pastor said it. If I feel a certain way about something, I should express it.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all let me take the time out to say thank you for being a part of the faculty and staff at Shaw University. From what I've already experienced in this class ,we as scholars should become more open minded. Also learn how to think before we speak,it will always give us a better outcome. This class will help me professionally in the social work field cause dealing with different issuses in soceity people are always looking for someone that they fill comfortable with to help them. My passion is helping people esspecially kids and elderly people.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to ever ask me what social science was a few weeks ago I would have looked at you in such a questionable way that you would have to laugh. Now that I have learn and felt a little bit about what social science is I can truly say that a field such as this is intresting and intriging and is such a motivator to think more and believe differently and set aside all of what you thought was "right" or "wrong" or "normal." It studies what people do in there everyday actions and why they do or think the way they do. I have to say that this class will change my personally in which that matter will then change me profesionally. So far I enjoy this class.
ReplyDeleteMr. Baldwin (and everyone else) --
ReplyDeleteTo respond to others, you can just type the name of the person to whom you are referring and then offer your thoughts. Basically, I am giving you an example with this post!
From the understanding of Social Science that I have received so far I believe that this class will further help me to step of the "box" that I have lived in for so long. I have wanted for so long to challenge what others deemed as "right" or "wrong", but didn't really have to courage to do so. The reason again is because I have lived twenty-eight years of my life up to "societies standards". Just in this short period of time, I have began to open my mind and eyes to a whole new world. Professionally, since I will entering officer school in the military after I graduate in May, I see this class as a tool that will help me along in my career. I will be interacting with so many people with so many different backgrounds and beliefs, that these are the skills that I believe are needed to become a successful leader. Thank you Dr. Greenfield, I am truly enjoying this class!
ReplyDeleteTo respond to what Dominique said about the "black mentality", it feels so good to be able to view the world though the eyes of others. A lot of things that we think are "black issues or problems" we now see that so many other people are having the same issues. We all are going through the same struggles. Sometimes we can see that life for us as "black people" are pretty good compared to others!
ReplyDeleteThis is my second time taking this social science class before because i wanted to get a better understanding of what is truely the defition of social science and i think that i will be getting it from your class. already i am enjoying your class and is understanding your class i feel like your class is not just another one of my boring class that i have to take in oreder to graduate but your class is more of a class where i can be open and free with my thoughts and i feel like no question that i have is a stupid question so i just want to thank you now for all that you will teach me in your class.
ReplyDeletein response to what raymond said i think that this class will help me out in the long run to because i also got off at a rough start and i think it will be alot i will get out this class
ReplyDeleteI belive that this course will have a great impact on my personal and proffesional life. My understanding of social science leads me not only to notice the dominant trends in everyday life, but also the reasons behind them.
ReplyDeleteI feel that individuals have to break out of the common status quo that has been set before us, and stereotypes that has bee nplaced on us. Too many people out here are blindly following other wh, themselves, don't know who they are or where they're going.
Hey!!! I am really looking forward to this course. I feel that this course will benefit me in many different ways. I feel that this course can be beneficial to me by helping me communicate better with people. I also feel that this course is going to help become a better thinker.
ReplyDeleteThis course can truly help me see the bigger picture of things. Since Friday I began looking and thinking about things differently. Though I still do not think my 5 year old son should have a doll I however i do understand the point behing the topic. This class will help me professionally as far as knowing how to approach a situation. Hopefully this class can help me stop being so judgemental towards people and there culture. I know that i will learn a lot of great things!!!
ReplyDeleteDr.Greenfield, I am glad that I am in your class because you make me think outside of the box.I also feel that this course will benefit me booth personally and profesionally.In my personal life it will help me to become more diverse.Also do not become bias to other cultures, and do not look at race, but the heart and their character of a person. At the same time in my professionally life question what I know and the media. Do not believe everything in the media.We should not become bias to everyone else social activities and belifes.Currently my major is Religion & Phlisophy, this course will help me think about what I say. Then question what I know and is it Biblical true also put the Bible in today's 21st century level.This is one course that I am grateful to be in.Thank God I am finally learning outside of the box!
ReplyDeleteI'm very interested in this course. I personally get a feel that social science fits me and I think I want to actually change my major to Sociology. I've always thought very open minded about people, cultures, and the world itself so this seems to be right up my alley. I had been trying to decide between pyschology and criminal justice based on the type of person I am and what I want to do in life and sociology really has impacted me like no other. I believe I lucked up to gain you as my professor. I've actually heard about you as far as poetry before I came to North Carolina but your personality and deliverance in class tells me that I'll get even more of a benefit from this course than I would in any other social science class. I think it will enhance my thought process in different situations and benefit how I react in certain events. I believe it will allow me to think more creatively and logically. I also think I'll gain knowledge about different topics and current events. Therefore, I am very grateful to be in your class.
ReplyDeleteWhat i mean when i was like this course will give me two ways to look at things is like lets say wen i go to church nd i c the same people every day and one sunday someone new walk in if i was not takein this course if the man look gay then that would be the first thing to come out but now i ask myself is he gay or could he just have girl ways or could he have been brought up that way so i think its more the one or two ways to look at everything that we do or want to do so i just want to say that i am very thinkful for haveing Dr. greenfild as my teacher and i will learn more about how to look at things more then one way
ReplyDeleteI believe social science will help me in my professional field as well as my personal. In my professional field, I plan on recieving my degree in International Business with a minor in maybe teaching. This course will help in the business world by helping me come out of my "shyness box" and become more social. As far as the teaching and business world, I will be able to communicate well with people even in interaction.
ReplyDeleteAs for my personal life, I can be able to communicate with professors and my peers well. From this course, I will learn how to be comfortable in my own skin when interacting with people.
I think that it is very interesting to read that everybody feels that they have been "programed" to act a certain way and see things a certain way. I think we all tend to forget that we are animals with basic instincts like survival, reproduction, and eating, but unlike the rest of the animal species we can think and reason. Our ability to use our free will sets us apart but is based in education and experience. We all tend to take what we learn as gospel and forget that we came to those theories from learning. This course will definitely keep us seeing all sides of everything we encounter!
ReplyDeleteWhats going on everybody! I feel that this class is going to help me grow in my proffesional life becuase, say if my boss wants me to teach training on how to deal with racial misconduct in the work place, how can I do that if I am not even able to get rid of the private racism I have towards whites in my life? So by me being in this class it gets me out of my comfort zone and makes me face reality. Now this also helps me in my personal life becuase back at home i was faced with alot, and i dint know how to cope to certain situations and identify what was that little thing that continues to keep me down as a SCHOLAR!So I say to every one do your best and be your best and see you in class!
ReplyDeleteStookes
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you have shared with us that as a child, you played with dolls. The point that most of the class attempted to make was that the child would grow up to be "feminine" or "homosexual". You do not carry yourself as "feminine", and playing with that doll taught you many things. You are an example that proves that if a boy plays with a doll, he will NOT be harmed, but it could in fact benefit him. You played with dolls and you did not end up the way that "society" said you should and the same thing applies with my uncle. His situation is the exact opposite of yours. When he was younger, if he even picked up a doll my grandfather would snatch it out of his hand or yell at him. Instead of him growing up to be straight, he is homosexual. So he was pushed away from dolls and still ended up homosexual. So that is why I believe the idea of being gay or straight does not relate to a boy playing with dolls or not.
Q: What has caused the significant change in hip-hop?
ReplyDeleteA: Hip-Hop has lost its cause. Rap music started off as a way for the black community to unite and to be heard. This freedom of speech was used to fight against the oppression of those days. The L.A. police for example. They imparticular were a target for a very famous rap group, KRS-1. This ghroup spoke out against the injustice and racial profiling used by officers.
Hip-Hop today has lost its cause. everyone that can put two rhyming words together and perform in front of people is in it. It's all about the money. The stuff that is said now is just to tickle the ears of the listeners and create a completely fictional world. The persona in which rappers create for themselves are killers, pimps, big time gangsters, and big ballers. In some cases some of these may be true, but for the most part far from the truth. Hip-hop has lost its cause.