Tag: sociology

Blurbs

• After studying the Sociology of Culture, students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a hands-on study abroad experience in Europe. In this ten-day study abroad experience, students examine three pillars of sustainability: social equality, environment, and economic practices in Sweden and the Netherlands. These countries are committed to gender and economic equality while also placing emphasis on the environment in business practices. By focusing on these societies, students will be able to compare and contrast these cultures and the ramifications of the differences to their own.

• Preparing for her trip to the Netherlands and Sweden, Skyla Renner ’18 studied about the two countries sustainability and gender equality in a semester-long class. This was the psychology and sociology double major’s first time abroad.

  “My life changed, because I was able to experience what felt like a whole new world. Until you travel and see other countries for yourself, it is difficult to understand other countries, their culture, their people, etc. I also have a desire to travel a lot more now,” said Renner.

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  Traveling for the first time out of the country, Cody Carruth ’18, a double major in Sociology: Crime and Society and History, was able to see the differences between the Netherlands and Sweden compared to the United States, saying that “at times it felt like a totally different world.”

  “This trip was a huge eye opener for me, with taking in the different cultures and the ways of life we witnessed. I feel like it opened up a new door to myself, showing myself that no matter where I am, or who I am communicating with from a foreign country, that I am comfortable to attempt to communicate with someone and learn from them and their culture,” said Carruth.

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  Following a semester-long class comparing and contrasting the Swedish, Dutch, and American approaches to sustainability, Annie Lenhart ’18, a biology major, travelled with her classmates and others for eleven days throughout Amsterdam and Stockholm. 

  “This was my first time abroad and it changed my life. I never expected that a Sociology class studying different cultures would change me, but seeing how people live differently than me was really eye opening. In Amsterdam, talking to the women about their maternity leave and their rights, to talking to Syrian refugees about their battle of escaping their homeland, was unbelievable. It definitely made me take a step back and reflect on my own life,” said Lenhart.

• In his senior honors thesis, Zachary McKenney ’10, a political science and sociology double major, explores Karl Marx’s account of the collapse of capitalist economies. He shows that even though the fall of communist countries in eastern Europe in the late 1980s was widely taken to be “proof” that Marx’s economic predictions were false, the 2008 economic crisis was actually caused by critical failures of the capital market systems that Marx anticipated long ago. He argues that Marx’s predictions were in fact very accurate and offers some thoughts on why Marx’s economic predictions can be prescient even if his political conclusions have proven to be problematic. Zak is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in political theory.