Sociology
Final: Current Event Video Presentation Guidelines
A Sociological Perspective of Current Events
The implications of sociological analysis are endless when one opens the morning newspaper or views news channels, news websites and other media platforms. This assignment is meant to get you thinking about how sociological analysis can add insight to everyday situations and our comprehension of current events. It will allow you to better appreciate the day-to-day applications and potential of sociology and recognize how useful sociological concepts and theories are to understand the world around us.
Video Final Presentation Guidelines
Select an article that describes an event or situation that has occurred in recent years (2019 – 2023). The article must be from a major source, such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Time Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, The Nation, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and The Atlantic among others. The article can be found online or in print. Select a news article or news segment not an opinion piece.
- After finding your news article or news segment, prepare a 10-15 slide PowerPoint presentation (no more than 15 slides) in which you analyze the article using one of the following theoretical perspectives: symbolic interactionism, conflict theories, or structural functionalism. You should use the information from the chapter that corresponds to your topic and the theoretical perspective presented in Chapter 1 to demonstrate that you understand the theoretical perspective and can apply it to help better understand the concept/information in the article.
- In addition to a theoretical perspective, you will choose, describe, and apply at least two concepts from the course that correspond to your topic.
The following are examples of concepts from the chapters that you can consider but you are not limited to just these concepts.
Examples
- Sociological imagination
- Culture: values, beliefs, norms, symbols, language
- Social interaction
- Socialization
- Deviance
- Racism
- Ideal and Real Culture
- Culture Shock
- Subculture
- Ethnocentrism
- Media
- Sex
- Gender
- Discrimination
- Sexual Orientation
- Deviance
- Crime
- Stratification/Class
*Be creative in selecting concepts
The 5–7-minute presentation should meet the following criteria (Example attached)
Background:
- What is the event or situation?
- Briefly, describe the social event or situation presented in the article
- Who was involved?
- When/Where did the event occur?
- What data or statistics help to describe the situation? (If applicable to your current event)
- Discuss the theory and concepts you will apply to your article.
Sociological Analysis:
- Analyze the article using one of the following theoretical perspectives: symbolic interactionism, conflict theories, or structural functionalism.
- Choose, describe, and apply at least two concepts from the course that correspond to your topic.
- Conclusion: demonstrate/explain the connections between all the main ideas (event, concepts, theoretical perspective).
- Include an engaging and stimulating conclusion slide that summarizes your presentation.
- Reference Slide
