Assignment 2: Social Institutions, Globalization, & Population
Adapted from The Real World, by Derry Ferris and Jill Stein.
Bernard McGrane suggests that we “do” rather than just study sociology. This assignment is an adaptation of one of his suggestions.
Step 1: Conducting the Experiment
This exercise requires you to go to a relatively busy public space (e.g., a mall, a square, a plaza, a street corner, a park, a sidewalk, or the like) and do nothing for 10 minutes. That means stand (stand, not sit) there and be unoccupied. Do not be waiting for someone, taking a break, sightseeing, or otherwise engaged in a normal kind of activity. Also, do not daydream, fantasize, or think about the past or the future; do not entertain yourself with plans or internal dialogues. Do not whistle, hum, fidget, look in your purse, play with your keys, take notes, or do anything else that might distract you from just being there and doing nothing. Do, however, observe the reactions of others to you and pay attention to your thoughts and feelings during these 10 minutes.
Step 2: Thinking and Writing About the Experience
After conducting the experiment, write a journal entry (casual in tone) describing the experience and its meaning to you. Describe other people’s reactions and your thoughts in as much detail as possible.
The purpose of this exercise is to get you to see that changing your perspective (from “doing something” to “doing nothing”) makes everything different. It helps turn the ordinary world into a strange place. It makes you more aware of your own sense (or lack) of self and how society constructs identity. You cannot take for granted that you “just know” what other people are doing or thinking or how the meaning of a situation is being defined or interpreted. Divested by your usual perspective as an everyday actor, you will learn how the most mundane activities (like just standing around) can become major objects of critical inquiry.
Step 3: Write-Up
You may want to include snippets of your journal entry to illustrate your points.
Do not write in a strict question-and-answer format. Instead, present the information in essay form through coherent paragraphs.
The paper should be a minimum of 750 words of text (approximately three pages typed, double-spaced) describing your feelings. Points will be deducted for papers that are sloppily written and for those that are less than the required length. Make sure to include your word count.
Task Summary
Stand in a public place for 10 minutes doing nothing.
Observe the reactions of others and self-reflections.
Write a paper describing the experience and its personal and sociological implications, adhering to a minimum word count and formatting guidelines.
Save your first paper as SYG2000-Assignment2-YourLastName.
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