Introduction To Sociology Year 1 BA (Honours) in Social & Community Studies Sept 2013 Dr. Michael Ryan.

Introduction To SociologyYear 1 BA (Honours) in Social &

Community StudiesSept 2013

Dr. Michael Ryan

Introduction To Sociology

• “The humanly produced social world with all its joys and sufferings…examines both the good things worth fostering and the bad things we strive to remove. Sociology becomes the systematic, sceptical study of all things social.” Plummer (2010,p.3).

Write down this definition & think about it

Welcome to an audio-visual presentation:

Exploring Irish IdentityIn Class Task 1•First viewing - relax and enjoy the audio visual journey•As you observe each slide - use the image grid hand-out (1-20) to identify themes & enter some initial thoughts for each slide

Identification of Each Image Category

Image Category

1 11

2 12

3 13

4 14

5 15

6 16

7 17

8 18

9 19

10 20

Soundtrack for the presentation

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnD6ojjA0OA

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Roy Keane Denis Irwin

Ireland Qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the U.S.A

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

Image 7

Image 8

Image 9

Image 10

Image 11

Image 12

Image 13

Image 14

Image 15

Image 16

Image 17

Image 18

Image 19

Not an Irish Leader in Sight?

Image 20

Our Picture Parade: Exploring Irish Identity

In Class –Task 2Working in pairs:•compare your labels for each theme. Are they the same?•Compare your thoughts and perspectives on the themes identified•Why were these themes chosen in relation to Irish identity?

• Do you think these images capture important elements of Irish identity?

• Is there anything missing? If so - what might it be?

• Which of these images are most important in capturing Irish identity?

Identification of Each Image Category

Image Category

1. Rural Ireland & Agriculture 11. Political Leaders

2. Rural Towns 12. Irish Writers

3. Dublin & Corporate Identity 13. Important Institutions

4. Sporting Ireland 14. Education

5. GAA & county 15. Homelessness & Unemployment

6. Family Life 16. Media & Social Media

7. Ireland & The Developing World 17. Relationship with England - Colonialism

8. Travellers & Minority Groups 18. EU, USA & Australia

9. Comedy – Irish humour 19. Ireland & Global Politics

10. Entertainment – Music & Big Screen 20. Popular TV Crime Drama (Love Hate)

Your Task For This week’s tutorial

• Respond to the following Forum Post on your Moodle page:

Forum Post• All of our identities are shaped by various

cultural influences. My identity has been shaped to a large degree by the following influences…

Key Sociological Theories-we will explore in the coming weeks

• Symbolic Interactionism• Structural Functionalism• Labelling Theory

• See the Powerpoint/Adobe file presentations on each of these