Social Problems Website Assignment
SOCI 33 (Dr. Molly King, Assistant Professor, Santa Clara University)
In this assignment, you will develop a website on a U.S. social problem of interest to you!
Overview
By tracking one problem through the multiple stages of the social problems process, you can get a better idea of how a particular problem progresses through the stages in different ways. You will apply the conceptual tool kit provided by Social Problems (Best 2020) as a portable framework for thinking critically about the social world.
Your audience: The public, who needs a clear explanation of the social problems process as it relates to your topic. Your purpose in creating this website is to inform them about the claim being made and analyze the constituent elements.
You will complete this project individually. Each week, you will turn in one page of your website based on the stage of the social problems process that we are learning that week in class. Based on this, you will receive (and provide) feedback to classmates on that week's page.
Purpose
In this project, you will:
Describe contemporary social problems from a sociological perspective.
Understand the hidden ways in which institutions shape life outcomes in intended and unintended ways.
Examine the debate surrounding a social problem and compare/contrast the various sides in the debate to understand why and how groups develop opposing opinions regarding a given social problem and its solution.
Evaluate how various interested parties (including the media, experts, and politicians) shape how the public thinks about and reacts to a social problem, including the rhetorical devices they use in defining a social problem and its possible solutions.
Identify the role of power and privilege in the naming of social problems as well as the consequences and solutions to different social problems.
TASKS
Each sub-page of your website will be due twice:
once during the quarter, in preparation for peer reviews and feedback;
and altogether as a complete website at the end of the quarter for final evaluation as a complete product.