SOCIOLOGY

For the students who asked in class about my personal research interests and favorite theorists, I would say that while I think we can learn from all of the theorists we read in this class, the sociologists who have most influenced my own thinking are Emile Durkheim , Marcel Mauss , and Pierre Bourdieu . Yes, my favorites are all cheese-eating surrender monkeys, I know. Also, in the area of "theory" (as opposed to my other sociological interests), I have been writing about the implications of contemporary cognitive science and psychology research on sociological theory (specifically, cultural theory and the sociology of morality), and vice-versa. You can find more about all of this on my web site if you are interested. GI

The term  role model  first appeared in  Robert K. Merton 's socialization research of medical students. [ 1 ]  Merton hypothesized that individuals compare themselves with  reference groups  of people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires. [ 1 ]  The term has passed into general use to mean any "person who serves as an example, whose behaviour is emulated by others". [ 2 ]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/business/media/01soft.html?ref=media

The 'Disneyfication' of the Sea of Galilee?

Here 's a good book review that expands on many of the points discussed in class today.

For a discussion of the value of an MBA degree, click here  or here . For a nice article about the value of grad school right now, try here . And here  is a good article comparing average salaries of people with BA and MA degrees in many fields, including sociology. It's something to think about for you graduating seniors, anyway.

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/04/france_the_prec.html#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcP4vCANm20