Sociology—understanding the history, biography, and social structures of our societyIt is the study of our own behaviorStudy of human social/life/groupsIt is a mindset not an subjectScientific study of the social forcesExamine broader social characteristics/trendsWhy? Able to understand how we act and judge our own actions betterInfluence our daily livesConnects the personal to the socialMakes us to be aware of our social world and for self understandingTo become mindfulWhat is mindful?Look at things from many different perspectivesNot seeing anything for what it is but looking at the different layersTo become aware of anything we do at one timeIt is difficult to judge when you are mindfulIt affects past, present, and futureMindful Engagement Requires…?Curiosity—in order to learn you need to constantly ask questionsCompassion—being aware how your thoughts and actions affect other peopleAttention to detailCritical self-examination and the courage to break with the known, predictable routines…Personal level examples: racist jokes, teasing without knowing the hurtful consequencesActive participation, critical reflection, and analysisHow does a mindful person treat others?Treat them as a unique being with its own characteristics and behaviorDon’t treat them as an object“It is your thoughts and acts of the moment that create your future. The outline of your future path already exists, for you created its pattern by your past. But even that outline can change, and will change, depending on your own thoughts and actions as each new day dawns and then dies away again” Sri Sathya Sai BabaIs it painful to be mindful?You think about the meticulous repercussions of what you are doing so you are critical of yourselfFor example: buying clothes and you become mindful of where those clothes come from like fur, etc.“Pain is the experience of breaking the shell that encapsulated understanding” Kahlil GibranYou have to have harmony in thoughts, words, and actionsIf you thing something and do something else that is hypocriticalWhat Inhibits Mindfulness?Have a life with good purpose instead of living for the wrong thingsLiving with ignoranceYou need to learn from nature in order to become wiserIgnoring our interdependence/aspects of individualismWhat is the end result of being mindful?Open mindedEnlightenedAppreciativeSelflessnessCreating a better lifeKnowledgeCultureUnity in diversity—we all have different perspectives but we can communicate and be unitedTo be able to see the links between what people do and the social settings that shape their behaviorHow do we learn to think sociologically?Nothing is isolated, everything is interconnectedWright Mills (Sociological Imagination)--connecting micro and macro, links personal issues with larger social structureMany events that seem to concern only the individual, in reality, reflects larger issuesA man that is unemployed vs. the unemployment ratePersonal issue would be losing your job because of lazinessSocial issue would be 20% of people are unemployed without the issues of a lazy individualEnd result of Sociological InvitationChanging perspectivePerspectiveProvides a different way of looking at familiar worlds allowing you to gain a new vision of social lifeGives you broader social context of behavior… by looking at individuals’ social location—employment, income, education, age, and raceInvitation to Sociology by Peter BergerThings are not what they seemCan mindfulness make us a more responsible member of human community? How? Please give an example?Consider the political, economic, familial, and cultural circumstances into which you were born. Make a list of some of these circumstances and also some of the major historical events that have occurred in your lifetime. How do you think these historical and social circumstances may have affected your personal biography? How did they invoke mindfulness? Can you think of ways in which your actions have influenced the course of other people’s lives? How?Theoretical ThinkingTheory“It is the theory that determines what we can observe” A. Einstein3 dimensions of theoryPresuppositionThe position a researcher assumes to study social world/human naturePosition you assume at the beginning of your research tells how you will collect your dataUnit of analysis, Critical Assumption, Idealist/MaterialYou have to really set what you are going to study, the way you set up research is really importantLogical formValidation proceduresProcess for understanding and examining the social world around usSocial TheoryReflection of social-cultural and historical contextWhere you grow up, social background, etc. all has an impact on the mindGeneral PerspectivesPositivismObjectivityMaterial object based on observable phenomenon/distinguished from an idea or beliefHesitate any kind of beliefs getting in to the researchStudy the subject dispassionately, value neutralityInterpretive approachHuman studiesKantDare to knowSociology arose in the context of revolutionary changeCultural revolutionRise of science than religionAge of enlightenmentProvided intellectual basis for French/American revolution and uprising in 1848Political Revolution and Rise of DemocracyFrench and American revolutionUprising of 1848Economic and Social RevolutionIndustrializationConsumer Society/wage laborCapitalismUrbanizationBackground for French RevolutionThey were tired of people thinking they were powerfulWanted separation of church and stateIndividual rights, democracy, reason and rationality, equalityChallenged traditional rule/promoting democratic ideasEnlightenment Philosophers vs. Traditionalists (counter revolution, conservative)Unit of analysis for enlightenment philosophers emphasized individuality and equality, social is the individualUnit of analysis for traditionalist was society is primary, they thought you were shaped by your social institution like church, community, and familyEnlightenment philosophers liked accepting custom, norms, church, and social and economic injustice make you free from any choiceTraditionalists thought everything was made for youTheoretical thinking—responds to general problems pose by studying of social lifeTheory—corresponds to the social bases of the theoristsComteAim was to establish a naturalistic science of societySuggested for positivism because he tried to apply scientific method to understand the social worldUnit of Analysis emphasized on society than individualBelieved