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UPDATE: Due this Sunday, May 5th @ 11:59PM.

Immigrant Interview

Interview an immigrant of any age, gender, and nationality. Ask to hear his or her immigration story. Listen for the key migration concepts discussed in this chapter: pushes and pulls, bridges and barriers, and immigrant types. Ask about the person’s incorporation experience in the new country. How are gender roles different in the new country? What are the expectations of members of the second generation, and how do their lives differ from those of their immigrant parents. Be sure to take detailed notes and analyze the story, then synthesize it in a short essay using first person.

Due Sun 12/2 @ 11:59 pm

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Fieldwork #10

4/28/18

“The Biography of a Chocolate Bar”

Hershey’s Cookies ’n’ Creme

1. What are the ingredients?

This chocolate bar contains 2% or less of cocoa. Some of the other ingredients are: sugar, vegetable oil, milk, wheat flour, high fructose corn syrup, soy, baking soda, and salt.  

2. Where do the ingredients come from?

The cocoa is made from the seeds of cocoa pods that grow on cocoa trees. These cocoa trees are located in tropical climates, such as West Africa. The majority of the global cocoa supply comes from Africa. The milk comes from dairy farms within a 100-mile  radius from Hershey’s facilities. The sugar is from plantations in southern U.S.

3. How are the ingredients produced?

Farmers harvest the cocoa pods from the cocoa trees, remove the cocoa beans, ferment and dry them, and then the beans are roasted. The coco beans are then packaged for transportation to the Ghanian Port. The cocoa beans are shipped to factories in different parts of the world, including Singapore and Melbourne, where they are used to produce cocoa products. Manufacturers use the cocoa products as ingredients in the Hershey’s bar.

4. What are the working conditions of the people who produce the cocoa?

West-African cocoa farmers work long and hard to run their farms and support their families. Instead of using advanced tools and machinery, they do everything by hand. Children often work on family farms despite child labor laws in Africa. These farmers are paid low wages for their work. For example, one farmer named Justice Obini makes $1,100 producing about 16 bags of cocoa in one year.

5. How do the producers get the cocoa to the market?

After the cocoa products and used to make the chocolate, they are loaded onto trucks and transported to warehouses. From there, orders are sent out for delivery to supermarkets and retail outlets.

6. How are the prices set?

The price is set by taking into account production costs and consumer demand for chocolate. In recent years, the demand for chocolate has risen along with its prices.

7. Which international corporations dominate the chocolate trade?

Hershey’s and Mars dominate the chocolate trade.

8. Who regulates the trade?

Trade is regulated by the government laws of the land.

9. How is chocolate marketed?

Hershey’s chocolate is promoted through magazine ads, television commercials, and billboards.

10. Where did you buy your chocolate bar?

My chocolate bar was purchased at a Shell Gas Station.

11. How much profit does a store owner make on one chocolate bar?

A store owner’s profit is about 1/3 of the retail price.

12. Are there hidden costs that are not included in the price you paid? (Consider underpayment of labor; environmental impact; government subsidies that are direct [to the company] and indirect [infrastructure such as roads, ports, bridges, and water systems]; and the healthcare costs created by the harvesting, transporting, processing, and eating of this food.)

Cocoa farmers barely make enough money to support their families. There is also concern for the children who work on these farms, whose ages mainly range between 12 and 15 years old. Some are as young as 5.

13. Now that you’ve gathered some information about the components of this chocolate bar, write its biography. Tell the story of its life from the farming of its ingredients to the production and consumption.

The life of the Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme bar begins in West Africa. This is where the majority of the world’s chocolate supply comes from. In cocoa farms in West Africa, cocoa beans are harvested, fermented, dried, and packaged by farmers and their families/workers. These farmers work long hours but still struggle to make enough money to support their families. Taking advantage of cheap labor, the farmers allow children to work on the farms. This practice goes against child labor laws in Africa, but it’s hard to catch on independent farms. 

After the cocoa beans are packaged, they are transported to the Ghanian Port, where they are shipped to factories in different countries. Those factories make the cocoa beans into other cocoa products, such as cocoa powder and cocoa butter. Then, the cocoa products are shipped to different facilities to be used as ingredients in the Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme chocolate bar. The price of the candy is determined by the costs of labor, production, and consumer demand for the product. Store owners make a profit of about 1/3 of the price of each individual chocolate bar. Finally, the chocolate bars are shipped out to supermarkets and retail stores. I bought my Hershey’s bar from a Shell Gas Station.

Sources:

https://danielsethics.mgt.unm.edu/pdf/Hershey%20Case.pdf

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/071615/what-drives-price-chocolate.asp

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/chocolate-bittersweet-way-life-ghana-n212741

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UPDATE: due Sun. April 28, 2019 @ 11:59PM

Biography of a Chocolate Bar

To return to our opening story, consider writing a biography of a chocolate bar? Buy one and put it on your desk. What are the ingredients? Where do they come from? Start with cocoa, the primary ingredient, and Côte d’Ivoire, which produces more than 40% of the worlds cocoa. Ask yourself the following questions:

What are the working and living conditions of the people who produce the cocoa?

How is it produced? Are child laborers involved?

How do the producers get the cocoa to the market?

How are prices set?

Which international corporations dominate the chocolate trade?Who regulates it?

How is chocolate marketed?

Where did you buy it?

How much profit does a store owner make on a bar of chocolate?

Are there hidden cost that are not included in the price you paid? Consider under payment of labor; environmental impact; government subsidies that are direct (to the company) and indirect (infrastructure such as roads, ports, bridges, and water systems) ; and the health care costs created by harvesting transporting processing or eating the food? How are these costs obscured?

Due Sun 11/18 @ 11:59 pm

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In the article it talks about how the twenty-three paged pamphlet revolutionized the world. It swept away the old hierarchies and mystification where people no longer believed in ancestry or religion playing a role in their status in life. It spoke about how wealth was not equally distributed and ten percent of the population possessed the other 90% of the property and population. With this the gap between upper and middle class began to grown significantly. By the 20th century many regimes lived under what they believed to me Marxist even though Karl Marx himself said he wasn’t a Marxist .

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/10/karl-marx-yesterday-and-today/amp

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UPDATE: Due Sun 4/21 @ 11:59PM

Social Class & Inequality

Find a news story that illustrates either Marx, Weber, or Bourdieu’s theory of social class. Post a link to the story and do a brief write up (multiple paragraphs) that explains how the story illustrates social class using the selected theorist’s concepts.

***Be sure to focus on social class, not race! Race may play a role, but I want you to focus on social class primarily.

Due Sun 11/11 @ 11:59 pm

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Kinship & Family

Using the key below, construct a kinship diagram for your (extended) family showing AT LEAST 10 relationships. Analyze your diagram, and explain what is present and what is missing.

Chapter 10 Quiz & Fieldwork Due Sun 4/14 @ 11:59 pm

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Extra Credit Assigment

Students that attended the preliminary today are to write a ONE page response detailing their experience.

This will count toward your final grade at the end of the semester.

This is due in addition to your fieldwork assignment for this week.

Have a good weekend!

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The Human Family Tree

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No Fieldwork for This Week!

1. If you have not already posted your two examples of the Thomas Theorem, please do so as that is your only outstanding assignment for this week.

2. Other than that use this time to study for your midterm and complete Chapter 6 test in Bb.

Have a good productive weekend!

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Good Work! 5/5

Field work #4

1. There are 11 males and 16 girls in my math 109 class. 4 males out of the class participate at least 6 times during the class but the rest of the males say thing. The females in the class room particate 10-12 times during the class. When the males speak it’s very low and monotone. The females speak loud and clearly.

2. The males and females both talk for about 30-45 seconds because they are going into detail about how they got the answer to the question. They also use a lot of words to get their point across thoroughly.

3. The males body language when the talk is very laid back. They have no emotion in there face. The females use their body to talk. They do many hand movements and they see very engaged about what they are saying.

4. My instructor is a male. He encourages everyone to speak. He tries to bribe the class with candy to make us participate. He is a very active teacher who jumps and jokes throughout the classroom. He is entertaining and uses his body a lot to talk.

5. He never really calls on people to talk. He just ask for someone to answer the question so some just starts talking.

6. I do not believe the teachers gender effects the class room. I think each student does feel different about him. Some male and females in the class thinks he is not a good teacher because of his jokes. While others do for the same reason.

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Cultural Adaptation

Reflect on the cultural adaptation examples given in class on Tuesday. Consider how cultural innovations such as glasses and braces affect our biological evolution a species. Follow the directions below for full points.

Come up with your own example of how cultural adaptation has trumped natural selection.

Include a written response detailing how this has occurred and what the impact has been.

Attach a photo of the item along with the post.

Chap 5 Quiz & Fieldwork Due Sun 3/3 @ 11:59 pm

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Fieldwork Assignment # 4

1.      During this assignment I had observed MUSC 161, which is the Symphonic Band class. There are 21 females and 30 males in the class. The men spoke 20 times while women only spoke 10 times. On average the males spoke for about 2 mins and said about 36 words. On an average the women spoke for about 45 seconds and said about 29 words.

2.      When the women spoke, they tend to act shy or timid, and spoke very quietly. The women questions usually pertained to how a music piece should be played. The men when they spoke were rather confident even when they were asking silly questions. A male had asked when the entire band had stop playing as this the end of the song because it did not show on his music score. Also, most of the question’s men asked where pertaining to going to the bathroom or leaving the room.

3.      The instructor of this class is a male; this possibly could be the reason why the men in this class are so comfortable to ask questions even if the questions seem crazy. Usually the instructor sort of discouraged too much communication in this class because this is a performance class which requires everyone to have the ability to play different musical pieces. The instructor rarely calls on someone in this class because this class does not require students to answer the instructor questions unless a student was caught on their phone or talking to friends during rehearsals. The atmosphere in this class is strict and no one normally goes against what the instructor has to say because he is strict and does not play when it comes to playing music.

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Feildwork Assingment ch.4

1. For this week’s field assignment, I decided to observe my Problem in Social Philosophy class that is taught by Professor Joe Pettit. We meet twice a week on Tuesday for one hour and Thursday for an hour and a half. In the class there is approximately 15 students in total, today there was 12 students in attendance, 4 males and 8 females. There are more females in the class, they are the dominant gender and they tend to verbally communicate more than the males. This is not to say that the men in the class do not participate or communicate. Out of the 12 people present, I observed that 5 out of the 8 women continuously asked questions and participated in the discussion. While 2 out of the 4 males participated consistently throughout the class. I did notice that when one of the male students did speak it was to question or give a different viewpoint to the female students.

2. The way this class in constructed is that the professor will provide information about different aspects of economic inequality and then the topic will encourage an open class discussion. On this day it was a Thursday, so we spent over an hour having an open discussion, each person who chose to input his or her opinion spoke for about 3-5 minutes. This time can vary because during the discussion there was a lot of people talking over the original speaker. The discussion would happen after the professor stopped the video and added his explanation as to what is happening. During this time, he would ask if anyone had any questions and that often lead to the discussion happening. Discussions in this class can get off track, sometimes the questions and comments were not beneficial to the class and very opinion-based statements.  

3. Comparing gender differences in speech, I observed that when men did participate they were very loud and assertive in what they were saying. The men also liked to contribute statements and questions that challenged the popular belief of the class; also, for the most part when they asked questions they were short and straight to the point. One male student in particular made a comment about how it is difficult to date today because women have too much attitude, all the women turned around and looked at him in confusion and dismay. Side note, this one male student does this a lot, his opinions on certain topics lead to the majority of the class, especially females, to disagree with him (in my opinion he does this to get a reaction). In addition, I noticed that the men talked in a fast yet fluent speech that was smooth compared to their females’ classmates. In class, the females had more drawn out comments and concerns as if they were trying to properly communicate their feelings but could not find the right words. Males in the class were the number one culprit when it came to interrupting a person while their speaking, the victims of this crime were mostly female and they tended to stop talking when they are interrupted. However, when a female interrupts another female, the second speaker will stop talking and let the first person continue. Throughout the class, a majority of females displayed body language that suggested that they were being attentive to what the professor was saying, they were leaned forward so that their backs were not touching the chair, legs were closed or crossed. Males sat with their backs slouched in the chair and their legs spread wide. One common gesture that I observed is that both males and females used hands gestures when they talked. Finally, when it comes to eye contact when talking females will make direct eye contact but will often break it to look around the room or at others. When males made direct contact with the professor they did not shift their gaze away.

4. When I focused on the professor, I noticed that he likes to maintain eye contact and when he speaks, he scans the entire classroom and looks at each student. However, when he is asking a question he tends to look directly to the students who typically contribute the most in the class, which happens to be the female students. I also discovered that Petit tends to cut off his female students while they are in mid question or statement, he does this with the male students but not as much when compared to the female students. His body language is very similar to the other male students, he sits with his back slightly slouched to the chair, but he sat with his lets crossed. Just like his students he speaks with hand gestures.

5. Based on my observation Petit gives an equal opportunity to his female and male students when we have a discussion. When several people want to speak at once, he goes in order by whomever raised their hand first. He lets the students decide if they want to contribute to the discussion, he does not pick anyone to speak if they choose not to. Like I previously stated, the female presence dominates the classroom and naturally they get called on more to express their concerns, questions, or remarks. The females were more persistent when they raised their hand in order to speak, two occurrences disrupted this system when a male student spoke out of turn to ask a question.

6. My professor’s gender does not determine how he interacts with the students in the classroom. He is a very friendly and open professor who uses his quirks make the class entertaining and to encourage students to engage in a philosophical discussion on how to solve the US economic crisis. To be honest, this class can easily be labeled as boring but Petit brings humor and personal experiences into the conversation that keeps everyone’s interest.

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Language and Gender in the Classroom

The classroom reflects larger cultural patterns according to which it may seem normal for males to talk more, leading to complicity by boys, girls, and the adults who teach them.This week, choose one meeting of a class in which there is a fair amount of student participation and pay careful, analytical attention to the connections between gender and language in the classroom.

Record how many men and women are in the class. Keep a tally of how many times men speak and how many times women speak. Who speaks more often?

Record the average of how long people speak. Record the average of the number of words they use. 

What are difference in body language and style of speaking between the men and women?

Is the instructor a man or woman? How do they encourage or discourage communication? Consider their body language and gaze.

Record the number of times the instructor calls on men versus women.

Does the instructor’s gender seem to influence the way they interact with the class? If so, how?

Fieldwork & Chapter 4 Quiz Due Sun 2/24 @ 11:59

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Correction: due this Sunday, 2/24/19

And no midterm!

Week 5 To Do List

Due 9/20: Fieldwork Journal “Language and Gender in the Classroom”

On BB & in Textbook

Must show substantial improvement, otherwise you will be required to redo mapping assignment!

Due 9/22: Chapter 4 Test

On BB

Reminder:

Midterm Oct. 11

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fieldwork assignment ch.4

1. Social Problems taught professor Evans is the class I choose to observe. This class meets three times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. In the classroom, there is approximately  25 women and 15 male students. Because the weather was nice on Wednesday, the class meet outside. There were about 20 women and 10 men in attendance. On this day, most of the questions were answered by the 15 out of the 20  women present. Though, I will say almost all of the men spoke up whenever they felt the answers given were biased or simply to provide a different perspective for others in the classroom to consider.

2. The professor teaches in a way the requires no question to be left unasked or unheard; therefore, whenever a student spoke the conversation lasted between 5-20 minutes. The discussion on Wednesday was about ethnocentrism and our views on clitorectomies. Each person answered with at least 100 words.

3. I observed that when men spoke they were loud and assertive, but with a relaxed posture. I noticed that when the men would ask questions they almost seemed rhetorical and were only asked in reply to a previous question. Some of the women answered questions cautiously, while others appeared to be more experienced. The women sat upright when asking questions while using hand motions. I noted that when a male student answered a question that asked “should clitorectomies be mandatory if the sole purpose is to prevent women from sleeping around outside of marriage” most women scoffed or rolled their eyes.

4. When I focused on Professor Evans I observed that in order to get the students to participate she plays the “devil’s advocate”, meaning she conveyed an opinion in order to evoke opposing arguments. Professor Evans makes eye contact for at least four seconds with each and every student when lecturing.

5. Professor Evans called on an equal amount of men and women in the classroom. I felt that this was because she wanted an insight into different genders on this particular topic. Usually, the professor will not have to call on students as they are eager to answer the questions. I noticed that women were the first with their hands up, while the men either did not participate or were called on.  

6. For me, My professors’ gender does not determine how she interacts with members of the class, but her personality. She gives off a very positive, but realist energy. Professor Evans challenges her students thought process. Her vibe makes all of the topics interesting and I perceived that this along with her bringing personal experiences in the classroom is what makes both genders in the class participate.

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