Sociology?

"As sociologists revealed, it truly was a world of ghastly contrasts and the more I descended into the bowels of the discipline of sociology, the more I realized just how ghastly it all was.... Now, I realize that I may not be making a good case for the study of sociology. Who wants to study a discipline that’s going to make you depressed? However, I later realized that no matter how bad the world is, how unfair or unwelcome it seems, or how dysfunctional the “structures and functions” are, it’s still our world and we created it. We create it with our actions (or inactions); thus, WE CAN CHANGE the world, and for me, that’s the power of sociology. That’s what redeems us from the pit of despair that sociology puts us in. Sociology is the only discipline that can give us the tools we need to change society. No other discipline can do that. Medicine allows us to manage our sophisticated bodies, engineering allows us to build things, psychiatry provides us a way to be happy within the confines of the world we live in, and history catalogues the past abuses of power and privilege, but only sociology  can give us the tools to change the world." - Dr. Mike Sosteric

Mr. Karl Marx: "It's hard to imagine another scholar who has had as much influence on intellectual history" -Sixth Edition of Sociology: The Essentials

"Sociology can give us the tools to change the world," what an amazingly powerful quote. This quote alone provides so much insight into such a deep sea of society. Before this semester, I have never looked inside the world of Sociology. It's definitely been an eye-opening experience for me to take a class like this. This class has provided me with a lot of insight on the world that I have never considered before. I thought the book we chose started off very slowly, but now that we are in the midst of things, I am really enjoying all that we are able to discuss as a class. Growing up in Boise, Idaho there isn't a whole lot of cultural diversity. The biggest known ethnic group would be the Basque culture and in the surrounding cities of Boise- like Nampa and Caldwell- the Hispanic culture is very prominent. Other than this though, there is not a whole lot of diversity in ethnic groups. As far as religion goes, the most common religions are Mormonism and Christianity. Coming up to Moscow and starting college this past year, I have definitely experienced many cultural changes. Moscow is a much more relaxed town with a lot of diversity and many different ethnic groups. Maybe it just seems this way because it is so much smaller than Boise, but I feel like the culture is much more rich up here. This is why sociology has really caused me to think a lot about my surroundings. I love all the high drama topics there are related to sociology; religion, racism, politics, sexuality. They are all so controversial and such a hot debate topic. The kinds of debates we experienced throughout this semester over the internet even brought about a few very powerful opinions which makes me want to learn and pay attention even more. Overall, this class has provided me with so much insight on the world and the people who surround me. I am so excited to share with everyone my opinions on my favorite topics we have covered in this class because, like said before, such a powerful opinion can change the world.