things to read in class

I try my best to nurture critical thinking though ‘outside’ readings in my classes: by matching up newspaper articles with theories and class assignments. It’s not always a perfect fit, but I like it. I call it the ‘Law & Order’ (cha-chung!) part of the course, because it is ‘ripped from today’s headlines.’ If interested, here are some of the readings for my Theory class:

General: ‘The Black Swan,’ First Chapter, New York Times
W/Marx: ‘CEO pay: 364 Times More Than Workers,’ CNN Money
W/Marx: ‘Should We Globalize Labor Too?,’ New York Times
W/Marx: ‘Captive Labor,’ The American Prospect
W/Weber: ‘Catholic Spirit and the Ethic of Consumerism,’ Jenn Lena’s Blog, What is the What?
W/Weber: ‘Review of A Farewell to Alms,’ New York Times
W/Weber: ‘Inside Scientology,’ Rolling Stone
W/Durkheim: ‘System Failure,’ Boston Globe
W/Durkheim: ‘Increased Suicides on Indian Reservations,’ New York Times
W/Durkheim: ‘The Politics of God,’ New York Times
W/Simmel: ‘The Real Transformers,’ New York Times
W/Veblen: ‘Rich Countries, Poor People,’ New York Times
W/Veblen: ‘Are Your Jeans Sagging? Go Directly to Jail,’ New York Times
W/Veblen: ‘We’re All Freaks Here,’ New York Times
W/?: ‘Haven’t You Heard? Men Gossip Too,’ The Seattle Times

For my SOC 101, I am using a slightly more dowdy set, opting for the heavy hitters (i.e., Twain, Mencken, Stein, Stephen Jay Gould, Langston Hughes, T. S. Eliot, etc.) and forgoing timeliness by using The Best American Essays of the Century. The Twain reading, ‘Corn-Pone Opinions‘ paired with C. Wright Mills’ ‘The Promise,’ made for fantastic first week discussion.