During this first night of the class we will look at the topics of: “Modern Life”; “The Family”; and, “The Middle Class”, but we will begin on the first night of class with a very general review of our class themes. Our goal for the class is discussion, so we want to take all the time we want for each section and topic before moving to the next, while still reserving all day on Saturday for your reports.

As explained on the welcome page, the readings are designed to begin our discussions of each topic, but are not intended to limit what we will consider. On the first evening we will begin our course by starting a very general review of the range of social issues that face our society.

To access an article, click on the blue headline.
IMPORTANT: Articles with "OU LIBRARY" next to the headline can be accessed through the OU Library. You must first go to the OU Library website and sign in, then use the search feature to look for "ProQuest" in databases and then open the ProQuest page. These links should then work as long as you remain signed-in and you have a window open for the OU Library website. (In case this does not work for you, the full citation for the article is provided next to the headline.)

We learn about society and societal problems from many different sources. Although the evening news or the daily newspapers may cover social issues, we also are constantly (though sometimes subtly) challenged to consider these issues through the TV dramas we watch, the movies we see, the novels we read, and all the other cultural influences to which we are daily exposed. Even the TV comedy shows can have a big effect in forming public opinion in America on sensitive issues. Consider, too, the impact of shows like MTV on the attitudes of its listeners.

Our first evening's general review will be based on cultural sources, including literature, sculpture, poetry, and painting. Here are the links to the materials for class discussion:

Elizabeth Catlett’s Sculpture of Ralph Ellison
What does this sculpture say to us when we look at it?

Campbell’s Soup
You have already seen pictures of this painting. It is as famous as its creator. Why did the painting make such a splash?What does it say about its times?

Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper
Note when this was painted, and also read the notes below it. Would we interpret the artist’s meaning in a different light if it were painted today?

Song of the Shirt, by Thomas Hood
This poem was written a long time ago. To what does it speak today, if anything?

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis was one of the major novelists of the twentieth century. His books dealt with many topic issues of the times. This is a very brief chapter section from the book that was perhaps his best.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair was a “muckraking novelist”. This novel had more impact on public policy than any series of newspaper articles on the same issue could have ever had. What themes of modern life does this bring to our attention?

And now we begin our weekend discussions by topic...



At almost every point in human history people said that they lived in “changing times”. What makes each era different, however, is the nature of the changes taking place. In some eras the changes were political, and in others economic, but we live in an era now in which two very major changes are taking place at historically dramatic speed.

One of these changes is technological. It is often difficult to determine the significance of change when you are living in the middle of it, and this is the case of technology. We can see how technology is changing the way we live, but it is difficult to determine whether these changes are superficial or whether they are really creating basic alterations in the way people relate to each other as individuals and groups.

Let’s look at some examples of these changes:

The Internet and Societal Change OU LIBRARY (Mary K Pratt. Computerworld. Framingham: May 18, 2009. Vol. 43, Iss. 19; pg. 20, 5 pgs)
The Internet has changed our lives in dramatic ways in a very brief period of time.How has it changed us already? What new changes are we likely to see in the future? This article starts us off on this discussion.

The Internet and Loss of Privacy OU LIBRARY (The Economist. London: Jan 25, 2003. Vol. 366, Iss. 8308; pg. 81)
Especially as we move into the age of cloud computing, George Orwell's 1984 comes closer to realization as privacy as we have know it in previous ages disappears. How will the decline of privacy affect us and the society in which we live? This article was published back in 2003; has time validated the fears of the author?

Levittown
Suburbia has changed America. Use this website to explore the most famous housing developments in American history. Think about the all the ways in which the lives of the new development’s residents were changed by moving from the big city to the clean and manicured subdivisions of Levittown. No one who left the city to move to Levittown doubted that his or her life would improve. But did this happen? Take time to explore the website by clicking on the links, and make notes on the significance of America’s move to the suburbs. (Obviously, it is not necessary to copy these pages to bring to class, but please make notes on your reactions and observations.)

Bowling Alone
Read a short selection from one of the most thought provoking books of recent years. Is Putnam correct in his conclusions about how our society has changed? If so, why has this happened? (Note: This is one of the most important of our readings ...and, also, do you remember, by chance, the observations that Alexis de Tocqueville made about us in his book, “Democracy in America”?)



America has always defined itself as a nation of the middle class, but is our middle class becoming an endangered species? If the middle class is in decline, what will this mean for our society and what impact will it have on all of us?

Economic Policy
This is a book review/essay from the New York Review of Books. This is not a “scholarly” article in the sense that we refer to articles in refereed academic journals, but it is a publication written for educated and scholarly people. It is the kind of magazine with which students in graduate school should feel right at home. If the writing is challenging at first, just stick with it till you accustom yourself to this kind of writing. Alert: more articles from the same publication are just ahead…

Health Care
What is the matter with health care in America and why can’t we fix it?

Income Inequality
What is happening to the Middle Class, and why? (Read this article, make your notes, then breath a sigh of relief …there are no more articles from the New York Review of Books for this weekend!)

Workers and Wages
Another opinion on the question of wages and the middle class in America. (Do you think this is an accurate picture? What do you know about the political bias of this publication?)

How Do We Feel We Are Doing Compared to Other People in the World?
Our grandparents had very different expectations of material achievement. As our standard of living has increased over the years, our expectations of the kinds of homes we live in and the kinds of material possessions we expect to own have changed. How do our expectations today compare to what contemporary people in other countries expect?

Keeping Up with the Joneses
What is the standard of living to which we should aspire? In this short chapter, the influential economist Thorstein Veblen lays out his theory of origins of why we want to keep up with (or exceed!) the material accumulations of our neighbors.



It is well documented that the family is changing. Let's discuss some of these changes and what they mean for us today and in the future. There are so many changes happening and so many things being written on this topic that is impossible to begin to present more than a tiny sample of some of the topics that we can discuss in class, but at least these articles linked below will get us started on our discussions.

The Changing American Family
The Hoover Institution at Stanford University provides us with a review of a book on changing demographics of American households. This review highlights many of the most significant changes that have taken place in recent years.

The Sandwich Generation
This is a term that would not have been imaginable fifty years ago. What does it mean and what does it tell us about ourselves? (Note: This is a video, not a reading.).




Prof. Rodger Randle
1J10, Schusterman Center
(918) 660-3495
randle@ou.edu