fElizabeth has 30 post(s)

Due Sunday, December 4th, by midnight. Word count: 400 words. Please make sure everything is in your own words. If you paraphrase, make sure to include the proper citation.

In her essay, “Strategic Instantiations of Gendering,” Saskia Sassen (2003:1) argues “[t]oday’s dominant account about economic globalization in media and policy, as well as in much economic analysis, emphasizes hybermobility, global communications, [and] the neutralization of place and distance.” Drawing on details from her work, explain what Sassen believes is missing from these account of our global economy that focus on “information outputs”?

Due Sunday, November 27th, by midnight. Word count: 400 words. Please make sure everything is in your own words. If you paraphrase, make sure to include the proper citation.

In their report, “The Roots of the Widening Racial Wealth Gap,” Thomas Shapiro, Tatjana Meschede, and Sam Osoro (2013) provide information on what factors have fueled the racial wealth gap in the U.S. as well as note policy approaches that will “set our country in a more equitable and prosperous direction.” Briefly summarize the factors and findings mentioned in the report. Do you agree with the authors’s explanations for factors that have exacerbated a black-white economic divide in the US? Why or why not?

Due: December 7th. If you plan to complete the midterm extra credit assignment please follow the instructions below. Please keep in mind that these assignments will be evaluated according to the original question raised in the exam and the rubric that is posted under “resources.”

If you received a high score on the exam but would like to revise one of your essays, you can. In this case I recommend you confer with me (in person or via e-mail) prior to completing the assignment.

1. After you have completed the assignment, access our course on Blackboard. Choose “extra credit” from the menu on the right hand side, and upload your assignment.

2. On the last day of class, bring in a hard copy of your assignment and the original midterm exam. You will not receive extra credit on the assignment unless you hand in the bluebook with your revised essay.

As discussed last night, in lieu of meeting next week this two part assignment is due on Wednesday, November 23th, by midnight. Word count: 800 words total. Please make sure everything is in your own words. If you paraphrase, make sure to include the proper citation. We will discuss both essays when we return to class on Wednesday, November 30th.

Part A: In Elaine Hall’s (1993) essay titled “Doing Gender By Giving ‘Good Service,'” she notes two identifiable approaches to the relationship between gender and organizations that can be found in research dating from the 1970s. Using details from the text, explain how Hall distinguishes these two approaches. Why does Hall believe the gendered organization model has more explanatory power when it comes to addressing the way gender is constructed within and between restaurants?

Part B: In their essay “The Wage Penalty for Motherhood,” Michelle Budig and Paula England review data that supports the claim that women in their “childbearing years” are more likely to be paid less than male counterparts for the same work. Review some of the explanations for this phenomenon, as addressed by Budig and England.

Due Sunday, November 13th, by midnight. Word count: 400 words. Please make sure everything is in your own words. If you paraphrase, make sure to include the proper citation.

In the introduction to her book, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001:8) notes that certain family members told her she could complete her research without ever leaving her study. Drawing on details from the text (in particular from chapter two) explain what benefit, if any, Ehrenreich’s work derives from her decision to “do the old fashioned kind of journalism.”

Due Sunday, November 6th, by midnight. Word count: 400 words. Please make sure everything is in your own words. If you paraphrase, make sure to include the proper citation.

Drawing on details from Ritzer’s work, explain what mcdonaldization is and its relationship to the economic rationalization that Max Weber described in his work The Prostestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

Due Sunday, October 30th, by midnight. Word count: 400 words. Please make sure everything is in your own words. If you paraphrase, make sure to include the proper citation.

In Working, Studs Terkel (1972:xxvii) argues that our concept of a “work ethic” needs to be wrested from its more banal invocation as the effort put into making a buck. Drawing on details from his writing, explain what you think Terkel is trying to say about work and “human matters.”