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In Milestone One you will work on the first element of your final project. In this assignment, you will identify and summarize a contemporary social issue of your choice. This social issue will become the main topic of your final project, and you will focus on the issue throughout the course as you work on your final project. You can choose a social issue from the topic list below, or you can select a social issue of your choice. After selecting your topic, provide a brief history of how the issue began, and provide an overview of the issue by answering the following questions: What is the impact of the issue? Who is affected? What do people think about it? Are there any debates surrounding the issue? For this assignment, you may research an issue from the list provided below, an issue of interest you find in the news or media, or a social issue you have encountered in your daily life. Bullying Violent crime Discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality, social class, gender identity, age, or nationality Substance abuse (drugs or alcohol) Income inequality Inequalities in social institutions: medicine, education, the justice system, or the economy Social media and its effects on mental health Now, you will narrow your focus. Let’s take this list above and see how this works for our first three thought prompts. Here are some suggested topics. Bullying Cyberbullying Physical bullying Workplace bullying Violent Crime Index crimes (murder, sexual assault, battery, robbery) Gang-related/organized crimes Inequalities and disparities in sentencing Hate crimes based on race, gender, sexuality Discrimination Hiring discrimination based on race Hiring discrimination based on gender Discrimination and job promotions Discrimination in allocation of medical information in doctor-patient exchanges Discrimination in mortgage applications and redlining Age-based discrimination Discrimination based on sexuality in workplace and hiring processes Substance Abuse The opioid epidemic Prescription drug abuse Legalization of marijuana Racial disparities in drug law enforcement Inequality in drug treatment resource allocation Once you have chosen a specific subject, you need to apply the sociological lens to your specific topic. After selecting your topic, explain what is happening with the social issue—what is its impact? Who is affected? What do people think about it? Are there any debates surrounding the issue? Also, provide a brief history of how the issue began.This milestone and your final paper are research based. You must use scholarly sources to show what research says about your topic and include in-text citations to reference the source of the information you summarize. Additional sub-topics of interest within these larger issues are included in a Supporting Resource List. You will need to refer to not only your text, but also additional supporting resources as you work on this project. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

In this assignment, learners will select a recent research study that explores an issue relevant to anti-oppressive social work practice. Learners will critically analyze the research findings and apply them to inform practice, policy, or programs. The assignment should include the sections identified below. Summarize Research Study Summarize a research study, including clearly identifying and focusing on an aspect of anti-oppressive social work practice, its research question, methodology, and main findings. (C4.GP.A) The study must be published within the last five years. Analysis of Findings Explain how key findings of the study apply to social work practice, policy, and/or programs. (C4.GP.A) Be sure to cite clear examples from within the study. Analyze how the findings can be applied to address systemic biases, promote anti-racist and anti-oppressive strategies, and advance social, economic, cultural, and/or environmental justice for the population in the study. (C4.GP.B)  Be sure to provide specific examples that support the analysis. Ethical Considerations Describe at least one potential ethical consideration related to the research study. (C4.GP.B) You have the option to analyze more than one potential ethical consideration. Discuss the steps necessary to address the identified ethical consideration(s). (C4.GP.A) Be sure to clearly identify a specific response and support your response using the NASW Code of Ethics. Application to Practice, Policy, or Programs Propose at least two specific recommendations for applying specific research findings in practice, policy, or programs, including how to address inherent biases and advance anti-oppressive approaches within the field of social work. (C4.GP.B) Support your recommendations with references from the academic or professional knowledge base.

Drawing on a key concept or theory from the lectures, or your degree programme more widely, explore how a contemporary issue within society can be understood via this conceptual lens. The case study must not be the same as your group task or those presented within the lectures.  Selecting your case study: You cannot examine the same case study as your group’s case study in Assessment 1.  Your case study for Assessment 2 needs to be something which comes from the public domain, either a current or previous issue which has been debated within the public domain, i.e. in the popular press, in popular culture, on social media. You could, for example, take inspiration from the top news stories of 2021/22 or from the lecture materials.  It is acceptable to draw upon grey literature within your essay, especially at the beginning when you are contextualising your case study. However, later on in your essay it is important that you are grounding your analysis in academic sociological literature, i.e. journal articles, edited collections, and academic books and textbooks. Think about an issue which has really grabbed your attention. Writing about something that you’re passionate about will really help you succeed in this assessment! It is important here to be analytic and critical in your response and focus on making clear connections between sociological concepts/theories and your own case studies. Drawing on the content of the lectures, it will also be useful to include reflexive thinking, noting what the example you have chosen says about where you think the discipline is heading and the kinds of knowledge you’re producing within the discipline. To be clear, the focus here is not on describing your chosen case study (though some brief context is of course necessary). Rather, you need to think creatively and utilise sociology to explore and examine this phenomenon in a new way. In doing so, you are showing what the value of sociology is.Additionally, please note that: All essays should use the Harvard referencing system. All essays should be submitted electronically on Turnitin. 

Critically discuss the question: How does analysing consumption help us understand the nature of social differences and inequalities? Critically discuss, with reference to readings attached and more literature which supports your points. 

Essay 1 (15-Points): Choose one Define Marx and Engels’ historical materialist approach. Then illustrate how Engels’  analysis in Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State demonstrates this  approach in the context of gender and familial relations. Assign the ‘slave’, the ‘serf’, and the ‘proletariat’ to their respective modes of  production, and describe what Marx and Engels say about the relative freedom of  each one. How is this relevant to their overall theory? Essay 2 (15-Points): Choose one Marx/Engels and Durkheim both have theories of history: Marx/Engels discuss the  transition from capitalism to communism; Durkheim explains the evolution from  mechanical to organic solidarity. Compare and contrast these theories of history.  For each theoretical tradition, identify what propels the evolution from one type of  society to the other? Be clear about the causal steps.  Compare and contrast Marx/Engels and Durkheim’s view of the division of labor. How does each theorist describe the division of labor and its consequences for  society? Extra Credit (1.5-Points): According to Durkheim’s theory, what might children’s  education look like under mechanical versus organic solidarity? 

QUESTIONS Is gender integral to environmental issues? Please draw on the readings and films for Week 4. Video -  Video: Uma: A Water Crisis in Bolivia Available on Kanopy (2020 Directed by Ana Llacer 78 mins Reading -  1. Guha, Ramachandra (2000) “The Southern Challenge” in Environmentalism: A Global History New York: Longman pp. 98-12 2. United Nations (2021) The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021 Sections on Women, Water, Clean Energy and Climate Action 3. Macgregor, Sherilyn (2017) (ed.) “Gender and Environment An introduction” in Routledge Handbook of Gender and Environment London: Routledge 4. Rocheleau + Nirmal 2015 Feminist_Political_Ecologies_Grounded, Networked and Rooted on Earth 5. Resurreccion, Bernadette (2017) “Gender and Environment in the Global South: From ‘Women, Environment, and Development’ to Feminist Political Ecology” in Routledge Handbook of Gender and Environment London: Routledge In what ways are issues of population connected to development? Please draw on the readings and films Week 5  Video -  The World Population Has Reached 8 Billion – Now What? Rachel Snow (United Nations Population Fund 2023 7 minutes) Reading -  Sasser, Jade (2018) On Infertile Ground “Introduction”, “Ch. 1”, “Ch. 4” + “Conclusion” New York NYU Press  Mila Fenner and Wendy Harcourt (2023) "Debating Population in and Beyond Feminist Political Ecology".pdf Mollett, Sharlene (2017 “Gender’s Critical Edge Feminist political ecology, postcolonial intersectionality, and the coupling of race and gender” in Routledge Handbook of Gender and Environment London: Routledge Sathi, S (2021): “How do we pay back? Women health workers and the COVID-19 pandemic in India” in Globalizations DOI: 10.1080/14747731.2021.2009308 What is the link between human rights and development?. Please discuss how fast fashion and gender is key for these discussions.  Please draw on the readings and films Week 6.  Video -  Crossing Arizona (Joseph Mathew and Dan DeVivo Dead White Man’s Clothes (2021 30 minutes) Reading -  Gagliardi 2019 The Human Rights of Minority and Indigenous Women Federici 2004 Women, Land Struggles, and Globalization Rachel Bick, Erika Halsey and Christine C. Ekenga 2018 The global environmental injustice of fast fashion.pdf Srirang K Jha and S. Veeramani 2021 Sorting Responsible Business Practices in Fast Fashion- A Case Study of Zara.pdf . Poppy Imogen Herold , Daniel Prokop 2023 Is fast fashion finally out of season? Rental clothing schemes as a sustainable and affordable alternative to fast fashion.pdf Marchand and Dominguez CLEAN 2019 Labour and gender in a global context contestations and backlashes

After reviewing these videos, please address the questions below. The video highlights the Hijras, or third sex, in India.  How would a Hijra person be categorized here in the United States – as male or female? Explain your answer by describing the criteria you used to select either male or female and not the other.  Even though Indian society recognizes the Hijras as a third sex, they are marginalized and discriminated against in society.  In some modern Indonesian villages, on the other hand, five genders are recognized and those that transcend traditional sexes are celebrate, and even worshiped.  Explain how you could use these two examples as evidence that gender is socially constructed?  Use evidence from the video to back up your answer. Using the Albanian “sworn virgins" as an example, describe how social context (the historical period and/or cultural norms) can lead to the creation of more than two genders. 

The Life and Death of Black Studies Programs II Rojas, Fabio. 2010. “The Life and Death of Black Studies Programs.” Pp. 106–129 in From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Reading Questions Why did the proposal for a master’s degree in urban education at the University of Illinois at Chicago fail? What were the three stages that Black Studies went through at Harvard? What did you find most interesting about the reading? What remains unclear to you about the reading?

The purpose of this worksheet is to help you better understand what statuses and roles are and how they influence our behavior. This worksheet will also help you prepare for Milestone Two by getting you to begin breaking down an issue into sociological concepts. This activity is adapted from the course text, The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology (7th edition), by Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein. After reading Chapter 4 from the textbook, answer the following questions in the Module Three Worksheet. You will need to answer each question as it relates to each of the three different statuses you identified. You will also need to support your responses with at least one scholarly source. Your answers to these questions as well as your ability to clearly convey your responses will be graded using the rubric below. Describe three different statuses that you occupy in society. Identify whether each status is ascribed or achieved. Explain what the role expectations are for each status. Provide one example of role conflict. Provide one example of role strain. Provide one example of a status that might be subject to social inequalities. For example, mothers tend to make less money in the workplace, an experience known as the motherhood penalty.

Please watch the following video as part of your writing assignment. After Zero Tolerance (Immigration) Then, write a 1-page summary and reaction to the video. Page 2 and forward: Analyze the video based on ONE of the theoretical perspectives: Structural functionalism, Symbolic Interactionism, or Conflict Theory. The choice is yours. Choose the perspective you are most comfortable with, and analyze the video using course materials. Make sure your examples are clear and that your explanations are thorough. Your explanation could seal the deal for you! You must clearly justify why your example is in line with the chosen perspective. DO NOT provide examples about different perspectives. You must choose only one. In sum, you must have 3 specific examples from the video WITH explanations of ONE of the following: Functionalism Symbolic Interactionism OR Conflict perspective Your paper should total approximately 3-4 pages. Please submit 1 paper that includes the reaction AND the analysis. Below is a simplified example of how an analysis should be completed. Note that I expect much more detail, and that your examples must come from the video. The analysis is the most critical part of the paper, and that is where you need to apply the theory you feel most comfortable with. For example, if you were given a scenario about people in the US who live in an adult community. The story provided details about the lifestyle and expectations. It also went into the expenses and how most people are not able to afford to live there. You have 3 choices to pick from. For example, if you decide on the Functionalist perspective, you could say that the nursing home serves a positive (manifest) function, because older people are provided with a place to live where they are cared for. In addition they have entertainment and a chance to make new friends. The symbolic interactionist perspective would focus on the symbols that are present. First, the word "adult community" implies that you must be 55 years or older to live there. A symbol of being old is: gray hair, walkers, wrinkles etc. The conflict perspective would look at inequality. They would address the cost of living in such a community. They would talk about the fact that the poor cannot afford to live in such a community and they are therefore at a disadvantage. Remember, you are expected to choose only one of the perspectives. It's easier if you use the key words in your response: Functionalism - balance or purpose Conflict - inequality Symbolic Interactionism - symbols