Socs 100W Blog Project

For your research paper, you have been learning and writing in-depth about a sociological issue in an academic format, for an academic audience. Now, you’ll be writing about this same sociological issue in a different context: a public blog. Note that the format and audience of this assignment are different than the research paper, requiring considerable re-crafting even though you’ll be writing about the same issue. In other words, this will be an entirely new piece of writing, not just a shorter/online version of your research paper.

I asked you to write about something you care about for your research paper, and now your task is to try to get others to care about your sociological issue. You will be engaging in public sociology, using your knowledge about a sociological issue to have a real social impact.

First, you will take your sociological project public: write a blog entry to raise awareness about your issue and/or get your readers to take some sort of social action related to your social issue.

Next, you will make your sociological engagement collaborative: respond to your classmates’ blog entries, and continue an online conversation with people who respond to your entry.

Finally, you will reflect on the blogging experience.

What this involves:

Format

We will use the website Medium. Your entry will be part of a class publication (name to be determined).

Due dates

Your posts or comments are due by 11:59pm on the due dates listed below.

Blog entry

Your blog entry should be readable in 2–5 minutes (according to the Medium estimate). I encourage you to take full advantage of this format by incorporating images, links, etc.

Responses to others’ entries

You’ll respond to at least three of your classmates’ responses: at least two original posts, and at least one comment on a post. These responses don’t need to be long, but they should be substantive (responding meaningfully to the content) and productive (it’s ok to offer critiques, but they should be offered with a spirit/tone of collaboration).

Communicating with commenters on your entry

Respond to at least two of the comments on your own blog entry; engage in a conversation with those who have taken the time to read and respond to your entry. Your responses don’t need to be long, but they should be substantive and productive.

Your audience:

Your (real) audience for this assignment is the general public. While your classmates and I will be the primary people reading your blog entry, anyone visiting Medium will be able to read and comment. You should regard each of us (classmates, public, and me) as intelligent potential participants in a conversation about your sociological issue.

Since your audience is not limited to sociologists and/or academics, you should write this in a way that is accessible to people who don’t fall into those groups (i.e., don’t use lots of specialized sociological jargon that requires college coursework in sociology to understand).

What your grade will be based on:

· How clearly you conveyed the sociological issue from your research paper

· How effectively (and specifically) you framed this issue to make people care about it/do something

· How thoroughly and effectively you engaged with the blog format, demonstrating appropriate choices related to writing, non-written content, and design

· Whether you maintained ethical standards when writing your blog entry and when responding to others’ entries

· The substance and thoughtfulness of your responses to others’ blog entries

· How thoroughly and effectively you engaged your commenters in a continued conversation

· The accuracy of your grammar and mechanics

How and when this will happen:

This assignment will be completed in several steps over the next several weeks. See the details for each step below.

Get started on Medium

Due: April 4th

Review (skim) the journal article we read toward the beginning of the semester: “Hetero-romantic Love and Heterosexiness in Children’s G-Rated Films,” by Martin and Kazyak. Bring this article to class with you (hard copy or electronic, if you bring your computer).

Read these blog posts on Disney:

Tangled up in Disney’s dimorphism — Sociological Images

Contexts Quicklit: 7 Recent Findings on Disney (not just about gender)

As you read them, take notes on what you notice about the distinguishing characteristics of blog writing. You don’t need to type these notes to turn in (they can be written on the document itself, if you print the blog posts), but you must be able to show them to me in class.

You will need to either:

· Print the blog posts(you don’t need to print comments at the end of the post) and bring them with you; or

· Bring a computer or tablet to access them on (not your smartphone)

Due: April 6th

Watch this overview video:

and read these guides:

· Getting started

· Writing

· Images

· Ethics

Create a Medium account. E-mail me your username and choose to “follow” me on Medium (you will see this option if you click on my name at the top of this post). Use the next few weeks to explore and participate on Medium (and other blog sites).

Prepare your blog entry peer review draft

Due: April 25th

Bring your computer or tablet (not a smartphone) to class (please let me know as soon as possible if this will be a problem), and be prepared to share a completed draft of your blog entry. This should be drafted in Medium, but not published yet. Carefully review the instructions above to ensure that you’re addressing the assignment objectives and requirements.

Bring two printed copies of the peer review worksheet (posted on Canvas).

Prepare your blog entry final draft

Due: April 27th

Revise your blog entry and publish it.

Before class, read the Medium guide on reading.

Comment on others’ blog entries

Due: May 4th

Respond to at least one of your classmates’ blog entries. Review the guidelines above.

Monitor the comments on your blog entry. As people write comments, be sure to make them public (so that I can see them for grading purposes, and so that others may respond to the comments).

Comment on more blog entries

Due: May 9th

Respond to at least one of your classmates’ blog entries (someone different than above).

Respond to at least one comment on a classmate’s blog entry.

Monitor the comments on your blog entry. As people write comments, be sure to make them public.

Respond to others’ comments on your entry

Due: May 11th

Respond to at least two readers’ comments on your blog entry. Review the guidelines above.

Reflect

Due: May 16th

Write a 1–2 paragraph reflection on the blog writing process and post the reflection on Canvas. Address these questions:

· What are the most significant differences between your research paper and your blog entry?

· What, if anything, was challenging about writing this blog entry?

· What, if anything, was fun/rewarding about writing this blog entry?

· How did having this piece of writing publicly accessible affect your experience of writing/sharing it?

· What did you think of the experience of collaborating/conversing with your readers?

Include the combined word count for your blog entry, comments, and reflection at the end of your reflection.