Our Social World: Condensed: Introduction to Sociology
Video and Multimedia
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Video Links
Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe what social stratification means for individuals and groups.
7.1 The Most Expensive Homes in the World
This video takes a look at the most expensive homes in the world.
Learning Objective: 7.4: Explain what affects your chances for social mobility.
7.2 Social Class
Filmed over three years (1999–2002), “Country Boys” tracks the dramatic stories of Chris and Cody from ages 15 to 18. David Sutherland’s film bears witness to the two boys’ struggles to overcome the poverty and family dysfunction of their childhood in a quest for a brighter future.
Learning Objective: 7.6: Discuss inequality and poverty from a sociological perspective.
7.3 Rebuilding the Middle Class
Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, appointed by President Obama to set up the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, outlines what is wrong with today’s financial markets and how to help the middle class rebound from the recession in this 2010 address at UC Berkeley.
Producer Ofra Bikel chronicles how the middle class is faring in this recession through the stories of the people who she has come to know at the hair salon she has frequented for the past 20 years. The film reveals the struggles of a small business owner to stay afloat, her sister’s risk of imminent foreclosure on her Florida home, and the various clients whose lives intersect at this New York City salon—from well-to-do bankers to struggling actors, each with a story to tell about how they are getting by in these turbulent times.
Audio Links
Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain how achieved and ascribed characteristics impact individuals’ life chances.
This podcast examines what happens when you suddenly strike it rich. And the power money has over our lives, for good and bad.
Learning Objective: 7.4: Explain what affects your chances for social mobility.
Stories of people trying to get rich quick or otherwise make something for nothing. As everyone knows, there is no such thing as something for nothing. You always pay a price.
7.3 The Wealth Gap
This podcast examines the pay gap between minorities in Boston.
Web Resources
Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe what social stratification means for individuals and groups.
Global poverty rates have actually been on the decline since 1990—the World Bank calculates that 1.1 billion people escaped extreme poverty between 1990 and 2013. The chart above illustrates these trends.
Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain how achieved and ascribed characteristics impact individuals’ life chances.
7.5 Lottery Tickets: Consider This
This article from Contexts Magazine looks at what a person’s odds are for actually winning the lottery.
Learning Objective: 7.6: Discuss inequality and poverty from a sociological perspective.
Poverty USA seeks to educate and promote understanding about poverty and its root causes.
This article from Contexts Magazine focuses on assistance that is available from the Internal Revenue Service for lower-income families.
Learning Objective: 7.7: Illustrate how the digital divide helps stratify people.
This article examines the impact that the internet has on psychological health.