Sarah Fritz

In the process of the Project 1 video analysis assignment I observed several areas that I could improve on, academically or otherwise. I also had few insights that came out of working in a fairly non-structured way. I usually do an outline for any essay writing I have to do, as a way not only to organize the writing itself, but also to thoroughly organize or comb through my many thoughts and research on an idea. In this instance however, I did not do an outline, but rather loosely brainstormed on paper for a skeletal rough draft, mainly because I kept feeling as if all the information I wanted was not in yet and would add more as I contemplated the ideas. Because the subject of gentrification is something I have been mulling over for years in the back of my mind, I had many vague unarticulated thoughts that needed time to percolate. Much of the week was spent meandering through a lot of informal research, blogs, my own head, and looking for opinions of others, reading many of the youtube comments for my chosen video. I mentally followed random segues of thought to an extent, and then returned back to the main subject of interest.

I would do well to learn ways to narrow a scope of inquiry so that it does no get too big for itself. Having a more defined point of focus helps to manage time, with time for more thorough proof-reading and editing. Conversely, I found that running away with my sociological imagination worked on some deeper levels. It opened up new avenues for inquiry, as I was able to clarify and complete some thoughts that had previously been fuzzy or fractured.

I think each assignment has its own scope, and the amount of freedom or organization will vary, but defining the parameters of the appropriate work level should be done early on in the planning phase.

The PowerPoint project that we were assigned was confronting on some levels and gratifying on others. Initially, it was exciting to have an excuse to research something that I have always wondered about but never took the time to fully inquire about academically. I have a book that is a compilation of writings by philosophers and theorists attempting to determine “What is art?” and one chapter is devoted to defining art as a social institution, which was the inspiration for my subject selection.

The coaching provided in our course on narrowing down a topic was enormously helpful, and though I followed the advice given, it gave me a bit of false security in thinking that I would easily be able to tackle the subject at hand in a fifteen page presentation. However, that was before I leapt headlong into an endless rabbit-hole of research, each tangent more interesting than the last, as I convinced myself that it would all be relevant. This is a problem I have had in the past, and though it is mentally stimulating, it is not efficient, and I will need to review research guidelines as well as whisper a mantra to myself “FOCUS, Sarah FOCUS” repeatedly, whilst attempting any future endeavor.

I then formatted an outline with the questions I would be addressing in the presentation, but not statements I would be answering them with.  I usually do the opposite when writing a paper, so much of the subject matter is hashed out in advance and even some of the writing is already done, which makes the actual writing less overwhelming. I think my creating the outline this way was due in part to looking at how others formatted their outlines, the deadline to submit one, and because I hadn’t plowed through the critical thinking necessary to distill the information from my research to shape my statements, because I was still stuck in pondering research mode. In the future, if I do an outline that clarifies questions only, before I proceed with my presentation or paper I will write an outline with applicable answers or statements to streamline the thinking and writing process.

Lastly I was not prepared for the my over zealousness and indecisiveness in the face of PowerPoint, with its alluring and endless options for imagery and composition, nor the limitations when text real estate is so constrained. I am not very proficient in this program, and ran into formatting snags that held me up and distracted me from what I wanted to say. This is where a statement based outline would have made a big difference I feel, because that narrative would have already been pruned down to the essential. I was not happy with my end product, which reflected only a fraction of the information I wanted to convey, and had gaps that I felt were crucial.  However, “Never let the pursuit of the perfect get in the way of the good” will be another mantra I must use, and the professor’s feedback was that it was good enough to earn full points, so I am thankful for that.

            Like every good assignment and inquiry, the work that I did put in led to further curiosity, and ideas for future projects as well as future art. I will be pondering what I have learned and drawing connections culturally for some time to come, giving me plenty of potential content to play with intellectually, academically, and creatively

The title of Jonathon Kozol's landmark study hits the nail on the head. The era of his writing and research brings me personally full circle to the time when I first became intrigued, outraged about inequality and involved in social activism- the late eighties and early nineties when I was a teen. I first joined Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) when I was fourteen or fifteen, and worked for the Nuclear Freeze Campaign, and then joined the South African resource center where we fought to end aparthied and for Nelson Mandela's freedom (he was in jail intil 1991!). This was probably the beginning of what sparked my sociological imagination, and much of what I have learned in this class brings me back to my early days of social activism, which I gave up in my early twenties. I found that I was being consumed with frustration, the trajectory of human activity seemed so doomed, and so I decided to take another approach to the issues on a more personal, artistic, and spiritual level. However, revisiting some of these issues through Kozol's writing became a time capsule, and I was transported back to the heartbreak and outrage at the savage inequalities that have always been, and exist to this day, as the rich get richer and the poor are treated as expendable pests to be exterminated. After taking this course, I want to get involved again on some level, not in the same protest sign carrying activism of my early years, but in my art and writing. I have a renewed appreciation for those passionate and tireless advocates for social justice like Jonathan Kozol, as they become mentors in the background of my thinking and work.

     I had a ton of fun with Introduction to Sociology. I think I have always been an undercover sociologist, because this subject is endlessly fascinating to me, and the only real problem I ran into was not having enough time to read and learn about everything that I wanted to. I shared a lot of what we were learning with my family for discussion, and am encouraging my daughter to look into sociology more, as she is also very interested in how people work in relation to society. Although I am pursuing a career in art, I will likely take another sociology class or two, as I think that it provides extremely relevant content for art. Art is a force of culture and culture is sociological, and art makes for a really good place to communicate about the concepts of concern to sociology.

     I kept up pretty closely with my goals for this class, and any deviation from them had immediate palpable consequences, since this was a concentrated eight-week course the ball kept moving whether or not I was on it. It was challenging to keep up with my other classes and family duties while staying on top of the sociology work. Part of that though was my own doing, as I was prone to exploring more of what interested me and taking on more than I needed to. I do not regret that in this instance, because of how enriching that exploration was, but I can always use more focus. In fact, the two goals I fell short the most on was maintain brevity and focus and limiting the input of my personal experience. Again, I think that served a purpose over all, and I am extremely satisfied with the course overall.

    I also want to note that this was a particularly thoughtful and interesting group of people to interact with. I have done other online courses, and discussions are always part of them, but this group of students seemed much more involved, and were all strong writers and thinkers, so that lent to the fulfillment of the course greatly. Thank you to everyone!