Sociology Courses | January 9, 2006

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

Sociology of Violence: 2nd Period

Welcome to class, everyone. My name is Dr. Grissom, although feel free to drop the title. With that lack of formality in mind, let's jump right in. First, please consult the roster and take a syllabus.



1 Intro
2 Gender
3 Race/Ethnicity/Hate Crimes
4 Youth Violence
5 Gang Violence
6 Mass Murder and Workplace Violence
7 The Prison System/The Death Penalty
8 Law Enforcement
9 Gun and Weapon Control
10 Political Violence
11 War and the military
12 Terrorism
13 TBA
14 TBA
15 Finals

I've been slammed at work all day, sorry for the delay. The last two weeks I am leaving open, the official syllabi will be updated ASAP.

"Due to the often upsetting nature of this course, I would like to spend this first class having you introduce yourselves, and share, if not why you are taking this course or your history with the subject matter, what you hope to learn here. Also, if there are any subjects that might be difficult for you, please feel free to stop by after class and let me know.

Homework: Find a working definition of violence that you feel is accurate.

---

Sociology of the Paranormal: 6th Period

Welcome to class. I'm Grissom, and it's getting late and I need a snack and I'm cranky. Consult the roster and take a syllabus, then take a seat.




1 Intro
2 Evaluating Paranormal Claims
3 Hoaxes
4 Phenomena of the Mind
5 Phenomena of the Body
6 Intro - Perireligious Beliefs
7 Intro - Parareligious Beliefs
8 Intro - Parascientific Beliefs
9 Review week
10 Law and Government
11 Education
12 The Media
13 TBA
14 TBA
15 Finals

"First of all, I want to thank you all for enrolling. Considering the subject of this course, and all of our different, and shared, experiences with the paranormal, I first want to stress that I expect everyone to keep an open mind, and be respectful of your fellow students.

That being said, I'd like to have you all introduce yourselves, and if you have any specific topics you'd like to have covered in this class, I'd like to hear your input. This class will have two parts: One in which we study the paranormal and build a working vocabulary, and the second half of the semester in which we evaluate how these events affect institutions.

You will not be graded today, but I would like to encourage discussion with your fellow classmates, as you will be working together closely for the next several months."

Homework: Read this snazzy outline of How to Think About Weird Things for Wednesday.

---

Both Classes: "If you need to Add/Drop a Sociology course, or would like to apply for a TA position, those forms can be found outside my office. Please fill them out, and then submit them in the proper place. Thank you.

Comments

Violence : 1/9

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

Welcome.

Re: Violence : 1/9

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

"Hi, I'm Veronica Mars. My experience with violence includes my best friend being murdered and my father and I being attacked by her killer. I want to take this class to learn more about the way people who commit violent crimes think because I'm planning to be a private investigator just like my daddy when I grow up."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"Thank you, Veronica," Grissom says in a somewhat paternal, but still distant fashion. "I think you'll find we will be covering that topic from several different angles, as well as some of the principles behind investigating violence as well. Although my background is in the more public side of that equation, I think you'll see similarities."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[leeadama.livejournal.com]

"I'm Lee Adama and I'm taking this class as I plan to be an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Being in the military indicates that violence will be the bill of fare for the rest of my life. The more I understand it, the better."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

Veronica waves to Lee.

Re: Violence : 1/9

[leeadama.livejournal.com]

Lee waves back and steals her head tilt move. "Hey, Veronica, how's it going?"

Re: Violence : 1/9

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

"Not bad, Lee. How about you?"

Re: Violence : 1/9

[leeadama.livejournal.com]

"Really glad that classes are starting up again," he says with a grin. "Met another girl from your hometown a couple of days ago -- Mac, I think was her name? Nice girl."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," she smiles. "Mac is very cool. So how are things with you & Kara?"

Re: Violence : 1/9

[leeadama.livejournal.com]

Lee smiles dreamily before catching himself and politely answering, "Fine, I suppose. Parker smacked her around a little in the gym last night so I think she's sulking at the moment, but otherwise, all's well."

He thinks fast. "And you? Any one catching your eye at the moment?"

Re: Violence : 1/9

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"That seems like a rather logical outlook, Mr. Adama. Although I don't know much about the Colonial Fleet, I imagine a lot of the material in this class will be applicable. History does repeat itself, cliche or no."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[leeadama.livejournal.com]

Lee gives him a small smile at that. "Our scriptures say 'All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again.' -- so yes. Violence is a never-ending circle."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

Grissom smiles a little bit, because it would seem Lee's religion is based on the book Peter Pan, omg and nods his agreement. "Well, faith often comes with its own level of violence. Your scriptures may have a self-fulfilling prophecy on their hands."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[leeadama.livejournal.com]

"Gods forbid that," Lee mutters.

Re: Violence : 1/9

[krycek-rat.livejournal.com]

Krycek thinks a moment before introducing himself, judging how much he wants to actually share with the class. "Alex Krycek. I've had experience with many types of violence in my life and intend to lessen that association, hopefully by learning as much about it as possible."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"Breaking the cycle through education, that's certainly something, even on its own, is worthy of discussion. Thank you, Mr. Krycek."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[pure-blooddraco.livejournal.com]

"Hi there. I'm Draco Malfoy. My experience with violence is um...well, my world is sort of at war now and violence has been everywhere." he says "I took this class to get a better understanding of why people commit violent crimes and maybe I could pass the infomation along to the dark lord people where I'm from."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"I wonder if there are worlds that doesn't suffer from wars," Grissom says point-blank. "But I don't mean to insult your interest in understanding, or your desire to fuck over help the people of your world. I merely wanted to draw a parallel between societies, and their similar capacity for violence. I think you'll find Earth is just as capable of horrendous atrocities."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[peter--parker.livejournal.com]

"Um, hi. I'm Peter Parker and, well, the past year has been pretty rough on me in terms of violence. It started with my uncle - who was my guardian for most of my life - getting killed and... Things didn't really improve much. I just hope to get some insight into why people do these things. It makes absolutely no sense to me and I just want to understand what can inspire a moderately rational human being to do something so terrible."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry to hear about you uncle, my condolences. We will be covering topics that will hopefully address your questions, although answers are sometimes more difficult to come by. Thank you, Peter."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[can_be_more]

Aeryn really wishes there was a better way to phrase it other than "My name is Aeryn and I shoot people for a living," but it is the truth...

Re: Violence : 1/9

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"Military? Mercenary? Or Sociopath?" Grissom asks without judgment, although he looks stern.

Re: Violence : 1/9

[can_be_more]

"Military," she answers easily, because she's had to explain it a lot in the past few days.

Re: Violence : 1/9

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"Okay then," Grissom says. "Nice to meet you, Aeryn. We'll be discussing the military in this class, I look forward to your input."

Re: Violence : 1/9

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe was bouncing when she showed up in Grissom's class.

"I'm Phoebe Halliwell. I have a lot of experience with Violence, and I'm thinking that going into that now would scare most of the class. I'm hoping to understand it more...and I'm here because Dr. Grissom is just that damn awesome."