Florida State University SYG Current Event Discussion

Each student is required to submit one brief report about a recent (post-2015) local, national, or global event. This report should be submitted during an appropriate week per our course calendar (e.g., a report on school vouchers should be submitted during Week 9). In this report, you should describe the event and analyze it by applying the three major sociological perspectives outlined in the textbook–functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism–to the event.

You will supplement your understanding of the event or situation by searching for popular news articles and opinion pieces covering the topic. I suggest you search popular news outlets like the New York Times and HuffingtonPost, but it is possible that more local outlets like the Tallahassee Democrat will also be helpful.

Let’s keep the school voucher example rolling. If this was your chosen topic, you would locate a handful of sources discussing the topic – perhaps an opinion piece or blog post by a concerned parent, an article published by the New York Times, a statement released by a school district, etc. – and familiarize yourself with the issue at hand. Then, you would (1) briefly describe the topic, (2) explain why/how the topic contributes to a social problem in society, and (3) discuss how a functionalist, conflict theorist, and symbolic interactionist perspective would each inform understanding of the issue.