Reactions to Paul Farmer's talk

I think this year's first year students have had one of the best lectures. I thought the speaker was engaging, interesting, and got his message across. It helps that everyone had read Mountains Beyond Mountains (or at least part of it) so they knew some of the background of Farmer's work. That allowed him to expand on some topics and tell stories. I've got to get myself a laser pen!

As a sociologist, of course, Farmer's work is very interesting. He speaks eloquently about the relationship between the structure of the society and the individual. We can think about the "personal troubles" of people facing serious life-threatening diseases, and the "public issues" of the way in which systemic poverty contributes to (and causes) those troubles. I like how he stressed the importance of understanding the historical facts about an issue--another point in Mills' sociological imagination.

I hope that the sociology students who attended were able to come away with some of the same impressions.

Tattoo remorse

After class today I came back and glanced at cnn.com. There is a great article about "Tattoo Remorse." They point out that 24% of people interviewed had tattoos and 17% of those with tattoos considered having them removed.

If having a tattoo makes you part of a subculture, does having it removed make you part of a different subculture?

Note how the new mom says the tattoo "didn't fit the image she wants to portray" anymore. Are some subculture groups easier to enter or leave than others?

Here is the link.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/09/10/hm.tattoo.removal/index.html#cnnSTCText

Research Ethics, Toe Tapping, and Bathroom Behavior

One of the classic examples of unethical research used in sociology is Laud Humphrey's study of sex in public restrooms. Humphrey is criticized for his methods which include deception and the lack of consent. But, we often tend to forget about his actual findings. The recent controversy over Sen. Larry Craig's behavior in a public restroom makes Humphrey's study relevant today.

Humphrey argued against the use of police to lure men into sexual encounters in public bathrooms. He pointed out that there was a complex system of signalling and response that took place between consenting men. This system ensured that men who were not interested would not be bothered. He argued that tracking down men engaging in anonymous sex in public restrooms did more harm than good.

There is an interesting op-ed piece in the NY Times that looks at Humphrey's study and the connections to the Larry Craig case.

The article appeared on Sept. 2, 2007 and I've posted it under the course documents link on Blackboard.

Scholarly debate

Our reading for tomorrow, Promises I Can Keep, was part of an intense scholarly debate a few years ago. A respected African American sociologist, Eli Anderson, accused Edin and Kefalas of borrowing heavily from his work on African American young adults without properly crediting him. There were accusations on both sides, complicated by the fact that both Edin and Anderson were faculty members at University of Pennsylvania (where I received my PhD).

I know Eli and Kathy only casually. When I was at Penn I never had a class with Eli and knew only a little about his work. I've met Kathy a few times over the years, but don't know her well. Several prominent family sociologists came to Kathy's defense, and in doing so, probably overstating the nature of Eli's claims and understated the value of his work. This led to a second round of accusations and calls of dishonesty.

I've debated about whether to raise this issue in class, and if so, how. I think rather than talking about it when we discuss this material substantively, I'll talk about it when we discuss methods. the issue is really who owns ideas and how do we build on the work of others.

I've attached a link to the whole debate, for those interested.

http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v52/n07/spout.html