1) Select a current event from television, internet news outlets, or print.

2) Your group will then analyze the newsworthy event and (with some research of course) illustrate how social institutions: Family, Law, Education, Religion, Economy, Politics, Medicine, Culture and Media played a ROLE to this occurrence***. For example, with the shifting CoVid 19 Pandemic, how did the Institution of Medicine, Government, Media, Education, Family, our World and National Economy, etc. actualize their role to ensure society’s survival? Also, how did these institutions FAIL in acting their role?

***Please Google “The role of Government in society” and do the same with the other Social Institutions. This will provide for you a reference point by which to understand how these Institutions play a part in Society as well as in relation to the current event you selected.

3) You and your group will then apply ALL of the 3 Sociological Paradigms (Structural Fx, Conflict, Symbolic Interactionism) to your current event and discuss the event from the perspective of each respective viewpoint.

For the Structural Functional viewpoint, it has historically been easier for students to select a particular theory or theorist and use it as a guide for analysis to the your selected current event (Talcott Parsons, Emile Durkheim, Herbert Spencer, Robert Merton, Max Weber, etc.) What would Talcott Parsons say about Society’s response to this current pandemic? What would Merton identify as the Manifest vs. the Latent Functions of the stay-at-home quarantine?

4) Present your project to the class in a creative manner. Since we will not have the opportunity to meet in-person for the presentation. I will leave the format of the presentation up to you and your group members. We can schedule a Zoom conference, you may create a Power Point/Prezi, animation, graphics, film/social media or other means of communicating what you had found from your research and analysis.

5) The total amount of points you can earn is 20. You will be graded on:

-Demonstration of your understanding the current event (5 points).

-Accurate illustration to the ROLES of the major social institution(s) (5 points).

-Correct application of the paradigms to the current event (6 points).

-Creativity in your presentation. If you and/or your group members choose a presentation through Zoom, it will be limited to 15 minutes (4 points).

*****Please make sure your submission is accessible (Google Docs requires permission to access).