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Module 9

Like we saw on class, Deviance makes allusion to an action, believe or human

characteristic, that is considered a violation of group norms by a large number of

members of a society; this means that If you don’t act within what’s expected from you

inside the society you will represent a latent danger to them. Society has been built with

a set of rules and regulations to ensure the survival and good understanding of its

members but sometimes this set of rules only apply to those who are usually seen as

more “problematic”; race class and gender norms are often taken place to benefit the

white male. Black people are sending to jail with more severe sentence compared to

white men. It will all depend on the environment that and the situation where the

“deviant” person is perceived. In the lecture “On being sane in insane places” we’ve

learned that what is viewed as normal in one culture may be seen as aberrant in

another. Also, the big impact that labels exert on others, and how even Psychiatrist

made mistakes diagnosing (labeling) patients, and how that mistake will follow them

forever, knowing this I can bring this to our society, how we judge people for the sole

fact of the color of their skin, their ethnic group, the socio-economic status, etc. In the

lecture about “Fraternities and collegiate rape culture” we can see how men in a

position of power can abuse women when they have the chance, without realizing the

bad impact it has on women. This is totally a reflection of how men in power set the

pace of our society, dictating what we should take as normal and deviant.
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Module 10

The education in the United States is corrupted; the dictionary defines corrupted as a

dishonest act to return money or personal gain. In this case is dishonest because it

doesn’t give the same opportunities to all of their schools, the majority of the funds goes

to schools with more white students and the low-income schools have to settle for what

the government gives them, unqualified teachers, used and out-of-date textbooks, old

computers or no computers at all, etc. It was very shocking to hear for the first time the

quote from President Bush you stated on the video: That giving more money to low

income schools would be like pouring gasoline on fire, and yeah that really show us how

the political climate is matter of education and its people. Jonathon Kozol uses the term

a “System of apartheid” to describe or actual educational system, it means that we

segregate education and, like we have already discussed this is really concerning

because in this current time this is still happening, people are not receiving the same

opportunities based on the color of their skin or ethnic background. We can correlate

this to de Locating the school-to-Prison Pipeline lecture about how low income schools

are just stops for some kids before getting into jail, how alarming is to prefer to neglect

kids in school and let them get to jail instead of investing in education and better

opportunities in order to prevent it.

The “hidden curriculum” talks about how government/society keeps perpetuating the

stereotypes of students but at the same time trying to impose their believes and ways in

order to be more suitable to fit the actual American society. Some stuff that really made

feel very uncomfortable was knowing the “rules” they have inside these schools, like the

ones the lecture handles: Let Jesus save you, Live in a house like your white brother,
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Keep away from saloons and strong spirits, Speak the language of your white brother,

etc. It’s very demining and humiliating to their culture. In the lecture “Bad boys” it really

shows us how school has great power for reproducing race and gender distinctions that

we can see in any society. School shape us not only in academic matters but also teach

us our place in society whether we success or fail in our studies. What really caught my

attention from the lecture and it really correlates to the “Hidden curriculum” was how

schools labeled their students specially if they are African Americans and marginalize

and isolated them in order to stigmatize them and decide they have already a marked

path, crime. It is very concerning because like I said before, they are just perpetuating

the stereotypes of society with no room for change except by being white.

Module 3

I really believe empathy is an emotion that really makes us human; although there are

believes that say it’s not exclusive to humans. Either way empathy is something that

could really make a change, it is an important tool for us to use and change how things

are right now. I think that if we really put ourselves in other persons shoes but to really

do it not just say it , it will give us a different picture about life, not everyone has had the

same life as others, there could be many differences and by being empathic we can

learn about it and make a change. I think we could start by not perpetuating the bullying

or intolerance to other people in our presence, if a friend of us is making gay jokes, or

making misogynist comments, etc. we should say something, don’t let it slide, because

its well known it can really end a person’s life.

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On the list of potential strategies for creating change by Johnson I think that recognizing

that the problem exists is where we should start, investigating more about the problem

and being empathetic we could act in a better way. I think we should respect the fact

that there are people in this world who love people of the same sex, and we should

support them so that they can be realized as human beings with the same rights as

heterosexual couples; the fact of being homosexual does not make them better nor do

worse people only make them human beings. The third one for me would be don’t keep

it to yourself, it is important that we become agents of change and begin to impact in our

society, it is not necessary to become a famous activist and speak to the masses, one

can do his own thing, we can be of help starting with our family and friends and, at the

end we will be able to impact in our social circle, this will create a better environment in

which we can continue to nourish and feed ourselves.

From this course I got to be a better version of myself and, I have a huge desire to

continue learning. I feel that this course gave me the tools to see the world with different

eyes, to be an active and non-passive member of society. We are not in this world to let

the injustices and social changes happen in front of us without even being able to do

anything. I also realized that I was a closet feminist, but now I am proud to accept it and

be able to impact with my actions to others, like my friends, they will understand why

making jokes against women or playing them is not good, I feel that I take a lot of

learning and I am very excited to continue putting it into practice, I think that throughout

the course my performance was regular, I was not the best student for other activities

that I had to do but, I can assure you that I have taken the message and I am willing to

share it with others, thanks for everything taught, it was a very pleasant experience.