Events this Semester

Newsletter comments? Contributions? Questions? Suggestions?

Please contact: Any faculty member in the Sociology Department,

Vancouver Island University (VIU), Nanaimo, BC.

PAGE 4 VOLUME 5 , ISSUE 1

You’ve just entered an interdisciplinary Master’s program at the University

of Victoria, what’s different about it compared to Vancouver Island Universi-

ty?

I am currently completing my Master’s degree in Sociology, with a concentration

on Cultural, Social, and Political thought. This concentration is interdisciplinary,

with students from Political Science, Sociology, English, History and Environ-

mental Studies. More than differences, I have found more similarities between

this program and my undergrad. I took a few liberal studies courses at VIU, and

my classes remind me of them. These classes (as with the LBST classes I took)

have students from different disciplines coming together, and bringing their own

knowledge into the classroom. I deeply enjoy interdisciplinarity. Besides learning

from other disciplines, it helps me observe my own discipline through different

theoretical frameworks, which allows me to think about Sociology in different

ways and through different approaches. I always try to integrate Sociology in

whatever I’m learning, which exercises my sociological imagination.

What are you most excited for in the program you’re currently in?

The opportunities it will provide me. Along with deepening my knowledge of

classical and contemporary theoretical frameworks, this program will provide me

with a strong analytical foundation that will help in my research, and future ca-

reer.

Do you find yourself commonly exercising your skills in social theory in day-

to-day life?

Every day! For me, the ability to think critically is often a blessing and a curse at

the same time. I can’t turn it off! I find myself often critically assessing the most

mundane things. However, I do think that engaging critically with the ‘stuff’ I

consume every day (from the food I buy to the media I interact with) is important

in maintaining awareness of the societal forces that create and uphold inequality

and injustice. This is important as well in that it helps me position myself in re-

gards to these forces, and helps me realize the power I have as a sub-

ject/consumer/citizen/student/etc. to subvert the status quo.

Any plans for after your Master’s Degree? Going to conquer the world or

dismantle the bourgeoisie?

For now I’ve decided to stay present and enjoy the process of completing my de-

gree. Starting a Master’s degree is challenging, but in a good way. While disman-

tling the bourgeoisie (along with the patriarchy) is pretty high up in my to-do list,

I need to finish my papers first!

How valuable do you feel your experiences at VIU were for you? Would you

do it all over again?

My experiences at VIU were very valuable, as they gave me the tools to get into

grad school. I would definitely do it all over again! This sounds cliché, but class

sizes really do matter in that they allow students to truly reach their potential. The

comfort of being in a small class, and getting to know my profs really empowered

me to pursue further education; their mentorship has been invaluable. VIU is a

special place for me, I see it as the catalyst for me achieving my goals.

Find us online:

http://www.viu.ca/sociology/

Grad Info Night, November

17th, 6PM-8PM in BLDG 355

RM 211 hosted by the Sociolo-

gy Students Union. Meet a

panel of guests ranging from

professors to masters graduates

to learn about the graduate

school experience and what it

can offer you.

Grad Student Feature: Daniela Zuzunaga

Pictured above: Aquila Ortlieb,

Carli Paterson, Stephanie Pastro,

Alexis Gardner, and Danielle

Myers at the Halloween Party.

Two pro-

fessors

from our

very own

faculty,

along with

a former

professor,

are pub-

lishing a

book this

winter!

Sociology of Home: Belonging,

Community, and Place in the Ca-

nadian Context edited by Gillian

Anderson, Joseph G. Moore, and

Laura Suski is out this December.

Did You Know?

For information on how to stay connected to the department and SSU events, please see page 3

VOLUME 5 , ISSUE 1

FALL 2016

Sociological VIUs

Current Events 1

Name That Theorist! 2

What Are You Reading? 2

Sociology Students’ Union 2

Faculty Spotlight 3

Graduate Feature 4

Events 4

INSIDE THIS

ISSUE:

Know any students

who you think ought

to be featured in next

semester’s issue?

Contact any faculty

member regarding

the Sociology News-

letter!

Spring 2017 Course Offerings

INTR 150 University Essentials

SOCI 111: Introduction to Sociology

SOCI 112: Canadian Society in the

Contemporary World

SOCI 204: Social Interaction

SOCI 209: Social Inequality

SOCI 240: Social Control and Resistance

SOCI 250: Introduction to Social

Research

SOCI 310: Foundations of Social Theory

SOCI 320: Families in Today’s World

SOCI 340: Sociology of Health and

Illness

Arizona Field School

By Cara Faganello, Sociology Student.

The Witness Blanket is a moving piece

of artwork created by Carey Newman.

He has used personal items and pieces of

wood, metal, and glass from residential

schools, government buildings, and

churches. I was struck by how simple the

objects that make up the Blanket

are. There are intimate items, like braids,

dolls, and shoes, placed alongside build-

ing materials, such as door handles, shin-

gles, and glass shards. To me, these

items, such as a twenty dollar bill, a pair

of hockey skates, or a door handle, have

no real meaning beyond themselves. Yet

when they are all woven together, we are

able to see the whole story. It is a story

far greater than the items themselves. It

is a heartbreaking story of stolen child-

hoods, of broken families, of lives cruel-

ly cut short, of a needless cultural geno-

cide. I will not soon forget my time spent

with the Witness Blanket nor

the overwhelming and humbling sense of

being permitted to experience something

far greater than myself.

The Arizona Field School is a compara-

tive analysis involving both Sociology

and Criminology students. Students will

be travelling to Arizona, US to engage

their sociological imaginations in the

criminal justice system. Topics include

immigration (legal and illegal), racial

profiling, discrimination, among many

others. They will be working with an or-

ganization called Borderlinks which rais-

es awareness of the impacts of immigra-

tion policies and aims to connect divided

communities.

There are numerous fundraising events

for the Field School which all students

can participate in to help their colleagues

afford this incredible experience. One of

them is a weekly pizza event in the Atri-

um of building 356. Every Tuesday from

11AM to 2PM, students can purchase a

slice of pizza for $2 or two slices and a

pop for $5. Proceeds go directly to fund-

raising efforts.

The Witness Blanket

Edited by Danielle Myers

Image by Cara Faganello.

VOLUME 5 , ISSUE 1 PAGE 2

Name That Bearded Theorist!

Name: James Chumsa-Jones

Major: Sociology, Minor: History

Book: Race Traitor: The True Story

of Canadian Intelligence's Greatest

Cover-Up by Elise Hategan

The story is an autobiographical

account of a Romanian-Canadian

girl who runs away from her abusive

mother and joins a white-

supremacist group called the

Heritage Front. She becomes very

close with the group leaders, howev-

er she later discovers the horrific

actions taken by the group towards

anti-racist activists and the LGBTQ

community. She begins to question

her identity as a group member and a

lesbian. She also ends up risking her

life to expose the group that she

once thought to be her family. The

book explores themes of police and

CSIS corruption, racism, sexism,

group mentalities, and homophobia.

Name: Kelsey Yamasaki

Major: Sociology

Book: Happy City by Charles

Montgomery

The reason why I like this book is

because it explores the ‘science of

happiness’ from multiple perspec-

tives, while focusing on the role of

city design and planning in helping

to foster important social relation-

ships among residents. The book

emphasizes that through thoughtful

city design, planners and other pro-

fessionals can help create public

spaces that promote social connec-

tion and ultimately increase the so-

cial capital within a community –

how interesting is that! I think Mont-

gomery’s underlying message is that

change is possible, but it takes par-

ticipation and engagement at all lev-

els.

What Are You Reading?

The Sociology Students’ Union

(SSU) is a VIU club which aims

to bring sociology students to-

gether to socialize, exercise our

sociological imaginations, and

to contribute to our local cam-

pus communities. We have

hosted various events in the past

including Beer and Burger

fundraisers for the Sociology

Scholarship, Fish and Chip

fundraiser for the London soci-

ology field school, as well as

Halloween parties and clothing

drives.

Pictured above: Carly Eldstrom (2015

-16 club president), and Danielle

Myers (current club president)

SSU Study Sessions

The club is planning to host a

number of study sessions before

this semester’s exam period. All

students studying sociology are

welcome to attend. Whether

you need help understanding

specific concepts or just need a

space where you will be forced

to study, join us!

Sociology Students’ Union

Answers: A: Friedrich Engels B: Georg Simmel C: Max Weber D:

Karl Marx E: Emile Durkheim F: George Herbert Mead

A B C

D E F

SOCIOLOGICAL VIUS PAGE 3

Q: Who is your favourite famous Bruce?

A: Lenny Bruce.

Q: All right, we’ll take that even though it’s a surname. What do you like about

this Lenny Bruce fellow?

A: Lenny Bruce spoke truth to power. Lenny Bruce challenged people’s assump-

tions about the social world with humour. He went to jail repeatedly for obsceni-

ty, while challenging what people consider to be obscene and what they consider

not to be obscene. So he considered racism to be obscene but he was allowed to

be racist in his comedy act. And he considered sexuality to not be obscene but he

went to jail for his expression of sexuality in his comic routine.

Q: And humour is important to you?

A: Yes.

Q: Good to know.

[laughs]

Q: What are you working on right now?

A: I have a film project I’m working on, which is about old men doing extreme

sports. I have a project I’m working on in men’s post-divorce adjustment, and

issues around emotional and physical health that arise for men in the end of a

relationship.

Q: And that is through your work at Family Services?

A: That’s through Family Services, and the other one’s a film thing we’re doing.

For my own purposes, I want to do a kind of film ethnography of middle-aged

men who do extreme sport. It’s actually in this case hang-gliding. I’ve been para-

gliding for 18 years but in this film I actually learned how to hang-glide, in this

film it was a full participant observation. If you study sociology you take sociolo-

gy into everything you do. So we’re doing interviews with people who do sport,

but for me it’s an ethnographic interview. And we’re doing observation, but it’s

participant observation. And in this particular case, I was able to do full partici-

pant observation… to participate fully in the subculture.

Q: Who is your favourite social theorist and why?

A: It’s gotta be Jürgen Habermas, I like Habermas because he did everything.

Because the theory of communicative action is all about how we construct society

through communication. How power gets reflected in communication, not quite

discussed in the same way that say-- postmodernism does-- not like Foucault and

his stuff on discourse, but how we construct reality through language, and we

construct social relationships through language. He is essentially saying society

consists of language and law. It consists of norms and communications. And

that’s a good assumption and place to start from. He tries to resolve some things

that are problematic from Parsons while maintaining a comprehensive conflict

perspective influenced by the Frankfurt school.

Q: Do you want students to know anything about you that they might not other-

wise ask?

(interview continued in next column)

Faculty Spotlight on Bruce McGuigan

A: No… It’s all secret. No, it might not

always be apparent, but I think it’s im-

portant for students to understand that I

love teaching, I love teaching at this insti-

tution.

Q: Some people might not get your sense

of humour, but I think the essence is

there.

A: Good.

Q: Those are actually the only questions I

have…

[laughs]

Q: Is there anything you might want to

add?

A: All education is a process of change,

and we are all changing, all of us, all of

the time. And one of the things that a

sociological education contributes to is in

our ability to change, in our ability to

open our minds, sometimes through a

systematic methodological approach and

sometimes just through an inclination to

understand other people, their perspec-

tives and their experiences, and how that

colours our relationships with them and

their relationships with the entire world.

In some regards, the sociological imagina-

tion is one of the best things that some-

body can arm themselves with in a post-

secondary education. Education doesn’t

always make you happier; it just makes

you better informed… It can make you

more resilient, because you’re always

going to be faced with change. And to be

able to cope with change is one of the best

things we can give people with education.

“All knowledge of cultural

reality, as may be seen, is

always knowledge from

particular points of view.”

-Max Weber

Are You Connected?

Visit the Sociology Students’

Union Facebook page at

facebook.com/viusociology

and the discussion page at

www.facebook.com/groups/

viusociology/ and the VIU So-

cial Science Facebook page at

facbook.com/viusocialsciences