About Colin Adams

I have a passion for the teaching of sociology, which has been developed and refined over the pass decade and a half as a sociology instructor. My personal system of belief about how sociology should be taught, experienced and practiced has evolved from many sources. These sources are my cultural heritage, the scientific nature of sociology, the nature of society today and my desire for engaging students in process of learning. My reflection on current research and scholarship of teaching and learning has affected my teaching.

Overall I would say that my teaching is particularly motivated by a quest for critical literacy for my students and me. The grand goal is a learning experience in sociology that has high theoretical and methodological standards but also has clear applied dimensions rooted in the real world. Another goal is an experience that addresses specific individual and local concerns but demonstrate as well the global and diverse dimensions of modern society. Finally a sociology that is as serious, meaningful and relevant as it is enjoyable and empowering.

4 thoughts on “About Colin Adams

  1. Blog Topic 2 Thinness
    The three theoretical models used to explain and treat eating disorders are biomedical, psychological, and gender. The biomedical model is the science of the disorder and the symptoms are what generate the diagnoses. The model focuses on the individual while the cause is still unknown the symptoms are treated.
    Various models such as biomedical, psychological, and cultural factors influence the psychological model. Its discoveries are useful in creating a therapeutic treatment. Feminist who correlate the disorder as women being gendered it shifts away from the individual and finds the disorder tied to social forces of what a woman should be studies the third model. While the biomedical model is helpful in research it focuses on fixing the immediate problem leaving potential for more harm than cure. It also overlooks the underlying causes such a race, social class, and culture. The psychological model intertwines factors, which give effectiveness to the treatment yet do not broaden enough on social class. Both the biomedical and psychological model disregard important facts in their research such as race, culture, history, and social class; leading to ineffective treatment. The gender model focuses on all women and its influences of the social forces. The bias has decreased by including various social classes, yet neglects the underlying causes in giving effective treatment.
    The relationship between sexual abuse and eating disorders is a loss of control. The abuse takes the self control away and is attempted to gain back by controlling ones eating habits or in other cases a way to escape an unwanted appearance one may think that initially brought the abuse on. A high percentage of women who suffer from eating disorders have reported a history of sexual abuse. According to the American Psychiatric Association an eating disorder is a mental illness not a lifestyle of choice (http://www.casapalmera.com/articles/the-link-between-eating-disorders-and-trauma/).
    For effective treatment both trauma and eating disorder have to be treated together.
    African American women as well as Latina women do suffer from eating disorders and are more likely overlooked due to the stereotype of it being a white girl disease. Just like the stereotype of HIV, was it originated in Africa so does that mean all African Americans have it, there was an epidemic of HIV in Haiti does that mean all Haitians have it, or gay men are dying from it does that mean they all suffer from it as well? The point I am trying to make is that just because one of the first studies founded a white woman’s death to be from an eating disorder should all white woman be subjected to an eating disorder and other races should be excluded because it wasn’t found that way? Of course not but it is a stereotype like others that shall be broken in due time with treatment yet the bias may minimize it will always stay in those social facts. The racism alone can lead to eating disorders in African American and Latina women due to low self- esteem and lack of control in trying to hold a dominant social class’s values. Reading various articles it seems like the white women do not experience racism yet set it for those who do not met the criteria. Growing up white and as a white woman today I do see racism that’s exists if you are a successful white woman you are looked down upon by less fortunate and expected to be that way from your social class if not you are looked down upon from them as well. I think that goes for all race/culturals as well. This is where racism and class standing come together in eating disorders. Even in ones own culture if the class standing isn’t met your excluded. Then trying to change ones beliefs to fit another class standing puts more impact on belonging confusing to children and is very likely as age progresses an eating disorder will develop.

  2. Blog Topic 1: Women And the Birth Of Sociology
    To say that women have been written out of society simply means not that they weren’t apart of it but that men were more noted then they were. They may not have been noted, but they were noticed and their information they provided was taken into consideration. They were often thought of as public figures to the community but the proof of them contributing to sociology was basically vanished, they never made any records of it. This happened because of sexism, that men are always greater than women, and weren’t deserving of being noted in sociology’s history. Many of the women in sociology had many things in common, a lot of the ideas and concepts were the same, and most have them have publications and books printed. These women deserve to be credited and recognized for the work that they did in sociology. They were all important to the founding of sociology, and that is why they deserve to be credited with it. Men and women to become equal, because all of contribute the same way, and we all deserve to be credited

  3. Privilege is often though of as invisible because you can’t really see how privileged someone is. I mean unless you see someone rolling around in a brand new car and brand new clothes every day, you would know that they are privileged. If you were to just see someone walking down the street you wouldn’t exactly be able to tell if that person was privileged or not. I believe that the lower and upper class are the one’s most likely to be aware of privileges. The lower class because they lack certain privileges and that affects how they live their lives, the upper class because they have all the privileges that not everyone else can have. Andrea was so uncomfortable in Jewel’s house because she was not used to the way in which Jewel lived, She wasn’t accustomed to the darkness and the well being of the bathroom. It was most uncomfortable for her because she lived a much more privileged child hood and didn’t have to worry about such things. I believe that anyone can overcome anything when they out their heart, mind, and soul into it. I believe it would be difficult for anyone to overcome a social differences but as long as you are true to yourself and you can be accepting of peoples difference and social situations, I think it can be done.

  4. After reading “Domestic Violence” I was appalled. The thought of someone beating their wife is not a social norm here. In the Indian culture though men are thought to be more of necessity, they tend to stay within the family and help out financially, where as women are thought to go off and marry and forget the family that she came from. One specific job that a man must carry out his entire life is keeping his wife in check. This means that if the wife does the slightest bit of wrong she quickly needs to be told so, by getting beaten. The beatings are brutal, and if the man is intoxicated, he is thought of as better, beating her when he is drunk. Too often the men aren’t realizing that they are severely beating their wives beyond repair. However if the beating is taken too far, a depicted man of course will step in. Too often children are also being beaten, and everyone is a product of their environment and will eventually grow up to do the same to their children and wives, if they make it that far. In think invisible violence is when every one kind of knows it is going on, but it is being hidden by the person receiving the violence, kind of a behind closed doors thing. I think visible violence is where every one knows it happening, and it is not hidden, but no one does anything about it.

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