Introductory sociology casts a wide net with regard to its audience and plays an important role in capturing the public eye as well as helping students to make more informed choices in their lives and communities. I ask six questions that help us as sociologists to think about how introductory sociology can better serve our discipline, our students, and their communities. These questions ask us to consider who our students are, how the course fits with university mission and program goals, what we want students to learn in this course and how we can build consensus about that common core, the extent to which there is alignment between learning objectives and our disciplinary standards in sociology, how assessment can be used to improve course design and curriculum in general, and the role that introductory sociology plays in recruitment and retention of students to the university and to the major. Posing such questions will promote further discussion and consensus building among sociology colleagues with the aim of improving curriculum and student learning.
Is there a distinct disciplinary core (or foundation of agreed on knowledge) in sociology? Should we define a core in our broad field to build consensus? If so, what should it look like? We address these questions by presenting three viewpoints that lean for and against identifying a core for department curricula, students, and the public face of sociology. First, “There really is not much, if any, core.” Second, sociology is “a habit of the mind” (a sociological imagination). Third, key content of a sociological core can be identified using a long or short list. Centripetal forces pressure the discipline to define itself for assessment, transfer articulations, general education, the trend toward interdisciplinary courses, and the public face of sociology. We describe previous efforts for the introductory course and sociology curricula. We conclude with a discussion of everyday practices in sociology that are built on the conception of a core.
SUMMARY A study of infants suffering episodes of apnoea, stridor or bradycardia in association with spina bifida cystica suggests that neither anatomical nor hydrodynamic abnormalities fully explain these complications. The episodes were often heralded by a rise in the capillary pCO2, an increase in the amount of periodic breathing during sleep, and a possible increase in the proportion of rapid‐eye‐movement sleep. Episodes of life‐threatening apnoea, stridor or bradycardia were most frequent and severe at 10 to 12 weeks of age, which was also the period at which death was most frequent in 75 infants dying with apnoea or stridor. In infants surviving this risk period, the episodes declined and most infants were symptom‐free at the age of six months. These findings of an age‐related abnormality in which the cause of death leaves little sign at post‐mortem suggest that a similar mechanism could operate in other cases of unexplained death in infancy (sids), and that both conditions may be part of a spectrum of disease characterised by abnormalities of sleep and respiratory control. RÉSUMÉ Une étude de nourrissons présentant des épisodes d'apnée, de stridor ou de bradycardie et présentant un spina bifida indique que ni les anomalies anatomiques, ni les anomalies hydrodynamiques ne peuvent expliquer complètement ces complications. Les épisodes sont souvent annoncés par une elevation de la pCO2 capillaire, un accroissement des temps de respiration périodique pendant le sommeil et une augmentation possible de la proportion de sommeil rapide. Les épisodes d'apnée menaçante, de stridor ou de bradycardie sont surtout frequents et graves entre dix et douze semaines, ce qui est également l'âge le plus fréquemment noté chez 75 nourrissons morts d'apnée ou de stridor. Chez les nourrissons survivants à cette période de risque, les episodes se raréfient et à l'âge de six mois, la plupart des nourrissons ne présentent plus de symptômes. Ces découvertes d'anomalies reliées à l'âge, dans lesquelles la cause de la mort laisse peu de signes au contrôle anatomique, font penser qu'un mécanisme semblable pourrait intervenir dans d'autres cas de mort inexpliquée du nourrisson. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Eine Studie an Kindern, die an Episoden von Apnoen, Stridor oder Bradykardie in Verbindung mit Spina bifida cystica litten, läßt vermuten, daß weder anatomische noch hydrodynamische Abnormitäten diese Komplikationen vollständig erklären. Diese Episoden wurden oft angekündigt durch einen Anstieg des kapillären pCO2 einer Zunahme der Dauer der periodischen Atmung im Schlaf und einer möglichen Zunahme des Anteils von REM‐Schlaf. Diese Episoden lebensbedrohlicher Apnoen, Stridor oder Bradykardie waren am häufigsten und schwersten im Alter von 10–12 Wochen, welches auch die Zeit war, in der der Tod bei 75 Säuglingen, die mit Apnoen oder Stridor sterben, am häufigsten war. Bei den Säuglingen, die diese Risikoperiode überlebten, nahmen diese Episoden ab und die meisten waren symptomfrei im Alter von sechs Monaten. Diese Befunde übsr eine altersbezogene Abn...
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