Friday, January 22, 1999
Announcements: none

1. The Profane and the Sacred – people associate things as either profane or sacred.

1. Profane – ordinary objects in life (computer, shoes, clothes, etc.); literally "outside the temple
2. Sacred – "inside the temple" things that are looked upon with reverence. People approach what is sacred through rituals, religion, prayer, etc.
3. Example: Clinton defiled the sacred White House by having oral sex inside of it.

1. Conflicts today result in determining whether something is sacred or profane. Different groups clash because one group treats something as profane that another group holds sacred.

1. Example: Abortion: some people see life as sacred while other people see it as profane
2. Example: Burning of the Black churches in the South. People burned what they thought of as profane, while the church members held the churches sacred.
3. Example: In Jerusalem while visiting the Dome of the Rock, a place held sacred by the people their, a Swedish couple started kissing and fondling each other and so they were kicked out.

1. All societies have a set of formal rules. Example: This University has a certain set of formal rules that all students must obey.
2. Weber says that rules are good, but they can kill creativity and freedom of expression. Example: Soup Nazi from Seinfeld – Was a very rigid bureaucrat who would not let anyone have soup unless they followed a certain set of formal rules.
3. Religion can transform thinking.

1. Protestant Work Ethic (derived from Calvinism) – Work hard in life, be frugal, defer gratification, and save for the future and a person will be successful.
2. Weber says that the Protestant Work Ethic is the basis for capitalism. Examples of strict rules: The Ten Commandments. The treatment of women in Middle Eastern countries

1. Religion, ideas, and beliefs transform society.
2. Verstehen – an understanding, an insight into something. To truly understand a person’s situation they must put themselves in that persons shoes.

1. Origin – Three events that prompted sociology in the U.S.

1. Industrialization and urbanization disturbed the traditional family. Many people moved to cities to find work.
2. African Americans migrated North because the cotton industry went down and there were jobs up North.
3. From 1901-1910 immigration peaked – Many social problems in the cities as all the immigrants looked for work in the cities
4. The combination of these three things led to a clash of African-Americans, White people, and immigrants in the cities.
5. The farther away from the center of the city, the less social problems.

1. Chicago School – The University of Chicago is considered the most prestigious University in Sociology

1. Robert Park
2. Ernest Burgess
3. Lovis Wirth

(All these will be explained next class)