Sociology: Social Artifacts, Structure, Order, and Change

Vocabulary flashcards covering key sociological terms, examples, and concepts from the lecture, including social artifacts, social structure, social order, surveillance, and social change.

Social Artifact

A human-made object or digital content that is culturally revealing by offering insight into the norms, beliefs, or systems of the culture that produced it.

Sociology of Comedy

The study of comedy over time as a measure of culture, based on what the majority of people find funny.

Social Structure

The framework of rules, roles, and expectations that organizes human interactions, providing both efficiency and mechanisms of control.

Norms

Rules of inspection and behavioral expectations within a group or society that are reinforced through formal and informal systems.

Informal Systems of Social Order

Unwritten expectations and social behaviors, such as viewing punctuality as an expression of politeness and cooperation, that help maintain social order.

Rogue

A term used to describe an entity or robot that goes against the established social order and breaks set protocols.

Surveillance

The monitoring of spaces and people using tools such as speed cameras, store cameras, subway cameras, or flat phone booth kiosks, which is closely associated with power.

My Gordon Report

An older movie referenced in the lecture to illustrate extreme surveillance where the system predicts and intercepts potential crimes before they are committed.

Plant (in WALL-E)

A symbol of social change in the film that demonstrates Earth can sustain growth and that people are able to return.

Dancing

A form of social expression representing joy and human connection, which the captain studies on his computer as an example of shared human culture.

Social Change

A gradual or fast transformation in culture or societal structures, driven by cultural shifts, technological innovation, conflict, or activism.

ICE Response Activities

Grassroots neighborhood actions—such as covert surveillance alerts, traffic delays, and neighborhood watches—designed to respond to government deportation enforcement.