ASC102 Week 1 Lecture – Unit Introduction & Sociological Imagination

Opening greeting: "Good afternoon everyone… welcome to ASC102 Introduction to Sociology – The Sociology of Everyday Life."
Mixed cohort: some students are continuing from ASC101, others entirely new.
Room temperature jokes: lecture theatre often “too cold at Waurn Ponds.”
Door left open; light banter with late-arriving students.
Lecturer promises a short introductory talk before handing over to Shania (PASS leader).
Recurrent humour theme: AI-generated images in slides – mostly positive student feedback, but at least one negative comment; lecturer will keep using them (“sucks to them – there’s more this trimester”).

Unit Chair & main lecturer: Professor Andrew Singleton.
- Lecturing: Weeks 1–4 & Week 11.
- Responsibilities: unit design, tutor engagement, assessment design, mark entry, quality control.
- Reminder: small error uploading grades last trimester; affected students should contact him for recalculation.
Additional lecturers:
- Dr Kim – expert on sociology of sport; lecturing Weeks 5–7.
- Dr Matteo – interests include online hate & deviance; lecturing Weeks 8–10.
Tutors:
- Madison – runs Geelong campus tutorials (positive ASC101 feedback).
- Online tutorial options available as make-up or permanent mode; enrolment change required for permanent online attendance.

Academic workload distribution: $40\%$ teaching, $40\%$ research, $20\%$ administration.
Supervision: $5$ – $6$ PhD students.
Research speciality: sociology of religion & religious change.
- Books:
- “Religion, Culture and Society” (≈10 years ago).
- “Teenagers’ Perspectives on Religion, Sexuality & Diversity” (derived from national survey + interviews).
- NEW (May launch): “Let the Dead Speak – Spiritualism in Australia” (6-year project with colleague Matt).
  - Ethnographic fieldwork: visits to spiritualist churches nationwide, medium shows in pubs/clubs, overseas comparisons.
  - Historical note: spiritualism arrived in Geelong in the $1850\text{s}$ ; first Australian séance held there.
Recent conference travel: Lithuania (33 °C last week) – global sociology gathering.
Rationale for sharing research: shows currency of knowledge & models the researcher role students will emulate.

Formal definition: study of society & human behaviour; analyses how we live together, community structures, and how society shapes individual actions.
Comparative frame:
- Psychology ⇒ science of the mind.
- Biology ⇒ science of the body.
- Sociology ⇒ science of society (interplay between individual & social forces).
ASC101 recap: students previously compared their local community to wider Victoria/Australia via ABS statistics (Assignment 3); showed how housing, beliefs, labour patterns vary.
ASC102 aim: apply sociological lens to specific arenas of everyday life (youth, sport, deviance, online hate, etc.).

Concept by C. Wright Mills (Week 2 content in ASC101).
Purpose: link personal troubles / experiences to public issues / social structures.
Four analytic dimensions:
1. Historical – how past shapes the present.
2. Cultural (shared beliefs/values) – influence on thoughts & actions.
3. Structural – roles of class, gender, institutions.
4. Critical – evaluating implications & potential policy/ethical responses.
On-the-spot illustrative case: Spiritualism & Talking to the Dead.
- Historical: Emerged $\approx1840\text{s}$ , popular during modernisation; reached Australia $1850\text{s}$ . Alfred Deakin (2nd PM & namesake of university) was a committed spiritualist; wife Pattie served as medium; Deakin became 2nd president of Victorian Spiritualist Union.
- Cultural/Belief: Practice rests on belief in afterlife communication; efficacy depends on participant conviction.
- Structural (Gender): $\approx70\%$ of participants are women; majority of mediums & church leaders female; emotional labour & gendered perceptions help explain pattern.
- Critical: Recognise significance for adherents; advise wider public & scholars not to dismiss; importance for pluralistic religious landscape.
Principle: Any everyday phenomenon (transport, coffee consumption, sport fandom, etc.) can be dissected with the sociological imagination.

Module 1 – Sociology of Youth (Weeks 2–4, Singleton).
- Explore macro factors shaping young lives: culture, place, education, family.
- Topics: health practices, beliefs, education, gendered experiences.
- Statistic teaser: $25\%$ of Australian young adults believe contacting the dead is possible.
Module 2 – Sport & Society (Weeks 5–7, Kim).
- Importance of sport to Australian identity & community (e.g., Geelong Cats).
- Issues: participation, gender, identity politics, community cohesion/conflict.
Module 3 – Deviance & Social Change (Weeks 8–10, Matteo).
- Construction of deviance, stigma, in-groups vs out-groups.
- Focus on racism, online hate, social movements, mechanisms of social change.
Week 11 – Singleton returns; Week 12 typically revision/conclusion (implied).

Assignment 1 – Life History Interview (Seminar Exercise)
- Start immediately; due early-mid trimester.
- Interview $1$ participant from an older generation (e.g., parent, grandparent).
- Goal: uncover how their teenage years differed from yours; analyse period effects.
- Product: recorded interview + written sociological report; no external reading required.
Assignment 2 – Critical Essay with AI Component
- Still in development (weeks away).
- Students will critically engage with AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) to aid sociological analysis and reflect on implications.
Assignment 3 – Research & Writing Task (End of Trimester)
- Likely quantitative skill-building akin to last trimester’s data visualisation (ABS data, charts).
- Designed to foster practical research competencies.

Leader: Shania – 3rd-year BA (Sociology & History); 4th time running PASS for 1st-year sociology.
PASS definition: Peer-Assisted Study Sessions – student-led, collaborative, no prescribed curriculum; adapt to attendee needs.
Activities: content clarification, study skills (reading, note-taking, referencing), assignment planning, well-being tips.
Evidence: Institutional data show higher grades for PASS attendees (graph displayed).
Schedule (beginning Week 3):
- Wednesday 7 pm–8 pm (evening) – online via Zoom.
- Thursday 10 am–11 am (day) – online via Zoom.
- Sessions identical; attend either; switch week-to-week as needed.
Not recorded ⇒ safe space for “silly” questions and candid discussion.
Supplementary Facebook group: polls, extra resources, activity sheets; join via QR code; answer membership questions (Deakin-only).
PASS links appear where lecture recordings & online classroom links reside (CloudDeakin > Zoom).

AI artwork debate: one student disliked images; lecturer will continue using them.
If ill (COVID) or involved in car accident (“crash into a tree”), students can swap to online tutorial temporarily.
Lecturer’s long drive anecdote: dropped son at Craigieburn, 2-hour trip each way – used to illustrate mundane sociological examples (public transport vs driving).
Reference: Mother (82) uses Facebook; lecturer refuses to friend her.

Formal teaching “in earnest” begins Week 2 with lecture on sociology of youth.
Encouragement: thrilled to have returning and new students; wishes for “fantastic trimester of study.”