Sociology of Violence Midterm, Spring
Prior to beginning the exam, please make sure to write your name, ID number, and your TA’s name on the upper-left corner of your response sheet. The exam must be uploaded to the Midterm link available on our course website under “Week 6” before midnight on May 6, 2022.
All exams submitted past then will be deducted half a letter grade per day for lateness.
You may use your class readings, films, lecture slides, and notes. You may not coordinate your answers with other students. Good luck!!
Short Answer
Please answer any 3 of the following 4 questions with at least one paragraph per response.
- In her book, The Untold War, Nancy Sherman argues that there is constant shifting between civilian and military life and that this has consequences for how soldiers experience war.
What are two examples of how contemporary soldiers stay connected to civilian life and why does this matter for their experiences of war? - What is Max Weber’s definition of the state? What word does he put in parentheses? Why is this significant?
- How can we use (a) geography and (b) history to dispel biological ideologies of race? In addition to explaining how race is place and time-specific, give one example for each as evidence.
- What are the four theories of poverty discussed in lecture? After listing all four, explain one of them in a couple of sentences and the kinds of policy solutions that are associated with it.
Essay
Answer the prompt below in a four-to-five page essay. Your justification for your answer must reference at least three concepts from class readings, lectures, or discussion (it can reference more, if you choose).
When referencing readings, please make sure to include the author’s last name and page number in parentheses (e.g., Tilly p. 72). When referencing lecture, please make sure to include the lecture week and lesson in parentheses (e.g., Lecture Week 3, Class 2). When referencing discussion, please make sure to include the discussion week in parentheses (e.g., Discussion Week 3).
You are welcome to use concepts to either support your answer (e.g., _ would help us build a liberal democracy, which is defined as , and which would be good for society because ), or as a negative claim (e.g., would help us overcome symbolic violence, which is
defined as and which harms society by ). Whenever you use concepts, be sure to define them first.
All answers must be written in Times New Roman font and double-spaced.
No government is morally neutral, because power is not morally neutral.
Lines have to get drawn somewhere.
The U.S. government’s moral compass to guide its power should be based on _____.
How would you finish this last sentence, and why?