Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The primary focus of this paper is to describe the activities of the postsecondary pilot implementation of the ASA model curriculum for introductory sociology classes with undergraduate students at a large research university in the midwestern United States and to test the effectiveness of the curriculum in this setting. The effectiveness of the curriculum is measured in three dimensions: student knowledge of sociological content, the development of critical thinking skills, and the motivation of students to study sociology. This paper outlines the activities of the implementation and evaluation, describes the assessments and instruments used in the evaluation, and presents preliminary data on the critical thinking skills of college students in an introductory sociology class.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Analyses of academic site internet usage are not well developed and, for all but the largest and better funded sites, remain simply speculative in nature. This paper provides an exploratory examination into the internet usage of a primarily information based academic web page. Two related questions are addressed in this paper: Does the use of an academic web page effectively disseminate information, particularly at the sub-disciplinary level and, is it necessary to use multimedia to generate internet traffic interest? The American Sociological Association’s Section on Labor and Labor Movements web page internet usage visitor traffic for the years 2006 and 2007 is the source of data for the paper. The paper demonstrates that internet usage continues to increase and that information dissemination is broad-based throughout the global academic community, although primary usage remains concentrated in the United States. The findings are speculative with regards the second question and suggest that multimedia materials would increase internet usage traffic to a larger audience although may not necessary in meeting the needs of the primary user audience. The paper concludes that a text-based information academic web page is an effective means of disseminating information to a target constituent audience but not for a broader global audience including as a means of providing information to the individuals under study by the sub-discipline.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The paper: “Reconsidering the Deaf Community as a
Cultural Minority Under the Framework of International Law” challenges
contemporary trends within the human rights discourse that embrace the
Deaf community (with a capital D) as an ethnic or linguistic minority
group that is entitled to rights of recognition and preservation. It
further questions the corollary rights that are arguably derived from a
recognized status of a minority group, particularly the inherent right
to take an active role in the education and the medical decision-making
that concern a deaf child. Drawing on the developments in the arena of
international law in the context of minority communities, the paper
delineates between the “imaginable features” of a community, its
physical, social and moral existence and the practical and legal
consequences of this social artifact. Tackling the issue from a human
rights perspective, the paper examines the tension between the deaf
child and the Deaf community’s identity and inquires into the broader
philosophical debate of minority groups as rights holders in a
multicultural world.