The following is an old Russian proverb, “It is better to
be slapped in the face with the truth then kissed with a lie”. Sociology is an overpowering critical
thinking discipline. After completing any one of the GMC Sociology classes a
student can expect to vastly improve their critical thinking skills. For
example, a student will understand the vital critical thinking skill of,
“debunking”. Debunking in layman terms is the ability to see through
falsehoods. A famous Malcolm X quote is at the heart of understanding the skill
of debunking, “If you are not careful the newspapers will have you hating the
people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing”.
Sociology teaches students to stand in the shoes of the desperate and the
defeated. The discipline develops empathy skills for those struggling to survive
in a competitive corporate environment. If the GMC student learns humility
through Sociology, then the goal of the discipline has been accomplished.
In the Introduction to Sociology class students
internalize the sociological perspectives. The perspectives are angles of
vision in order to comprehend all sides of any given social problem or social
issue. The introductory classes cover the research methods sociologist employ
to discover the ills in our society. The course also covers how sociologist
study the family, education, religion, sports, health, criminal justice, and
the government. The student learns how these institutions affect their own
behavior at the micro level. Ideally, after the introductory course the GMC
student will have developed the critical thinking skill of “cognitive
reflection”. Most of the journals written in the introduction course revolve
around cognitive reflection. In simple layman’s terms “cognitive reflection”
means to think “critically” before you talk or write. Upon completion of their
degrees GMC students will have excellent cognitive reflections skills to be leaders
in their given professions. Cognitive reflection is the skill set employed by
America’s greatest leaders. For example,
General Dwight Eisenhower’s cognitively reflection skills were intuitively deep
since he drew upon a military experience where life and death decisions were
routine. An example of a famous cognitively reflective quotation from President
Eisenhower, “Together we must learn to compose differences, not with arms, but
with intellect and decent purpose”.
The Social Problems class is my favorite to teach.
Indeed, the online Social Problems class at GMC is second to none. It follows
along with the Russian proverb this essay started with, “It is better to be
slapped in the face with the truth then kissed with a lie”. This class is a
slap in the face to those that think we live in utopia. Here are some facts cited
from the GMC Social Problems class: suicide is in the top ten leading causes of
death for Americans, for those under twenty five suicide is the second leader
cause of death, over 80,000 people a year in America visit an emergency room
with some sort of gunshot wound, child abuse kills more children then accident
and leukemia combined, over 25,000 Americans are murdered yearly, over 80,000 American
are raped yearly, on any given night 50,000 American veterans are homeless,
over 120,000 children are involved in child pornography yearly, and over 50,000
Americans will contract the disease Aids this year. Those figures just scratch
the surface of the provocative Social Problems class GMC offers online.
Finally, sociologist turn to government to solve these problems. What all
academics regardless of discipline uncover is a dysfunctional institution s in
grid lock. Many Americans want to be kissed with a lie. If that is you, please
don’t take a Sociology class at GMC. Thomas Jefferson once said, “The greatest
American citizen is one who engages in active criticism of the policies of
their very own government”. Sociology classes at GMC give you the cognitive
abilities to become a constructive citizen in a free society that so many have
sacrificed their very life for.
Michael Granata M.A.
(Sociology online GMC)
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