Contributed by S.V., Instructor of Sociology
Scene 1: A concerned Chris converses with Erica on phone wondering why his friend Dennis is avoiding him.
Scene 2: Erica confronts Dennis who has taken on cheerleading.
Scene 3: Dennis reveals to Chris his new role as a cheerleader emphasizing its hypermasculine characteristics such as cheerleading being a tough sport and his ability to hang out with the best-looking girls in school.
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| "Men Who Cheer" |
This is a play on "Men Who Cheer" from the Sociology of Deviance class this fall. October 31st was the opening night. Students drew on five readings from the textbook. They documented three to five key actions/dialogues for each scene that explains the process of development/management of deviant identity. They demonstrated what puts people in the trajectory of deviance and how they rationalize and manage their deviant status, which they must live with. The students were responsible for the script, role assignment, direction, props, and anything else they decided to include.
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| Students Act Out: the stigma of homeless youth |
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| S.V., introducing the skits |
During the discussion after the plays, the class said that they had thoroughly enjoyed this assignment. They were able to understand and retain the material in the reading for their plays compared to other assignments including presentations and class discussions. They were able to put themselves in the shoes of the deviants. The only concern expressed was offending their peers in class who may be living with a particular deviance. Other plays included topics of bisexualilty and anorexia, stigma management strategies of homeless kids, and techniques of neutralization used by car thieves.
Overall this “out of the box” assignment was a very fruitful exercise. Students were also satisfied with the time for preparation which included one entire class period (80 minutes) over a few days. On a personal level, it was a very exciting experience to watch the work of some of the sociologists come to life in my classroom.
How could you use skits to demonstrate key concepts and ideas in your own classroom?
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| The Sociology of Deviance class, Fall 2012 |
Visit us again next week for another story about MCC instructors using skits/performance in the classroom!
