Visual Data

Whether it's the racial representativeness of police departments or the accuracy of weather predicting, graphs have the ability to present complicated data in a visually sensible way.  Choose one (or more) of the graphs from this eclectic collection from fivethirtyeight.com and write about it.  What do you find interesting or telling about the graph?  How does the graph communicate information in a way that numbers (tables) can't?

Guns in America

With reports of horrific mass shootings dominating the news lately, the call for greater restrictions on guns gets louder and louder.  While the majority of Americans seem to favor stricter controls, the NRA and many gun advocates see such controls as a violation of their Second Amendment rights.  Does the Second Amendment prevent us from taking important steps in reducing gun violence?  What steps would actually work?  To hear two opposing viewpoints on this issue, listen to President Obama here, and NRA President Wayne LaPierre here.

Fast Food Frenzy

Morgan Spurlock's extreme diet demonstrates the hazards of consuming too much fast food. Since so much of the American diet contains processed, fatty items, obesity has become a significant, widespread epidemic. Does Spurlock's documentary effectively identify the problem and offer a solution? Is his experiment a valid one, and does he treat the issue fairly? How do his film-making techniques compare to Michael Moore's? Which part of Supersize Me did you find most effective?

Unconscious Advertising

In The Persuaders, Clotaire Rapaille claims that consumers respond to unconscious cues that push "reptilian hot buttons" in our brain and bypass rational decision-making. Select an ad (from TV, print, radio, or the internet) and analyze its subrational content. What does the ad tell you about American culture in general and the target consumers in particular? What "reptilian hot buttons" does the ad push? Share your insights with your blog group in a well-developed discussion thread. You can find clips to many television commercials at advertisementave.com.  Additionally, political strategist Frank Luntz argues that his wordsmithing of political issues ("inheritiance tax" to "death tax") actually provides clarity rather than manipulates.  Do you agree?  Here is his interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

Buy! Buy! Buy!

Advertising pervades our daily lives to a increasingly stifling degree.  With so much time, effort, and money invested in aggressively bombarding us with ads, we often feel at the mercy of marketers, unable to critically analyze the messages aimed at our conscious and unconscious brains.  What are the various ways advertisers appeal to us to get us to buy (or vote for) their products? What (if any) ethical considerations should limit the lengths to which advertisers are able to go?  In his article from The Atlantic, Michael Sandel laments the dangers of a market society.  Do you agree with his concerns?

A History of Segregation

As you watch the documentary Deforce and consider the factors that have led to Detroit's current state, speculate about what steps we need to take to improve economic and social factors in the Detroit Metro Area.  Like many urban centers, Detroit suffers from a pervasive, systematic segregation along racial lines.  How does this segregation influence the local economy and shape Detroit's future?

The Illusion of Race

Most scientists agree that while genetic differences exist among human populations, the concept of "race" is an illusory social construct.  The PBS series Race: The Power of an Illusion explores the dark history of biological determinism in America.  Ta-Nehisi Coates delves into the topic in "What We Mean When We Say 'Race is a Social Construct,'"  as does Robert Sussman in this Newsweek Magazine piece.  With so many contemporary controversies centered around race and ethnicity, what are the implications of the knowledge that "race" (as we have historically conceived of it) isn't real? How does an artificial barrier like "race" limit our personal growth and our ability to relate to others? How have geographic racial divides (illustrated in this "segregation map") contributed to racial tensions in the country?