iTunes U- Identity

As someone interested in both psychology and sociology, I wanted to put something together that evoked ideas of identity from an integration of both perspectives. Not only do I think these podcasts are great for student reflection on life and who they are as an individual and the beliefs that they hold, but it will give them a sense of social and psychological discourse that could possibly help them in future readings on these subjects.

One of the podcasts I chose was an introduction to a class on social psychology where they talk about the idea of individual-society dualism. This means that often times these two things are separated as being isolated variables without effect on each other. However, as the women in this podcast argue, social-psychology tries to do the opposite and show that the two are intrinsically linked. I think this is great for getting students to think about the fact that they are not just one person, effected by isolated events but are participants in a much larger context, where we have a give and take relationship that cannot avoid influencing who we are and who we become. Students need to realize there is a big world out there, and should begin to think about how they fit in it.
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I also wanted to include ideas on gender. This particular podcast is an interview with a genetically female woman who was raised as a boy due to the fact that she had a rare condition that demonstrated physically ambiguous genitalia that doctors mistakenly identified as male. While this particular condition happens in 1 in about 4,000 births (which is not that small of a number when you think about it) similar issues of ambiguous genitalia occur in about 1 in every 2,000 births. Many of these people are faced with gender identity crises that are only exacerbated by family and society ignorance and nonacceptance. Students must realize that things are not just black and white, so we should never judge someone who may be different from what we consider normal. I think this podcast will also be helpful in getting kids to think about how their gender identity is constructed.
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This next podcast expands on the woman talked about in the previous one, and how this relates to nature vs. nurture. It is a great argument that all of us at some point contemplate.
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I also included a podcast that talks about the dynamics of families today, and how they have changed over the years. They explain that this change may not necessarily be bad, but in fact is a change that is responding appropriately to the change of times. It is good to get students to think about the structure of their family and other families, and how this affects who they are.
file:///C:/Users/Lexi/AppData/Local/Temp/The%20Role%20of%20Family%20and%20Social%20Change.url

I included a podcast that address what consciousness is and gives a brief introduction to the concept. I think this is good for students to understand the idea of "thinking about thinking" and the role that consciousness plays in our lives and how it manifests itself through our actions. I belief that having a better understanding of this may get students to think more deeply about their own actions and thoughts.
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The last podcast I added comes from a more biological viewpoint, and it makes a differentiation between the way males and females react towards stress in the context of terrorism and war. It ties this into the general idea of risk taking, which is a common and popular topic among youths. The fact that it uses the concept of terrorism to explain this is a more innovative and "world issue" incorporating way of talking about this topic.

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Because the podcasts are on very different topics, it would be interesting to see how the students synthesize the information from their own interpretation of what they listened to. When reading, I would expect them to jot down main ideas and initial reactions. After that, I would like to see them in small groups discussing what they thought about what they heard and give them some questions to think about. On their own, I would then have them do a reflection paper, I just haven't decided what the focus will be (or if I would even have a specific focus or just give them free reign).