Blog Post 1: Applying the Concept of Structuration to Your Family

Apply the concept of structuration to your own family. Discuss how changes in family membership (younger siblings, new in-laws, etc.), family member status (teenagers, new college students, retirements, parents returning to the workforce or to educational pursuits, etc.) and other elements have impacted your family.

How have some activities continued to be constrained, while others are now being created?

Your responses to Blog Post #1 are due by 5 pm Eastern Time on Monday, Jan. 25, 2010.

Blog Post 2: Work and Careers

For this blog post, I want you to recall what you wanted to be when you “grew up.” On what did you base these desires? Are you still pursuing the career path that you had planned when you were 7? Why or why not?

Your responses to Blog Post #2 are due by 5 pm Eastern Time on Monday, Feb. 1, 2010.

Blog Post 3: Organizational Socialization

Think about the process JMU used to socialize you into the institution. Discuss the type of orientation program provided by this organization.

Evaluate the program in light of their recent knowledge about the socialization process. What suggestions would you make in order to improve the process?

Your responses to Blog Post #3 are due by 5 pm Eastern Time on Monday, Feb. 15, 2010.

Blog Post 4: Supervisors and Management Style

Think about supervisors you have had (whether in summer jobs or perhaps on campus employment). Was your superior a male or female? What type of management style did he/she employ?

If you have had both a male and a female supervisor, explain which one you preferred and why you preferred that supervisor.

Your responses to Blog Post #4 are due by 5 pm Eastern Time on Monday, Feb. 22, 2010.

Blog Post 5: Communicating in College Today and in the Past

Find a person to interview who graduated from college in the early to mid 1980s, or earlier (a family member or friend is acceptable). Ask how often this individual interacted with his or her professors outside of classroom (referring to phone calls in the evenings, office visits, etc.).

Compare and contrast how often you and your friends communicate with your professors outside of class (through email, voice mail, etc).

What would a critical theorist have to say about both the workload of the professor and the impact of these technologies on the students?

Your responses to Blog Post #5 are due by 5 pm Eastern Time on Monday, April 12, 2010.