The Indigenous Roots of Rock and Roll

As I reflect back on the course material while I write this assignment, the words that stand out to me are: Social Movement; Propaganda; Ideology; Competition; Homework; Link Wray; Jim Keen; Slaughterhouses; Biodiversity; #MeToo; Cooperative Learning; Seed Monopolies; Demobilization; Corruption.

Words like these stand out to me because throughout this course I was faced with challenges to find meaning and depth to these words. I was put to the test through each assignment to explore my inner thoughts to come up with detailed and well-prepared answers to questions I sometimes struggled with.

I work a full-time job, and trying to keep up with the readings and assignments in my “spare” time was definitely a challenge most days.

Key Learnings

Most of all, I learned that my mind can still be challenged and tested with these subjects, and with each unit, I felt my knowledge expanding.

To express my learning, I want to go through each unit individually and focus on the key elements, what stood out to me most, what transformed my thoughts about those topics, and what I would like to expand on for future learning.


Unit 1 – A Rock-and-Roll Introduction to Social Movements

Throughout Unit One, I was able to explore the meaning of a social movement. What are those protests I hear about on the news linked to? This course enlightened me that social movements are about promoting change to issues that are ongoing in the world today.

Currently, the #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo movements are all over the news with recent developments for each.

Reading the stories in #MeToo Movement by Laurie Collier Hillstrom for this course brought feelings of disgust. I didn’t realize what a misogynistic world we still live in.

Watching the documentary Rumble, I felt enlightened to racism in the South of the United States and that the Ku Klux Klan did not only target Black people. I was amazed to hear of the racism towards Native Americans and that they were almost treated worse than African Americans.

Link Wray touched so many people with his distortion on the electric guitar. The power chord that he played started a movement and created a genre of music. Link Wray is someone I had never even heard of before, yet he is a musical icon.

Key Takeaway

It only takes one person to stand up against a cause to make change. That one person can influence a nation to join together and get things done.


Unit 2 – Ideas

Reflecting on Unit Two, I find it ironic that homework is not beneficial, yet my university education consists of all at-home study and homework.

Key Learnings

I was raised in a Christian family. Religion is a classic example of indoctrination.

Reflection

This course taught me that the way I think and the things I believe may have come from brainwashing. It makes you question if you really know who you are…


Unit 3 – Ideology

This unit explored propaganda, also known as public relations.

Key Learnings

COVID-19 and Propaganda

I feel that COVID-19 is a perfect example of propaganda:

Social Movements and Media


I am a competitive person by nature. After reading No Contest by Alfie Kohn, I learned:

Key Learnings

Reflection

During COVID-19, I see both competition (for jobs) and cooperation (community support).


Unit 5 – Global Mirrors Local Issues

This unit was the biggest eye-opener.

Key Learnings

Social Movements and Action


Anti-Vaxx Social Movement Exploration

I chose the Anti-Vaccination Movement because of COVID-19.

Key Learnings

Personal Stance

I support vaccinations—they have eradicated deadly diseases.


Conclusion

I have learned so much in this course:

Future Learning Interests

Final Thought

One voice can impact a nation.

These individuals effected change by mobilizing resources and spreading their message.

The Religion of Technology

The most fascinating revelation came through David Noble’s “The Religion of Technology,” which exposed something completely absent from my CS 492 experience - the deep spiritual and religious underpinnings of Western technological development. This course went beyond “utopianism and dystopianism” in computing, examining the millennial Christian expectations that Noble demonstrates have driven technological development for centuries.

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Reflections on the Course (Soci 460)

When I enrolled in SOCI 460, I thought I would be learning about algorithms, digital infrastructure, and maybe some history about computers or the internet, I didn’t expect this course to it so close to home. I had no idea I would end up thinking about the Catholic Church, the masculine foundations of science, spiritual longing, Facebook content moderators, or the invisible ands that curate and control my daily life. More than that, I didn’t expect to be sitting with guilt, grief, awe, and a renewed sense of responsibility.

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Caring is not enough

My most significant realization is that personal transformation and political awareness are deeply interconnected. Caring is not enough—we must critically analyze the systems we operate within, the narratives we perpetuate, and the assumptions we unconsciously hold. I now feel more committed than ever in questioning dominant narratives in my work and creating space for truth-telling, relational accountability, and systemic change.

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The Most Successful Social Movements are Started by the Rich

What I expected of this course would be examples of the most successful social movements of all time and I was not wrong on this count. What I did not expect was that the most successful social movements in our living history were social movements created by massive multi-corporate alliances.

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The Most Successful Social Movements are Started by the Rich

By the time we explored the public relations industry and propaganda, I was beginning to see that nearly every institution I had once trusted—church, school, media, government—spoke a language of compliance. The assigned chapters from A Century of Spin were almost comically dark in how they pulled back the curtain on PR’s role in manufacturing reality. I began noticing it in everything - how political campaigns reframe policy as “freedom,” how consumer brands adopt woke messaging to sell soda, how even well-meaning institutions use symbols to signal virtue instead of engaging in real reform. The Matrix analogy felt less like a metaphor and more like a documentary.

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Theory and Praxis Happily Combined

I would like to say that the course exceeded my expectations. The material offered a learning experience that goes beyond the classroom and the examples provided; it is practical learning that the student can apply the concepts to everyday life. This practical applicability is what truly captivates me and makes me feel happy and fulfilled. Realizing that the concepts of social movements are not just relevant to large-scale protests, but also to the small things in daily life, made me feel more connected as a human being and a citizen. It gave me a stronger sense of how I can help and contribute to the society I live in. For me, SOCI288 brilliantly combined theory with practical application, allowing students to link each unit to the readings and their own individual experiences.

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The Power of Education

Initially, when I reviewed the course materials and the website, I felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of resources, readings, and course deliverables. It seemed like an insurmountable task to read through everything and internalize and retain the information. However, as I began to dive into the material, I found it deeply engaging, informative, and thought-provoking, which made the learning process much more enjoyable than I had anticipated

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A fascinating Course

If I can be entirely personal in this part of my answer, I would say that this course has given me a great chance to examine the belief systems I was raised in. I was raised Roman Catholic, a faith I rejected long ago, but I've never really sat down and thought about the fear that religion caused in me. This course made me do that. I had to answer questions that caused me to remember the horrific bloody portraits on my grandmother's wall, and the whispered threats of the priests and nuns who taught in my Catholic elementary and high school. I was always afraid. Afraid of the God I had disrespected by not eating fish on a Friday, afraid that I hadn't fasted long enough before taking communion on a Sunday, and afraid, most of all, that I had unwittingly committed a mortal sin that guaranteed my place in hell. What a terrible thing to do to a child. I'm really glad I've had a reason to rethink it all.

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