Applied Learning

Sociology Applied Learning Opportunities at Worcester State

Here at Worcester State, we believe that you can best understand the social world by getting out and experiencing it. That’s why we stress field work alongside coursework and why we offer many interactive learning opportunities. Recent Sociology Department tours include a faculty-student research trip to Tanzania and an annual “alternative summer break” trip to Nicaragua.

Many of your courses will include community-based research projects, and you’ll interact in class with guest speakers who are experts in their fields. We have hosted representatives from Alternatives, Everyday Miracles Recovery Learning Center, and the Genesis Club, for example.

Sociology Applied Learning Presentations

Atomwaffen Division: How is it Viewed Across Media Platforms?

Atomwaffen’s extremist behaviors and violent tendencies came to be recognized quickly by the public. This research focuses on how popular media and news sources have depicted this hate group. Hate groups often feed off of the media attention they receive; because we are living in a highly technological era, the portrayal of the Atomwaffen group across media platforms may help us better understand why the group’s name has come to be known in less than five years’ time.

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Serial Killer Identities Through Symbolic Interactionism and Social Structure and Personality

Infamous male serial killers are usually depicted as outgoing, kind, caring family men throughout media statements when they are caught by law enforcement. This research analyzes media depictions of serial killers through the social-psychological faces of symbolic interactionism and social structure and psychology through Mead's theory of “I” and “Me” as well as Goffman’s front stage and backstage behaviorism theory.

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Physical Activity, Mental Health, and Happiness

The purpose of this study is to see the effects of physical activity on mental health/happiness. The research will help us understand if there is a direct correlation between working out and overall mental health and level of happiness. My hypotheses are that mental health improves when someone is physically active, and that physical activity has a significantly positive effect on someone’s level of happiness.

Identity Salience and Activism in Policy Debate

This research aims to seek correlation of ethnic and academic identity, and explore the relationship between identity salience and activism in policy debate, an academic form of debate that is research intensive and highly intellectual in terms of public policy, philosophy, and more. Students who participate in policy debate engage in higher-order thinking and develop critical argumentation skills.

Relationship Satisfaction

This research explores the differential impact of relationship satisfaction dependent on whether individuals’ initial contact was made through an online environment as opposed to physical co-presence. Research is based on a survey drawn from the population of the Worcester State University community.

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