“Tuition policy behind Korean student suicides?”
PRI’s The World examines the pressure on Korean students to get “superior” grades. At KAIST, a number of students have committed suicide and many outside of the school point to the structure of the university—particularly its tuition fees—as at least partially responsible for the deaths. At KAIST, students with excellent grades have their tuition waived and this puts pressure on students to excel so as to avoid placing a financial burden on their families and bringing shame to the household.

Questions to Consider:

1. Drawing on what you learned about Durkheim’s study of suicides, analyze what is taking place at KAIST.
2. Use Durkheim’s classification system to identify the type of suicide observed at KAIST.
3. How might the structure of KAIST be modified to reduce the risk of student suicide?

This American Life 322: Shouting Across the Divide
This program presents stories of the difficulties that arise in communications and relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims. The program includes the story of a family that came to America in the late 1990s. After September 11, 2001, their otherwise happy life in this country became subject to a high degree of prejudice and discrimination. It also includes the story of an advertising agency who works on a project to promote American values to the Muslim world for the State Department.

Questions to Consider:

1. What was the effect of September 11th on the family? How did their behavior change? How were those around them affected by the larger social forces? How were they able to affect the larger social structure?
2. How were the employees at the ad agency expected to have an impact on the larger social context? How well did it work?
3. What differences do you find in looking at these stories sociologically as opposed to how you would have otherwise?

This American Life 360: Switched at Birth
This episode starts by recapping an unusual event that occurred on a summer day in 1951 when two baby girls were born in a hospital in small-town Wisconsin. The infants were accidentally switched, and went home with the wrong families. One of the mothers realized the mistake but chose to keep quiet. Until the day, more than 40 years later, when she decided to tell both daughters what happened. How the truth changed two families' lives—and how it didn't.

Questions to Consider:

1. What do you believe most influenced Mrs. Miller’s decision to not confront the delivery room doctor about the possibility that she took home the wrong baby?
2. What role do you feel biology/genes played in Sue and Martis’ upbringing? How does that differ from the sociological/societal impact on their upbringing?
3. The first chapter in your textbook stresses the significant impact society has on our lives and called for the readers to use their sociological imagination to see this influence. What might the sociological imagination tell us about this story?