The following, from the course syllabus, lays out the research problem and possible lines of research:
All social events occur in time, which gives them organization and meaning. Making matters interesting, as Professor Wendy Griswold notes, “Time and space are products of the social mind, not pre-existing givens.” Further, with social evolution, lives are less lived according to natural rhythms (e.g., the cycles of day and night, or the seasonal cycles of the year) and increasingly are governed by man-made times (e.g., bureaucratic deadlines, family “quality time”). Together we will explore the temporalities of individuals, interpersonal relationships, organizations, and cultures. Each of these has its own
pace: i.e., the cultural paces of life, how fast people walk and work
orientation to the past, present and future
rhythm: e.g., recurring cycles of behavior
synchronizations and entrainments
time allocations: i.e., work time vs. leisure time; the temporal pressures of too much to do in too little time; the temporal overlaps of multi-tasking; cultural monochronic and polychromic times
temporal types of selves: in addition to the morning and late-night people [a mid-1980s survey of Trinity students found only 11% claiming to be morning people while 30% were night owls], Humphry Osmond has identified four distinct personality types:
§ the "sensation" type, who lives in the present and has little concern for the future or past
§ the "feeling" type, who usually is a great collector, tends to live in the past and is uncomfortable in new situations
§ the "intuitive" type, who relates best to the future
§ the "thinking" type, who tends to see how things relate to the past, present, and future
developmental cycles: such as the student role career from freshman to senior status, the cycles task-oriented groups go through focusing back and forth between task and interpersonal relationships), and ways by which social beginnings and endings are managed
and degrees of continuity and change
Here are the summaries of the groups' presentations:
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