Sociology Capstone Preparation
July 09, 2007
Sociology majors spend four years of study learning about the structure of society. As part of their senior capstone, they are required to take part in an activity which will test their knowledge and understanding on the subject. This activity is called SIMSOC (simulated society), the purpose of which is to model all the components of society in every way. Participants must deal with economics, politics, religion, bureaucracy, inequality, and working together. By having to deal with all of these aspects of society firsthand, students can get a close up glimpse of how structures and processes work.
SIMSOC begins by dividing a class into three separate regions. The first group becomes the green region and access to all resources. The second group becomes the yellow region and holds the power of the mass media. The third group becomes the red region and have, essentially, nothing except their religious movement. Once divided into these categories the mood of the game begins to change. The green region tends to be more laid back since they have the means necessary to keep their lives going, the yellow region feels a sense of power since they control the media, and the red region succumbs to a feeling of isolation since they have nothing to work with. In this red region some of the feelings projected included intense anxiety, struggle, and conflict.
After listening to the students recount the events of SIMSOC, all of them came to the same conclusion about the structure of the game. They felt that as seniors they were expected to understand how this society would work. They have been studying the subject for years and they felt they would coast through the game with minimum trouble. Very quickly, however, they learned that no one is exempt to the power of social structure. As Dr. Echo Fields puts it, "Some students thought that they really wanted to be in positions of leadership but then they learned that there were risks to personal relationships that came out of making decisions and that being one of the "powerful" people wasn't comfortable."
As the game progressed, more problems arose, there were hard times, and the students struggled for understanding. The biggest shock the students experienced was how class-segregated they became. During the game there were specified minority groups which ended up doing just as well as the majority. But one minority group the class did not plan on was the poverty stricken. The game was very eye-opening, showing how even today people are still separated by class in our society. When asked about their personal perspectives on the game, senior Darren VanLehn said, "The simulation society was completely beneficial because it allows you to see the aspects of society that you undergo daily from an exterior point of view. I feel that simulations like this at different levels of schooling would benefit children, teenagers and adults in their understanding and interactions with society."
All in all, SIMSOC was a positive experience for the participants involved. This simulated society brought to life real occurrences and real problems that people in the world must deal with daily. Students actually witnessed and experienced, firsthand, how easy it is to fall into a social role. It taught them how and why people in society behave the way they do, how the more stressed they are the more likely they will be to adopt a mode of survival and become competitive, and how even though we are aware of the pitfalls and traps it is still easy to fall into them.
