The Saint Mary's sociology department is holding its annual Sociology Week — which kicked off Monday and runs through Friday.
According to Colleen Lowry, a member of Sociology Club, the week began with a viewing of the movie "Love Actually" in Vander Vennet Theater with a discussion afterwards about the topics in the movie.
Tie-Dye day is Tuesday in the vending machine area of McCandless Hall. Dr. Carrie Erlin, an assistant professor of sociology at the College, will discuss her research over lunch in Conference Room A of the Student Center from noon to 1 p.m. Her research is centered around "extreme [Chicago] Bears fans," Lowry said.
Thursday is Sociology Appreciation Day.
"Look for girls on campus wearing their Sociology T-shirts and ask them anything you have ever wanted to know about Sociology," Lowry said.
To wrap up the week, there will be breakfast in the sociology department from 8 to 11 a.m. where students can talk to professors about a major in the subject as well as classes offered by the department.
Events were chosen based from response to activities in previous years.
"The club members held a meeting and chose the events for the week together based on what has been popular in previous years and what we were all interested in putting on this year," Lowry said.
The club wanted to bring together what would be enjoyable for students, but also informative for them as well.
"These events were picked because they are all fun ways to incorporate sociological discussions into activities that everyone can enjoy," Lowry said. "The movie was followed with a sociological discussion about family dynamics and the Sociological Awareness day was promoted by hanging flyers all over campus to educate students about other sociological topics and current events."
The festivities are an attempt to raise awareness for the major and courses offered at the College.
"We are hoping to get our name out there more as a major and just to generally promote the classes taught by our great professors," Lowry said. "The club hopes that everyone that attended even one of our events will begin to use their sociological imagination to see the world."
Lowry said the week is important for students because it "is about them."
"We want [students] to love and appreciate sociology and get insight into the great classes they can take here at Saint Mary's," she said.
In addition to promoting the department, the club also wants students to learn about basic topics covered in sociology.
"We also want to spread the message of our great club, great department and great classes," Lowry said. "Getting students to enjoy learning about these topics with a variety of sociological learning experiences is the main goal of this week."
