5.1 What makes you curious?
Regarding the social world – what are you interested in, and curious about?
Activity 5: What makes you curious?
To help you think about this, you might reflect on why you opted to try this course, or any other OpenLearn courses or formal qualifications you may be considering. You might also want to reflect on some of the following questions to help you to figure out what you’re most curious about:
- What drew you to this course?
- Was it a particular subject or discipline? Criminology, development studies, economics, geography, philosophy, politics and international relations, religious studies, sociology, or maybe a combination of several of these?
- If so, what gets you excited about exploring this subject?
- Or was it a particular question? For example: why does inequality exist? Why is there crime? Who’s in charge of society?
Complete the below table. In the left-hand column note down some topics that you’re curious about or just would like to know more about. Some examples of topics you might pick could be identity, the family, the state, poverty, crime. Then, in the right-hand column, add some questions you want to know the answers to, that relate to those topics.
| Topic that you are curious about | Questions you’d like to answer |
|---|---|
Comment
How did you find that activity? You might have come up with many things, or you may have struggled to even come up with one. Either way, it’s okay. You’re still just beginning to explore the social sciences. This activity also got you thinking about questions and about what you are interested in. Becoming comfortable with asking questions is an important part of being a student and of being a social scientist. It’s equally important to learn to ask good social science questions – even if you don’t know how to answer them. This first attempt to ask questions of your own was just the start of your exploration of the social world.