Technique 58: The American Dream, Ideology, Religion and Inequality

Teaching Objectives/Student Learning Outcomes: To brainstorm students’ basic conception of the American Dream and use this as a basis for considering Jennifer Hochschild’s four tenets of the American Dream; to discuss Weber’s notion of the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; to show how the American Dream as a cultural concept serves to influence students’ thinking and judgments (usually without them realizing it); and to illustrate the sociological definition of "ideology."