North Central Sociological Association 2014 Teaching Address: The John F. Schnabel Lecture—Sociology’s Special Pedagogical Challenge

Instructors and students must overcome a course’s special pedagogical challenge in order for meaningful and important learning to occur. While some suggest that the special pedagogical problem varies by course, I contend that the special pedagogical problem is likely to be shared across a discipline’s curriculum, rather than being unique to each course. After reviewing a three-part typology of learning outcomes for sociology, I argue that the development of students’ sociological imaginations is sociology’s special pedagogical challenge; I then offer some general guidelines for teaching strategies to enhance the students’ success in developing a sociological imagination.     

Community Colleges and the “Promise” of Public Sociology: A College President’s Perspective

Public sociology in a community college setting offers great possibilities for the advancement of our discipline. As open access institutions whose stakeholders range from high school students dually enrolled in college to retirees epitomizing the ethos of lifetime learning, community colleges attract a diverse populace whose stock of life experiences resonates with sociological concepts. In this article I discuss how a well-known sociologist impacted a diverse audience, illustrating both the promise and the pitfalls of sociology for the public. I then situate “public sociology” within the context of my role as a college president and discuss how I have utilized a sociological imagination to structure the central themes of a successful capital campaign.     

PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES AND TEACHING SOCIOLOGY (2009 MSSA PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS)

In this address, I review available published presidential addresses written by presidents of various sociological organizations as a way of thinking about sociology and what sociologists may find important. Using Eller's categorizations, I divide the articles into three types including (1) query of the profession in which the author discussed the history of sociology or its future; (2) a call for new directions in methodologies or theories within sociology; and (3) a focus on the author/president's research. Then, I focus on what is missing in most presidential addresses given by sociologists: sociologists' role as educators and the impact we have upon students. I find that most presidential addresses do not include any or only passing nods to our responsibilities as teachers. I end the address with a call to consider our responsibilities and impact as teachers.     

Weaving Sociology into New Zealand Social Work Education

Social work students and practitioners often struggle to apply sociological theories to practice situations. This is made difficult because the application of sociological theory for social work is still a contested area. To assist students and practitioners articulate and explain sociological theory in their social work practice, this paper introduces a practical teaching model—one that is theoretically rich and simple to use. The authors have used this model to teach sociology for first year New Zealand social work students, with pleasing results. Taught in the foundation year of degree study, we show that there is utility for this model throughout social work education, most notably in policy, research and practicum courses. Teaching sociology is not without its challenges, and these are discussed. We argue that this model offers students and practitioners a straightforward ‘nuts and bolts’ method that can easily be drawn on in class and in practice to guide sociological theorising. Further, societal and personal value tensions can be reflectively teased out. Importantly, the model allows for sets of sociological analyses to be rendered explicit for the practitioner, their colleagues and their clients.     

Understanding the World of High School Sociology: Views from an Insider

Haven been placed in the unique position of teaching high school sociology at the same time when a renewed interest from professional sociological associations led to a revival of scholarly research on the topic, a commitment from professional sociological associations, my insiders view from the high school classroom and from various professional sociological association committees, I offer my insights as well as the direction future research on high school sociology might take to enhance the efficacy of teaching at that level.     

A feminist critique of rational-choice theories: Implications for sociology

I consider the relationship between two currents affecting sociology, rational-choice theory and interdisciplinary feminist theory. In particular, I consider how the feminist critique of the separative model of self applies to one version of rational-choice theory, neoclassical economics. In discussing this I identify four assumptions of neoclassical economics: selfishness; interpersonal utility comparisons are impossible; tastes are exogenous and unchanging; and individuals are rational. I argue that each of these harmonizes best with a view of separate rather than connected selves, and that this imbalance distorts theories, particularly those that claim to understand women’s experience. These distorting assumptions are less prevalent in sociology than in economics, but some of them are implicit in some versions of sociological rational-choice and exchange theories. I conclude by using research on marital power to illustrate how removing distorting assumptions and bringing questions about separation/connection to center stage can help illuminate sociological research. Her forthcoming book,Comparable Worth: Theories and Evidence (New York: Aldine deGruyter), discusses this controversial policy issue from a perspective that draws upon sociology, economics, and feminist theory.     

Power Mapping: Enhancing Sociological Knowledge by Developing Generalizable Analytical Public Tools

In this article, I argue for and illustrate ‘power mapping’ as a concrete research approach that can benefit specific publics while enhancing professional sociological knowledge and theory. I present power mapping as an example of a more broad approach to public sociology which seeks to harness sociological theory and knowledge in order to create generalizable analytical tools that social movements, policy makers, concerned citizens, voluntary associations, and community organizations can use to develop their own strategic assessments of the sociological contexts in which they act. One of the ironies of the current discussion of public sociology is that it has been conducted in an abstract, hyper-theoretical discourse which is precisely one of the factors that has disconnected so much sociology from general publics. In this article, I instead turn towards presenting a specific concrete research strategy which could engender mutually beneficial research collaboration and dialogue between sociologists and specific publics.     

Sociological social work: a cartoon

I trace an account of social work—and sociology—that I believe holds a promise for re-forming the relationship between the two. I develop the argument in two ways. First, taking 1920s Chicago as a case study, I will attempt ‘a history of the present’ to suggest how the relationship between sociology and social work came to be as it is. I will suggest that the practice of some (both familiar and forgotten) people in 1920s and 1930s sociology and social work is best explained as a form of ‘sociological social work’. Second, after tracking this genealogy, I suggest an agenda for sociological social work that consists of straining to enact certain kinds of inter-disciplinary relationships, developing methodological social work practice, hearing occasional sociological frontier conversations and shared theorising. I illustrate how these arguments challenge both sociology and social work and both theory and practice.     

The Long and Winding Road: Civil Repair of Intimate Injustice

Over the last decade, I have been trying to help fashion a new kind of critical social theory, one that can contribute to the "new theoretical reflection and interpretation of social contestation and political action" (Cohen 1982:xii) that such post-Marxist thinkers as Cohen and Seyla Benhabib (1986) called for two decades ago but that has seemed less and less ascertainable with the passing of time. Outlining a sociological approach to what I call the "civil sphere" of society, I have defined what I would like to think is a new object domain for sociology, one centering on the expansion and contraction of democratic solidarity. Through a series of conceptual elaborations and empirical investigations, I have begun to sketch out core components of this "civil sphere." These cultural and institutional components are fundamentally ambiguous, and they form contradictory relations with the "noncivil" domains that surround the civil sphere.     

Wounded/monstrous/abject: a critique of the disabled body in the sociological imaginary

Contemporary sociology has made sense of bodily difference by mobilising a number of tropes. ‘Wounded’ (or vulnerable), ‘monstrous’ and ‘abject’ stand out by virtue of their ubiquity though they do not exhaust the repertoire. These categories highlight the conceptual tensions between the sociology of the body and Disability Studies. In this paper, I will examine the value of these tropes to Disability Studies and suggest that while they can help to clarify the processes that bring about the misrecognition of disabled people, understanding the nature and scope of the lives of disabled people in modernity requires a more embodied language rather than one that has been generated from a sociological imaginary that is strongly influenced by a non‐disabled subject position in which repulsion for the other – which one must become – is never fully resolved. Disability has had little impact on sociological theories of the body and when sociology ventures into disability it has tended to conflate it with an ontology of human frailty or gloss it with tropes that may be instructive about the generic or gendered modernist structure of exclusion but it tells us little about the specific forms of invalidation experienced by disabled people.     

Environmental and Resource Sociology: Theoretical Issues and Opportunities for Synthesis1

Abstract Rural sociologists have been disproportionately represented among the major contributors to environmental sociology. In part, this is because several areas of longstanding rural sociological interest (e.g., sociology of resource management and outdoor recreation, studies of resource-dependent communities) essentially came to be redefined as environmental sociology during the 1970s. The most significant role of rural sociologists in building environmental sociology, however, has perhaps been the fact that the material and biophysical nature of the phenomena they have traditionally studied contributed to a general predisposition to recognize the “materiality” of social structure and social life. I assess the major strategies that have been developed for theorizing this materiality, and then indicate some of the most critical lines of debate and dissension. I argue that if these debates are examined in their specifics—rather than as incompatible perspectives or “paradigms”—some opportunities for synthesis become apparent. Some suggested avenues of synthesis are set forth.     

More than just a product: Strengthening literature in sociological analysis

Contemporary sociology of literature is predominantly shaped by the research of literary production, which approaches literary works as black boxes and subordinates them to social interactions and institutions. Even sociologists who recognize usefulness of literature for its inner quality often look at literary texts as mere passive objects to be translated into sociological discourse. In proposing a new sociology of literature, I first briefly outline the history of sociological studies of literature; second, I introduce “the state of the art” in the sociology of literature; third, I explore the relationship between sociology and literature in more general terms; and lastly, I discuss approaches and ideas with the potential to become components of a new research program, which would be a powerful alternative to the mainstream paradigms in sociological studies of literature. Such a program would make it clear that sociology can greatly benefit from cooperation with literature when sociologists are sensitive to the subtleties and (especially aesthetic) specificities of literary works.     

Class Reproduction by Four Year Olds

While scholars know that young children are active if inadvertent participants in social reproduction, little has been said about how young children engage in class reproduction. Through observing in a preschool classroom with a class diverse student body, I show that preschoolers are already class actors, performing class through their linguistic styles. Upper-middle-class children speak, interrupt, ask for help, and argue more often than working-class children. Upper-middle-class children’s classed linguistic style effectively silences working-class students, gives them less power, and allows them fewer opportunities to develop their language skills. The children’s linguistic class performances have immediate consequences and potential future implications for class reproduction.     

Sociology and High School Teaching

Teaching opportunities for sociolgy majors have traditionally been oriented to the college or university. There is, however, a clear need for qualified sociolgy teachers at the high school level. Such teachers could generate interest in the sociological imagination among precollege students. By doing so these teachers could provide skills for those students entering the workforce and encourage enrollments among those students opting to attend college. The American Sociological Association is aware of this opportunity and has addressed it in a variety of ways over the past thirty years. There has been renewed commitment by the ASA in the 1900s to develop programs that can enhance high school sociolgy. This article suggest that the state sociological association may be in a strategic position to assess the needs of high school sociolgy teachers, to address their resource needs as well as the concerns of teacher certification and competency. Jan Rienerth, teaching interests are in women's issues, applied sociology, and experiential learning. Her research has focused on women and the elderly in prison. Paul Lindsay, most recent teaching and research interests are in the areas of the sociology of education, educational policy and conflict resolution. Michael Wise, recent teaching and research is in the area of deviant behavior.     

The impact of sociological orientation on pedagogy: A reconsideration of teacher training in sociology Ph.D. Departments

The emphasis in sociology Ph.D. programs continues to be on training researchers rather than teachers. This is a serious mistake, given the overwhelming proportion of students who go on to academic careers that require at least some time in the classroom. Departments that offer some type of graduate training in teaching focus almost exclusively on the students’ mastery of pedagogical strategies—tools, tips, and techniques for improving their instruction. But this approach neglects students’ assumptions about sociology as a discipline—or their sociological orientations—that underlie and inform their pedagogical choices. This paper explicates the relationship between sociological orientation and pedagogical practice, and asserts that graduate students need to consider their orientation to the discipline before stepping inside a classroom. This may be effectively accomplished through a required year-long seminar to be taken during the second year of graduate study. The first semester would be devoted to the issues, debates, and questions that currently characterize the discipline. The second would consider the “nuts and bolts” of teaching, and how pedagogical practice derives from sociological orientation. Students would also work as teaching assistants before, during, and after completing the seminar. They would then be required to teach at least one course of their choice before graduating. During this first teaching experience, each graduate student would work closely with a faculty mentor. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2003 annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society. I wish to thank Michael Lewis, Joya Misra, Afshan Jafar, Brian Kapitulik, and the editor of the American Sociologist for their help in improving this paper.     

Projects and Possibilities: Researching Futures in Action

How can we understand the social impact of cognitions of a projected future, taking into account both the institutional determinants of hopes and their personal inventiveness? How can we document the repercussions, often contrary to intentions, “back from” such projected futures to the production and transformation of social structures? These are some of the questions to be addressed by a cultural sociology that attempts to look seriously at the effects of a projected future as a dynamic force undergirding social change. In this essay I discuss some of the reasons why the analysis of the future has been so neglected in sociological theory and research, and then sketch a possible framework for reincorporating it that specifies some of the cognitive dimensions of projectivity. In the process, I will show how a focus on future projections can help us make a link between cognition and action in a manner that has so far been neglected in the sociological literature.     

Relations and Relationships: Clarifying the Terms of the ‘New’ Relational Economic Sociology

In economic sociology, relations and relationships have emerged as central yet poorly specified concepts. In this paper, I clarify these terms in a positive critique of the current state of the field. I then consider the ways in which the proposed framework can help analysts to bridge the divide between economics and sociology. Armed with techniques derived from formal network analysis, the new economic sociology offered the first sustained foray into economic territory, but sociological skeptics remain unsatisfied. Two broad rejoinders to this network-analytic approach emerged in the last two decades, but both correctives, nevertheless, leave the divide intact. In the last decade, however, a new paradigm is coalescing under the rubric of “relational economic sociology. While showing promise, it furthers the confusion surrounding the key concepts of “relations” and “relationships.” The proposed framework provides a foundation for constructive dialogue among the different traditions which constitute this new paradigm.     

Must‐See TV: South Asian Characterizations in American Popular Media

In the 21st century, representations of South Asians in American popular television have increased significantly. However, there has been very little critical analysis on the ways in which these characters are created and produced. In this review, I use literature from the sociology of race/ethnicity, immigration, and critical media studies to identify the concept of “(ethnic) characterization.” While it may be assumed that these representations are created unconsciously, I suggest that media producers intentionally use particular ethnic characteristics that are identified and discussed in contemporary sociological literature. As a result, I argue that these types of media characterizations are relevant to the discipline of sociology.     

Beyond the Sociology of Diagnosis

The sociology of diagnosis offers a vantage point from which to study health and illness, linking a number of other threads of sociological thought. While there has been a growing interest in diagnosis since Mildred Blaxter's suggestion for a sociological exploration in 1978 – a call echoed by Brown in 1990 – it is timely to reflect upon the way in which sociologists engage with diagnosis. Within this review essay, I first consider what it is to “be a sociology” in general terms. I then explore the implications of this for an effective sociology of diagnosis, discussing the priorities it has recently developed as well as the directions its scholars might consider. Finally, I suggest ways in which sociologists of diagnosis could broaden their approach in order to advance their understanding of health, illness, and medicine.     

The cultural and social incorporation of sociological knowledge

Any evaluation of sociology as a discipline ought to focus not only on the way sociology is produced, but also on how it is consumed. In this article, we examine the degree to which sociological concepts have been incorporated into the vernacular of American society, the impact of sociological techniques and methods on politics and society, and the relationship between sociology and public policy. While sociologists often point to the problems caused by a certain alienation from the general culture—for example the notion that sociology is written in an obtuse language that the public cannot comprehend—we point to the problems that develop when sociology is too readily incorporated into American culture and society. The danger is that the more popular sociology is, the less likely it will be to maintain the sharp intellectual edge that made its incorporation possible in the first place.