Suchergebnisse

The Sociological Imagination is among the most recognized books in the history of American Sociology. Yet, the sociological imagination as such, a radical form of self-consciousness, is not commonly well understood nor easily acquired. This essay examines the challenges thus faced by instructors who seek to accurately impart what Mills meant by his famous neologism and the even stiffer challenge for those struggling to instill the sociological imagination in their students. Two pertinent examples of creative and probably productive pedagogy are discussed, Maurice R. Stein's "Sociology of Birth & Death" at Brandeis University and Brian Rich's senior seminar in sociology at Transylvania University. The essay concludes with advice for the instructor in pursuit of fidelity to Mills's original argument and guidance vis-à-vis the typical constraints encountered in today's classrooms.

Over six decades of teaching sociology, Maurice R. Stein (since 2002 retired from Brandeis University), pioneered and developed an experimental "Sociology of Birth and Death." The course emphasized peer education, active learning, and transformative education in the liberal arts informed by the classic tradition of sociology. In order to document and elaborate on the nature of the course for the benefit of today's instructors of sociology, Dandaneau interviewed Stein on June 10 and 11, 2009, in Stein's Cambridge, Massachusetts, home, and Dandaneau and East followed up with telephone interviews on November 21, 2009, and on January 29, February 5, February 12, and February 25, 2010. The following is an edited transcription of these conversations.